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Noob Alert! GepRC Cinepro 4K F700 Thread...

Jtrjr

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Okay, I'm going to introduce myself to those that don't know me. My name is Jerry but you can call me "Joe", "John", "Sally" or "Sue". It really doesn't matter because I'm the anti-expert. I only know what I know by learning from other, researching and my own hands on experiences. I'm an "expert" at absolutely nothing! I really love this hobby (and this forum), got into it after messing around with photography drones many years ago. I got going with the race drone stuff and fell in love. I was (and am again) a complete noob. I started trying to fly and eventually got into acro flying (sub-mediocre at best). I even started building and flying my own drones (I've got about 8 that I've built). I had never soldered anything of any substance before.

I was starting to cook along when family issues put other things, including this hobby, on the back burner. Well, now I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I spent a lot of time on this forum in the past trying to help and encourage other "noobs" to be patient, passionate and persistent. This is a tough hobby but if I can do it, pretty much anyone can. Anyway, I've received a great deal of help from others around here and although you'll never get the "expert" stuff from me, you will get my sincerest attempt to give back what others have so gratefully given to me. I'll try to give my best info from my own experience. Take everything I say with a grain of salt because I'm a complete layman at this stuff.

Now, on to the GepRC Cinepro. I received mine 3 days ago and for me it wasn't "bind and fly" at all. I love the bird so far and the quality looks to be very good but I got a really rough start. I bought the Crossfire version with the advanced F700 series FC. Everything I read and every video I watched showed it with a BF 3.5.7 flash on it. Mine came with BF 4.1.1 flashed. I had to update my old BF Configurator to a newer version of 10.6.0 to even get it to show up properly. I still can't find anything out there talking about this bird with the 4.1.1 flash on it. It was hard enough trying to figure out BF 3.#.# after being gone for a few years but BF 4.#.# is total Greek to me.

Right now I've got my Taranis X9d and Crossfire system up to date and operating properly and I've got the bird bound. The two things I also really like is that I was able to setup the Taranis so I could change all the pids and vtx settings straight from the radio. I also liked that I could change the vtx settings in BF 4 as well. I've just flown 2 batteries so far and finally moved into acro. I'm charging some batteries now as I write this and hope to fly a few more packs today. My flying skills were never great but they are horrible now! I will post videos as I get rolling again but you may not want to watch them unless you are a noob and want to see what another noob is doing! I'll post more detailed info as I start to acquire it. Here's a few links to some videos and a few picks of my setup. Later!

Here's a good blog post with some good info.

Good review video.

View attachment GEPRC4KF700001.jpg
 
Some Notes to jot down...

-Make sure you check all screw before flight, I had a few that were slightly loose.
-Make sure you have a fan to run on this thing while setting things up in BF, The FC and Vtx get pretty hot. Take great care when the battery is plugged in.
-The motors are defaulted to "reversed" in BF, double check prop orientation.
-Air Mode is always on by default, that may be normal these days.
-The 4k settings are accessed via a separate app available in Android and iOS, I could not get it to work on my (Android) Moto X but it worked on my iPad.
-I still can't get my OSD to work correctly in NTSC but it works fine in PAL.
-I'm not real happy with my FPV range on 200mw (can go up to 500 but I'd prefer to stay around 200), I'm probably only getting 100-150 yards with clear line of sight.
-I had to take a razor and shorten the length of the insulation on the battery leads (Tattu 4S 650mah) to make them more flexible for a less crimped connection.

I just blew off 5 packs, the bird is now used. All acro. It was a blast but my skills are horrible. I'll jot more as I get more!
 
Another note and a question for those who know more than me. In BF 4.1.1 my ESC protocol is set to DShot300 but everywhere I looked everyone else was showing DShot1200 with BF 3.5.7. I tried just changing it to DShot1200 but it wouldn't arm, any ideas?
 
I would try DShot600, test motors in BF Motors tab, if the ESC is responding then retry 1200 with the Motors tab. I also wouldn't chance any accidents by taking props off till its all tested good.
And yeah, for quite some time now Air Mode has defaulted to On, I choose to turn it off in the Configuration tab slider and put it on a switch in the Modes tab.
 
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On 25 mw I can farther than that, something is wrong there. Is it possible the quad has a LHCP antenna or that a U.Fl or MMCX has popped off the vTX?

Thanks for the replies, Randy. I'll check the ESC protocol as you suggested. I'm wondering if there was some issue in BF4 that prompted them to set it to Dshot300. The camera issue isn't a big deal, PAL is working fine and I've read that it's a nightmare to get into the FPV camera settings, I'll leave it alone for now. The VTX issue is bugging me. Of course, there isn't any real info on the board. I did check the connections and the look good. I know my goggles are outfitted with RHCP but how do I know what the MMCX Dipole antenna is? Here's a link to the boards in the bird: https://geprc.com/download/en/GEPRC-STABLE-PRO-F7-DUAL-MANUAL-V1_0.pdf
 
Thanks, RTK! Okay, I took the quad apart and the connection was loose. It didn't seem like it was because of the way the cable was routed. It was still on the connector, just not snugged down. I also looked up a few of these dipole antenna's and most show a max wattage of 50w. Could I be making things worse by running the VTX at 200w? The default in BF was 100w. It seems strange that they'd put a 50w antenna on a 500w VTX? Anyway, I'll test it again later. I ordered a few of the lollipop antenna's but I'm not sure they will actually fit this small quad. If they do I'll see if I can get a better signal with them.
 
Dipoles are not polarized so it isn't a LHCP to RHCP issue. Also don't read too much into the antenna power since from what you said you read, dipoles are good to 50 watts and the vTX puts out Milliwatts (1000ths of a watt) If it was disconnected, or if it is a bad crimp job on the antenna (and I have seen many of these that had the center conductor not making good contact) then that is likely your problem. There also isn't any part of BF that would effect the ESC protocol in the way described and I would stick with the rev that it came with from the manufacturer for now instead of rolling back to 3.5.7. IMHO
 
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My favorite light antenna right now is the Minion Pro


20200118_184230.jpg

It's delicate admittedly, but that rig isn't really built to crash as it is. Secure it to some zip-ties and you're on your way
 
Tough day yesterday. Had everything RTF, batteries charged, bird ready, Wife heading out, cool/overcast but decent day. Walking out the door and the sprinkler guy shows up, I've got to turn on all of the sprinklers and wait for him to fix a big leak. Just as the sprinkler guy is leaving the yard crews show up, they're supposed to be here on Thursdays but must have been backed up. Can't fly while they're trimming, mowing and blowing. The whole day is being wasted. They finally wrap up around 3 so I grab my stuff and head out to the driveway. Remember, I'm just trying to get my feet wet again so I'm not yet venturing out. Get my first battery in my brand new (expensive) Cinepro 4K Hybrid and take to the air. Finally!!! Just as I'm kicking up, the Wife drives up. She's asking me where she should park since I'm in her way. I tell her to park on the road and try to concentrate on flying. And then it happens...I inadvertently hit the failsafe switch...

Daing it!!! (crash video)

Smashed the brand new camera lens. Distractions are not your friend! More to come...
 
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...So, I'm really upset. A quarter of a pack and I smash the crap out of this thing! I am saying every single word Mom told me not to say. I grab the bird and head up to the Drone Room to assess the damage. One of the front camera guards is scratched and slightly bent and the FPV camera lens is smashed. I hook it up to BF, check everything, recalibrate and all seems good. The camera is still working, I just can't see out of it anymore. I pull the camera off and take the lens out. I grab my tub of old (NIB) parts and find a cheap ($12) Eachine EK1119 that I bought in 2017. Guess what? I screw the lens from the cheap camera into the Caddx and it kind of fits. I turn on my monitor and tweak it and I'm getting a decent picture! What luck! I ended up flying (if you can call it that) all 5 packs! (I've got some replacement parts on order but who knows when I'll get them.) So, with a little patience and perseverance I made it work.

View attachment GEPRC4KF7-Before.jpg

View attachment GEPRC4KF7-After.jpg
 
Hey @HighTechPauper I know that you use two stage arming (and I've been meaning to figure out how to set that up myself) could that same technique be applied to disarming to prevent unfortunate incidents like this?

You did yours with logic on the controller right?
 
The switch I was using for failsafe was in a bad position. I moved it to a switch that will require more thought.

Overall, I'm quite impressed with this little bird so far. It's much more durable than the iflight Cinebee 4k Hybrid and flies better out of the box as well. It's got a bit of punch (4S, 650) and handles well, even for an amateur like me. I haven't completely destroyed it yet and I've probably put 15 batteries through it. The video it produces is pretty daing good as well. I'm shooting everything at 2.7k 60fps and it looks good. I'll post some clips when I get some time. Put 5 more batts in this morning and waiting on another charge for a second round.
 
Wow Jerry, tough day at the office that one mate.
Glad you kept all your stuff so you could get up quickly.
I have about 7 or 8 spare lenses of different sizes as I found I cracked one or two on big crashes so I ended up with a collection of new ones .
I started buying 2 at a time.
And props bulk.
I haven't cracked a lense in over a year now.
Anyway,glad to see your getting back into the swing of it mate.
Hope to see some footage soon.
 
Hey @HighTechPauper I know that you use two stage arming (and I've been meaning to figure out how to set that up myself) could that same technique be applied to disarming to prevent unfortunate incidents like this?

You did yours with logic on the controller right?
Hey RTK, it could be done with some fancy programming in OpenTX, but I think a kill switch with an "are you sure" requirement would defeat the purpose of it actually being a "failsafe". I think between the disarm switch, and the failsafe switch you may, or may not set one up in the modes tab, you can make a mistake easily... but I bet you learn not to do it again ;)
 
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