Savage_Smithy

so this morning around 6am i was soldering some wires without any form of eye protection. the wire i was soldering flicked bacck and sent a blov of molten solder into my lower right eye needless to say it burned. i got all the solder out and rinsed my eye with eye wash and now it is just slightly less irritating than having something stuck in there. The problem im having is that every now and then it tears up and stings like hell for 30 seconds or so. i can see fine and when it doesnt tear up it isnt terribly uncomfortable. is there anything i can do about it or is it just wait till it gets better?

yeah its always worked fine, lands pretty accurately and gently just this one time it decided to just go ahead and nope. When i got to it the ic2? connector was out on the apm but i assume that happened as a result of the crash but cant be sure, to be honest i'd still trust the autopilot to take control for me without hesitation, anything can malfunction at some point. Could well be that in the course of flying the "ground level" had ended up out of sync and it thought it had landed. I guess i could check the logs and see if that holds any clues. I'm just amazed at how well my frame took the knock, after i straightened the arms it was back in the air immediately and still super stable, really pleased with the apm, i can even hover it perfectly still without touching the controls in basic stabilize mode, no altitude lock or loiter mode needed

Broke my telemetry module, and antenna, a servo and possibly tore a slot in the aluminium arm bolt holes. came down hard while landing by itself in RTL mode

so this happened Basically it was in RTL mode and it was all going well when suddenly at about 15 feet it just binned itself, no idea why but the end result was a destroyed telemetry module + antenna, smashed servo and i can only assume some of the holes in the aluminium arms have become slotted because one arm can move a good 20-30 degrees despite no damage to either plate. Credit to the frame though it was an extrmely hard landing and once i straightened the arm positions it was back in the air minus camera and telemetry in minutes. looks lower than it was

the way i see this is, what is the point of freedom if its only an illusion under the veil of convenience? sure it would be convenient to never need to carry anything and to able to get on your way faster but what is the cost of that convenience? A corporation controlled state knowing your every move and selling it to the highest bidder at every available opportunity? some might read into his as being paranoia or an over reaction but the truth is privacy is a huge part of freedom, it might be easier to just assume everyone is guilty and then weed out the innocent ones from the data but the truth is everyone is guilty of something at some point in their life, and if these chips can track where you have been by using rfid scanners in places like shops and public transport then eventually that data can be used to paint a picture in a very different light to the truth

I have the attitudes and they are pretty nice, only a recent purchase, used them twice. The head tracking gets a little confusing so i'm gonna confine that to looking around when im in loiter mode. Resolution wise they are ok, better than bad not as good as excellent, easy enough to fly on atleast. I'd say for a starter set decide your budget then the goggles get the best within your budget as you get what you pay for, on the one hand you dont want to upgrade after 5 minutes of owning them because its just money burnt but on the other hand you could decide it isnt for you ad never use them. I bought the attitudes because i could afford them and they had a wider FOV than the predetors but the preds were strong competitors if by budget sank a little.

will try the foam, the apm is currently mounted with thick double sided foam tape about a 10mm piece across the width of either end. thanks for the reply

hi, Just had my quad out for a play and when i switch into altitude hold mode or loiter it seems a bit unable to regulate its own height, the issue seems to get worse the higher i go where at points it sounds like the motors are stopped dead, it falls then a second or so later it slams onto full power and returns to where it should be. As for tuning I have only really done very basics, the autotune went well and it flies really nicely in stabilize mode if a little sensitive. I have heard of issues with light on the barometer and prop airflow to it but the apm is in a case mounted on foam strips, keep forgetting to set the logs to record vibration so no idea if its that either. I will try what I already know could be causes but just wanted to ask here if anybody else has had this issue and maybe has a shortcut to a soltuion? Thanks smithy

unlucky sam, hope it was a dry night!! hows the h4 holding up for you by the way? I mean like normal use not fighting trees.

Intel i5 3570k Msi z77a-g45 8gb avexir core blue 1600mhz msi r9 290 corsair rm750 western digital caviar black 1tb 128gb sandisk ssd fractal design arc midi r2 lamptron fc6 xspc raystorm cpu block xspc ex240 ek 150ml xres with ddc 18w pump things stuff

Fair enough, should have my fpv gear this coming week, gone for the attitude v2 kit and a pan/tilt camera mount which may or may not be fitted. what is your setup?

how does that work out for you? Doesn't it look the same facing you as it does facing away due to the diagonal lights?

Heres a few updated pics of my quad, it's had a rebuild/rewire and new orientation lights added, rewired the esc power to move the connector further back so i can shift the battery towards the centre. Fpv coming soon The props have seen better days, more on the way. Question, how much damage can carbon props fly on? they seem to fly okay and due to the construction of them i'd think they aren't prone to shatter from small damage due to invisible cracks?

well heres mine, recently finished though already been through 2 sets of landing gear from the spare frame i bought, really need a better solution than the crappy stock feet. Its due for a rebuild already anyway as i'm not happy with the wiring and battery placement, I rushed it just to get it in the air.

hobbyking have been fine for me, recently made an order from the international warehouse and uk warehouse on the same day and the international package got here before the uk one! They seem helpful on live chat although it is true that some are more useful than others. had no problems though got everything i wanted in about 4 days from the hk warehouse

well the only other h frame that fits at this price is http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__56213__HobbyKing_Super_H_600_QuadCopter_KIT_.html but that might be a bit too big for me, I like the h470 because of the fold away nature of it, even if i need to mod the landing gear to actually use that feature as i have heard. I have access to a couple of 3d printers and a workshop full of tools so im sure i can work something out. I would do a diy one but with the price of the frames on hk, i'm not even going to bother unless i get the urge to have something unique, in which case i'll be printing one oh and it was still in the air, just you know, way way in the air. lost sight of it, behind a leaf.

thanks for the reply, I had a hubsan but i got reckless with it and lets just say that return to home would have been a nice feature I was getting pretty confident with that though, flying it through small gaps and flying fairly quickly indoors with expert mode on. main reason i went for carbon props is I have read about plastic ones failing mid air, which no amount of experience can save you from. With not much experience here, can you not just fly slower? or do props really make that huge of a difference? (maybe a dumb question) mission control is what is tempting me towards an apm, it looks useful/ causes a nerd0n. thanks, smithy

hey all, just needing a little advice on building my first quadcopter. I have been looking at parts for a few weeks but being a complete beginner im not too sure about what i need. Given my lack of experience I decided to look at another working build "sams H-quad" partly for inspiration but mainly because then i know the parts will actually work would like to be able to fpv with it, with future addition of a go pro and maybe a gimbal for pan/tilt control. so my list so far will look familiar: Frame - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__35908__Hobbyking_H4_Copter_Multi_Rotor_Quadcopter_Frame_470mm.html OR http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__42504__Hercules_500mm_QuadCopter_KIT_.html Motors - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__25081__NTM_Prop_Drive_Series_28_30S_900kv_270w_short_shaft_version_.html with http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16719__NTM_Prop_Drive_28_Series_Accessory_Pack.html Escs - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__39708__Afro_ESC_30Amp_Multi_rotor_Motor_Speed_Controller_SimonK_Firmware_.html Props - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__39775__12x4_5_SF_Carbon_Fiber_Propellers_L_H_and_R_H_Rotation_1_pair_.html radio - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8992__Turnigy_9X_9Ch_Transmitter_w_Module_8ch_Receiver_Mode_2_v2_Firmware_.html I do prefer the look of the hercules frame but H4 just seems so much more practical for me, so still very undecided on that but leaning toward the H4 As for the flight controller, that is where I am really stuck, I want gps hold, and RTL also fairly stable, easy flight so was looking at either: Naza - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__51632__DJI_Naza_M_Lite_Multi_Rotor_Flight_Controller_GPS_Combo.html OR HKpilot - http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__56052__HKPilot_Mega_2_7_Flight_Controller_USB_GYRO_ACC_MAG_BARO.html + http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__51452__Turnigy_Neo_6M_GPS_with_Compass_and_Pedestal_Stand_with_Case_Ublox_.html + http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__43766__HKPilot_Power_Module_with_XT60_Connectors_and_6_Pin_150mm_Cable.html + http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__42846__FPV_Radio_Telemetry_Kit_915Mhz.html I believe the naza is very easy to set up compared to the "apm" but then I look at the "apm" feature set and wonder if my time might be better spent setting things up myself and ending up with a much more capable system. -edit- looking to order things fairly soon so since the hkpilot is on backorder, that may make the decision easier Battery wise, I'm guessing 3S is what I want and i'd like to get the largest capacity I could comfortably carry but i'm not too sure how to go about working that out. fpv wise, probably going to be the fatshark dominator v2 kit. Any advice or suggestions are appreciated I hope i haven't forgotten anything in my list thanks, smithy

Agreed but unfortunately I have nobody to hold a camera for me at the moment, but first opportunity i get it shall be done. The machine I'm using is a RepRap Ormerod with a couple of small mods, its not a bad machine but being the first 3d printer i have ever been near it took some effort and time to get it printing cleanly and reliably. here's a video of its first ever print, which was a 3 axis piece to check for square axis alignment, I was able to snap that piece at the 90 degree angle but for the life of me i could not damage the individual straight pieces without causing serious damage to my hand also i found this: PLA More brittle than ABS Can droop if it gets too hot, for example, if it is left in a hot car in the summer time Usually turns white along the high stress zone when it is bent, then breaks into lots of little pieces Even though it is made from plants, it may contain dyes and binders which are not food safe Smells sweet when it is being printed Strength is relatively equal to ABS ABS Impact resistant and tough Hard Glossy Petroleum based Flammable Prone to cracking if cooled too quickly Usually bends before it breaks Has a strong, toxic smell when it is being printed Strength is relatively equal to PLA Sounds like ABS might be slightly better for RC bits providing i survive the print with lungs intact.

Thanks, It moves even better than it looks and the bits are PLA, I am meaning to try ABS at some point though, I believe its a little less brittle/hard? Though the PLA seems to hold its own so far.

Thought I'd show off my latest Project should have taken some earlier pictures but ahwell, its near completion now. When I bought it as a nitro roller this is what it looked like: As far as I can work out it was fitted with an irc chassis, lst or lst2 shocks, lst ally diff housings, carbon plates, 17mm hexes and TiNi shock shafts. not sure if there was anything else as i dont have a stock one to compare it to but i'm sure others will know as i think this one has been floating around these forums for some time. First thing i did was strip it and order an rc monster motor mount and a losi 8ight servo/receiver box, which with my existing electronics (a leopard 4282 2000kv and a hk 150A esc) led to this: The 4282 had power but it lacked the complete and utter uselessness I was looking for in terms of controllable power, so naturally I ended up with a 1717. I also changed the layout quite a bit, made some custom bits using a 3d printer added shock socks and swapped out the centre diff casing for an aluminium one after the 1717 tore the plastic one to shreds. The custom printed parts are the Lipo tray, Esc mount and some small cable clips for cable routing. I didnt want to drill any holes in the chassis so printing custom parts was ideal for me, as it allowed me to adapt the esc to fit in the old engine mount holes and the lipo tray was designed to fit too. heres a couple of the tray the printed parts basically fit by using trapped nuts and then bolting up from underneath, they are surprisingly strong but will see how they stand up to a good bit of abuse. Next time I strip it down I will get some pictures of the esc mount and show how the mounting nuts work in this design

Got my Muggy back in one piece; No idea what other mods are on it but what i did today is: -Refitted my 1717 after its all black rewire -Fitted my custom printed E-Muggy Lipo tray -hard fitted the esc using a custom printed adapter plate I made -rebuilt refilled and refitted the center diff with an aluminium diff casing since the 1717 tore the plastic one to shreds. I haven't had to drill a single hole in this chassis since the lipo tray and esc mount are custom designs, which i'm glad for because I suck at drilling clean holes correctly first time and without turning a nice chassis into Swiss cheese

hi all, having a small issue with my dx3s and sr3300t in my muggy, the issue is that the controls seem to be delayed sometimes significantly. Its a little hard to explain but it was working fine and never had any issues with it, but then suddenly I noticed an intermittent "lag" between me moving the trigger/wheel and the vehicle responding. It doesnt seem like a range issue as the car was close and it wasnt so much unresponsive as late, it even seemed to "catch up" to my inputs, when it was having the problem i could apply throttle for a second or so and then after a noticeable amount of time with the trigger released it would set off for the amount of time i held the trigger. I thought it might be a power issue but its never happened before with the exact same setup and the dx3s screen doesnt report any voltage sag which was an issue with my old esc and savox servo. Haven t started my own diagnostics yet but in the meantime I thought i'd ask if anybody else has had this issue and what the fix was? thanks smithy

decided to resolder all 3 wires so they are all black, have run into a problem though, the screws that hold the rear endcap on are just terrible cheese metal since they aren't really supposed to be removed but I had to remove them and the heads are fubar. Anybody know what thread and length i need, and can I get them with bigger less utterly pointless hex heads? Thanks Smithy

heres a few of my manic a long time ago: