Rocky's Quadcopter "Stuff"

RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Ok, now i have to get some nerve and fly a little higher.... Up till now, most of my flights had been around 40' (though I did hit 60' on my 2nd test). I decided to take a short flight out front just to get Altitude Comfortable.

I went out early morning on the 27th to work my way up to 100' altitude... I turned the video on, went up to about 45' and rotated the copter a bit, then proceeded on up to 98', shot some more video, flew a very short loop and then brought it down and landed. Total flight time was about 8 min's and I felt pretty comfortable at 100'






Pat in GA
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
480sparky said:
Now you need to learn how to hand-catch!
Click to expand...


Yes, I have thought about that, just a bit chicken yet!!! :) I have watched some videos though and it does not seem that hard. So far I have "good" landing spots but I do need to learn for times when I do NOT have some good flat & levels.. (Like the refuge)

Have you posted up any new videos or done any interesting flights/shoots??


Pat in GA
 
4

480sparky

Senior Member
RockyNH said:
Yes, I have thought about that, just a bit chicken yet!!! :) I have watched some videos though and it does not seem that hard. So far I have "good" landing spots but I do need to learn for times when I do NOT have some good flat & levels.. (Like the refuge)

Have you posted up any new videos or done any interesting flights/shoots??


Pat in GA
Click to expand...


I haven't flown since December. Between work and winter weather, flight time is scarce.

I haven't hard-landed in almost two years now. 100% hand-catch since I learned how.
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
On the 29th, I decided to take a short flight and test out the camera with still photos. The only photos I had taken previous were on the ground or my driveway...

Taken in my Driveway 1/27/16 before Takeoff

DJI_0015.jpg




Here is the flight Data from that flight (Data via HealthyDrones.com)
The flight data is recorded in the DJI App as a log. I will talk more about that later along with the above Web site...


Clipboard01.jpg





Anyway, here are the still photos I took on that flight.

DJI_0018.jpg


DJI_0019.jpg

DJI_0020.jpg

DJI_0021.jpg

DJI_0022.jpg

DJI_0023.jpg

DJI_0024.jpg


I also took my video from the 28th and extracted 2 frames from that video ... it is very easy though the res is a little less.

dji_012816a.jpg


dji_012816b.jpg


And this is a pano from 2 extracted frames that I stitched together!

Untitled-1-Pano.jpg


Pat in GA
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Dateline - January 30th, 2016

I had previous tested several Intelligent functions of the Phantom 3 and they all worked as designed. I had one issue and it was Operator error! During my test of the Point Of Interest function, I was going to try using a lamp post but did a poor positioning job. To set the point, you fly "directly" above the point and this is where I messed up. There was a lot of sun glare and I did not have my reading glasses on so I had trouble seeing the post on the cell. As such, I eyeballed the copter and said "Good Enough". Well it was not...

While everything worked as it should, without a good POI point, it was difficult to see just exactly how it worked relative to the Point. I decided to run just a POI test. This time, I carefully positioned the Phantom over the Post by having the camera pointing down. When satisfied, I selected the point, then proceeded to move away a distance and set my elevation. I set the speed at about 2.5 mph and a counterclockwise direction, adjusted my camera angle and hit "Apply"

The quad started circling around the post and the camera always faced the POI. You can pause and continue, or change speed, direction, altitude radius and camera angle. You can see how it works in the following Video. I did pause, change direction to Clockwise and also increased speed to 7.5 mph.




Hope you enjoyed...


Pat in GA
 
S

SteveL54

Senior Member
Interesting video, Pat. I'm also looking at the DJI. Flying the Syma X8C is fun, but the video is sorely lacking. I agree that investing in the DJI with all of those extra features makes more sense than upgrading the camera.
Now I just have to justify the cost to myself.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
RockyNH said:
Dateline - January 30th, 2016

I had previous tested several Intelligent functions of the Phantom 3 and they all worked as designed. I had one issue and it was Operator error! During my test of the Point Of Interest function, I was going to try using a lamp post but did a poor positioning job. To set the point, you fly "directly" above the point and this is where I messed up. There was a lot of sun glare and I did not have my reading glasses on so I had trouble seeing the post on the cell. As such, I eyeballed the copter and said "Good Enough". Well it was not...

While everything worked as it should, without a good POI point, it was difficult to see just exactly how it worked relative to the Point. I decided to run just a POI test. This time, I carefully positioned the Phantom over the Post by having the camera pointing down. When satisfied, I selected the point, then proceeded to move away a distance and set my elevation. I set the speed at about 2.5 mph and a counterclockwise direction, adjusted my camera angle and hit "Apply"

The quad started circling around the post and the camera always faced the POI. You can pause and continue, or change speed, direction, altitude radius and camera angle. You can see how it works in the following Video. I did pause, change direction to Clockwise and also increased speed to 7.5 mph.




Hope you enjoyed...


Pat in GA
Click to expand...

Very nice Rocky. Now let's work on the soundtrack.:cheerful:
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
SteveL54 said:
Interesting video, Pat. I'm also looking at the DJI. Flying the Syma X8C is fun, but the video is sorely lacking. I agree that investing in the DJI with all of those extra features makes more sense than upgrading the camera.
Now I just have to justify the cost to myself.
Click to expand...


I know the feeling about costs... and video. I have the X5C and it has the same camera as your X8... It was (and still is) fun to fly and a great training tool. I was looking at upgrades and looked at the X8 but it did not offer any major advantage to me.. (the X8G has a 1080P but price is higher)

I was looking at intermediate GPS Quads like the Cheerson CX20.. No Gimbal, but brushless motors, anti vibration gopro mount and you can add a functional Gimbel for about $65. Problem was, I do not own a gopro, so to get what I really wanted I would need to add the cost of a gopro and a gimbal. (at least a GoPro to start. When they dropped the Phantom price to 499, it became a no brainer and the CFO (Spelled w.i.f.e.) approved at that point.

I have a friend right now who has $300 + gopro and he is looking now at the Cheerson as a good upgrade for him...

Pat in GA
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Blacktop said:
Very nice Rocky. Now let's work on the soundtrack.:cheerful:
Click to expand...


Regarding Gulls, I also wonder the same... I know some have been attacked over the ocean! We have some that hang out past the pool and I may try and buzz them ( not too close BUT also not too high) one day to see what they think... (If they are unhappy I am close and can bring it down)

May also try with the X5C as it is inexpensive :)

Soundtracks, well, I am not a music person and just grabbing some free tracks ... better than silence (in my mind) :) Something I have to work on when I get started making serious vids other than training/practice stuff!

Pat
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
It has been windy and rainy the last few days so I have not had a chance to Fly. Thought this might be a good time to introduce "Healthydrones.com" This site manages your Flight Data for your DJI Inspire or Phantoms 3 Drones.

The DJI Pilot App called GO APP, provides a live view feed to a wifi device along with camera, flight, and telemetry data/controls.

phantom-3-standard-s3-img.jpg


It also records a flight log from each flight containing data, map of flight and stats such as Hgt, distance etc.

flightlog2.jpg




I really like the log but believe they missed an opportunity in that you cannot actually download to share or review on your computer. It was while I was looking online in case someone else had maybe solved my dilemma that I stumbled on Healthy Drone. This is an online site where you can upload your logs and they summarize, tabulate and present all kinds of Data! Free too!

At first, to try it out, I copied a couple logs to my PC and uploaded. I liked what I saw and found out they had an app that at the touch of a button uploaded your new logs. Now, when I finish a flight, I tap the app, select upload and the new logs are incorporated. It presents so much data and in such a way that you can see everything about your flights.

alerts-600-500.jpg


battery_overview-600-500.png


battery-life-trend-600-500.png


deviations-600-500.png


efficiency-600-500.png


flight-log-600-500.png


flight-overview-600-500.png


rudder-response-600-500.png



signal_strength-600-500.jpg


windmap-600-500.jpg




These are some screen captures of my actual data.

Clipboard01.jpg

Clipboard02.jpg

Clipboard04.jpg


Anyway, thought I would share this. If you have a Phantom 3, I encourage you to at least give a look to Healthydrones.com


Safe flying...

Pat in GA
 
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RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
On Feb 2nd, I wanted to attempt to get up a bit in Altitude. So far the highest I had done was 100' I took off from my drive, flew across the street and climbed to 100, rotating for video purpose. It was a bit breezy and I could see the quad tilted at an angle to maintain position against the wind but the video was smooth and level. I then took it up to 200' and the Phantom handled it well but the "pilot" got nervous in the wind and brought it back down.

Interesting to note how small it looked at 200', in fact my wife lost site of it in the sky. Looking at the stats in "Healthy Drone", the wind averaged 12.5 with gusts to 18.5 mph and direction on this short flight was from 24 deg to 135 deg so it was constantly changing directional also.

Here is that Video, I was pleased with how steady considering the wind. The Phantom deals with the wind better than the courage of the "pilot" :)




Pat in GA
 
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