Derek's Dart 250 FPV Quad Flight Log

[Derek]

I'll try to keep my Dart 250 flight videos in this thread. Here is the long awaited maiden hover. Pretty cool little thing!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EROLy9HsYn8

[DOG]

Hey there Derek. I'll give you a thumbs up for your first quad build and flight. Hope to see many more videos! Don't forget to keep it with in legal height. Next you need glasses! Good luck.

[cml001]

I digs it! Like the LEDs.. Where did u get them? How did u mount & power them? Got some close up shots?

[Derek]

Hey there Derek. I'll give you a thumbs up for your first quad build and flight. Hope to see many more videos! Don't forget to keep it with in legal height. Next you need glasses! Good luck.

Thanks buddy! I'm not really gonna concern myself with flying real high with this quad. I'd be surprised if I ever take this sucker above 200'.

I do have a set of Fatshark Dominators. Bought them last year when I bought my 1.3ghz video system for my planes. It's awesome fun!!!

I digs it! Like the LEDs.. Where did u get them? How did u mount & power them? Got some close up shots?

I got these LED's from BuddyRC.com. They are in Ohio and the shipping was fast. As for mounting them, I simply attached them with zip ties, lol. Powering them....I ran some 22 gauge servo wire from the ESC's. So, the LED's are powered from the same 12v as everything else. I'll do a video to show how I did it.

[Stambo]

Nice maiden Derek, it's about time.
Something I noticed was that your FPV camera sticks out past the front of your quad.
I would suggest you move it back a bit so that the quad frame and not the camera takes the hit when you fly in to a tree.
Also, suggest you turn on the Mobius for every flight, that way you can review your footage for tuning puposes.
Those oscillations are far easier to see in the Mobius footage.
I think in a reply to one of Grahams posts I put my reasonably tame settings, could be somewhere to start.
Make sure to select PID controller 1 and also set the level P down to about 6.
Tuning is best done in acro for roll and pitch PIDs but it is not so easy to fly acro when learning to fly a quad.
Let's get this thing flying well for you.

[Lee]

Nice one Derek. She flies well

[Tony]

Very nice Derek, it's about time mind. I agree with Stambo on the cam sticking out too far... I'm sure you will iron out those oscillations soon...well done mate

[danhampson]

looking good Derek, whens the fpv maiden?

[Derek]

Nice maiden Derek, it's about time.
Something I noticed was that your FPV camera sticks out past the front of your quad.
I would suggest you move it back a bit so that the quad frame and not the camera takes the hit when you fly in to a tree.
Also, suggest you turn on the Mobius for every flight, that way you can review your footage for tuning puposes.
Those oscillations are far easier to see in the Mobius footage.
I think in a reply to one of Grahams posts I put my reasonably tame settings, could be somewhere to start.
Make sure to select PID controller 1 and also set the level P down to about 6.
Tuning is best done in acro for roll and pitch PIDs but it is not so easy to fly acro when learning to fly a quad.
Let's get this thing flying well for you.

Yes, the FPV camera sticks out a bit past the nose. As it sits on the nose, the back of the camera touches the upper deck of the frame. It won't move back any furthers. I do think the actual camera mount is too tall. If I can shorten that mount, or mount the camera differently, I'm sure the camera can be move backwards more.

As for the Mobius camera...I haven't gotten it to connect to the Mobius setup yet. Not sure how to do it. I'll work on it today and see if I can get it to work. I can understand how having the camera turned on would be an onboard benefit. Makes sense.

Nice one Derek. She flies well

Thanks Lee! I think for the initial flight, it came out really well. I'm quite happy with it!

Very nice Derek, it's about time mind. I agree with Stambo on the cam sticking out too far... I'm sure you will iron out those oscillations soon...well done mate

Thanks Tony! It was really cool, fun!

looking good Derek, whens the fpv maiden?

Thanks Dan! Pretty cool stuff! The FPV maiden.....well....I dunno. I'd like to get the oscillations sorted first.

Thanks to everyone for the help and suggestions with this new model. It's been fun so far and I've only flown it twice, lol.

[Stambo]

Wait until you get to FPV it, it's a real rush when you get to the stage of doing high speed just above the ground and through trees and stuff.
Post a shot of your current PIDs.
Might be able to point you in the right direction to get rid of that wobble.

[cml001]

Don't see the LEDs in Buddy's site, got a link for me?

[Derek]

Wait until you get to FPV it, it's a real rush when you get to the stage of doing high speed just above the ground and through trees and stuff.
Post a shot of your current PIDs.
Might be able to point you in the right direction to get rid of that wobble.

I've done FPV with my plane before. It's awesome fun to just cruise around and look down but yes, I'm looking forward to the fast flights just above the ground. I'm hoping to make a bit of a course using pool noodles. Should be awesome fun! I'll get my PID's posted today.

Don't see the LEDs in Buddy's site, got a link for me?

you can find the LED's under the "Accessories" tab. Here: http://www.buddyrc.com/accessory/led-lights.html

I also just received my order from HK. I got 3 Discovery Buzzer's and 2 meters of blue, red, and green LED's.

[Derek]

Here is a screen shot of the PID settings. Stambo, I've not changed anything here since we last talked. I've been doing some reading, trying to understand what these settings are and what they do when changed. I don't fully understand it but I know more about it now then I did last week. Any suggestions you could offer would be appreciated.

PID settings.png (27.84 KiB) Viewed 2354 times

[cml001]

Oh ok... Saw those... Thought urs were different... U mounted them on a something then... I haven't a clue how to do this.. Ain't gonna matter as mine is still in freak'n China!

[Graham Lawrie]

Here is a screen shot of the PID settings. Stambo, I've not changed anything here since we last talked. I've been doing some reading, trying to understand what these settings are and what they do when changed. I don't fully understand it but I know more about it now then I did last week. Any suggestions you could offer would be appreciated.

The attachment PID settings.png is no longer available

These are mine Derek:) for comparison:)

[Graham Lawrie]

Nice video Derek:)

[Derek]

Nice video Derek:)

Thanks Graham! It's a start and I'm happy with it!

[Stambo]

For a start Derek, drop your level P to 6.00, I think that will make quite a difference.
You cannot really do too much tuning wise until you are flying acro as self level has a huge effect and tends to overide the other settings.

[Derek]

Ok...so I need to fly the quad in "Acro"...you are referring to "Manual Mode", right? The way I have it set up...I have the flight modes on my FLAPS switch on my DX8. I have no troubles reaching that switch at all. Position 0 is Angle, Position 1 is Horizon, and Position 2 is Manual. These can be changed later on. I just want to get use to this thing first and the self level was really neat to see and I think it was good for my first experience with quads. I am more than willing to try the Manual Mode. Unfortunately, it will probably have to wait until next week because I am working the next 3 nights and there is a LOT of rain in our forecast....but at least I did get to fly a bit yesterday.

So....drop the level P to 6.00. I can do that.

Stambo, I surely appreciate your continue help. Thank you sir!

[Stambo]

Stambo, I surely appreciate your continue help. Thank you sir!

Not a problem at all Derek, happy to help.

What I meant by tuning in Acro or Manual mode is that you can get it to fly quite well in Angle mode but once you get flying in Manual you can start the fine tuning.
Most people fly Angle for quite a while before switching to Acro, but they are learning FPV while learning to fly a MiniQuad.
You already have FPV experience as well as flying Helicopters.
Flying Acro is not hugely different to flying a flybarred Helicopter so you will hopefully be able to make the switch sooner.
Once you fly a couple of packs Acro you will wonder why you didn't switch sooner.

Let us know how much difference changing the level P makes.