FPV drone stuff

Got the idea to look for secondhand Fat Shark goggles. Found a fresh ad placed yesterday that offered a 'good as new' FatShark Attitude V2 for half the price.

Could not resist to try and get it, so I replied. Waiting for response now.


Fat Shark comparison chart:

Awesome! Had contact with the person from the ad, and I bought the headset.

I am now waiting for my secondhand Fat Shark Attitude V2 fpv goggles to arrive with the mail. 



Btw, since this headset supports headtracking and has a ps/2 port, in theory I might be able to use it for games also.

Looks like really cool gear and cheap at half price.

muckyman wrote:

Looks like really cool gear and cheap at half price.

I feel very lucky I found that ad. Could never afford to buy this model new, specially if bought in my country.
Looked up the price at a dutch shop, for a complete set they ask 550Euro : http://www.toemen.nl/fat-shark-attitude-fpv-set-p-19332.html 
But I don't need the camera and videotransmitter, the Eachine already has both and should be compatible.
I paid 180E excl shipping costs for the secondhand goggles and accessories.

1 fpv headset coming this way  

FPVFreerider torrent: https://kat.cr/fpvfreeride-quadcopter-simulator-t11573742.html

I received the goggles.
Like the ad stated they are, though used, good as new
Checked if everything works and the image is sharper then expected.
Very happy it all worked out, and that I got real fpv goggles.
Now waiting for the extra props, batteries, and some good weather to fly.

Looks nice canner

Can't wait to go flying  

Going to take my dad with me when flying first time.
He used to work as a helicoptermechanic in the army.

Drone Racing League wrote:

DRL is the first professional race series for FPV drone racing. The Drone Racing League brings the world's best pilots together to fly the "DRL Racer 2" quadcopters head-to-head through new exciting neon-lit race courses. Drone Racing is the sport of the future, and you can find all of the full races, crashes, and competition on www.thedroneracingleague.com and here on youtube.com/c/thedroneracingleague.

Here's some unedited fpv footage from onboard the quads :



Fun to watch. Though some amazing flying skills, a few of the pilots are really crap.

 

   The future of motor sport,far more exciting to watch than any Formula 1 race.
Fantastic stuff canner buddy.

It's certainly good fun to watch, though it feels like this event was a bit overhyped. Not seen a lot of flying, only a few rounds.
I  was expecting a big event, but I think it's already over. Guess next round will be in a few weeks/months.
They could have made a lot more spectacle with drones doing formations, and also maybe a comp between aerobatic flyers.

 

I think although quadcopters have been around a few years now they are only just getting more affordable yo the general public and they are not so mainstream at the moment.
In a few years I think everybody will have them and things like racing and stunt/tricks will be massive public events all oner the world.

Yes your right. Would almost forget that until recently those quadracers could only be build by smart people with money and soldering skills. Developments are going so fast now, they become better and more affordable almost by the day.



Here's the latest model from Eachine, looks pretty awesome. And if you already own transmitter/headset it's not that expensive at 166Euro.
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Assassin-180-FPV-Quadcopter-Built-In-OSD-GPS-NAZE32-With-HD-Camera-ARF-Version-p-1030018.html



Notice that when he's flying, the transmitter controller sticks still have the sharp anti-noob spikes on them. Gotta love this guy. 

Could see on my ordertracker the props and batteries have arrived in the Netherlands, so in 1 or 2 days I have everything I need to go flying.


Only one important thing will be missing, live onboard sound. The Eachine250's camera does not support sound, and there's no seperate microphone installed.
Have searched, and it appears there are no microphones available for quadracers atm. I could hook a GoPro to the audio/video transmitter. But total cost would be quite high, with the risk of losing the camera in a crash.

As cheapest and easiest solution I got this idea to stick a creditcard sized phone on the quadcopter.

Maybe I can even add a small usb microphone, though not sure if that's going to work, cause the phone may not support a external mic and I also need to use a miniUSB-USB converter, but for 5 euro extra I'm going to try anyway.

In theory the phone idea could work, only need to buy cheapest prepaidcard to get it activated. I can then call it from my normal phone before I go flying, answer the phone on the quadcopter, put on headphones and then take off. Though it seems like a good idea, not sure if it really works since the phonesignal could interfere with the videosignal or the transmitters radio signals. (before going ahead and order the phone from china, I must first test for interference with my smartphone)

http://www.banggood.com/AIEK-M5-4_8mm-Ultra-Thin-Card-Mini-Pocket-Mobile-Phone-p-936891.html

If this works I only need a good but cheapo camera for onboard so I can record the flight.

Tested my phone-idea, and it looks like it will work fine, at least it doesn't cause much problems with the videosignal. Only when holding the calling phone very close to the video antenna the image gets some interference, but mounting a phone on the quad seems possible. Not sure how it interferes with the rc controllers radiosignal though, guess i have to find that out later.

Did some more searching for a real fpv camera with microphone, but in the end that would mean having to replace the original camera. I could try add a second fpv camera, with it's own battery and antenna, which is complicated, if possible at all. Could not find a simple microphone add-on, only mics included in camera units.

The onboard phone is a bit of a redneck solution, but if it works why not. And if I crash the quadcopter in high grass or out of sight, I can call the phone to locate it by sound.

Pretty awesome features on this new drone. And almost no fly skill needed, it practically flies itself.
But learning to work with the menu, gps controles, how to operate the camera and all the other options can be tricky I guess.

Tried some flying with my new quad a few days ago, but it was too windy. Sometimes gust of wind almost flipped the quad or made it uncontrolable. Turned out to be more a series of testcrashing, but everything went well not even broke a propellor. Some nasty dog almost ate my quad, and a farmer came to ask if i would stop mowing his crops. Despite I had a good time flying, or at least trying to.

Found this insane video:

WoW that must take a lot of practise...

canner wrote:

and a farmer came to ask if i would stop mowing his crops

I hope he was friendly...

The farmer was quite friendly. The dog on the other hand was terrible. Was not the farmers dog btw. 

I walked into a large empty field, put down my quad in the grass, turned around and walked two steps. When I looked back all of a sudden a big rottweiler was right on top of the quad, out of control barking like mad. I had not heard him running up to me at all... Needless to say I flipped out and shouted at the dog to fuck off. Then he went crazy running in circles, biting at the quad and growling at me, he also tried to grab the transmitter with screen. First there was not even an owner in sight, finally some old man showed up, he barely managed to control the dog. Making excuse, he said it was not his own dog, and as he walked off he told the dog had done the same to another person flying an rc plane. At that moment I was glad he went away, but actually I'm still pretty mad at the old bastard who should have kept that dog on a leash. 

Better luck next time.

---

muckyman wrote:

WoW that must take a lot of practise...

Apparently that flying from the video above is done by a 11 year old kid.

youtube wrote:

Contact Flight(not FPV)

Pilot : Kim Minchan (age : 11)
Airframe : AstroX230
FC : SP RACING F3
ESC : AstroX20A
Motor : AstroX2204/2300
Prop : HQ Prop 5x4x3
South Korea.

I'm already thinking about getting a mini-quad, like the one from the vids above.
Love the sound and agility, and also the fact you need less airspace to fly.

The problem is you can only build them yourself. A good quality one can't be bought prebuild, unless they are put together by someone else and sold for really expensive. So now I'm looking for parts and trying to determine if I can make it into a working quadcopter. 

That some awesome moves. It is awesome and scary at the same time. Specially that rotating drone looked pretty dangerous. Put some knives on it, and the ability to dodge bullits. Though pretty cool it still manages to stay airborne despite the damaged props.
I do wonder how he can pick them out the air without a problem, there must be some safety measure programmed in the drone to power down on touch.

When I went flying first time, I was holding the quadcopter in my hand and accidentaly bumped the throttle a bit. I was shocked how strong the pull was at even about 1/4 throttle, the quad almost pulled itself apart. The frame started to bend like it could snap at any moment. Lesson learned, never pick up the quad while the transmitter is armed. Easy to forget when running to rescue your quad from a crash.

Just went out flying again. Getting a lot better now. Did not record the flight though, still need to find a way to mount the camera on the quad properly. Again had problems with some dogowner that let his dog loose where I was flying. So I ran to save my stuff and told the dogowner to take his dog and fuck off. These people must have their head up there ass, bunch of arrogant fucks. That a dog is cute doesn't mean I have to like it running around me, it's not my dog. Then I tried flying again, but was too mad to concentrate. Crashed the quad into a small tree. Not very hard, but it sounded quite bad. To my surprise not even a broken propellor, and the rest was fine too. The DAL propellors are so strong, don't even need a propguard. Will try to do some recording next time.

Fucking dog owners should keep the things on leads.