RCHacker #38 - Infrared FPV
Marc attempts a night flight using the low light capabilities of the Sony SuperHAD and a 3W 850nm LED.
RCHacker #37 - Basic Antenna Tuning. 433Mhz Inverted Vee.
Marc tunes a 433MHz inverted vee antenna for OpenLRS (or any other LRS system) using the RSSI method.
RCHacker #36 - Half wave whip antenna for 433MHz.
This design (hack) is flawed as Rob has kindly pointed out below. I came to the same conclusion when tuning this antenna. Turns out that the optimum length for the best RSSI is well below a quarter wavelength, but as the design is bad I will build something else for the TX.
Marc builds a half wave whip antenna to improve on the poor ones that came with his openlrs (long range 433MHz) system.
RCHacker #35 - FPV. Rafting
Marc takes a flight to get some shots of a group of rafters. High winds make things difficult.
RCHacker #34 - FPV. Pushing it.
A flight around the garden testing the limits of the FPV gear. Not too smooth, and yes on the second flight I pushed it too much.
http://www.rchacker.com/projects/side...
RCHacker #33 - OpenLRS range testing.
Testing the OpenLRS UHF system. More specifically testing the openLRSng firmware with two receiver modules. One is programmed as a transmitter with leds, a switch and speaker added.
The stock rubber ducky antennas are used for the test. No doubt better range could be had with different antennas.
More info here: https://github.com/kh4/openLRSng
and here: http://www.flytron.com/16-openlrs
RCHacker #32 RCHacker Switch PCBs have arrived.
Marc has a first look at the PCBs he designed for the upcoming Switch product.
What does it do? It is a multipurpose digital switch. Six high voltage, high current MOSFETs controlled by a microcontroller. There is the provision to accept control signals via PWM, PPM, SPI, serial, I2C or USB. The board has been laid out so it is easy to attach a FrSky D4R-II receiver, OpenLRS or the DIYDrones IMU. Each MOSFET can be controlled via hardware PWM and by combining this with voltage and current sensing a constant voltage or current could be provided to each output.
More information: http://www.rchacker.com/products/switch
RCHacker #30 Fatshark Video Goggles Teardown. Base RCV922.
Marc takes apart his FatShark FPV goggles for a closer look.
I made a terminology mistake throughout this video, whenever I say 'diopter' I really mean IPD (Interpupillary distance). Diopter is a measurement of magnifying power.
RCHacker #29 Just some fun flying through the trees in low light. Sony Super HAD and GoPro.
Nothing technical in this one, just some more FPV footage of the Sidewinder in low light.
Interesting to compare the poor performance of the GoPro the excellent performance of the 600TVL Sony Super HAD.
RCHacker #28 - Prototype diversity testing. RSSI on screen display at the ground station.
Marc tests out a new feature of his diversity project: RSSI values for the video link added to the video output at the ground station.
RCHacker #27 - More in flight gas bagging with the Sidewinder.
Marc pushes the envelope a little further with the Sidewinder. Short dead stick recovery, rate practice and some in flight commentary about the gear he is using.
More Information: http://www.rchacker.com/projects/side...
26 - Experimental thrust vectoring multirotor: 3rd person view.
FPV flights with the Sidewinder. The FPV camera attached to the tail so we can see what the thrust vectoring motors are doing and the results in flight. Marc bitches about his FatSharks and has a chat about the current projects he is up to.
25 - Experimental thrust vectoring multicopter. Version 2.
Two more motors to improve performance. More tuning and practice with the extra stick. Next up will be some FPV flights.
24 - Experimental thrust vectoring multirotor.
Marc tries out a new idea he calls the Sidewinder. Using servos to vector thrust on three additional motors a multirotor can be moved forwards and sideways while keeping the airframe level. Why? One reason is to make a stable camera platform without the need for a gimbal.
23 - FrSky D4R-II PPM Problems. Investigation and Solution with a KK2 and Bitscope.
Marc has figured out what was causing his Mini Tricopter to fall out of the sky. Fortunately FrSky have a solution with a firmware update. They have a good reputation for listening to their customers. Well done I say.
I am no expert on this subject but the oscilloscope is from http://www.bitscope.com and it seems to work well for me. I chose it because the software was cross platform.
22 - Fat Sheep.
Marc introduces his new TBS Discovery style airframe.
21 - Mini Tricopter water damage report and other news.
Mini Tricopter damage report after a swim in the river. Most of the electronics survived. Also an updated on some future ideas.
20 - Y4 Experimental design, Maiden Flight. KK2, DT750, F-20A with SimonK.
Motors, DT750.
ESC, HK F-20A with simonK
Flight controller, KK2 v1.5 with modded Y4 configuration.
19 - Mini Tri-copter at the Machay waterfall.
Marc takes a risk flying the Mini-Tricopter over the Machay river.
18 - FrSky Telemetry Range Test with Wifi Booster.
Marc tests the range of the FrSky radio gear through the trees and how much further it will go with a 1W Wifi booster.
Just an update on this, I have read that it should be used with an attenuator (6dB with FrSky). If the input power is too high they work but do not last long.
17 - Mini Tricopter HD camera testing and crash.
16 - Mini D1 SD card video recorder. Teardown.
15 - Mini Tricopter update, FPV payload and RD32 camera.
14 - Minim OSD. On screen heads up display for FPV. DIYDrones and HobbyKing. Review.
13 - Turnigy 130A Watt Meter, Teardown, Soldering and Testing on a Tricopter.
12 - Turnigy 9XR Review and Teardown (speculative).
11 - Diversity/Scanner ground station preview and first FPV on the Mini Tricopter.
10 - Mini Tricopter FPV load, and KK2 auto level testing.
9 - Mini Tricopter repairs.
8 - Mini Tricopter flight tests and crashes.
7 - Arduino on the KK2, the example test code explained.
6 - Lithium Ion battery explosion. Trustfire 18650 teardown and destruction.
5 - Arduino on the KK2 Multi rotor control board. Test code demonstration.
4 - Mini Tricopter maiden flight with a pig and a dog.
3 - Turnigy 9X PS2 joystick modification.
2 - Multi camera filming. Hobbyking Q450, Hextronik DT750, GoPro, CanonSX30, Nikone3700
1 - Hobbyking built quad. First flight with Go Pro amongst trees in garden.
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