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Getting back in the air after a crash.

CraigCam

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Greetings everyone. I'm pleased to announce I've got my "original" H back in the air. I use the quotations as the only thing original is the shell I painted and my third party strobe light. After much thought, I opted for a color box full TH that I bought from the local Ace Hardware. One of the reasons is my hobby buddy who always helped me at my local shop rebounded at this Ace and is trying to get their hobby shop to be a Yuneec dealer and parts supplier. He took a big risk by getting them to bring in this unit and the price was the same as anywhere else as basically those are sold at a MAP by everyone. I know I could have saved the tax online but I prefer to support local merchants and this Ace is owned by one family who have built the largest independent Ace Hardware in the USA.
My logic is I get a new TH and my body and motherboard from the crash at a minimum. The crash can now be parts or be rebuilt as a back up. It seems almost every multi rotor I've owned (except the Q500) gets destroyed over time and it's actually a better deal to just buy a new one and get extra parts. Yesterday, I did all the set ups and started down the test flight path again at my regular flying location at my neighborhood park. For sure I checked that battery seating multiple times and even flew the battery that was in the crash. It's going to take a few more calibrations of the compass for it to settle in as I had really built up the reliability of the crashed IMU. I can already see it getting better as it's catching the information with less axis rolls. The drifting is getting less as well and I've only had it up three times. This is my third TH that I've set up and observed how it learns.

For sure the need for a new TH system to gather GPS data accurately in your first few flights is very important. Maybe because I'm familiar with Yuneec drift from the Chroma line, I expect to see it initially when it's just learning the location. My go to procedure is to do light flying at very close and observable distances and slowly add more moves and action. I noticed a few compass flashes so I'd land, shut everything down, recalibrate and proceed. By the third time up, I could see a steadier hover. I've discovered that really jerking the sticks around to yaw and tilt rapidly over one spot helps stop drifting. Once I see it dance in front of me in response to my radical stick moves, I feel good about my control.

My next experiment is to see if I can get the extra ST to be just a monitor while I've got the other two in team mode. I'm thinking it will work and not affect anything.
 
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You seem to experience the same things I do relative to GPS and hover positioning at new locations. Like you I prefer to give the system a little time to acquire GPS data. I don't know if you've noticed this but when launching from new locations some distance away from "usual" launch sites it sometimes seems the acquisition of GPS satellites is a little slow at first, with subsequent flights from the same or very near location reading/acquiring satellites a little faster each time.

Good to see you're back up, and that you like to support local brick and mortar stores.
 
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Great to hear you are back up in the air again Craig. Without a doubt, taking things slow at the start is the smart approach.
Keen to hear how you go with the additional ST16. Can't say I've ever heard of having 3 St16's used on the one flight. Sounds pretty cool.
 
Great to hear you are back up in the air again Craig. Without a doubt, taking things slow at the start is the smart approach.
Keen to hear how you go with the additional ST16. Can't say I've ever heard of having 3 St16's used on the one flight. Sounds pretty cool.

I did a little more customizing. I got a silver Krink paint pen and added a metallic look to the arm locks and motor pods and landing gear. It really adds to the VLOS and this color scheme makes it pop in the sky. I get why the 520 is orange.IMG_0334.JPG
 
^^Looking good.
I've actually got mine apart at the moment and will be painting the shell today. I have the base coat (primer) applied already. I like what you have done with the camera. I was planning on painting the entire camera shell, but I do like the look of the centre section being left alone.
 
^^Looking good.
I've actually got mine apart at the moment and will be painting the shell today. I have the base coat (primer) applied already. I like what you have done with the camera. I was planning on painting the entire camera shell, but I do like the look of the centre section being left alone.

It helps with getting less confused on straight ahead when coming back to heading from a pan position. I hate when I'm impatient and hit the switch and ruin a smooth 360 pan. That's also why I placed a strobe on the back of the gimbal. Take the little led lens stick out and consider trying to not get paint in that hole. It will alter the clarity of the lights for the camera power and connection status but I don't care as I still know solid glow is connected. And watch out for the sensors in the face half of the camera shell.
 
Take the little led lens stick out and consider trying to not get paint in that hole. It will alter the clarity of the lights for the camera power and connection status but I don't care as I still know solid glow is connected. And watch out for the sensors in the face half of the camera shell.

Darn it. I've already painted the camera shell and have just applied the second coat of clear. I'll wait till everything dries and see if I can rectify this.
 
Forgot to reply back here. After reading about the colour scheme on CraigCam's H, I was inspired to give it a go myself. Certainly helps with LOS. If anyone is considering painting the camera shell, be warned that it can be a very fiddly job as those connector clips have a very fine tolerance and I had to painstakingly remove the additional paint off both sides of my camera shell before it would 'click' back together.
 

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Forgot to reply back here. After reading about the colour scheme on CraigCam's H, I was inspired to give it a go myself. Certainly helps with LOS. If anyone is considering painting the camera shell, be warned that it can be a very fiddly job as those connector clips have a very fine tolerance and I had to painstakingly remove the additional paint off both sides of my camera shell before it would 'click' back together.
Nice colours, but I also like the landing mat. Good idea that.
 
Nice colours, but I also like the landing mat. Good idea that.

Thanks. The mat is a carry over from my 'earlier' days flying mainly DIY multi's. Not so relevant with the H, but it's still good to use for some reference. Plus, with the environment where I fly, you don't want to be taking off, or landing, on the ground directly - way too many bad things to get sucked into the motors, etc.
 
Looks good. BTW, those "sensors" on the front of the camera are microphone ports.

I have never been too concerned with the audio when filming with a multi-rotor. The first few times it was pretty cool to hear the motors, but after that it gets a bit monotonous.
 

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