It's on its way !

[Lil' C]

Hi guys.
Just had my e-mail letting me know my H Pro RS is on the way - yippeeeee !

OK so I tried multi-rotors some 4 years ago, way before any decent flight controllers where around, had some limited success so would not go as far as to say I am a complete novice.

Have spent hours reading many posts on here, probably too many to be honest !
So one of the main things that really worries me, is the amount of fly-aways reported by first time users.
I have read all the instructions available online and the quick start guide and many posts and watched the Video from Yuneec.
Apart from basic set up, charging the batteries, switching everything on and keeping a SAFE distance
My question(s) is -
What have you guys done before your first flight....
Calibration - I guess thats a must ?
Firmware update if required ?
Flying Zone, I noticed in the manual it recommends to have 10,000 feet area clear of objects, that seems a bit excessive ?
Which Flight mode to start with, I've read many horrors about using Smart Mode ?
I have gone for the Pro RS, I am right in thinking the landing gear will not lower when RTH is used ?

Sorry for the list of questions, but I really want my first flight to be a success !
and every flight after that I hope....
Thanks

Chris

 

[ricmitch]

I think it is important to take little steps, I updated firmware, But if you have never done that before watch some videos first.
Performed calibrations, waited a few minute for good satellite connection.
Set your return to home altitude high so you do not crash into trees or building if you need to use return to home
I fly in an area that has almost no one around me. I keep it in line of sight. (I have gotten some trees between me and the H pretty far out, lost video.)
If you loose video let go of the sticks, pause then go for altitude or return to home. I think the key is keep line of sight.
Even some trees at a distance could interrupt video if they block the signal enough, that is why I say keep line of sight or try straight up for more altitude to get it back into sight.
Remember if loose video it could still be responding to your stick inputs. If you fly blind you will hit something and keep in mind if you have video lag as well at greater distances.
I sometime wonder about interference in more poulated area like a subdivision where ther are may wireless signals.
I am not a drone expert and I am sure other will have a lot of info to add.
I also bought themarco polo RC tracker there are other solutions out that as well. But I figure it was a good investment just in case I did have a fly away.
Oh and keep in mind if you are far out and you get that first battery Waring you better head in. If you have to fight a headwind on the way home you will use much more battery.
I was about 20 foot into the clear when auto land initiated Otherwise It would have landed in a tree, I was lucky.

 

[SoCalDroner]

A few tips.

1) The first time you power up the H (after doing all of the calibrations), let is sit for 5 min or longer. It won't use much power but it's important to establish good GPS reception. Even though the satellite count might be enough for flight, let it sit to get a good lock. You won't have to wait as long for subsequent flights.

2) Do not take off in Smart Mode. Take off in Angle Mode. Make sure Obstacle Avoidance is OFF. If you are in Smart Mode and too close to the "H" it will flee from you like it's on fire. This, many times, is the cause of crashes.

3) First time in the air, let it hover about 5 to 10' above the ground. Start to get the feel for the controls. I think you'll find that flying in Angel mode is pretty simple.

4) Get a few successful flights under your belt before using any of the advanced flight modes like Watch Me, Follow Me, Orbit, POI.

5) Fly in Turtle Speed mode until you have confidence in your abilities to control the H.

 

[PatR]

The firmware it arrives with is safe to fly with. Don't hurry to perform a firmware update when you still have much to learn about general system functions.

Get the GUI set up on your computer, assure it functions and will connect to the H.

Calibrate everything that can be calibrated. Do the compass cal outside of the house, away from metal fencing and cars. Leave your cell phone snd propellers in the house.

Take some time with the H grounded, props off, to learn camera and switch functions.

Take baby steps for the first 20 flights or so. Remain inside a distance that permits you to maintain aircraft orientation by looking at the aircraft, not the ST-16.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rayray]

A few tips.

1) The first time you power up the H (after doing all of the calibrations), let is sit for 5 min or longer. It won't use much power but it's important to establish good GPS reception. Even though the satellite count might be enough for flight, let it sit to get a good lock. You won't have to wait as long for subsequent flights.

2) Do not take off in Smart Mode. Take off in Angle Mode. Make sure Obstacle Avoidance is OFF. If you are in Smart Mode and too close to the "H" it will flee from you like it's on fire. This, many times, is the cause of crashes.

3) First time in the air, let it hover about 5 to 10' above the ground. Start to get the feel for the controls. I think you'll find that flying in Angel mode is pretty simple.

4) Get a few successful flights under your belt before using any of the advanced flight modes like Watch Me, Follow Me, Orbit, POI.

5) Fly in Turtle Speed mode until you have confidence in your abilities to control the H.

This seems like good advice to me. The 10,000 is square feet I believe, 100' by 100'. Not a bad idea for first flights.

Personally I do not do anything, except charge both batteries, lol, before just seeing if the darn thing will fly. No update, no calibrations.
Turn the ST16 on, then the drone, let the drone sit there facing away from you, so you can observe the light,while you back away 25' or so. When you quit, turn the drone off first.

While you wait, watch the ST16 acquire GPS Sats (right of screen) and the drone (left of screen). The drone will say Ready after 10 Sats, just tell it "I don't think so". The drone light will become solid purple. After the ST16 gets more than 10 Sats, the drone light will flash white with the solid purple background. The camera should have connected in the meantime.

Typically the drone will show 14 to 20 Sats and the ST16 12 to 15 Sats. Try it out, ANGLE MODE, TURTLE. Hovering in the air at 15 or 20', try raising and lowering the legs and try switching on the RealSense. With the drone facing away from you the right stick control will be intuitive.

Is the green arrow pointing toward you? If not, and/or you get "Calibrate Compass" warnings, after you land (land manually, still in Angle and Turtle), remove props and camera and calibrate compass. No easy, but just start over until the drone light turns Green, indicating success. Put the camera back and do the other 2 calibrations. Updates can wait until you are confident that your craft is performing correctly.

Above all, go slow. If something does not seem right, stop and try to figure it out. Our members are happy to help.

 

[Lil' C]

Hi Guys

Thanks for all of your constructive comments, all noted...
The weather is not looking good here for the next few days so guess I will have to wait a while before the first flight.
Guess thats a good thing in a way, will give me chance to play around and get to know the ST16 !
Thanks again

 

[laidback]

I didn't do any firmware updates before my first flight. She flew perfectly. I flew tail in for the first little bit. That way I always knew what was front, back, left, right. I still haven't mastered nose in yet, where everything is reversed. I also flew in turtle for the first few flights, and I always land in turtle. Also when u trigger RTH, the Drone will come back to you, stop, then do a 180 to face away from you and will then deploy the landing gear. No matter the orientation of your landing gear switch. If u then take control you must cycle the switch to get the gear back up.

 

[Lil' C]

Great advice on the RTH 'laidback' had not read that anywhere yet - thanks.
Anyone confirm that when RS is on and RTH triggered, the landing gear will not lower and the H just hover above the ground ??

Chris

 

[Rayray]

Pls do not use RTH unless you have lost sight of your drone AND know that it is not under trees. Do not use RTH to land, take control in Angle when you see it coming. Do not use Smart Mode either for the first 10 years (OK - 5). Learn to fly well in Angle Mode, learn to turn the craft to face the direction of travel.

Regardless of RealSense, your drone will not go below 5' or so with the legs up. IPS controls that. Don't use RealSense when taking off or landing.

 

[laidback]

I also started small, meaning I would fly low and close. I had multiple batteries where I didn't fly above 10' and about 20' out. Landing multiple times, and multiple take offs. I slowly started to push MY limits. My max distance is around 3500' at 400' in altitude. At that distance it was just a speck against the blue sky, but she was rock solid. Never once lost connection.

 

[laidback]

Regardless of RealSense, your drone will not go below 5' or so with the legs up. IPS controls that. Don't use RealSense when taking off or landing.

Last time I tried, I could be inches from ground with the legs up. Did that change on last update?

 

[Rayray]

You must have the RealSense Typhoon H to have the IPS. Lil' C said he is getting one.
Sorry I was not clear.

EDIT: You CAN run it into the ground moving laterally; If you are coming down, as if to land, the IPS will stop you if the legs are up.

 

[laidback]

You must have the RealSense Typhoon H to have the IPS. Lil' C said he is getting one.
Sorry I was not clear.

Yup.... Got that covered

 

[TH Newbie]

I am also a newbie but 4 bits of advice
1 If you have a panic, let go of both sticks and it will sort itself out and stabilise. Do not try to take control until you are confident
2 Anything unexpected happens e.g. idiot with a dog comes up behind you.
Left stick forward, gain height, give yourself some time and height, then sort out problem
3 Fly with the legs down until you are really confident, If you loose orientation or can't see the light's look at the legs
4 If you don't know which way the H is pointing push the right stick forward
a) if it fly's to the left it must be pointing left, move the right stick left and it will do a left turn and fly towards you
b) if it fly's to the right it must be pointing right, move the right stick to the right and it will do a right turn and fly towards you
c) if it does not change direction, it must be flying straight at you or away from you, look at the distance on the controller and check if it is counting up or down
Just remember this -- right stick forward, move right stick in direction H fly's and it will come back to you

Practice (4) until it becomes second nature, it will get you out of trouble.

 

[Lil' C]

Thanks TH Newbie - great advice on No 4 !

 

[SoCalDroner]

I am also a newbie but 4 bits of advice
1 If you have a panic, let go of both sticks and it will sort itself out and stabilise. Do not try to take control until you are confident
2 Anything unexpected happens e.g. idiot with a dog comes up behind you.
Left stick forward, gain height, give yourself some time and height, then sort out problem
3 Fly with the legs down until you are really confident, If you loose orientation or can't see the light's look at the legs
4 If you don't know which way the H is pointing push the right stick forward
a) if it fly's to the left it must be pointing left, move the right stick left and it will do a left turn and fly towards you
b) if it fly's to the right it must be pointing right, move the right stick to the right and it will do a right turn and fly towards you
c) if it does not change direction, it must be flying straight at you or away from you, look at the distance on the controller and check if it is counting up or down
Just remember this -- right stick forward, move right stick in direction H fly's and it will come back to you

Practice (4) until it becomes second nature, it will get you out of trouble.

Buy Yuneec's flight simulator dongle and download the software. Then practice all of these suggestions with the Typhoon H model simulation. The simulation is surprisingly realistic and you use your ST16 to fly it. You even get telemetry on your ST16 from the simulated "H". Now you don't have to worry about crashing it and you'll build the muscle memory for these maneuvers.

 

[PatR]

That was a very good piece of advice. More crashes are prevented because of time spent on a simulator than any other way. Getting used to the controls and recognizing/maintaining aircraft orientation are by far the largest causes of incidents. A sim lets you develop all you need to fly effectively.

 

[SoCalDroner]

Thanks. I figure the $40 for the simulator is better than crashing a $1000+ H. Of course with my luck, I'd get a fly-away on the simulator

 

[laidback]

EDIT: ....... If you are coming down, as if to land, the IPS will stop you if the legs are up.

I gotta apologize to Rayray, I dont know what i did before when testing this.....maybe I had my gear down???
I can absolutely confirm this. just tried this, the H will stop and hover at around 5'

 

[Rayray]

I gotta apologize to Rayray, I dont know what i did before when testing this.....maybe I had my gear down???
I can absolutely confirm this. just tried this, the H will stop and hover at around 5'

No problem, lol. I was wrong once, 1955 I believe it was.