Tighter hold in smart mode?

[CraigCam]

The other day I was checking some suspect batteries by holding hover in some good winds of 12mph with 18mph gusts. I was holding position via GPS and observing deflections when I thought to flip into smart mode. I was far enough away that it stayed in place and I realized that perhaps adding the additional lock to the ST 16 position could help reduce lateral movement. It did appear to help but I could have been self biasing and I had no one with me to observe any differences. Has anyone ever noticed this? Is there a tighter lock if you turn on smart mode and stand still?

I’m over two years in and still trying different things and if this works, it could solve the difficulty of holding on your subject before following their action. The H hover for high holds is great and even at low altitude where prop wash figures in, the video remains steady but the subject can’t stay in frame with the minor deviations. Of course add in wind and it’s really difficult. The RS version seems more accurate then the standard for hover also and considering RS activates in Smart mode then perhaps adding ST GPS coordinates does improve locking position for better low and close shots.

 

[PatR]

I believe you are correct in stating position hold in Smart mode is tighter. Why, I don’t know.

 

[Steve Carr]

You do have to exercise more care when you are at low altitude in Smart mode. It's easy to forget.........if you move so does the H. It's automatically in Follow Mode.

 

[CraigCam]

For sure I stood very still and gained altitude before changing any of my position. I think the more you explore follow and watch mode, the more switching back to angle becomes second nature. I always check the response to me in a safe open area with smart mode on and the H holding hover by walking forward a bit to push it forward. There is often a lag the first time and a jerky start. I’ll walk back to original start and then check camera by touching watch me.
Lord knows I’ve got lots of footage of me squinting back at my camera trying to figure out if it’s working properly.

 

[CraigCam]

I got to do a follow up today. I have a newly painted shell and compass GPS unit to test. I also bought two GIFI POWER batteries plus Ty Pilots awesome tray. It’s 19mph plus winds today and 51 degrees so why not. I got a real 15 minutes from the GIFI that’s very steady state. It does appear the additional capacity is balanced out by greater weight so I’m not surprised that the time is not longer. It definitely is more efficient with the higher amps. As for the tray, it’s super great and fast to hook up. My hood works way better without their strap and it’s built really well. I’ll post more in my experiences with it as I use it more.

After ascending to about 200’, I let it hover and watched for handling and issues. This is actually the guts from my very first TH 480 that crashed last summer. It’s been a bit goofy ever since with compass warnings but never any flight issues. I thought new GPS would help so I calibrated, let it sit, and calibrated again. For sure the second calibration went quicker and hung up less on the 4th axis. So it’s holds well even while flashing warnings which I keep clearing yet never shows any compass related quirks besides the warnings.

I descended to palm tree top height and turned to observe the wind blowing the fronds. Here in angle mode, I got a fair amount of bounce as expected. I went and stood in a better location relative to the H position and switched to smart mode. For sure it locks in place better and I have now observed this working under good stress tests. And yes, I remembered to go back to angle before I moved to retrieve my wandering dog. That switch should really include a LED indicator in addition to the screen as it’s easy to miss that you are in follow if you can’t focus on the ST screen. For sure having a better holder for the radio really helps your confidence.

 

[Steve Carr]

Good test. I'll have to check that stability myself to see how it behaves. So you are still getting compass errors?

 

[CraigCam]

I changed the flight control board today and I’m going to try again tomorrow. I got an extra FLC when I bought a replacement ESC board. I’ll give the H the full treatment again including the table gathering and see what happens. At this point, there is not much left from the original version so I’m hoping this stops it.

 

[CraigCam]

I did get a good test in. After all the calibration and table gathering, the first flight exhibited some warnings and the beginnings of a toilet bowl. Some good stick movements and position change stopped it. On the second battery, I had no issues. It seems with the new logic board that it’s learning properly. I expect it to get better now and become reliable again.