At last! First flight (hover) of my quad

[KK1W]

I couldn';t put it off any longer. Checked everything. Settings, motors, props, battery, setup in mission planner, asking noob questions on this great group... it was time to apply power and hope!

It seemed sensitive in pitch and roll, slow in yaw. After I landed and stopped the video I realized I had made a ';mental note'; to add exp to pitch and roll in the transmitter - but of course I didn';t

It';s just been too cold here in Massachusetts to go outside. Today was around 0C and 15 mph winds. The weekend looks a little better, then next week we go to highs from -15 to -5C. So I took refuge in the garage for the little hover.

I didn';t set any timers in the TX either (another lost mental note) but I put maybe 3 minutes total. The pack took almost 1200 mah charge so I';m not expecting much more than 4 minutes. I';ll strap it down over the weekend and see what it is drawing at hover and full throttle for current. Motors and ESC were cool when I landed, battery was warm. Temp in the garage maybe 10C or so (but no wind).

In case you';re having difficulty sleeping here';s a short video guaranteed to put you to sleep

http://youtu.be/-mFAHnuuhUw

Thanks to everyone in the group for your help, either directly through answering my questions or from reading though older postings - made this first attempt a lot easier than going it alone

[KK1W]

Obviously I have no idea how to imbed a video. 

Here';s the link if you';re still awake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mFAHnuuhUw

[Gaza07]

Hi KK1W hope you don';t mind I fixed the video in your first post, you don';t really need to do anything more than paste the share link from you tube in to your post the forum then auto embeds it,
just click the share button under the video and copy the link and paste it in to the post 

Your test flight went very well you must be well chuffed I know I would be, your probably going to have to do a little tweaking to get it locked in, the video also went very well to very well done 

[KK1W]

Thanks Gaz - for fixing the video and the note!

Definitely ';different'; trying to fly something that want';s to fly itself.
Maybe it';s the echo in the garage but I wasn';t prepared for the weird
sounds from the props, especially when yawing.

I';ll keep picking away at it and wait for springtime to show up soon. I don';t think I';m close to good enough to do much tuning in the garage - I';m sure to break something more valuable than the quad

Many thanks to you and the group. I';m a long way away but of all the groups I
visited while researching information this one seemed active, with lots of
good information but most importantly helpful and polite - you guys and
gals do a great job and make everyone feel welcome.

Jim

[icedfusion]

Nice vid - are you hovering in gyro only mode or is that with the level mode on as well?

I remember when I first started out and getting a hover in stable mode was an achievement! Stick with it and you will get better!

ice

[KK1W]

Nice vid - are you hovering in gyro only mode or is that with the level mode on as well?

I remember when I first started out and getting a hover in stable mode was an achievement! Stick with it and you will get better!

ice

Ice,

It was in ';stable'; mode. Not sure what exactly ';level mode'; is - are you referring to alt-hold?

It was a blast, I thought for sure it would flip or something once it was three feet off the ground but...

Thanks for the comment!

[icedfusion]

there is lots of terminology for the the various different modes, when I said level mode I did mean stable mode.

ice

[hibbo]

Cool, that';s ace man, I';m just about to hover mine for the first time, and am still a wee bit unsure of what settings to begin with, like stable etc. 

Have you any recommendations for setting other than the usual calibrate and balance stuff?

Happy times

[KK1W]

Cool, that';s ace man, I';m just about to hover mine for the first time, and am still a wee bit unsure of what settings to begin with, like stable etc. 

Have you any recommendations for setting other than the usual calibrate and balance stuff?

Happy times

Hibbo,

I took Gaza07';s advice and stuck with the default PID';s in APM 2.8.1. I also balanced the props, something I always have done with my R/C aircraft. And I checked, double checked and triple checked the motor direction and the correct props were on the correct motors. I also took a hint from one of Stef';s vids and clearly labeled each arm with the motor # and rotation direction. It is so easy to mix them up, at least for me!

I didn';t check the balance, there didn';t seem to be much hanging off anywhere that would make a difference I could measure.

One thing I did was set it all up without the props, arm the system, spin up the motors then hold the frame up then twist it around and listen for the change in motor speed as it attempts to correct. Not as accurate as Gaz';s method of doing it with the props on but was less chance I';ll screw up and start leaking blood 

Even with all the checks I forgot to set up exponential trim (EXPO) on my transmitter. It seemed sensitive to pitch and roll, maybe if I had done that it would have been smoother. I would recommend 20 to 40% expo if you can set that up on your TX.

One other thing to remember is like everyone says, there is a big difference between hovering at 1'; and 5'; above the ground/floor. Once you get up out of the ground effect it is much easier to keep it where you want it.

Good luck with your first flight - let us know how you make out!

[guest325]

Yeh, Propwash is a pain in the a55 when you';re learning - trying to fly higher induces more of the fear factor but once you get up to chest height or higher things get a lot more stable.

[hibbo]

Thanks guys, I used to fly RC helis (badly) and am now remembering the joys of ground effect.  Had a wee hover in my living room just now and it went well but is bouncing around in the propwash.  I will have to wait for the snow to clear I think before going outside, but as it';s just dropped another foot here in bonny Aberdeenshire that may be a while.

On the plus side I love to snowboard so I';m nae complaining  ::) 

[Gaza07]

Pleased to hear you have also had yours of the ground Hibbo