Anyone near me who would help a newb?

[Jtrjr]

HTP,

I think mine is set to pulses as well, I'll have to check. There are actually several failsafe processes. One will engage if your radio loses the signal from the bird. You set it up in BF to either attempt to land or to drop after so many seconds of lost comms. Another is what will happen if you turn your radio off, it's the same as the first one but you're initiating the signal loss by switching the radio off. You'd use this if you lost sight of your bird and started to panic, just shut the radio off and the bird will drop.

The switch method is also the same but you're using a switch instead of powering down the radio. Your radio can be useful in finding a lost bird by providing information such as RSSI on the display. The higher the RSSI the closer the bird is. If your radio disconnected from the bird but it's powered on you can start walking in the direction of where the bird went down and it may reconnect and deliver an RSSI signal to help you find it.

Pizza and beer sounds great!

Jerry

 

[HighTechPauper]

HTP,

Yes, I believe Hybrid is a variant of Angle Mode but honestly I'm not certain as I never really used it. I used Horizon at the beginning because I started out with aerial photography drones. It made things a little easier making the transition to race drones. I never fly anything but Acro now but I leave Horizon on there in case any friends want to try one of my bang around quads.

I use the beeper if I crash or land but my battery is still good and I don't want to turn off my radio. If I'm in high pasture grass, a corn or bean field, the quad could be 20' away from me and I may never be able to find it. The beeper switch makes it easy to find and to get it back in the air without shutting anything down.

I probably wouldn't be flying race quads and I certainly wouldn't be helping others if great members here hadn't helped me. This is a great site and most of the regulars aren't pro's either so we all help each other out. This is a small and slow forum sometimes but it's probably the best forum I've ever been on. No ego's around here so very little, if any, bickering. Folks around here don't make you feel intimidated.

Jerry

Yes indeed, I haven't seen one snarky comment in this forum yet, which is a breath of fresh air compared to some of the stuff on the Phantom Pilots forum. I started with a p4p+ and quickly got the bug for something more exciting and challenging so the natural evolution seems to be FPV racing and acrobatics. I am in the embryo stage of this and will be spending the winter on sims to try and gain some level of skill and ability. Right now I grabbed FPV Freerider and it seems ok to me for all I know. I have bought WAY too much gear for such a novice pilot but it gives me plenty of stuff to fly/crash/rebuild/rinse/repeat as I learn. I assume in the boonies of SD that you have a good bit of unflyable weather during the winter months, do you use a sim at all anymore, and if so which one.
Again, many kind regards to you all for helpin a newbie find his wings!!!
Randy

 

[Jtrjr]

Randy,

Yeah, we get some serious winter up here in the Boonies! We should be wintering in Texas most of next winter. This year it looks like we'll be hunkering down here for the most part. I just started on this endeavor at the beginning of last winter myself. I've been flying the aerial photography stuff for a few years now (DJI P2V+v3, 2-P3Pro's, Mavic Pro and a 3DR Solo). I never really got into the sim stuff much. I've got FPV FreeRider and the DRL sim installed and have used them both a bit but I get bored with them. I wish I enjoyed them more because I'm sure they'd be very helpful. I'm 58 and never really got into the gamer stuff so I'm sure that's part of it. I thing the guys that are gamers can take to this stuff very quickly. You have absolutely no idea how much gear you'll acquire if you really start to pursue this hobby (just ask theGreenOrange or Virtue Violater!). It's far, far worse than the aerial photography stuff. I'm having a blast though! It really keeps my mind, body and spirit going! When you're retired and growing older that's really important.

Jerry

 

[VirtueViolater]

Randy,

Yeah, we get some serious winter up here in the Boonies! We should be wintering in Texas most of next winter. This year it looks like we'll be hunkering down here for the most part. I just started on this endeavor at the beginning of last winter myself. I've been flying the aerial photography stuff for a few years now (DJI P2V+v3, 2-P3Pro's, Mavic Pro and a 3DR Solo). I never really got into the sim stuff much. I've got FPV FreeRider and the DRL sim installed and have used them both a bit but I get bored with them. I wish I enjoyed them more because I'm sure they'd be very helpful. I'm 58 and never really got into the gamer stuff so I'm sure that's part of it. I thing the guys that are gamers can take to this stuff very quickly. You have absolutely no idea how much gear you'll acquire if you really start to pursue this hobby (just ask theGreenOrange or Virtue Violater!). It's far, far worse than the aerial photography stuff. I'm having a blast though! It really keeps my mind, body and spirit going! When you're retired and growing older that's really important.

Jerry

Man did you hit the nail on the head! Stuff i have got...lol
Was thinking.... i would be willing to donate some parts for a build to raffle or give away or something instead of letting this stuff gather dust, all for a good cause

 

[HighTechPauper]

Randy,

Yeah, we get some serious winter up here in the Boonies! We should be wintering in Texas most of next winter. This year it looks like we'll be hunkering down here for the most part. I just started on this endeavor at the beginning of last winter myself. I've been flying the aerial photography stuff for a few years now (DJI P2V+v3, 2-P3Pro's, Mavic Pro and a 3DR Solo). I never really got into the sim stuff much. I've got FPV FreeRider and the DRL sim installed and have used them both a bit but I get bored with them. I wish I enjoyed them more because I'm sure they'd be very helpful. I'm 58 and never really got into the gamer stuff so I'm sure that's part of it. I thing the guys that are gamers can take to this stuff very quickly. You have absolutely no idea how much gear you'll acquire if you really start to pursue this hobby (just ask theGreenOrange or Virtue Violater!). It's far, far worse than the aerial photography stuff. I'm having a blast though! It really keeps my mind, body and spirit going! When you're retired and growing older that's really important.

Jerry

10-4 Brother! I need this hobby as well because I can't stand golf and never was a gamer either, so FPV flying and learning to Kite Board are in my retirement plans! I'll be 57 next month and I may have been forced into early retirement as of Jan2017 unless I am willing to move to a new location or am willing to work for nothing. But I saved well so I should make it even if I have to eat beany weenies once in awhile. After almost 40 years in the Telecomm industry and having some time to unwind after the RIF, I'm not sure how I ever had time for that work bullsheet

TTYL
Randy

 

[Jtrjr]

i would be willing to donate some parts for a build to raffle or give away or something instead of letting this stuff gather dust, all for a good cause

Great Idea but I couldn't imagine the legal and administrative requirements to pull that off! Plus, I "NEED" all of my stuff!

Jerry

 

[HighTechPauper]

Man did you hit the nail on the head! Stuff i have got...lol
Was thinking.... i would be willing to donate some parts for a build to raffle or give away or something instead of letting this stuff gather dust, all for a good cause

Virtue, I'm sure you could easily sell stuff instead of giving back to the community, talk about walking the talk, what an example!

@Jtrjr @VirtueViolater @theGreenOrange and others I'm sure...
You guys may not be pros, but to guys (and gals) like me, you stand 10 feet tall and make a huge contribution to this sport I'm not sure you fully know! I think I found a new home, thanks in advance you guys!

RandyHTP

 

[Jtrjr]

Well, you're only going to find me here. I don't do Facenot, Snapcrap or any of that Twatter stuff! Welcome to the Family!

Jerry

 

[VirtueViolater]

10-4 Brother! I need this hobby as well because I can't stand golf and never was a gamer either, so FPV flying and learning to Kite Board are in my retirement plans! I'll be 57 next month and I may have been forced into early retirement as of Jan2017 unless I am willing to move to a new location or am willing to work for nothing. But I saved well so I should make it even if I have to eat beany weenies once in awhile. After almost 40 years in the Telecomm industry and having some time to unwind after the RIF, I'm not sure how I ever had time for that work bullsheet

TTYL
Randy

lol....
beenieweenies are great with a quad

Well, you're only going to find me here. I don't do Facenot, Snapcrap or any of that Twatter stuff! Welcome to the Family!

Jerry

Agreed
welcome, your content here will be enjoyed by all

 

[HighTechPauper]

OK you guys, quick question, is the BetaFlight Configurator all I need to program my quads when the time comes? Is there any worry that BF 3.3 will drop some FC's?

 

[theGreenOrange]

You may need the BLHeli configurator if some of your motors need reversing. Pretty much everything else is done in betaflight. I don't think any f3 or f4 targets will get dropped anytime soon, just the f1's are gone. Nobody should be buying an f1 at this point anyways.

 

[HighTechPauper]

1

You may need the BLHeli configurator if some of your motors need reversing. Pretty much everything else is done in betaflight. I don't think any f3 or f4 targets will get dropped anytime soon, just the f1's are gone. Nobody should be buying an f1 at this point anyways.

10-4 TGO, thank you!

 

[Jtrjr]

Edit: I started to write you a long note before it dawned on me that I don't know if you're building the bird or if it's preassembled and you just need to install your XSR receiver? I'll complete my note when you let me know.

HTP,

Here's what I would do when your quad arrives. Use a screen recorder to record all of the BF settings before altering any setting. Your flight controller should already be flashed with some version of BF and the default settings for your bird. Saving these settings to a video file could save you a lot of headaches in the future.

With props off and no battery, connect the FC to your computer, start your screen recorder, open BF, go through each page and tab (make sure you scroll to the bottom of each screen). All you want to do at this stage is capture every default setting to a video file.

 

[HighTechPauper]

Edit: I started to write you a long note before it dawned on me that I don't know if you're building the bird or if it's preassembled and you just need to install your XSR receiver? I'll complete my note when you let me know.

HTP,

Here's what I would do when your quad arrives. Use a screen recorder to record all of the BF settings before altering any setting. Your flight controller should already be flashed with some version of BF and the default settings for your bird. Saving these settings to a video file could save you a lot of headaches in the future.

With props off and no battery, connect the FC to your computer, start your screen recorder, open BF, go through each page and tab (make sure you scroll to the bottom of each screen). All you want to do at this stage is capture every default setting to a video file.

Good morning Jerry!

I bought 2 of the $99 ARF Anniversary Edition Wizard X220 models from Banggood when they hit the lowest price before their 11th Anniversary sale ended. I hate to shop there but I couldn't pass up what seemed like a really good deal as near as I could tell, and I so rarely go to China for such things because I would rather pay a little more to support a company here selling in the US.

Since I am new to all this and don't know what pitfalls await me yet, your recommendation to capture all the defaults is greatly appreciated, and I will do just that.

I am guessing I should open the configurators for BF and BLH to capture all the defaults on both FC and ESC's before I touch anything, and i would assume that it should fly ok on these settings until I know what I want/need to change.

I am an old Jar Head and I worked deceptive electronic countermeasures in the Marine Corp. I was trained and certified on "miniature and micro-miniature component repair" as they called it and that was simply advanced soldering, conformal coating removal and replacement, and the like.

So given my background I will be building anything I get after this last purchase, but I wanted to get something that I could learn about all the config and tuning stuff before I had to troubleshoot, or burn up stuff that I could assemble but didn't understand the underlying technologies yet.

Can anyone tell me if the "F3 6DOF, BetaFlight 2.9.1 version" that is in this thing is an SPRacing or some other? And do you think it will, or that I should, try to upgrade it to the latest before, or after, I prove that all the motors, ESC's and FC all work as advertised?

Thanks again you guys for all your time and help!

Randy

 

[HighTechPauper]

Oh, and one more thing for now...
Should I get BLH Suite also or is the BLH Configurator all I will need?
R

 

[Jtrjr]

HTP,

Okay, with that info I'll finish my note...

Here's what I would do when your quad arrives. Use a screen recorder to record all of the BF settings before altering any setting. Your flight controller should already be flashed with some version of BF and the default settings for your bird. Saving these settings to a video file could save you a lot of headaches in the future.

With props off and no battery, connect the FC to your computer, start your screen recorder, open BF, go through each page and tab (make sure you scroll to the bottom of each screen). All you want to do at this stage is capture every default setting to a video file. That's about all I would do regarding changes. Next, you need to install and bind your XSR receiver. Should be fairly easy given your background. Many YT vids on how to do this. Then you need to set up your radio in BF (again, refer to YT). If you run into issues with any of these tasks, just post back.

After setting up your radio you may want to calibrate your motors on the motor tab in BF (YT). I wouldn't update anything else and I definitely wouldn't flash to a newer version of BF just yet. Leave it on whatever version it came with for now. Take that bad boy out and start flying! After you've flown it for a while you may want to start tweeking settings. I think there are quite a few folks on this forum with Wizards so they may have some deeper insight that I do about that particular bird.

Lastly, Semper Fi Brother!

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

HTP,

I have both but use the BLHeli configurator 95% of the time.

Jerry

 

[HighTechPauper]

Ooh Rah Marine, Semper Fi!!! I was Cherry Point too but only for 4 years (79-83) VMAQ-2 EA-6B Prowlers, the old Playboy squadron, man I miss the bunny on the tail of those stretched A6's, Political Correctness is taking its toll, especially since it has little to do with right and wrong. Sorry, rant over.

Do you also have CleanFlight? Am just starting to look at some web pages and it and BF look almost identical.

 

[Jtrjr]

HTP,

The Baseflight, Cleanflight, Betaflight story is a long one. They were all started by Boris B. You don't need anything other than Betaflight. Boris B is very active with Betaflight, the others, not so much.

Jerry

 

[HighTechPauper]

Got one of the quads today, hooked it up to BF and did a video capture of all the info in the FC, then I noticed the backup function and did that too. Then went into the CLI and did a version and dump and saved it to a file, so I think I have all the initial info. Still no receiver yet so I can't finish setting up my radio or fly but I did test all the motors and they all spin and in the right direction.

Gotta love ordering from China...
Ordered 2 of the quads from Banggood along with a XSR receiver. The first one shipped to San Fran on the 4th along with the rcvr, the second one shipped on the 10th. The first one hasn't even made it to US yet according to tracking and the second one got delivered today. How in the heck can a product that shipped a week later show up on my doorstep before the other one even gets to the US.