Manual FPV sticks

[EdH]

When you change the control sticks to fly Manual do you leave them there when flying normal or S mode or set them back?

 

[droneguy]

If you are talking about removing the auto-center on the left throttle stick, then yes otherwise your auto hover modes won't operate as intended. I switched mine immediately to remove the auto center then went back and forth a couple times. Now I just fly manual with the centering on. The spring tension isn't crazy strong on the throttle anyway so I just put up with it. Also the hover point is near enough to the center that it's not a big deal. The only time it might be a little annoying is if you are trying to land in manual mode without assistance.

 

[Kilrah]

I leave it uncentered, but then I'm mostly flying manual anyway.

I wish DJI had done something that mechanically enables/disables centering when you change mode

 

[thetechnobear]

how are you finding this now with a bit more time under your belt?

Im flying in Sport mode at the moment, getting increasingly more comfortable when flying lower, and around obstacles.
in parallel, Im using the sim to get comfortable with manual control - really just trying to understand/build up muscle memory with controls.

at the moment, im still running the control sprung - which is a bit challenging in the sims for manual mode (for obvious reasons)

Im wondering if I should remove the auto centre, and get used to flying around in 'assisted' modes like this.
I think one advantage this may have, is it will teach me to keep an eye on the left stick for losing/gaining height even in S mode.
(its not the same as M mode, but Im thinking a small step in right direction)

alternatively, I could carry on 'as-is', I've heard some fpv-ers say they can fly in M mode with a sprung throttle.

I guess my end goal is always to fly with the controller either sprung or not.
only advantage I see of leaving it sprung, is if I hand it over to someone who has not flown before ... and is(obviously) running in N mode.

 

[JoostGT3]

I'm on this fence as well. I fly basically always in manual mode, but take-offs and landings are done in normal or sport. When changing mode from manual, it is really inconvenient that the drone behaves like your old mavic (which baically fools you into flying it like a mavic), EXCEPT for the fact that it doesn't hold altitude (combined with the fact that I have roll and yaw sticks reversed on my Mavics). I was thinking of putting the sprung centering back just a little bit, so that it is easier to fly when landing and taking off, but I'm a bit hesitant to do so, as it may make you maybe leave the stick centered when coming out of a roll or a dive, whereas you could actually need a lot of power to pull you out of it... For now, I think I'll leave it unsprung, as take-off and landing are always going to be the moments that you pay extra attention.

 

[thetechnobear]

I switched to using unsprung for the sims last night - and it really did give me much better control.
so I can see for flying M mode, I'll want it like this.

so today, took it up to do some flying in N/S mode unsprung... definitely requires you to pay more attention, on altitude, and climb/descent rates - this is a good 'step' towards M mode.

I had my first 'oh sh*t' moment, flying parallel to the hilliside and not realising I was losing height, so, went to turn to go up the hill, I was flying directly at a tree .. PAUSE ! brake did a great job.

some observations, about flying like this:
- pause is really valueable in N/S modes , since it levels you out.
- low altitude flying was easer to see climb rates, so no harder than when its sprung
- cinematic flights, I think will be better - because you can get consistent climb/dive rates

overall, I think, its almost like a hybrid mode between S and M.
I need a few more flights to get a little more comfortable with it, but feels like a step in the right direction.

I think im not far off going into M mode, Im pretty stable in the sims now... but I still want to use N/S mode for continuing to practice low level flying and weaving between objects - at least until Im confident with M mode in 'real life'


main drawbacks I see of always having it unsprung is:
- need to put back spring when hand over controller to (inexperienced) friends
- feels like it needs more focus, sometimes i can be fun to just be care free, or when your just flying back to home (* this is when I nearly crashed above, perhaps use RTH?)

 

[JoostGT3]

A tip when switching to M mode: if you are a bit anxious, you don't need to tilt the cam all the way up. You can also have it halfway, which will force you to fly a bit slower; should give you some more time to avoid obstacles ;-)

 

[aSae]

In the beginning, I removed the auto center because i thought i would fly mostly M with it, but since the last couple of days, i added it back. It's still convenient to do M mode with autocenter on since as @droneguy said, the spring tension is not too strong anyway, and there were times that i just wanted to fly with S or N either to hover and take pictures steadily or have my son to try (no M mode in real flight for him yet ) so I can just easily switch the flight modes without worrying about the throttle for leveling/hovering. With the auto center on, I always switch to N mode to land, that is safer for me.

ps. I think this is the beauty of this drone, it's not the best fpv drone (thats for sure), it's not the best cinematic drone too (no fancy autoshot/follow me etc) , but it can do quite a bit of both world which you can switch easily between that on-the-fly.

 

[venomoussvt]

i keep my stick set to not center at all.. Ive flown FPV acro so long that it really messes with my flying having the left stick center. I do actually enjoy flying the DJI FPV in sport mode as well (even though i'm very capable of acro flight) but it has really been weird getting used to having to hold tension on the right stick to continue moving forward. I bought the motion controller for flying in sport and playing around and have enjoyed that much more than flying sport with the default controller. So now, if I fly with the sticks i'm flying in acro and if i'm flying in sport i'm using the motion controller

 

[JoostGT3]

i keep my stick set to not center at all.. Ive flown FPV acro so long that it really messes with my flying having the left stick center. I do actually enjoy flying the DJI FPV in sport mode as well (even though i'm very capable of acro flight) but it has really been weird getting used to having to hold tension on the right stick to continue moving forward. I bought the motion controller for flying in sport and playing around and have enjoyed that much more than flying sport with the default controller. So now, if I fly with the sticks i'm flying in acro and if i'm flying in sport i'm using the motion controller

Yeah, I can see myself do the same. Flew another battery with the motion controller and it seems to make so much sense using that when ins sport or normal mode!

 

[PTMC]

So first thing I did was remove the left stick centering. I’ve been spending time in the sim flying full manual, but only ripping around in sport mode with the real deal. Sport mode is quite fun and very immersive with goggles; its a very out of body experience. Like most I‘ve spent lots of time flying Mavics. With centering off you need to be very aware of your vertical velocity if you take your hands off the sticks (N or S mode only) to make goggle setting changes or just lift your goggles.

So I’ve tested out the pause/e-brake button; regardless of throttle it will hold last altitude until you touch the stick again. This is handy to ensure a true autonomous hover. I would also like the vertical rate indication to indicate up or down; the sim has a negative sign. Orange with prenthasies would be good too for negative decent rates. Also a tiny arrow around the horizontal rate indicating direction would help. In the sim I struggle to slow down with out ending up going back words.

 

[venomoussvt]

Yeah, I can see myself do the same. Flew another battery with the motion controller and it seems to make so much sense using that when ins sport or normal mode!

yeah, im pleasantly surprised i liked it as much as i do.. i just have to retrain myself not to chop out of the throttle because the quads stops on a dime to hover (still trying to get used to this auto hover thing..LOL). A lot of FPV guys give the motion controller a lot of flack but I see it as a new challenge. Learning how to fly sport mode with it and maintain fluidity is a fun challenge to me.

 

[JoostGT3]

Ah man, people giving new stuff that is not up their alley flack is just a sign of insecurity, I just let that slide. Life is too short to care about everyone’s opinions, especially negative ones. ?