WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT RACE QUADS TODAY

Jtrjr · May 18, 2017

I just flew X-Ray last week, flew fine. Went to fire it up the other day and my XM+ receiver isn't working. It's not lighting up at all and is getting super hot. I got a feeling that the 5v on my BFF3 is screwed up. Just got done with it and now I've got to rip it all apart again!

Jerry

Speeder · May 18, 2017

What i learned about quads today...if you use antennas that are inferior the quad will loose radio contact and it will disappear into the woods adjoining the flight field....never to be seen again. Looked for it with my wife for 5.5 hours. GoPro. Session 5 as well.
Sad day.
Keith

Jtrjr · May 18, 2017

That's awful, Keith! Did you have the failsafe set up? No lost model alarm? You didn't by chance have the wifi turned on on the Session, did you? If you did, you may be able to find it with a phone or tablet.

Jerry

Speeder · May 18, 2017

Jerry,
Yes it had the failsafe set up. The battery disconnected after impact with a 50 ft. Tree. I never saw the bird go down. I hearsd the radio say RSSI LOST everything in the goggles went static. By the time i got the goggles off it was gone ...out of site. It landed in a forest like setting with 12 ft. Thicket ,vines every where. 1 step at a time. No luck. Such is life ...now should i get another GT200 ? I really like that bird.

Peace and progress
Keith

Jtrjr · May 18, 2017

Dang, really hate to hear this story. I still love my GT2, It's in my top 2.

Jerry

Speeder · May 18, 2017

Jerry ,
Thanks for your words,
Good news! Just ordered another GT200 it will be here Saturday before noon. In the air by 5:00pm. I also bought a 5db antenna for my Taranis qx7 and a 2200ma battery for the greatest power. Will have to change the coax cable that leads to the board inside the radio ...thicker cable less drop in radio strength. Also got the right antennas ...they were sitting on my porch when i got home after losing the bird.

Peace and progress
Keith

VirtueViolater · May 18, 2017

sorry for your loss, and congratulations on the new bird!......whew, what a roller coaster ride...lol

Speeder · May 19, 2017

Thanks Virtue,
Hopefully this one will be better ...

Keith

Speeder · May 19, 2017

After evaluating the chain of events I believe that that loss was due to a compete battery fail at 150ft. Everything shut down in a matter of 2 seconds ...Video and RSSI.

Keith

VirtueViolater · May 19, 2017

are you gonna go back and search again and did you have dvr footage you could look back on and maybe get a fix on it?

Speeder · May 19, 2017

Hey Virtue
No i have never used my DVR because i always had the GoPro session 5 attached. The wifi is only connectable to a wifi network...I don't think you can connect it to your phone.
The woods are so dense with vines and brush ..it takes 1 hour to walk 75 yards and then you can only see what is right around you...the woods are200ft.deep with a marsh in the middle and the search area is 1000ft long.
Keith

VirtueViolater · May 19, 2017

if you also use your dvr, it can help you find your lost quad sometimes. the dvr will be in your goggles if you have one

Jtrjr · May 19, 2017

Keith,

You can connect to the Session WiFi with a phone or tablet. Probably too late now. I record every flight with my FatSharks just for this reason. On two occasions it's the only way I found my bird. The last time was when it went into the pool.

Jerry

VirtueViolater · May 19, 2017

just ordered 4 of these, great price if you dont mind purple...lol. 87 cents ea. for dal cyclones (with prime) Amazon.com: 8 Pcs DALPROP T5045C (5.0 x 4.5) Tri-Blade Cyclone. 4CW and 4 CCW. Purple: Toys & Games

Jtrjr · May 19, 2017

Ordered, Thanks!

Jerry

Speeder · May 20, 2017

Thanks virtue,
The new bird is going to be here today....if i can get it up and flying today i am going to search the tree line as the bird could very well be in a tree...60ft tall...dense. I will use the dvr from now on!!!! The things you don't think of...the things you trust that fail... a brand new TATTU 1550ma battery?
I was talking to a hobby shop owner that i am working with and he told me he lost 2 birds in the same body of water in 24 hours. I am not sure i wouldn't have done the same thing.
I am going back to the same field . Same woods.
I bought a Polaroid cube (the discontinued one) for 61.00
I need an app for my Mac mini ...any ideas?

Always seek peace
Keith

Jtrjr · May 20, 2017

Keith,

I might have got you confused on the camera WiFi. Although, you can connect to the camera with WiFi, it is not advised to leave the camera's WiFi on while you are flying. It will interfere with the communications with your bird. I just thought that you may have inadvertently left it on. So, do not leave the camera's WiFi on when you are flying!

The FatShark DVR works pretty good and the files that it generates are lower quality so they don't take up a lot of disk space. A 16-32gb SD card will hold a lot of files/flights.

Jerry

VirtueViolater · May 20, 2017

hi Keith,
use your cellphone for your cube, i have the cube+ its definitely not a gopro but does fine. i dont think polaroid has a cube app for pc or mac but they have one for android and iphone. for windows just use a usb cable and look in your files under my computer. im not sure about mac. Good luck today with your new bird

also, once you have files from your cube on your phone, you can use bluetooth to get them on your macbook

Speeder · May 20, 2017

Thanks Jerry,
I understood what you said ..thanks, you would think that for 300.00 GoPro would have a tracking devise inside there cameras for this reason...oh ya if they had that it would cut into new purchases and the almighty bottom line...

Keith

Speeder · May 20, 2017

Well i just want to be able to upload some video to dronepilots so you guys can see my progress. I have heard that I movie is pretty good...i know one thing ...we are GOING TO FIND OUT!

PEACE
Keith