Christmas toys to play with
Posted by Bob in Lake Havasu
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Can the gimball be controlled from the Phantom remote, too ?
I am very close to ordering something similar 
Thanks -- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! |
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Oh ! I just saw the "making of" video now. Do you also have remote video ? Please give more details
-- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! |
Yes. You can remotely pitch the camera up or down. I have the Fatshark Predator2 FPV goggle kit, but pipe the output from the goggles to a monitor on a tripod instead. I don't like wearing the goggles because I feel too locked into that view. If I have a problem and need to take the goggles off, then fumble to put my eyeglasses back on, and then look up to try finding the Phantom, by that time I have no idea where in the sky that thing has gone to. With a video monitor I can look at the FPV view on the monitor or instantly look up line-of-sight directly to the Phantom. Having the FPV monitor makes it much easier to fly because you can always see which way the Phantom is pointed. It's tough if you're just watching it from ground, unless you always stay in close. |
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I'm sold ! Santa will come late this xmas, I just ordered my phantom 2 + stabilizer kit, should arrive in 1-2 weeks
I need to find a POV system that's available around here. Any advice for not destroying it really fast ? I've never played with flying toys, except for some very cheap infrared helicopters, that I was crashing constantly. -- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! |
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Some crazy driving, there are times when the cars look like completely out of control.
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The Phantom is MUCH easier to fly than those cheap toys. Be sure to download and READ the manual. Do that now while you're waiting for your kit to arrive. You can also download the Assistant Software with which to install the latest firmware upgrades and to do calibrations. http://www.dji.com/download/phantom-2-downloads/ Never take off before the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) has finished warming up and initializing, and GPS lock has been established. Only use small control inputs. The Phantom is very nimble and it will get away from you quickly if you are too ham-fisted with full inputs on the control sticks. At first always fly with the camera and nose of the Phantom pointing away from you. Right on the control stick moves it to the right, left moves it left. When it's pointing with the camera facing you, right on the control stick moves the Phantom to its right, i.e. your left! Like with all radio controlled stuff, that takes a bit of getting used to and it's REALLY easy to get into trouble quickly if you're not used to that happening. |
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Wait, GPS lock ? So I can't fly it indoors ?
Yeah, I always have trouble running my Revo towards me -- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2014 05:20AM by jaffar. |
You can use ATTI mode or Manual mode indoors. |
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Woo-hoo ! It has arrived today !
I have to admit, flying is a VERY difficult business if you're not on-board. First time I rotated it, I totally panicked and lost it. [www.youtube.com] Thank you for making me make the decision, I've wanted this for such a long time -- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! |
That was very brave of you to fly it first time indoors in such a small room. It really is much easier to fly in GPS mode, outdoors. In GPS mode, if you get out of shape, you can just release the sticks, centred, and the Phantom will stop and hover in one spot. When flying in ATTI mode, without GPS lock, it takes constant corrections to hold it still because the Phantom will merely level itself but continue to drift with the wind, or continue to drift at whatever speed and direction it was doing when you centre the sticks. It takes a bit practice to get used to that. It's scary to start straight off with ATTI mode, especially within an enclosed space where you don't have a lot of room or time to react to what it's doing. Rotating, in yaw, is especially dangerous because then you also need to keep track of which way it's facing. Even though the Phantom always moves to ITS right when you move the control stick to the right, it very rapidly gets confusing if it's facing you and instead moves to YOUR left, or it's drifting toward you and you push the stick forward hoping to move it away and instead it comes right at your face! It's safer to keep it facing away from you, so the control stick movements are obvious, until you get comfortable with its handling. When taking off, it's better to give it a good shot of throttle to get it to jump into the air. If you try for a slow smooth liftoff, only gradually feeding in throttle, if it's at all windy out the Phantom will sometimes trip itself and tip over. That's not such a big deal if you crash into soft carpet or grass. But if you're taking off from asphalt, a tip-over will chew up your props. You seemed to have figured it out pretty quickly though. Good for you. 
Once your knees stop shaking and you feel more confident, you can try Course-Lock (CL). When the Phantom is first powered up it memorizes the direction it's facing. Let's say, like in your video, at first it's facing the wall where the fire extinguisher is standing under the video screens. That wall becomes the "Forward Direction" for CL. When you push the stick forward the Phantom always moves toward that wall. You can rotate (yaw) the Phantom 90-degrees to the right, so it's now looking at the wall with the round window. In CL, if you move the control stick forward the Phantom will still fly in the recorded Forward Direction, toward the fire extinguisher and video screens, even though it's currently facing the round window. CL is really handy when you're flying in a small room like this, because then forward/back and left/right always stays the same regardless of which direction the Phantom is rotated to. Forward is toward the fire extinguisher, right is toward the round window, etc. no matter which direction the Phantom is rotated to face toward. See this video: [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zqLEJipIao[/video] |
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Thanks for the very good explanations, Ferdinand !
I took it outside yesterday. After 2 minutes I was ready to risk the camera, so I mounted the stabilizer. I filmed just an ugly ground with some weeds and garbage, but it was amazing ! I need to find some real objectives now. Also, got an amazing flight time of 25 minutes - I was expecting a lot less, loaded with the stabilizer and the camera ! I did not use the GPS mode at all - after seeing so many people complain on youtube that theirs flew away by itself
Got a bit scared when I tested the failsafe, too - because I had not read the manual before
Did you film with the gimbal + hero3 in snow ? Did you waterproof the camera, or anything else ? I'm a bit disappointed that it is so precisely calibrated on the Hero3, I have several Hero2 that I was more ready to risk, plus I wanted to use the waterproof case. Do you know if the gimbal can be used on something else ? For example, my motorcycle vibrates a lot -- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! |
The larger battery capacity of the Phantom2 gives you a lot longer flying time, compared to my old Phantom1 which will only fly for 6 or 7 minutes per battery when loaded down with camera, gimbal, video transmitter, etc. However, I'm happy to say that if mine ever did fly away from me, it'll only go for max 7 minutes, whereas yours can fly away MUCH longer and further before its battery finally runs out. 
I am not familiar with the other flight differences between the Phantom1 and Phantom2. As long as you allow the Phantom to properly go through its warmup sequence and get a good GPS lock, there's nothing to be afraid of in using GPS mode. If, for whatever reason, you do lose satellite reception, the Phantom will default from GPS mode and automatically switch to ATTI mode.
The Failsafe return-to-home function also depends on having good GPS satellite reception. If you lose satellite reception while it's on its way home, it will land instead where ever it is at the moment. You can cancel the Return-to-Home function at any time by switching to ATTI mode. Course-Lock (CL) works in both GPS and ATTI mode. But, be careful, the Home-Lock function (HL) only works when the flight mode is set to GPS mode. If you select HL while in ATTI mode, the Phantom actually defaults to CL mode and that might give you unexpected results.
Before I got the Zenmuse gimbal I always flew with the GoPro hard-mounted in its waterproof case. If the whole thing crashed into the lake, or into deep snow, I knew at least the GoPro would survive. Unfortunately the GoPro will only mount on the Zenmuse gimbal without a case. It is very exposed to potential harm then. To keep the camera from hitting the ground (or snow), I now always hand-catch the Phantom when landing. When taking off I set it on my carrying case. You can use a flat board or something.
The gimbal came with a small black box Gimbal Control Unit (GCU). All you need is one of your LIPO batteries wired to the black/red power cables of the GCU and the flat ribbon cable from the GCU to the gimbal. Then you can mount the gimbal anywhere and it'll work to keep the camera level. 
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Right. Mine came with a label instead - "only for phantom 2"
Do you know why there are 4 CSCs, do they do anything special ? First time I started it (without the gimbal), I had to do this: \/ After activating the gimbal from the PC software, it woudl no longer start with \/, so I found out now it starts with / / The manual does not say anything interesting on the subject, so I understand I could use any of the combinations. -- A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere! Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2014 03:13AM by jaffar. |
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Nice video! That's so cool to get those aerial views of the cars.
 __________ Dave '91 325iX |
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I had a very lucky escape with my quadcopter while shooting video of a R/C sailboat.
I'm getting more proficient at framing the subject while flying by watching what the camera sees on my monitor. But while videoing the sailboat I was nervous about flying too low and maybe touching the water, and it's hard to judge that gap from my monitor view. So I had to occasionally glance away from the monitor to look directly at the copter to check it wasn't getting too low. Well, one time I did that I lost sight of the sailboat in the monitor and I thought I was far enough behind it but actually flew directly into it. 
One prop snagged on the sailboat's rigging and the copter crashed. Unbelievably it didn't crash into the water and sink to the bottom of the pond. Instead it fell square onto the deck of the boat, amidship between the two masts, and didn't even get wet at all. If it had dangled off the side it might have capsized the boat, but we managed to sail it close enough back to shore for me to perform a successful rescue. Lucky. [www.youtube.com] |
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