First FPV Flight

[whoelseisbored (LiamHowe89)]

Well as you can probably guess from the title... today was my first (real) FPV flight!

Not gonna lie, I was bricking it! I've put so much time into making this quad that to completely destroy it on the first real attempt would be heartbreaking.

I've been dying to get out for days but the wind hasn't really allowed for it and there were a few more wrinkles that I wanted to iron out before throwing it into the sky. But today, there was a gap in the weather so I went for it.

Found a nice empty cricket club up the road with open access, got my kit out of the bag and set it up. Realised I'd left a few things at home... GoPro & prop nut socket driver mainly.

Sent it up and it felt really weird! Instantly realised that the simulators don't really come that close at all! I was in angle mode (figured that was a safe way to send it up first time round) and it felt very uncomfortable, I landed and flicked straight past "Acro Trainer" into full rate. Literally felt like I'd taken the shackles off. The practice I'd put into DRL Simulator had really helped to get the controls down as muscle memory.

Was whizzing around for a good amount of time and loved every second! It genuinely felt really natural! However... This all came to a rather abrupt end when I punched it up a bit too hard and my R-XSR antennas got sucked into the props!   I managed to bring it down but the link was that weak that I think it resulted in a failsafe and a rather heavy 'landing'.

All in all, 2 perfectly bent props and a haircut for the R-XSR (of which I'm a bit jealous of).

Just want to say a bit thanks to you guys on this forum for helping me finish up the build in the first place. Greatly appreciated!

Few post crash pics below and a flight video on its way Can see the short antennas on the 2nd pic    Haha

Quick run down on the setup incase anyone was interested...
Frame: HSKRC TWE210
FC: Omnibus F4 AIO
Motors: DYS Samguk Wu 2700KV
Props: GEPRC 5040
ESCs: Racerstar RS30A
RX: R-XSR
Camera: Foxeer Falkor 2 Mini
VTX: Eachine TX805
Antennas: Foxeer Lollipop 3 & Realacc TFP-Mini Triple Feed Patch
TX: Jumper T16
FPV: Skyzone 02X

[LuMan]

I'm in the process of 3D printing the camera bracket for my 130mm build for some proper FPV, so your story has give me a bit more inspiration to grab my 'bubble buddy' for spotter duty and head off to the field 

Looking forward to some vid, too. Quite a tidy build you've got there.

[whoelseisbored (LiamHowe89)]

Yeh I designed and printed the one on the top plate but unfortunately the 2nd part that actually holds the action cam was only attached by 3M tape... and that got launched during the crash. Luckily I'd not put my cam in it because being a total noob - I left it at home!

Glad I could provide some inspiration! Haha.

Cheers! Got the frame ages ago and kind of wish I'd got a body that had a bit more length to it. It's all a bit crammed in!

[Ern Stock]

Them props will bend back just fine .
 
Congrats on first fpv flight.
Standing or sitting ?
 

[whoelseisbored (LiamHowe89)]

Them props will bend back just fine .
 
Congrats on first fpv flight.
Standing or sitting ?
 

They did indeed! Was surprising how much movement they have in them!

Thanks! The first part which was in angle mode was kneeling (weird lol) but after I switched to rate I was stood up and it was gravy 

Is standing considered harder? Kind of felt more natural in a way 

[ched]

Well done. I think you did very very well. A few bent props is a great result, they should bend back fine.
As for antennas you can set them at 90 degrees to the arms horizontally. sort of pointing at the front arms mounted on back. Just a cable tie horizontally round the arm pointing forward and a bit of heatshrink or tape to hold antennas on.

I would be inclined to leave gopro off for a little while. DVR from your goggles is good enough for you to review and even publish on youtube.

If you can pass the battery strap under the FC. Thinking about it no real reason why you need to, the way you have it might protect the stack a bit, only thing is getting it tight puts pressure on top plate.
I added part of some £1 shop mobile phone sticky pad (car dashboard)onto the frame (double sided tape) and it gives a little cushioning and holds the battery a bit better than just the strap.

As for sanding or sitting it's what ever feels best. Some people feel sick or fall over if they are standing :-)

I can't say well done enough and so glad you enjoyed it.  Keep up your learning.

[badger1]

top work glad it went well for you   

[whoelseisbored (LiamHowe89)]

Cheers @ched    Yep, bent back, strapped a new pack on and managed to fly about 5-10m LOS before I got a RSSI warning

Yeh I had actually intended doing that initially after seeing Joshua Bardwell do it on his builds but the standard antenna on the R-XSR just seemed far too short too do anything like that. So when I find some replacements (any tips?) I'll get them 150mm so I can do that. I did find a couple of replacements on ebay but the normal places like Quadcopters UK and UnmannedTech don't seem to have any in stock (no surprises). Don't think even HobbyKing had any 

I probably will tbh, but I'm a sucker for nice looking footage so we'll see how long that lasts!

Originally it was going under the FC but the green strap was too long and the shorter ones I have were too short! Typical! I'll keep an eye out for that sticky pad stuff!

Haha it does feel a bit weird but doing a strong 'power stance' had me pretty stable I think

Cheers! Everyday is a learning day! 

top work glad it went well for you   

Thanks mate! 

[Andy7]

Good stuff! Well done for taking that all-important first step. Keep up the practice!

[ched]

So when I find some replacements (any tips?) I'll get them 150mm so I can do that. I did find a couple of replacements on ebay but the normal places like Quadcopters UK and UnmannedTech don't seem to have any in stock (no surprises). Don't think even HobbyKing had any 

I had to wait about a month for some from Banggood when I broke one before even first flight. I tried pulling end of antenna to get it through something and the connector came off!!! Luckily I had a spare xm+ so borrowed that antenna till new one arrived.

Be aware that you need one of the newer smaller fittings on the antenna not the traditional FrSky ones!!!!!

[badger1]

the cabletie mounting method ched mentioned is kind of like I've done in post #2 of my build thread here.

I'm not really convinced it's very good though - I think the signal gets masked too much by the battery, carbon, etc. & I'm planning to re-do it in some sticking-out-the-top way if I can ever find a suitable mount.  maybe not a big deal if you're not going far, but I've had a few failsafes mounted like this.

I spotted a dangling battery from the shadow of the model rather too often & once when it swung up in front of the camera   so now I use sticky-backed velcro to keep my batteries from sliding around - hooks on the model & loops on the batteries - plus a strap to keep it in place.   

[Ern Stock]

They did indeed! Was surprising how much movement they have in them!

Thanks! The first part which was in angle mode was kneeling (weird lol) but after I switched to rate I was stood up and it was gravy 

Is standing considered harder? Kind of felt more natural in a way 

Couple things , if you film with fancy camera , keep a set of as-new props for those flights - old bent props can induce jello.
And , by rights , a damaged prop should be well inspected Before being re used.
Well done on standing !

[garbfink]

mate. well done for getting in the air. It doesn't matter how it ended as long as you had fun!.

For the RSXR antenna I think Ched is suggesting you fix them like mine in this pic here (you can only see the one of the front left arm but it is mirrored in the right arm as well ( you can do this on either the front or back arms. I actually prefer the back but I ran out of room for my receiver so I rammed it inbetween my camera and FC so it was more natural to put them on the front.

Basically you're looking for a 90degree angle to each other in a place where they are not too likely to meet your rotors.

[whoelseisbored (LiamHowe89)]

During the ouch's you can hear the antenna getting shredded lol

Please excuse the variation in sound levels and the fact that even though you're seeing it LOS it was my first FPV haha.   Wish I'd recorded the DVR!

@Andy7
Cheers Andy

@ched
I've ordered a pair on eBay that should be here tomorrow and also a few more from Banggood cuz it'll probably happen again at some point

@badger1
What sort of distances were you flying at when you were getting failsafes? I'll see how long the replacement antennas are and then decide from there :)

@Ern Stock
Yeh heard of this jellovision effect from wonky props lol. Nice one

@garbfink
Cheers mate! Yeh I'd heard that 90 degrees is the angle to look for for maximum efficiency 

[ched]

Well done Liam, looked great.
Always try and record in DVR that way when you crash and can't find the quad you can replay the footage to try and help find where it went down.
It's always nice to see a quad flying from the outside, it's something we don't see enough. Plus it gives a real sense of speed that fpv just doesn't.

[whoelseisbored (LiamHowe89)]

Well done Liam, looked great.
Always try and record in DVR that way when you crash and can't find the quad you can replay the footage to try and help find where it went down.
It's always nice to see a quad flying from the outside, it's something we don't see enough. Plus it gives a real sense of speed that fpv just doesn't.

Nice one

I had intended to but somehow managed to leave the SD card at home  Probably as I was in a rush to beat the storm   But yeh hadn't thought about it being a good way to locate it post-crash 

[Ern Stock]

They did indeed! Was surprising how much movement they have in them!

Thanks! The first part which was in angle mode was kneeling (weird lol) but after I switched to rate I was stood up and it was gravy 

Is standing considered harder? Kind of felt more natural in a way 

Couple things , if you film with fancy camera , keep a set of as-new props for those flights - old bent props can induce jello.
And , by rights , a damaged prop should be well inspected Before being re used.
Well done on standing !

Note : typed this then didn't post , so possibly out of sync.
  
Edit : maybe it did post previous?
Got rather wet at work today , that's my excuse