my alien/reptile... NOW DISCO

[Hands0n]

anyone want to take a look at the log file above for me please?. :embarrassed

I';ll have a butchers at it tomorrow evening when I get back home.  Sorry mate, only just saw this ...

[guest2350]

No worries buddy, I appreciate it!

[guest2350]

I bypassed the core last night for a direct 12v supply to the camera and vtx any exposed terminals were then covered over with black insulation tape.

[Hands0n]

Congrats on the TBS Disco, it is an awesome aircraft. 

Wait ... What have you done? Brain not computing ... so this will help no end to keep the wiring to a minimum. Right?  Although I need 5v mostly, not 12v.  Intrigued.

[guest2350]

Congrats on the TBS Disco, it is an awesome aircraft. 

Wait ... What have you done? Brain not computing ... so this will help no end to keep the wiring to a minimum. Right?  Although I need 5v mostly, not 12v.  Intrigued.

thanks danny,
its only really useful to carry the 12v from the main board over to the camera and vtx. you`d need a tbs core or a 5v step down converter wired in to get 5v. as my vtx is 12v and I plan to buy a 12v board camera this is really useful to me. 

[Hands0n]

That was definitely a good call there Jamie.   I';ve got my minimOSD stuck over the patch where the TBS-Core would go

It is such an adaptable platform - I';m really glad @philtrum got them in at a price that caught my eye.

[guest2350]

lol I got mine from phil too, I also plan to tap my minim osd into the yellow wire on the board when I get a new one. maybe next week.
just ordered a board cam too  ::)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=31561
oh and my batteries fit into the disco too so no more hideous landing gear 

[Trev2971]

ok you lot win .... where can I get a miniosd that will work/be adapted .... bear in mind Im on V1 Naza ... although Im not sure I want it on there anymore lol

[Hands0n]

I got my latest minimOSD from eBay seller here --> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251506377832?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 

It arrived a few days later. Works okay. I';m going to put the MultiWii compatible OSD software on it to use with my Naze32.

I read that minimOSD can be hacked to work with Naza.  But if you';re heading APM/Pixhawk way then it';ll be a natural fit.

Just be aware of the issues when mixing 12v and 5v across the minimOSD. Best is to stick with 5v all round, and if you';ve 12v video electrics then bypass the minim with that to power the video kit. Let the minim operate at 5v from the digital side.

[Trev2971]

thanks again Danny

all I need now is some time to sort it all out .. 

[guest2350]

So I made a start of laying things out where I want them tonight, not that there is a lot of choice, let';s be fair lol
I started making my solder pads ready for my ESCs to be soldered in then my lidl soldering iron packed in. Luckily I found an old 40w draper one I had laying in the bottom of my tool box....BEAST!

So here';s a little pic so far, still need my arms to arrive so I can start assembling!

[Hands0n]

Jamie, I think you';re going to like the TBS Disco ... a lot    Will watch the build with interest   

This forum has a bit of a Disco fleet forming

[guest2350]

I can';t wait till it';s in the air mate, hopefully it';s more stable than the alien. The reason I went for the disco is because of the pcb power train. I want everything soldered this time because I suspect the last crash was cause by a loose bullet connector. The pix passed all the pre arm checks, it wouldn';t of armed otherwise.
Such a clean looking airframe, I';m in love with it already! 

[PKNEC]

Good news on the new build, hope your airborne soon.

[Trev2971]

You will love it over the Alien clone .... feels like a proper bit of kit (<<< poss fanboy)

not flown my clone since getting the Disco dialed .... going to save for another set of plates as I want a naze32 Disco :)

[guest2350]

The only problem with buying bits from china is the long wait for them to arrive..
I can';t do anything with this brick until my arms and fans come... Everything is wired up and ready to go, it';s just a matter of bolting the arms on and sorting the props out.
I';m thinking of swapping out the 2.4ghz and fitting an orange lrs rx to it too.

[guest2350]

just as I was starting to get impatient the postman arrives with my new arms from china.. they work but the fit is very poor.
these are the arms I bought, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201048300663?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649  not the best at all in my opinion.. either the hole alignment was out on my disco or it was out on the arms, I`d put my money on the latter! 
  So, I anxiously got onto putting my frame together tonight after waiting a few weeks for my new arms to arrive. I mounted my sunnysky 980kv motors to the arms along with the ESC`s and then mounted the arms to the disco to get an idea how much I needed to shorten the power wires by.
I got them all soldered up and then got onto routing the signal wires to the pixhawk (I hate this bit, I can never get them neat enough for my OCD  ).. moving onto mounting the top plate, the gps unit had to be mounted pretty central to the top plate due to the leads not being very long, but hey ho!
After getting the top plate mounted I looked into finding the best position for my vtx and Mobius.. I mounted the mobuis on some moongel and strapped it onto the bottom plate with some decent tension elastic bands, I used two just incase one snapped. I know the Mobius is a cheap camera but its the only action cam I have and I cant afford a gopro  .
The vtx was a difficult one to find a decent place to mount. I ended up mounting it to the side of the disco kind of zip tied to the front arm and the red anodised spacer that supports the top and bottom plates..
I think I need to make a shorter cloverleaf to avoid interference with my gps unit as they are at a similar height and quite close.
  As for my board cam, well im pretty stuck, the lens is BIG metal and HEAVY. I did buy a plastic one from ebay but im unsure its going to fit as its is tiny in comparison... I`ll have to take it apart and look unless anyone can save me the time and effort??
All that is left is to balance and mount my props when they arrive and then get it tuned.  :evil

All in all I think its looking pretty sleek and I am very happy so far.

[ashutchy]

Nice build you got going on there mate. Hopefully your OCD comes in handy at times like this and pushes you to keep it neat? 

[PKNEC]

The more I see the TBS frame the more I like it.
I don';t know if it';s the picture but it seams slightly wider than my reptile copy,plus having built mine up I am liking the idea of having everything soldered to the board.
Looking good though Jamie.

[guest2350]

Thank you PKNEC, the plates are definitely wider than what my reptile/alien plates were and the front arms look slung further back. the battery compartment is also bigger on the disco as I can now get my 4000mah 3s batteries in there    nice one!

[guest2350]

i just downloaded two graphs from my alien crash, I';m not sure if they are relevant but here they are, one is vibrations and the other is ummm...
tbh I';m not too sure how to read them but from what i can see the vibrations were not "too" bad.

[guest2350]

She';s alive,my props arrived this morning so got them balanced and fitted. just need to get some tuning done which I will probably do by the weekend.

One thing I noticed, when I powered her up with the old alien settings still in the pix, it did want to roll to the right which is similar to what happened in the crash.. Maybe something to do with the gyros?
Anyway, I';ll get it all freshly set up now it';s built..
Happy days!

[vinny155]

Looking good jamie

[Hands0n]

Nice one Jamie - glad its back together. 

I can';t see anything obvious from the graphs as to what would cause the issue to occur. I';d try to get those vibrations down to the least you can get them down to - if for no other reason but to eliminate them from the equation.

Also would suggest going through the entire calibration process as if from start.  It doesn';t take long and is another tick in the box.

Good luck with the first new flight

[Trev2971]

nice J ... when we going flying? 

[guest2350]

Thanks for your responses guys, I haven';t managed to get online near the computer for a while as the mrs has been ill again. but I took the discovery out today for its maiden and it could have ended in tears.
I did a fresh firmware install on the pixhawk and it seems to be behaving on mission planner so it seems odd!.
I took it out, it seemed reasonably stable from the start and then I lost orientation. I hit RTL and it just did some odd movement and travelled away. So, I did a bit of an emergency landing, nothing broke so that';s a bonus.
I cant work this out to the point I`m almost losing interest now 
also, still lots of jello, even with probs balanced and moongel, im beginning to think its just the Mobius.
only way I can describe it is as if the pixhawk has had a stroke when in auto mode.

[guest2350]

just noticed I am getting a message in MP saying "pre-arm - high GPS HDOP" 
hmm, just noticed my compass seems reversed east to west too... FFS
looks like I got some parameter changing to do....lol

[Hands0n]

Hi Jamie

Thats warning you that HDOP is greater than 2 (I think it is actually set to 2.<something>) which means the positioning is going to be unreliable at best.  In MP you can check what the HDOP actually is if you have telemetry or the USB plugged in.  You';re aiming to get it below 2 before lift off.   All that has now happened is that as part of its Arming checks the arducopter code will check the HDOP level.

[guest2350]

Hi Jamie

Thats warning you that HDOP is greater than 2 (I think it is actually set to 2.<something>) which means the positioning is going to be unreliable at best.  In MP you can check what the HDOP actually is if you have telemetry or the USB plugged in.  You';re aiming to get it below 2 before lift off.   All that has now happened is that as part of its Arming checks the arducopter code will check the HDOP level.

thanks danny, this was indoors when I got that warning so is that normal? or do I still need to change it?.
I know I need to change my yaw orientation too I think... my compass is reversed too.. glad I found this now!

[guest2350]

fixed it now, for some reason manual compass, roll 180* was selected.. I think that';s the cause of my last crash, gawd knows how that happened  :embarrassed
oh well, its working now lol