Blackhawk down

[flybywire]

Well it had to happen sooner or later I guess, but loosing a quad is never a nice sensation.  I won';t dwell on it, suffice to say, I';m sucked ATM, cheering myself up with a beer or two right now!

My little Wasp is missing, presumed lost in action.  Just a bad day really, drove for miles to find a challenging site (like Jab seems to find every day) couldn';t find anywhere really decent, but did have a couple of reasonable flights, until I spied a couple coming toward me in the goggles, so drove on to another site, a small wooded area with a birch screened alley about 150 yds in length, perfect for honing the skills!  Had a fly up and down, crashing harmlessly a few times, but having fun none the less, managed to keep her straight and low along the length of the alley, probably some of my best 250 footage so far.  Sadly, I will never get to see it!  Last flight, I got into trouble behind a tree, hit wot to get vx back, which I did momentarily, then as i got to 100 ft or so, the wind cut in and started taking her downwind, so i managed to get her under control, then the vtx just went, probably lack of power, who knows?  I had lost visual range and all sound of her, so I was totally lost.  There were hedges and long grass everywhere around the area, as well as vast open fields.  I scoured the immediate fields for half an hour or so, but as I came across the large trees, I knew if she were in one of those I would never find her.
I of course tried arming the throttle and blipping it up, which is how I found her last time, when I saw a puff of dust come up from a field, so saved the day.

I also tried the goggles, usually you can see something to give a clue, but nowt, just static.

Ah well, just annoying really, and another £100 down the tank. B*****.

Agh!
I will return tomorrow with a search and rescue team (me and my CX4) I';ll sweep the area, get some footage and study it if I can';t see her in the goggs, she may show up on the HD footage afterwards.
Do you know what?  last night I ordered 4 lost model alarms from HK @ £1.50 each!  Now I';ll only need 3, so if anybody else.... 

[guest325]

Sad to hear that mate, bad thing to happen especially when it';s your own creation!  :';-(

[Hands0n]

Ah man, that really sucks    I';m feeling for ya    Its so gutting.

I hope you strike lucky and find yer Wasp. 

I offer the following in some great sympathy (warning, not for the feint hearted!)

http://youtu.be/Fbf2x17ibfw

[JAB1a]

So sorry to read this Andy, hope you find the wasp tomorrow 

Well done on finding a good different location makes for very fun times flying around a new spot each time

[flybywire]

Just glad i kept my joy division albums...

[flybywire]

Cheers guys, thanks for your kind words, it feels like i';ve lost a loved one.

I';ve had a thought, i think the vtx antenna may have come loose and swung downward, hitting the prop in the process.  That woul explain the sudden loss of vtx, as it was total loss.

Anyways, i';ll sweep the area tomoz, weather permitting of course, maybe i';ll get lucky, who knows.
I feel positive, in a negative sort of way.

[JT]

 Bummer man    Good luck with your search tomorrow, a buzzer or lost plane alarm is a must, especially on these little quads.

[nub]

awww very unlucky, but you never know fingers crossed you spot it tomorrow.

[Ground Engineer]

Been there lad with me BO230. You';ll learn from it though and possibly save yourself even more money by being more aware next time.

[flybywire]

Yeah, you never know.  I';ll post the footage of the area tomorrow if i get out there.  I';ve had some thoughts as to where it may have ended up, but it';s all guess work of course, and if it did land in one of King Charlie';s oak trees, then it really is game over.

[flybywire]

Been there lad with me BO230. You';ll learn from it though and possibly save yourself even more money by being more aware next time.

Cheers.  Although i was aware until i lost vtx, i don';t think i could have done a lot more under the circumstances, although i shouldn';t have really got in that position in the first place!  Still, easy to say in hindsight.

[kilby]

Sorry to hear about the loss it really does feel bad.

I don';t know about the cc3d (I think you are using) but the channel 6 triggered £1.50 buzzer saved me a whole load of hassle on my Naze equipped machine

Hit a tree quite high up and couldn';t see where it was and triggering the buzzer revealed that it had fallen to the ground and was hiding in a bush.

Previously I would have b lipped the motors but after a crash into really long grass that tangled the props, I thought £1.75 was a tolerable investment.

[Hands0n]

I';ve taken to wiring one of these into all of my multi-rotors.  They';re not foolproof, if the battery separates from the aircraft then they';re useless. But they do work ever so well ... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111442664404?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

No need to rig up a spare channel, just wire in series with any control channel of your choice. I typically use the Roll channel as my own particular preference.

Oh, and buy from far away places for a fraction of what you';ll pay local.  I buy in small batches of 5 or so.

[flybywire]

Do you know what?  last night I ordered 4 lost model alarms from HK @ £1.50 each!  Now I';ll only need 3, so if anybody else....

C';est la vie mon ami...

[Dek]

I';ve taken to wiring one of these into all of my multi-rotors. <RC Model Alarm>
No need to rig up a spare channel, just wire in series with any control channel of your choice. I typically use the Roll channel as my own particular preference.

So is this worked on a timer basis? no pulses for x seconds and the alarm goes or can you switch it manually?

[Hands0n]

So is this worked on a timer basis? no pulses for x seconds and the alarm goes or can you switch it manually?

Yes, it is [fixed] timer based.  The first 60 seconds without PWM it is silent, the next 60 seconds without PWM it will sound but can be stopped by sending PWM change (move the stick for that channel), and after that 60 seconds it goes into permanent sounding.  That is, it can only  be silenced by disconnecting power.

It can be a bit of a pain when working on the multi-rotor on the bench, but I soon got used to having to move the relevant control stick each time it sounded off.

[barneyg]

OK I know this was covered before - and I asked the question but after going through 20 pages of my posts I still can';t find it and I';ve lost the will to live.

Do these work with CPPM/PPMSum (or whatever else the manufacturer has decided to call it this week) ?  and if they do which channel is it that it "watches" ?

[Hands0n]

@barneyg - My own experience with these. I';ve mostly used them with PWM only.  And the design is that they monitor whichever PWM channel they are attached to.

That said, I have got one fitted to the Hammer mini H quad (@philtrum) where I am using an Orange R620 RX in S.Bus mode with an S.Bus to CPPM convertor into the Naze32.  The Lost Model Alarm is also connected to the Roll PWM channel (Ch.4 on my R620) and I find that the stick movements are signalled out of both S.Bus and PWM concurrently!

I cannot vouch for other makes and models of RX - but I see nothing to suggest that they wouldn';t work the same - that is, putting out S.Bus/CPPM/PPM/WHY concurrently with their PWM signals. 

So for you, Barney, I can';t see why it wouldn';t work - but you';d have to give one a try.

[barneyg]

the D4R-ii has exactly 4 signal pins ... pin 1 = CPPM pin 2 = RSSI pin 3 & pin 4 shorted to put it into CPPM mode.

The D8R-ii might output PWM for the rest of its channels but I';ve not seen mention of it in the docs/interweb ... I guess I';ll just have to try it out 

[flybywire]

Anyhow, back to the thread.
So I decided to play search & rescue today, weather was ';British';, but nice (warm/windy).  That';s not on your weather charts BTW.  I';d been charging up the big guns overnight (5000 mAh 4';s) so had 5 lipo';s ready for action, 3x 5000 & 2x 4000 zippies.  I decided to give my CX4 an outing, seeings as it hasn';t seen any action over the summer.  I love this thing, light but solid, a prince among multi';s.  I got back to where I';d knocked of the other evening, fresh with optimism with the new day.  I neglected to mention yesterday (as I was so ****** off) that as I was losing Vtx, it started to bucket down, as only British weather can do, and my enduring memory is the last visual I saw with the 250, which was a huge squall approaching, then nothing.
Banana in hand, and a bottle of water for replenishment, I decided to start where I thought it least likely, as a kind of Murphy';s law thing, gradually combing the landscape, lowering down for the long wheat & grass areas, but TBH if it had gone down in those, it';s really academic, game over so to speak.

After one fruitless recce, I fired up another lipo, and set off again, this time concentrating on the area between my field, and the one across the road, taking in the tops of the hedges as well.  First two flights lasted about 25 minutes, in which I made no sightings of anything vaguely quad-like.

For the third (and as it turned out final) recce, I focussed on the field area across the road, as I felt it was here that I lost vtx signal, possibly with the quad heading away from my car.  I did look at the treetops too, but found no sign of my luckless 250.

As I say, I had five lipo';s, but unfortunately two had still to be converted from Deans to XT60, and I had not brought my converter, so it was in effect game over.
I packed my kit away, and as it such a nice day, decided to walk the walk across the fields, and cover some ground on foot.  It was whilst strolling in the afternoon sunshine that my thoughts turned to technology, more specifically towards intelligent retrieval systems.  Now, we all have ';smart'; devices these days absolutely brimming with telecomms & GPS functionality, so why is it that there is still no definitive ';smart'; device or black box for model aircraft?  Why?

If I had 100';th of the electronic knowledge & acumen of the likes of APM/DJI/that crazy Naze inventor chappy (name escapes me) I would nail my colours to the mast by inventing the model aircraft black box.  In fact, if I where DJI, I would make it my business to throw another chip on my Naza/WKM/etc which would harvest info from gps, and seal it into a beacon for endless transmission after a crash, even better, because it would inevitably be cheaper.
It would be an autonomous device, impervious to water, shock resistant and with its own inbuilt power supply, which would last for weeks, if not months.  It would be GPS aware, and work through 3G, or whatever was the most reliable transmission protocol of the day.  The device would cost no more than £100
I know that';s a fair wedge, but my CX4 leaves the ground with an all up value in excess of £2000.  Small price to pay I think for a reliable lost model retrieval system.
I would also like to have bluetooth onboard, to communicate with the FC, I think that would be advantageous, but not to rely on the connection, as the first thing that happens when a model hits the deck, (In my experience) is that the flight pack becomes disconnected.

As I got back into my car, I pushed the leccy window button, to let some fresh air in, for a split second, hearing the noise of the window motor, I felt like the ';predator';, momentarily lowering my shield, to gaze upon its prey...

To be continued...

S&R from Andy on Vimeo.</p>

Praise the lord for GPS, osd';s and the good old autopilot...boy I';ve sure missed you, welcome back!

[Hands0n]

Awww ... rats!  I was hoping to read a happy story ending ... 

[richardg6paj]

Andy,
I think this is the best way of locating a downed Multi, or anything else for that matter!
I';ve been thinking about this for sometime now, I';ve looked at wildlife tags, but so expensive. Your loss has persuaded me to either get one of these or something very similar. It';s only $50.
http://fmtv.us/rf_beacon.html
This device is so small and totally independent of the multi';s power supply. I think had this device been fitted to your wasp
you would have retrieved almost immediately.
And a video if you have any doubt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmc3gboiGkI

Richard

[flybywire]

Andy,
I think this is the best way of locating a downed Multi, or anything else for that matter!
I';ve been thinking about this for sometime now, I';ve looked at wildlife tags, but so expensive. Your loss has persuaded me to either get one of these or something very similar. It';s only $50.
http://fmtv.us/rf_beacon.html
This device is so small and totally independent of the multi';s power supply. I think had this device been fitted to your wasp
you would have retrieved almost immediately.
And a video if you have any doubt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmc3gboiGkI

Richard

Richard, i';m going to look at this tonight.  What';s a few bucks compared to a lost multi or plane?  My wasp had £150 of bits i reckon.

But i still throw down the gauntlet to anybody to make an autonomous box, strong and impervious to moisture, and in particular the big names in model tech, you know who you are, make it!!

[richardg6paj]

Hi Andy,
I don';t think it needs to be too technical. Just an indestructible radio beacon, the smaller it is the less likely it is to be damaged in a crash, it needs to be self powered and able to run for at least a few days.
Anyway, check the video and website out and lets hear what you think.
I also have been looking at this.
http://www2.pmb.co.nz/blog/?wpsc_product_category=trackers

Richard

[nub]

bah! nightmare, shame you never found it 

[Hands0n]

Hey Andy, I don';t suppose you had your name and contact details affixed to the multi-rotor, did you?

[flybywire]

Hey Andy, I don';t suppose you had your name and contact details affixed to the multi-rotor, did you?

No, sadly not.  I think i may have caught myself on the mobius, if anybody does find it and is savvy enough to study the footage, they may be prompted to post on here, perhaps?  That';s what i';d anyways.

I think it';s lost in the long stuff, likely grt churned up by a tractor or something in a year';s time.

[flybywire]

Andy,
I think this is the best way of locating a downed Multi, or anything else for that matter!
I';ve been thinking about this for sometime now, I';ve looked at wildlife tags, but so expensive. Your loss has persuaded me to either get one of these or something very similar. It';s only $50.
http://fmtv.us/rf_beacon.html
This device is so small and totally independent of the multi';s power supply. I think had this device been fitted to your wasp
you would have retrieved almost immediately.
And a video if you have any doubt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmc3gboiGkI

Richard

Richard

I';m going to start a new thread, as I think this subject is too important to just tack onto another one, even though they are linked.

Cheers
Andy

[ashutchy]

I keep checking all the new posts on here in the hope it';s turned up for you. Fingers crossed here mate.

[mutley2]

It must be hart breaking to not find it, don';t give up, I lost a fixed wing back in the 70s over Sutton coldfield park, it was over 5 weeks before a farmer found it and started to ask around (still have it in the loft now). Knock on a few local doors and drop off a phone number. I';ve been asked if I';ve lost a multi rotor by an old dear while I was flying, word does get around, chin up.