Matt Crashing The Crap Out Of The RCH Quad

[Tony]

Matt came down because he needed to borrow a reactor that I have for my aquarium. As always, we had to fly something. He had never done FPV before so we gave it a shot. It started out with him flying LOS to get a feel for the quad. Then he put the goggles on and did a pretty good job of flying the quad. But, with a drift to the left, it was a little hard to control for a first time FPV pilot.

From there we decided to do some testing of some antennas, a new VTX and a new VRX. The video below shows the last two batteries...

https://youtu.be/YXcZq7588rE

 

[PLANETGETLOW]

Lol....damn you have no mountains there, BUT it is green!!

The local hobby shop guy said "alot of the cool kids" are heavy into FPV where they actually where goggles and race these.

 

[Tony]

FPV racing is huge right now. I just heard from Trainrider06 that ESPN is actually covering quad racing now.

And nope, no mountains where I live. Quite a few trees though which is where Matt landed the quad after the prop broke lmao. I asked him to land it on the ground, but he insisted on landing it in the very top of the tree. I mean the VERY TOP lmao.

 

[Stambo]

That's a nice place to fly, was that recorded on a DVR?
If so that is a nice setup.
I assume those flights were self level.
I suggest before trying to tweak roll pitch PIDs, back down the level gain a whole chunk.
With the level gain too strong it is overshooting and having to correct itself causing the rocking motion.
Also, there is no point trying to adjust the rest of the PIDs too much until you are successfully flying acro.
While you are there, maybe increase your roll and pitch rates for a faster roll and flip.
You could increase the expo a bit so you still have the same feel around mid stick.
You probably already know this but for the benefit of others, absolutely no expo in the tx.
Do it all on the flight controller, otherwise you end up with double expo which makes the transitions really strange.
(Ask me how I know. )

 

[Tony]

The setup is quite weird. I have my VTX on the quad going down to the VRX on my goggles. From there it comes out and goes into a box that is connected to my laptop where I record the flights. I need to get a splitter so that I can record on my lappy and see it through the goggles as well. The VRX that I have only has a diversity port, A port and B port. It's not like the ImmersionRC VRX's where you have two ports, both diversity. So I will need a splitter.

And yes, I will be adjusting all of what you said. This was the bone stock settings from the setup video that I just uploaded this weekend. I have made NO adjustments to the quad. Most of it was in Angle mode, the flips were in Horizon mode (I might have that backwards, not sure lmao) and I have not flown it enough to go into acro just yet. But it's coming, trust me. I just need to get a few more videos out of the way and I can really start tuning this thing.

And yup, I know all about that expo. Put it on the Tx and the FC and things start to get VERY interesting lmao.

 

[Stambo]

Once you get used to flying acro, you will wonder why you stuck with self level for so long.
Your videos will get so much smoother too.
Are you running a Naze32 on that?

 

[Tony]

Yup, the Naze32 SP F3 Deluxe. So far I like that board a lot. Seems to be a bit better than the CC3D.

And I'm working on it (the acro). The time will come.

 

[trainrider06]

Looks like a fun day even with crash it was back in the air soon, thanks for sharing!

 

[Tony]

It was the most batteries I have flown in one day in about 3 years. And I have a feeling there is going to be a lot more. I just got the Runner 250 working, just waiting on some parts to get the FPV part working.

 

[Stambo]

For me, it keeps me sane.
Nothing beats ripping through a couple of packs after work to lower the blood pressure.
Even better now that I am starting to FPV airplanes.
So relaxing to just get up there and stooge around for a while.
Or depending on the mood and the location going slightly nuts with some proximity flying.

Much less maintenance then a heli also.

 

[Tony]

Yup, it is relaxing until you have a mechanical failure lol. Looks like I need to invest in some much better props.

 

[callsign4223]

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in clear air when half the prop decided it didn't like the other half!!!!!!! Not my fault!!!!!

 

[Tony]

hahahahaha, You are in the clear, I just had to poke at ya a bit. You know me

 

[Stambo]

Perhaps we can blame a lack of preflight check on Tony.

 

[Tony]

Actually, you can blame me on trying a different style prop. And it bit me in the butt lol. It would have happened to me if he wasn't flying I can assure you. I HATE mechanical failures. Thankfully, we were able to just put new props on that was it.

So what props do people suggest for a 250 quad? The ones that broke were 6030 and I replaced it with 6040 (I think, not positive, but it did have more pitch). I do want to try some tri-blade props, just need some suggestions on what to try.

 

[Stambo]

What motors are you running on that, what battery 3 or 4 cell?
It really depends on your setup.
I find 6" props tend to give a more floaty less responsive quad.
That's fine if you want to fly it like an airplane but if you want it to handle well with good throttle response I would suggest dropping to 5".
Maybe try a a HQ5040 triblade.
I am still running 5045 bullnose 2 blades on my 4s machine but that is mainly because that it what i have a lot of.
My next prop order will include some tri blades just to see what they are like.

Another advantage with smaller props is they don't generally need balancing.
If I get jello in my video it's time for some new props because one is bent or damaged.

 

[Tony]

2280kv 3s is my setup. And yes, I was looking at the 5045 3 blades. Just wasn't sure what brand is best.

 

[Stambo]

Obviously the usual applies once you get them, monitor motor temps for the first few flights.
HQ and Gemfan and Dal are the most common ones.
I prefer the HQ because they are quite stiff and don't flex under load but are also more brittle than the others.
Dal are virtually unbreakable but once they bend a little they are pretty useless as they kick up vibrations.
Gemfan are probably somewhere in between.
I would suggest Dal unbreakable for learning then HQ as you crash a little less.
Just remember a change of props will require a retune.

Obviously the above is my opinion only, others may disagree.

 

[RandyDSok]

2280kv 3s is my setup. And yes, I was looking at the 5045 3 blades. Just wasn't sure what brand is best.

I'm still chuckling that Tony asked a prop question... without first giving motor/battery info etc...

... Usually it's Tony having to ask for the info... instead of getting asked for it. Turn about is fair play I guess

 

[Tony]

I was just asking about brands, not really on the length and pitch. I had planned on running 5045's if I ordered new ones.