Thanks! I was going to tidy up the wiring a bit at the FC, but I kept changing things around messing with the Dragonlink stuff and adding the strobe, so I never got around to it... lol
Love the information you bring to all of us in this hobby and profession. I've been watching your videos for years, so cool. Can't wait for new videos, constantly coming here for entertainment, information and reviews however, sometimes it seems your shop cam is so far zoomed out you can't see what wire goes to what when your showing specific instructions about a FC , GPS, ESC etc. . thanks for reading these comments, You are an asset to this hobby and industry, The skies are safer with your valuable info. Still I think many of us are jealous of your setup, backyard runway and control center ie. tower lol, so cool !! Watching you come in for landings and your flight videos are so relaxing, Great Wing! Thank you for sharing with us, Boston, MA
Thanks! I personally enjoy wings for what they are, but I do tend to prefer flying traditional planes with a tail. Wings are better at somethings, they have their strong points.
Super to see how you came up with some solutions, it would be great though if you could make a simple setup video of the transmitter and how you configured the autopilot for the beginners under us :)
Hi. Just ordered one and wondering if I'll be able to use some 5000mah LiPo I have with length of 155mm. I was trying to judge based on your footage with the Turnigy which I saw have length of 143mm. By that I'm starting to fear I'm going to have a problem. Your thoughts?
Hello, and thanks for sharing the details of your build. I instinctively made many of the same choices including the ever-so-cool strobe light addition, but because I don't have a 3D printer I had to use the compartment cover which is not quite as cool. Could you please print one out for me? I will pay handsomely for it.
Very nice and neat build. I know you have the test gear to tune your antennas but I'm wondering if you are finding stock included antennas very far off frequency.
This video antenna is one that I made myself, I intentionally used elements that were too long so I could tune it once it was installed in the plane where it will stay. With the elements longer than necessary it will resonate at a lower frequency than you need, I then start trimming them down little by little until the resonate frequency moves down where I need it. That will give you the best SWR you can get for a specific antenna. You can't do as much with impedance, that usually comes down to the antenna's design and how well it's constructed. If the impedance is way off from what it should be though, there's usually something wrong, like a damaged coax cable, bad connector, or just poor soldering where the coax meets the elements. Most of the stock antennas and things that I've checked are generally good, especially those made specifically for FPV. Dragonlink, VAS, RMRC, etc. have all been damn close. Sometimes the junk antennas that come with the Partom transmitters for example will be a bit off tune, those are usually too big and heavy to use anyway. I like to either buy something better or make my own.
Bonafidepirat how exactly did you wire up the DL receiver? Did you use all of the UEXP cables for telemetry, I understood you skipped some? What about the RSSI, you only connect one cable, how come, dont you need 5v and ground, or are these already supplied through SBUS...? Sorry for the knucklehead questions but I just got my DL 900 mhz system im ans the wiring to the FC remains abit of a headscratcher. Will you show some close-ups as promised? That would be neat
I just have TX and RX for telemetry, you only need a ground reference for those. My SBUS signal wire has the 5V to power the receiver, and ground for everything. So there's 6 wires between the FC and receiver. TX and RX for telemetry, 5V power, analog RSSI, and ground. The TX and RX are mapped in the receivers to two of the unused pin that are normally assigned to PWM channel outputs. (I changed those in the DL GUI, quick and easy to do) SBUS and analog RSSI pins are at their default locations on the receiver. Being able to move different output and input signals around to different pins on the Dragonlink receivers is one of their best features I think. ;)
Now you kinda have me confused, what is the UEXP slot used for on the receiver, if not for setup of telemetry? The manual on the DL site clearly says to connect the UEXP or at least certain wires of it. Is mapping it to free pins on the receiver just an alternative way of doing just that? Thanks
@@ecor1987 Yep, they come with the UEXP port set up for it by default, but like I said I just mapped them to a different pin, simply because I have piles of "servo" connectors laying around, and the bare pins/housing and the tool to crimp them so I can make cables any length I need. It's just easier to work with than the connectors on the UEXP ports for me. You can configure all the pins on the receiver to just about any function you want, with the exception of analog RSSI, I'm almost sure that one is limited to the one pin it comes set to by default because of hardware needed for it to work properly.
Keith, I'm building an AR Pro, I come from building quadcopters, may I ask, what method do you use to mount the flight controller to the wing? I have not seen a single video mentioned how to mount the flight controller to the wing.
9/10 times I use 3M mounting tape, just stick it down. If I think I may need to easily get it out later I'll take the time to 3D print some brackets to hold it down instead.
@@bonafidepirate It must be square and centered right? Also I plan to mount my receiver on the wing, my Rx needs 4 wires, the quick-disconnect on the wing only has space for 3 wires plus the servo's other 3 wires, how can I mount it in the wing hole?
@@jhughes2286 Yep, generally you want the FC mounted flat in the center of the wing, close to the CG. A couple of inches away won't make it not work though. There's usually an arrow or something to designate the "front" of the FC, if you face that forward you're good to go. If you need to mount it in some other orientation you can usually set offsets in the FC firmware so it knows what's actually the new front "front". iNav and Arduplane can for sure, not all others will work like that though. To get the receiver in the wing using 4 wires, you can usually share the ground for the servo with the receiver and free up an extra wire for signals that way.
Great video again Keith. I'm just about to maiden mine. Where do you have your CG? Are you in the middle of the CG pads under the wing or slightly forward/back? I'm finding it difficult to get exact using my fingers as it seems to tip forwards and back with the same weight on the CG pads. Cheers
I'm pretty much centered the marks, if anything very slightly forward. I too, found it difficult to get it to balance on the marks, as it wants to tip one way or the other... lol I start with the wing level and adjust so it tends to sit there for a minute before tipping one way or the other.
Get some dressmaker pins, the ones with plastic balls on the end, put them in the CoG marks and you'll find it much easier to get a balance. Works for me :-) Steve
Thank you for the video ! I wanted to consult you about the frequency 1,3 . Is it worth buying an RMRC-1.3 GHz 800mW transmitter or are Chinese transmitters just as good? Here probably the video quality depends more on the receiver? I took an RMRC 900MHz-1.3Ghz High Performance Receiver with Custom Tuner
Yeah a good video receiver is important! lol I've used transmitters from just about every source, and haven't seen any difference in them, they've all been good. My current source if Banggood, they have the 800mW Partom for less than $30. bit.ly/3mpAljj If you're in a hurry RMRC is a good source and it comes with a better antenna, but they'll both work about the same. (Apart from the video frequencies, RMRC is locked to just 1280 and 1258 for the US version, assuming you're in the US. That's all we can legally use anyway so no loss really. I believe the imported ones don't to 1258, just 1280 but I may be wrong about that. I always use 1280 so don't remember... lol)
No I'm not sending any signal to it, it's just plugged into the servo rail for power. When it's powered up it starts working, and I can change the pattern with the little button on the strobe. I think you can switch it on and off with a spare channel if you wanted to, but I didn't bother. If you wanted to, yes you could just set that servo connector in Arduplane to pass through one of your R/C channels.
Did you sort out the wondering it dose in cruse mode? I do not have the same issue with my Arduplane set up ion my Arwing pro. It just locks the heading and fly straight..
Yes, it was the tuning on roll axis. I mentioned it in one of my last videos flying it. I threw out the values for that Autotune have given me for the roll, and put the defaults back in and it's loacked in and feels better, holds a heading very well.
can you do a video on how you set up the dragon link v3 to output telemetry via Bluetooth with mavlink please i have crossfire full tx and the Bluetooth is shit i got DL from a friend and going to try out thanks PS what about the dart xl lol are you done with it for good
I could explain it, but I literally just followed this page exactly... lol www.dragonlinkrc.com/instructions/v3equipment/radiomodem/ I'm not done with eh Dart XL, I just have too many planes to stay focused on them all... lol I was actually thinking I might stick a Dragonlink receiver in that one for the telemetry and change it up a bit. I definitely plan to fly it some more though, it's great fun especially with the pan/tilt.
On the 900mhz antenna, how do you know which is active and which is passive element to de sleeve it and mount it in. I have been mounting mine as it comes and damages antenna after a while. By the way I’m using crossfire 800mhz if that makes any difference to which side of the antenna
The Crossfire antennas that I have here (Immortal T) all measure a DC short between both elements, I'm guessing it's some sort of matching transformer or something like that in the molded plastic in the center. The Dragonlink antennas are not electrically connected between the elements, so you can check them with a meter, one is connected only to the center pin on the SMA connector, the other to ground. I'm not sure how to tell which is which on the TBS ones, but the ones I have are all springy and return to their original shape, and should be stiff enough to hold their shape in flight. I'd just mount it upright and it should work fine.
And also how many degrees offset do you have on your board to make it fly level. I had mine set at 0 for maiden flew well with 1300 cruise throttle, but would slightly Bob up and down and motor would surge slightly. So increased it by 1 degree with same result.
Man she's a beauty! And as a proud supporter, it's great to see your sponsor list growing! WTG!
Thanks for the kind words, and the support! People like you are why I keep doing this... lol
That is a really nice and neat build.
Thanks! I was going to tidy up the wiring a bit at the FC, but I kept changing things around messing with the Dragonlink stuff and adding the strobe, so I never got around to it... lol
Love the information you bring to all of us in this hobby and profession. I've been watching your
videos for years, so cool.
Can't wait for new videos, constantly coming here for entertainment, information and reviews
however, sometimes it seems your shop cam is so far zoomed out you can't see what wire goes to what when your
showing specific instructions about a FC , GPS, ESC etc. . thanks for reading these comments, You are an asset to this
hobby and industry, The skies are safer with your valuable info.
Still I think many of us are jealous of your setup, backyard runway and control center ie. tower lol, so cool !!
Watching you come in for landings and your flight videos are so relaxing, Great Wing! Thank you for sharing with us, Boston, MA
Such a clean setup!
I have never really been a big wing guy, but I did just watch this video… lol Nice build!
Thanks! I personally enjoy wings for what they are, but I do tend to prefer flying traditional planes with a tail. Wings are better at somethings, they have their strong points.
Nice, maidened mine the other day, flies very good.
3:12.. Good info on the 900MHz servo interference..
Hey doesn't your 1.2Ghz video interferes with your 900Mhz radio link?
Super to see how you came up with some solutions, it would be great though if you could make a simple setup video of the transmitter and how you configured the autopilot for the beginners under us :)
Lovely neat build, great attention to detail :-) Thanks for all your reviews Steve
Very welcome, and thanks for watching!
Still struggling with how to launch this thing .. auto launch is pretty much useless just stalls every time on me ..
Neat install M8...I don't use digital servos, they make too much noise around neutral and pull current doing it...
Very nice review Keith.
If i may ask sir? Why did you remove the cooling housing of the Partom 800 mw vtx? Will the vtx not overheat by doing so?
Hi. Just ordered one and wondering if I'll be able to use some 5000mah LiPo I have with length of 155mm. I was trying to judge based on your footage with the Turnigy which I saw have length of 143mm. By that I'm starting to fear I'm going to have a problem. Your thoughts?
Hello, and thanks for sharing the details of your build. I instinctively made many of the same choices including the ever-so-cool strobe light addition, but because I don't have a 3D printer I had to use the compartment cover which is not quite as cool.
Could you please print one out for me? I will pay handsomely for it.
Hi Keith, can't find a 7x6 APC. 7x5 might be good?
Pretty nice setup, Keith! Great work! 😃
Really fantastic the amount of free space in that wing, hum?
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Yeah there's tons of space in there for the size of wing it is. Makes it easy to build up with just about any gear you want... lol
Ahoi,
Just started building mine..
Wanted to ask if you cleaned the foam surface befor putting on the stickers?
Thank you
5200 LIPO FITS OK THE LID SHUTS GOOD?
What motor do us use?. Thnx.
How did you set up the reflexes in the control surface?
what equipment do you use to tune 1.3 antenna? and also could you recommend a good centerfed diapol?
Very nice and neat build. I know you have the test gear to tune your antennas but I'm wondering if you are finding stock included antennas very far off frequency.
This video antenna is one that I made myself, I intentionally used elements that were too long so I could tune it once it was installed in the plane where it will stay. With the elements longer than necessary it will resonate at a lower frequency than you need, I then start trimming them down little by little until the resonate frequency moves down where I need it. That will give you the best SWR you can get for a specific antenna. You can't do as much with impedance, that usually comes down to the antenna's design and how well it's constructed. If the impedance is way off from what it should be though, there's usually something wrong, like a damaged coax cable, bad connector, or just poor soldering where the coax meets the elements. Most of the stock antennas and things that I've checked are generally good, especially those made specifically for FPV. Dragonlink, VAS, RMRC, etc. have all been damn close. Sometimes the junk antennas that come with the Partom transmitters for example will be a bit off tune, those are usually too big and heavy to use anyway. I like to either buy something better or make my own.
@@bonafidepirate Thank you for the explanation Keith. Building and tuning a 1.3ghz antenna would make a good follow up video to your nanoVNA Vid.
Bonafidepirat how exactly did you wire up the DL receiver? Did you use all of the UEXP cables for telemetry, I understood you skipped some? What about the RSSI, you only connect one cable, how come, dont you need 5v and ground, or are these already supplied through SBUS...?
Sorry for the knucklehead questions but I just got my DL 900 mhz system im ans the wiring to the FC remains abit of a headscratcher.
Will you show some close-ups as promised? That would be neat
I just have TX and RX for telemetry, you only need a ground reference for those. My SBUS signal wire has the 5V to power the receiver, and ground for everything. So there's 6 wires between the FC and receiver. TX and RX for telemetry, 5V power, analog RSSI, and ground. The TX and RX are mapped in the receivers to two of the unused pin that are normally assigned to PWM channel outputs. (I changed those in the DL GUI, quick and easy to do) SBUS and analog RSSI pins are at their default locations on the receiver. Being able to move different output and input signals around to different pins on the Dragonlink receivers is one of their best features I think. ;)
Now you kinda have me confused, what is the UEXP slot used for on the receiver, if not for setup of telemetry? The manual on the DL site clearly says to connect the UEXP or at least certain wires of it. Is mapping it to free pins on the receiver just an alternative way of doing just that? Thanks
@@ecor1987 Yep, they come with the UEXP port set up for it by default, but like I said I just mapped them to a different pin, simply because I have piles of "servo" connectors laying around, and the bare pins/housing and the tool to crimp them so I can make cables any length I need. It's just easier to work with than the connectors on the UEXP ports for me. You can configure all the pins on the receiver to just about any function you want, with the exception of analog RSSI, I'm almost sure that one is limited to the one pin it comes set to by default because of hardware needed for it to work properly.
Hey Keith, thanks for taking the time to explain this stuff. You really just helped me out here.
Thanks, great review. Can you elaborate on the center of gravity location?
I balanced on the molded CG marks on the bottom of the wing. It seems to fly well there, I didn't feel a need to change it.
@@bonafidepirate Thanks. The marking is large, I will start at the front of it.
Keith, I'm building an AR Pro, I come from building quadcopters, may I ask, what method do you use to mount the flight controller to the wing? I have not seen a single video mentioned how to mount the flight controller to the wing.
9/10 times I use 3M mounting tape, just stick it down. If I think I may need to easily get it out later I'll take the time to 3D print some brackets to hold it down instead.
@@bonafidepirate It must be square and centered right? Also I plan to mount my receiver on the wing, my Rx needs 4 wires, the quick-disconnect on the wing only has space for 3 wires plus the servo's other 3 wires, how can I mount it in the wing hole?
@@jhughes2286 Yep, generally you want the FC mounted flat in the center of the wing, close to the CG. A couple of inches away won't make it not work though. There's usually an arrow or something to designate the "front" of the FC, if you face that forward you're good to go. If you need to mount it in some other orientation you can usually set offsets in the FC firmware so it knows what's actually the new front "front". iNav and Arduplane can for sure, not all others will work like that though. To get the receiver in the wing using 4 wires, you can usually share the ground for the servo with the receiver and free up an extra wire for signals that way.
@@bonafidepirateOk thank you, I guess I'll need some servo connectors and wires?
Great video again Keith. I'm just about to maiden mine. Where do you have your CG? Are you in the middle of the CG pads under the wing or slightly forward/back? I'm finding it difficult to get exact using my fingers as it seems to tip forwards and back with the same weight on the CG pads. Cheers
I'm pretty much centered the marks, if anything very slightly forward. I too, found it difficult to get it to balance on the marks, as it wants to tip one way or the other... lol I start with the wing level and adjust so it tends to sit there for a minute before tipping one way or the other.
Get some dressmaker pins, the ones with plastic balls on the end, put them in the CoG marks and you'll find it much easier to get a balance. Works for me :-) Steve
Thank you for the video ! I wanted to consult you about the frequency 1,3 . Is it worth buying an RMRC-1.3 GHz 800mW transmitter or are Chinese transmitters just as good? Here probably the video quality depends more on the receiver? I took an RMRC 900MHz-1.3Ghz High Performance Receiver with Custom Tuner
Yeah a good video receiver is important! lol I've used transmitters from just about every source, and haven't seen any difference in them, they've all been good. My current source if Banggood, they have the 800mW Partom for less than $30. bit.ly/3mpAljj If you're in a hurry RMRC is a good source and it comes with a better antenna, but they'll both work about the same. (Apart from the video frequencies, RMRC is locked to just 1280 and 1258 for the US version, assuming you're in the US. That's all we can legally use anyway so no loss really. I believe the imported ones don't to 1258, just 1280 but I may be wrong about that. I always use 1280 so don't remember... lol)
Thank you for the detailed answer! And as always I ask for subtitles in your videos lol )) I love your channel very much! Good luck!
bonafidepirate how did you setup the Strix Strobe did you set it up on a switch and just mapped a RC Channel through Ardupilot to point at a switch?
No I'm not sending any signal to it, it's just plugged into the servo rail for power. When it's powered up it starts working, and I can change the pattern with the little button on the strobe. I think you can switch it on and off with a spare channel if you wanted to, but I didn't bother. If you wanted to, yes you could just set that servo connector in Arduplane to pass through one of your R/C channels.
Are you from Louisiana?
Is the strobe light for other aircraft to see you ?
I have them because they look cool, but they're meant to be visible to planes above.
Did you sort out the wondering it dose in cruse mode? I do not have the same issue with my Arduplane set up ion my Arwing pro. It just locks the heading and fly straight..
Yes, it was the tuning on roll axis. I mentioned it in one of my last videos flying it. I threw out the values for that Autotune have given me for the roll, and put the defaults back in and it's loacked in and feels better, holds a heading very well.
Hi. How do u secure your fc?
Servo mounting tape, I like the gray 3M stuff.
can you do a video on how you set up the dragon link v3 to output telemetry via Bluetooth with mavlink please i have crossfire full tx and the Bluetooth is shit i got DL from a friend and going to try out thanks PS what about the dart xl lol are you done with it for good
I could explain it, but I literally just followed this page exactly... lol www.dragonlinkrc.com/instructions/v3equipment/radiomodem/ I'm not done with eh Dart XL, I just have too many planes to stay focused on them all... lol I was actually thinking I might stick a Dragonlink receiver in that one for the telemetry and change it up a bit. I definitely plan to fly it some more though, it's great fun especially with the pan/tilt.
@@bonafidepirate cant wait for you to start back flying it but did you try to get telemetry from the crossfire tx as you do from the dragon link
On the 900mhz antenna, how do you know which is active and which is passive element to de sleeve it and mount it in. I have been mounting mine as it comes and damages antenna after a while. By the way I’m using crossfire 800mhz if that makes any difference to which side of the antenna
The Crossfire antennas that I have here (Immortal T) all measure a DC short between both elements, I'm guessing it's some sort of matching transformer or something like that in the molded plastic in the center. The Dragonlink antennas are not electrically connected between the elements, so you can check them with a meter, one is connected only to the center pin on the SMA connector, the other to ground. I'm not sure how to tell which is which on the TBS ones, but the ones I have are all springy and return to their original shape, and should be stiff enough to hold their shape in flight. I'd just mount it upright and it should work fine.
And also how many degrees offset do you have on your board to make it fly level. I had mine set at 0 for maiden flew well with 1300 cruise throttle, but would slightly Bob up and down and motor would surge slightly. So increased it by 1 degree with same result.
@@smegaloon most folks say to set the board level with wing 3-4 degrees pitch up. just saying :-) Steve