FPV Crash and Recovery

by lonewolf7717 | December 12, 2012 | (8) Posted in Just Fun


The "Bix" over Marine Creek Reservoir in Fort Worth, TX once again. Testing out new setup for ground station, last flight of the day (obviously). The search for the downed plane was made all the more nerve racking by the fact it was pitch dark and I needed to get to class for finals (found plane with 5mins to spare).

Ground Station (New Setup)

(2) rc305

DIY 5 turn helical

TrueRC Fan

Bevrc.com Easy Diversity (same as Rangevideo board)

Video splitter/amplifier and power distribution

Haier 7" monitor

Mini DVR KS-650M

Platform

Bixler (well worn)

Rctimer 2826-6 (2200kv) & 6x4 ep prop

30amp ESC

HobbyWing 5a Ubec

Gforce 2200mah 3s engine lipo

Mad Dog 1300mah 3s video/RX lipo

Frsky D6FR RX (60cm dipole antenna)

5.8ghz 200mw video TX (TrueRC Windmill)

ReadyMadeRC 540 camera

GoPro Hero (The Original)

Remzimbi OSD

RC

Turnigy 9x

Frsky module

5db antenna

SmartieParts Board

Blue Backlight

XL RC Styx Stick ends











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COMMENTS

Zatoichi on December 12, 2012
Well done sir!
Glad you got her back nice n dry bro.Nice set up.What is your range on the true rc fan? and your 5 turn?
I get 2km or so on my diy 5 turn helical.(clear as a bell,would have gone further but never pushed it.)
I get 1.5km on my diy cloverleaf(or so)and have only pushed out to 3km on my 7 turn diy helical,as I am not so sure bout the true range of my frsky mod.
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lonewolf7717 on December 13, 2012
Well unfortunately I live in one of the biggest suburban sprawls in the the nation otherwise known as the DFW metroplex. I do not have wide open undeveloped areas to fly in and those areas that aren't developed are cordoned off with barb wire and guarded by shotgun wielding ranchers. I try to make it habit of not flying over populated areas. Being as such I have never gone beyond 3km with helical although I know its good for far more. I have had the TrueRC set out to 2km but video quality was getting a bit hairy (hairy defined as more than fuzzy lol). At some point around 3km the frsky system becomes the weak link, even with 5db tx antenna and dipoles on rx. I refuse to go the 2.4ghz booster route, Next step for me if i need more range will be 433. I have seen guys doing 5km with fairly stock frsky systems but they are typically flying in no mans land, far too much "noise" in a urban setting.
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lonewolf7717 on December 13, 2012
Well unfortunately I live in one of the biggest suburban sprawls in the the nation otherwise known as the DFW metroplex. I do not have wide open undeveloped areas to fly in and those areas that aren't developed are cordoned off with barb wire and guarded by shotgun wielding ranchers. I try to make it habit of not flying over populated areas. Being as such I have never gone beyond 3km with helical although I know its good for far more. I have had the TrueRC set out to 2km but video quality was getting a bit hairy (hairy defined as more than fuzzy lol). At some point around 3km the frsky system becomes the weak link, even with 5db tx antenna and dipoles on rx. I refuse to go the 2.4ghz booster route, Next step for me if i need more range will be 433. I have seen guys doing 5km with fairly stock frsky systems but they are typically flying in no mans land, far too much "noise" in a urban setting.
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Benn Gunn on December 16, 2012
You did well to miss the wet stuff.... nice footage
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MidwestRob on December 18, 2012
Oh man! I can imagine how panicked you must have felt as the plane dove toward the water. Glad to see you were able to get it back in pretty good shape. The sigh of relief at the end of the video says it all. BTW, nice job editing the video.
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leadpipe58 on December 13, 2012
Clearly The R/C gods smiled on you that night.
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lonewolf7717 on December 13, 2012
Well for as much as I give each year in "offerings" to the RC gods or GOD (for the monotheistic RC believers) I should hope they smile on me from time to time and forgive my complete lack of good judgement. Indeed very lucky, although everything in the plane is waterproofed with CorrosionX, I did not feel like going swimming. Now back to a few more "offerings" I need to finalize on Hobbyking (otherwise known as Church).
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Cyberdactyl on December 14, 2012
Nice concise narrative. What was the music? It matched the video perfectly. Your comment at the end of finding the plane was so perfectly timed and sedate, I first thought it was part of the track.

Glad you got it back.
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lonewolf7717 on December 17, 2012
Thanks so much for the the compliment. Getting home with fresh film to edit is almost as much fun as flying for me although i know there is a great deal of improvement to be had. the music is courtesy of the Silversun Pickups "rusted wheel"....if you enjoyed this track you certainly like all their others.
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Rubnorris on February 26, 2013
WOW! Lucky man! Glad you found it.
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FPV Crash and Recovery