the RC (radio control) and electric rideables thread

[kamkar]

Last weekend i was out driving my little 4x4 with a lot of other guys, and i was happy to see my car did extraordinary well compared to the other cars.
And i still have a couple of tweaks i could do, and might get needed as i add a little more weight higher up on the car and so have a negative effect on its center of gravity.

 

[old4570]

Last weekend i was out driving my little 4x4 with a lot of other guys, and i was happy to see my car did extraordinary well compared to the other cars.
And i still have a couple of tweaks i could do, and might get needed as i add a little more weight higher up on the car and so have a negative effect on its center of gravity.

You want to raise the CG ?

 

[kamkar]

No not really but the bench seat / dashboard and driver will do some in this regard, also i have some other scale items like earth anchor / snatch blocks and recovery board - sand ladders that will add some weight though most of it is made in ALU.
I can offset this by changing from ALU links to stainless steel ones, and i can swap my stock rear axle for one same as the front axle as its a bit heavier than the original plastic axle.

The front / rear balance are just fine ATM, not really a tendency to flip back over when going up really steep inclines, and as long as i keep wheel speed up for when i hit the bottom i can drive down pretty steep descents too.
Its more the R / L balance that worry me, as it is over a shorter distance so more sensitive to changes, but as it is now the car side-hill so good the tires loose grip before the car roll over, and i would like to keep it that way.

 

[TechTronic9000]

Eachine has launched a new 65mm class brushless "Whoop" and beside good features it also sports a new frame and canopy design.

The UK/US models are available from: HERE

Main features:
Betaflight support , multi flight mode: ACRO/AIR/ANGLE, OSD, RSS, voltage, etc.
0603 KV19000 brushless motors
Adjust the settings and the PID of the flight controller via OSD
Frsky version support both D8 and D16 transmitter
Full telemetry function ready
Head lights ready
Adjustable camera angle
Real Bind and Fly version
Turtle mode ready

Package Included:
1 x 65mm Brushless whoop Frame (US or UK to choose)
1 x Crazybee F3 FC (Frsky and Flysky option)
4 x SE0603 KV19000 Motor
4cw+4ccw 31mm propellers
1 x AIO Camera & VTX with smartaudio
3 x 3.8v 250mah 40C/80C battery (LiHV)
1 x 1S06 6 way Lipo/LIHV charger with 2 charge current settings
1 x Propeller disassemble tool
1 x Screwdriver

In the box you are going to get some really bundle which includes several things

​

Six port LiPo/LiHv 4.20/4.35V charger with 2 way current selector for 0.2A and 0.6A modes. Beside that it can be powered by either a 12V PSU or a LiPo battery when you are on the go. Bonus you also get a 5V USB port and a voltage display which cycles through each port.

In the box you will also get 3 LiHv 250mAh batteries with a generous 40/80C discharger rate. They are also labeled in the same color scheme as the quad.

You are also going to get some extra spare such as propellers, assorted screws, rubber band and a screwdriver aiding you in easy taking the canopy off for a bind or to adjust the camera angle.

Beside all the hardware you are going to get also a quick setup and install guide that gives out all the basics to put this quad in air such as how to bind it, how to set a few important things and other useful stuff.

To be updated soon with full video review and test flight

 

[old4570]

Wow , ok ... 1s , look forward to the review ... ( Micro quads are sweet when they work )

Banggood sent me the Jumper T8SG Lite to play with ( Test / Review ) ..
So will be posting a review soon .

 

[Gibson99]

I like the charger already. Much safer and better than the typical y-cables

 

[old4570]

Specification:
Brand Name: Jumper
Model: T8SG Lite
Channels: 12ch (depending on the receiver)
Size: 138*162*38mm
Weight: 218g (without battery)
Battery: 4x AA battery
Firmware: Deviation
Display: 1.7” LCD display
Gimbal Type: Joystick
Upgrade method: USB online upgrade
Simulator mode: 3.5mm standard ppm output or USB HID
Maximum Transmission Power: 0-150mw
Compatible protocol: FrSKY & S-FHSS

Feature:
- Open source multi-protocol firmware, Based on Deviation TX
- Low cost and ultra-compact form factor
- USB online firmware upgrade
- Ultra-low power consumption, longer battery life
- Up to 12 channels of output (depending on the receiver), Open Source Firmware, all channels are fully programmable
- Multilingual menu: Yes
- Vibration Alerts: Yes
- Support telemetry (depending on the receiver): Yes

Package Included:
1x Jumper T8SG Lite Radio Transmitter
1x Neck Strap

I was sent the Jumper T8SG for review and testing - RCG Thread


The Elephant in the Room ! ( Deviation )
Deviation is not the easiest OS / Firmware to work with , so just be aware that it just might be the hardest OS to learn to use when it comes to programming functions and mixes . If you visit the Deviation forum / web > https://www.deviationtx.com/ you will see this warning !
WARNING: Deviation is experimental software. There are no guarantees made or implied about the quality or reliability of this software. RC models can cause serious injury or death if flown improperly. By deciding to use the Deviation software, you are taking sole responsibility for the control of your models. The authors of Deviation will not be held responsible for any injury or damage caused by the use of the Deviation firmware. Be cautious. You have been warned.

I would highly recommend you visit the deviation Wiki and maybe download the PC Emulator if you have never been exposed to Deviation . Nothing worse than buying something only to be frustrated to the point you give up and sell the Tx you coveted so much . For me personally , what I found most frustrating is the time spent searching for information . The first time I was exposed to Deviation , for the life of me I could not find a throttle cut guide . After ? how much time I worked it out and posted a video on youtube so that others did not have to be challenged as I had been . So that is the Elephant in the room , Deviation can be a challenge and a learning experience . So Be Aware ... If you are not prepared for an education , you may want to maybe try the Jumper T12 which runs OpenTx ( Which in comparison is a walk in the park ) . Just be aware that the T8SG Lite and T12 are new releases and there may be growing pains .

My first post @ RCG
It arrived this morning !
Also this morning I went to the park to try some launch settings on the Whipit
Was getting there till the wind came up , oh well ! My back was saying enough anyways and I did have to walk home ..
( Just trying to increase my activity levels - so I am incorporating some whipit )

Back to the Jumper T8SG Lite .........

These are my initial un boxing - Impressions ! I have not done anything but take the T8SG Lite out of the box and move the sticks , flick some switches , open the battery cover ..

ok !

Gimbals ------- !
Very toy transmitter like .
The round hole for the sticks means limited movement in the other axis
? For some reason , the right gimbals started off ok and then started to bind ? ( Might be some dirt / grime ? )
Throttle is too lose for me , I like a lot more tension .

Switches ----- !
Both switches are 3 position - Feel nice

Rotary Switches on the side ---- !
Good tension
Easy to get to
I was afraid they might get in the way - but no !

Trim ---- !
They feel really nice and positive

Battery cover --- !
Pull up and then out ..
Yeah , I think it will do the job nicely .

Antenna Stub --- !
Lose - ?? Not that it matters ...

How it feels in the hand --- !
It's a small transmitter for sure , actually smaller than a WL Toys Transmitter . ( If you have one )
Sits in the hands rather nicely , all the switches are easy to get to and actually feels good in the hands physically .
What's a bit of a let down is the gimbals , very soft and maybe to vague . ( Feels like unused )
I would really liked to have seen more tension on both sticks .
With the right Gimbals binding , I will have to disassemble to investigate ..

So ends my initial impressions on the unboxed Jumper T8SG Lite .

Next I open it up for a look see inside

My second post @ RCG
So where are we ?

The Gimpy Gimbals ..........

Ok ,,, so I pulled out the gimpy G ..
Once the screw were loosened the gimbals was just fine ..
I tried to find some washers to raise the gimbals assembly so that it would not rub against the Tx case ( Which it was doing )
I could not find any , so I had to make some ( rubbish ones ) ..

Well the washers I made simply exasperated another problem ..

Seem the board the gimbals is mounted on was warping when the screws were torqued down ..
So I threw the washers away , got out a knife ..
And gouged the hole for the gimbals larger
Yeah , no more rubbing -

Still there was the issue with the warping of the board the gimbals is mounted to ..
I played with the mounting screws and ended up deleting two ...
So now there is one screw at the top on one side and one screw at the bottom on the other side ..
No more warping , no more binding gimbals ..

So I assembled the Tx , put in some batteries and tested to make sure I had not killed anything ..
Next I will bind to something ( quad ) and see how the Tx handles ..

So the gimbals are the stuff of Toys , not adjustable .
Just have to wonder ?


So the T8SG Lite is ready to be bound to something .

The Gimbals .... ( The interface between the user and transmitter )
Ok so I had some issue with the gimbal on the right side of the Tx . After sorting things out and binding the T8SG Lite to my Light Wing Project ( FrSky Rx ) I proceeded to check out how the gimbals feel . And I have to report that there is a fair degree of dead band around Neutral Stick .

XK251 ( Quad )
To actually go out and fly is the true test of a transmitter . And for that I bound the T8SG Lite to a XK251 ( Futaba S-FHSS protocol ) and then proceeded to try it out . Now at first I did a bad thing ! I tried to fly in my room and that was a huge mistake . There is just enough dead band around neutral stick to make such an attempt foolish . I had no precise / fine control over the XK251 at all and I was bouncing the XK251 of everything near the floor . I pulled the plug on that stupidity after a few attempts and the next day took it outside where I have at least a few meters of run off space .
Well , it was certainly an experience I can say !
First , the throttle stick is so lose that throttle control is challenging .
Applying rudder control ( mode 2 ) was impossible , the throttle is so lose that any attempt at rudder function changed the throttle setting sending the XK251 plummeting toward the ground or rocketing up into the sky .
Ail / Ele - Dead band around center stick . The dead band really took away any real ability to input fine precise control over the XK251 . You sort of lean on the gimbal and nothing happens , increase the pressure and still nothing . And when it finally does something the XK251 ( being high performance ) , rather than move gently sort of jerks itself in the direction of stick movement . ( That dead band )
Now the dead band is annoying but not a deal breaker , the lose as a goose throttle how ever !
So why is this so ? Well for some reason Jumper decided to go with Toy Gimbals that can not be adjusted rather than with proper RC gimbals that can be adjusted . Why ?

The T8SG Lite ...
Runs on 4 x AA .
Has two 3 position switches as well two side wheels .
Size - One of the smallest computer Tx available - if not the smallest .
Protocols - FrSky - FrSky V8 - FrSkyX - Skyartec - S-FHSS - Corona - PPM - USBHID
Jumper had a really good concept going here , I really like everything about this transmitter ( Lets not worry about Deviation ok ) and what really lets it down is the toy gimbals . And in all honesty I simply can not get past how NOT GOOD the gimbals are on the sample I got . The short and long of it is that the gimbals really ruin what was a good idea . If my sample is anything to go by then I can not recommend the Jumper T8SG Lite to the general RC community . How ever if Jumper were to put better Gimbals on this Tx , then it could be something special .

 

[TechTronic9000]

Here's the review of the UK65 whoop, I really love it. It's not as fast as some may believe but it's stable, precise and easy to control. It has working telemetry on the FrSky Taranis, OSD, BLheliS and it is smart audio ready making it probably the most advanced whoop there is on the market currently.

 

[kamkar]

Jumper T8SG Lite

I wish we could get pistol grip transmitters with many channels at that price, we can to a degree but not quite there yet i think.

 

[old4570]

I wish we could get pistol grip transmitters with many channels at that price, we can to a degree but not quite there yet i think.

PG Transmitter ... You mean the car ones ? or like the IR8M from iRangeX ?
CAR PG Tx - Pretty sure they are available , but not multi protocol .

 

[old4570]

Here's the review of the UK65 whoop, I really love it. It's not as fast as some may believe but it's stable, precise and easy to control. It has working telemetry on the FrSky Taranis, OSD, BLheliS and it is smart audio ready making it probably the most advanced whoop there is on the market currently.

Nice !

 

[TechTronic9000]

I wish we could get pistol grip transmitters with many channels at that price, we can to a degree but not quite there yet i think.

You can get a FlySky GT3 (li-ion battery one) and get the +5ch extra mod, you can use 8 channel FlySky receivers with it. I can give you a parts list if you want to.

 

[TechTronic9000]

The Space Wolf DT140 comes as a big surprise for me, like a diamond in the dust, mine came in a dull and busted box, bent propellers and missing screws. So after a period of time I have decided to give it a try and I was amazed of how it flies. The quad is perfectly locked in, precise, huge power and punch outs and to my astonish it stayed in the air for more than 10 minutes with a 1500mAh 30C 3S pack !

Main Features:
● 140mm wheelbase, durable 3K carbon fiber frame with 3mm thick chassis
● OMNIBUS F4 flight controller integrated with BetaFlight OSD responds faster
● 4-in-1 BLHeli - S 28A DShot ESC and D1407 3600KV motors make for thrilling speed
● 600TVL CCD camera for clear image in all conditions and immersive FPV without latency
● 5.8GHz 48CH VTX, 0mW / 25mW / 350mW adjustable for indoor and long-distance flight

 

[kamkar]

I am aware of the flysky ones and modding them, but never really looked into then, the problem is i would like to have two 3 position channels ( winch and lighting control ) and the 5 channel one i have now only have one 3 position switch, and really its in a annoying position and the switch itself are small and feeble as it is also a cheap transmitter from hobbyking.

 

[TechTronic9000]

I am aware of the flysky ones and modding them, but never really looked into then, the problem is i would like to have two 3 position channels ( winch and lighting control ) and the 5 channel one i have now only have one 3 position switch, and really its in a annoying position and the switch itself are small and feeble as it is also a cheap transmitter from hobbyking.

You might try to mod the existing one also, add a 3 position switch with a resistor, for value range look at the other potentiometers and see their full range, calculate a intermediate value and that will add a 3rd position to the channel.

 

[kamkar]

Something like that.
But as it is right now i dont even need one of those channels, cuz #1 i dont have a winch for the car, #2 it is only my old light controller that need a 3 position switch, i think the came can be done with a 2 position channel now.
And also right now my RC hobby are somewhat on the back burner, i dont even go driving once a month where we use to go driving once a week, my friend still do with some other guys, but me i cant really get going again.

 

[TechTronic9000]

Here is my review of the Simtoo Fairy XT175 which is a mini brushless quadcopter made for quickly taking some selfies or pictures. It features optical flow positioning for indoor flight and also GPS positioning for outdoor usage. It's small size combined with folding arms makes it easy to carry around and deploy.

The general design makes it also similar looking with the Zerotech Dobby and it looks to be using the same propellers and motors while the good part of the XT175 is that the flight time is almost double in comparison with the Dobby.

The Fairy comes with a 1/3" 8 Mpix sensor and will do Full HD video recording beside taking pictures, although it does not have any kind of stabilization, EIS or gimbal. Also the camera is only manually tiltable and you can't control it from the remote.

A pleasant surprise in the box is the remote transmitter which provides far better control than the phone/app control, making it very easy to pilot and doing fine maneuvers. You are also going to get a USB docking charger for the battery which in practice will fill up the battery in less than 60 minutes.

Inside the quad you are going to find a Beitian BN-240 GPS unit which als has a RTC battery for faster GPS lock-in, so if you plan on flying multiple batteries you will get a "hot GPS lock" in a matter of seconds.

Further underneath there is the 4 in 1 ESC board, FC board on which the main chip was erased so brand / type is not known. The WiFi connectivity chip is made by Atheros and will work with both 2.4G and 5G WiFi aiding you in avoiding unnecessary jamming in residential areas.

The camera module of the Fairy has a nice feature and that is the threaded lens design, this will allow maybe another lens upgrade in the future, or if the original one gets damaged it will at least be easy to fix. It only remains to be found if there are compatible lenses.

 

[TechTronic9000]

Mini picture gallery taken with the XT175 Fairy.

As you can see the pictures from the XT175 are really good for such a small quadcopter, they have good dynamic range, vivid colors and lots of details even against bright light which is thing not often seen on this class of quadcopters.

 

[TechTronic9000]

Further on here is the full video review with a quick unboxing, mobile app overview and of course flight test and camera video samples.

Conclusions and an important note

PROS:
- Very good flight time, 10+ minutes easy on one charge
- Very good picture quality
- Good FPV video, very sharp and lots of details
- Relatively quiet
- GPS & OPF work really good
- No follow me mode
- Included transmitter

CONS:
- No video stabilization, no EIS
- Some hiccups in FPV transmission
- No remote tilt for the camera
- No follow me mode

NOTE:
- In the video you will see some image tearing during video recording, it seems to be a problem isolated to my unit as there are several videos on YouTube with camera footage from this drone and none has this issues. Until now I have tried 4 different types of SD cards but the problems is still there.

 

[abarth]

that looks like a fun event. handheld gimbals and motorized scooters. I'd have fun there. and is that you in the red shirt in front of the X5?