I'm trying to figure a way to use the M5 as a single operator on my Cinestar. Assuming I want to leave it in Pan Majestic mode (handheld), although it appears I have to take off with the gimbal powered off, otherwise it'll just spin on the ground. So my question is this: has anybody had any luck with doing this, and is there maybe a way to reprogram "Airborne" mode so that the uppermost switch is Pan Majestic mode instead of two-operator mode? I'd like to be able to lock the MoVI like you can in airborne mode so I'm not landing with the MoVI either in Pan Majestic or Off altogether. Thanks! If I discover something myself, I'll post it here, too.
Steve You are correct in using the handheld mode to achieve majestic for single operator flying. We typically fly with two operators. Occasionally we go out on solo flights and shoot majestic. For this my workflow is to hang the gimbal TX off of my FPV stand with the mode switch accessible. I take off in kill mode and switch to majestic once airborne. When landing I touch down then kill the power to the MoVI so I don't get the whirly bird.
Is there a way to reprogram the switches so that there is a way to use kill, lock, and majestic? In other words, to have a hybrid state between handheld and airborne? That would be very useful, IMHO.
If you are on the standard star plate it is simple. Run in Majestic Mode with Pan set to 0. Adjust the Pan offset by -22.5 degrees. This applies only if you do not have the Toad. Default will be Majestic Mode which depending on your Tilt Mode will either tilt as the copter tilts or stay level or set at any manually set tilt in the Smooth Lock Mode. If you have an extra recv you can use it to assign the tilt channel so that a single radio can control tilt. The challenge until the most recent software was that there was no way to do the offset and the mounted MoVI pointed between Boom 1 and 2. Mike is correct I found running in Handheld mode is better. But I takeoff in Majestic mode, after spinning up the motors. Switch from Kill to Majestic. Just make sure that you have the front of the copter pointing in the same direction as forward on the MoVI. Again with a receiver on the MoVI you can map it anyway you want. Just like you did with Radians and dual receivers. What are you using for a TX/RX setup? Futaba is straight forward for dual recv's. There is post on the forum about using a Spektrum with the Satellite on the MoVI and an AR6210 for a flight or camera control RX.
Thank you, Gary. I’ll have to try that. Taking off in “kill” mode is rather disconcerting, made even more so just now by the 20mph+ winds where i was flying. And your 22.5° is a good call, except I had to use a different number because I didn’t orient the MōVI’s star plate that way. As for TXs, I’m using the supplied Spektrum DX8 for the gimbal and a Graupner mx20 for the copter, so I’m probably stuck for combining them into one, unless I ditch the Graupner, right? As long as I’m flying MK, though, I want to stick with the Grapuner. Me and my Fraulein have grown rather cozy.
Ok so the poor man's way to do this is to fly with the Graupner, have the Spektrum on a stand in front of you so that you can control tilt and the Kill/Majestic switch. It is kludgy but can be done. A third arm does help, or perhaps you can adapt the flying hat to include a blow tube for switch control and a tiltometer tied to a balance beam to control tilt. Time for you to switch to Futaba. MK makes a Futaba interface that works with sBus. Your problems would miraculously disappear with a pair of Futaba sBus receivers. Just sayin' Stay outside the box. I don't live in the Mile High city for nothin....
Your in the bay area. Start an art project...make a sculpture garden for the back of the depot...way cool...
Steve, try a pan window of 5 and pan smoothing to 5 in majestic settings to get rid of the locked pan look. Experiment with those to your taste.
So here's a thought.. with a couple of low-power xbees and some cheap micro controllers one could "port forward" from one Rx to another on the same copter (e.g. from the flight Rx to the gimbal Rx). That way you could use a single Tx to control both the ship and the gimbal. Also with this setup, switching between single operator and dual operator modes is as easy as plugging or unplugging a couple of Rx wires. This only works for "servo" style Rxs. Spektrum satellites could be done, but it would take considerably more effort.
Steve, that footage looked bumpy and choppy on all axis. 20mph winds shouldn't be an issue for the M5, especially with the lightweight GH3. Have you tuned it? It seems you'll need quite a bit more tuning. Wasn't that the whole purpose of going the M5 route? It only takes a matter of minutes to balance and retune..not hours. Your Alexmos videos looked a heck of a lot better than your latest M5 uploads I said that while running and ducking! Btw, discard that lens hood! It's a parachute catching all of that wind.
Fair enough, Howard. (bending to retrieve your gauntlet) Good tip on the hood...It’s reflex from my many years of working as a photographer and never EVER removing my hoods. They’ve saved many a lens from damage.
Steve - what did you end up doing in the end? Are you taking off in "kill" mode and reasonably happy with that approach?
When flying alone (single operator), my procedure goes like this: power up MōVI's Spektrum DX8 move MōVI's Spektrum DX8 switch to “kill” mode power up MōVI and wait for it to init (gimbal is still limp) make sure MōVI is in “handheld” mode (as opposed to “airborne” mode) rotate copter to align to “front” position of MōVI (if copter is balanced and has been leveled properly, this is easy) power up copter’s Graupner mx20 power up copter and initialize everything start copter motors and apply a small amount of throttle move MōVI's Spektrum DX8 switch to “majestic” mode... ...and quickly lift off If you pause too long after #9, you have to kill everything and start again, because the copter will likely start spinning, and you do not want to take off with your copter spinning around. This is all quite easily addressed in two-operator mode because there is a “lock” mode for takeoff and landing that ensures the copter won’t start spinning on the ground. I wish that was available in handheld mode!
I would buy an M5 if it didn't seem so clunky to run it as a single operator. Sure hoping they solve this soon. Thanks for sharing your workaround Steve.
Works very nice with Futaba http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/follow-yaw-but-not-tilt.5457/ /Janne