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ALTA HEAVY LIFT TESTS

Discussion in 'MōVI MR' started by JASPER GLAVANICS, Aug 24, 2015.

  1. JASPER GLAVANICS

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    Hi all,

    I was going to ask this question on my previous thread on heavy lift systems, but I thought I would start a new thread, as Im sure there are plenty of people out there like me who want to know about the following:

    Has anyone tested the new ALTA with a standard heavy lift setup such as the RED Dragon, with Cine Prime, HD downlink such as the TOMAHAWK, and either an IDX side battery or something similar etc etc.
    I need to know what flight times people are getting and also opinions of if the ALTA system can handle a setup such as the one mentioned.
    I was so excited to see this system released, but doing the math with the payload max limit, I'm not convinced that it can fly the heavier setups safely for the 11 minute flight times as some are claiming.

    Someone please prove me wrong and put my mind at ease, so i can buy an ALTA.
     
  2. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Jasper download the Alta Rev B manual from the main website. It has a payload/flight time chart on page 90 with different battery sizes.
     
  3. JASPER GLAVANICS

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    Thanks Gary. In Australia we quite often fly with an ambient temp of over 30deg, and I was also filming with a drone at 7000ft last week, so unfortunately for me the ALTA's max gross weight of 12.9kg at 30deg or 11.1kg at 7000ft won't cut it for my system.
    Really really disappointed in this, as I had my eye on the ALTA for some time now.
     
  4. Mateusz Hajdziony

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    There's this plus it's still a hexa... I imagine that if you fly with a payload nearing its limits and something happens to one motor or ESC - the system will go down like a rock. I am not sure why Freefly markets the ALTA as a heavy lift machine (they have even released a short video on their social page with the 'I've got you Alexa Mini' punchline). I know that they've tested the motors/ESCs (and the entire system for that matter) thoroughly, but still, shit happens and machines that are designed to handle few hundred thousand dollars in cine gear should be as redundant as possible.

    I am currently flying a medium lift X8 setup and I'm becoming confident enough in my flying skills to go for the heavy lift setup with Dragon, UPs and follow focus. I am now considering if I should build a heavy lift X8 myself (with the damn DJI A2 because there's nothing better out there), wait who-knows-how-long for Freefly to release ALTA X8 or Octo (if they ever do that) or just scrap the Ultra Primes in favor of some light still lenses and go for the current ALTA. We've got a carbon fiber version of Dragon so that's 500g off of regular Epic or Dragon, I can power it from a 350g LiPo. We are also using Redrock MicroRemote with Torque motor and mounting it all on Movi M10. Any thoughts on ALTA flying with that setup?
     
  5. JASPER GLAVANICS

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    Freefly have said that the ALTA can land safely if a motor fails, however NOT at full capacity payload. So yes, it will drop like a brick. lol
    I am genuinely saddened about not being able to purchase an ALTA... but I have to think about what my clients want and not limit myself to what I can and can't put on my machine (obviously to a certain point). I think if you are restricting yourself to lenses that are specific and have to say "NO" to a DOP that wants an ultra prime... then this isn't good. They will use someone else next time with that capability.
    I have always been the first to jump in and buy Freefly products as soon as they become available, however this time I forced myself to do my due diligence, and have luckily discovered the REAL limits of the ALTA before spending 13k on it. Don't get me wrong, I still love Freefly products and will keep purchasing them. I think for example the Movi compared to the Ronin is way better, feels more professional and is lighter. Same with the ALTA, what an awesome machine... but if only it TRULY lifted a heavy weight system for 15 minutes!!! :(
    Thats awesome that you have the CF version of the Dragon! I am dreaming for that right now, as 500g off my payload in the air would be amaaaazing. Alas.. i don't have the 50K or whatever to upgrade to that.
    So i have made up my mind to change over my X8 system from the MK to a Herkules III with an A2. This seems to be what most heavy lift copters are using at the moment. Now I just have to figure out how to install the bloody thing. :)
     
  6. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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    Don't use the A2 its not stable enough even with the latest firmware. Use the Wookong with 5.20 and upgraded IMU. Over 600 flights not one issue.
     
  7. JASPER GLAVANICS

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    Wookong was my initial thought, however after extensive research, a lot of people seem to be using the A2. I have asked 4 major UAV companies here in Australia, all using A2. Ive spoken with DJI and they use A2 on their custom heavy lift that isn't part of the product list. It might be a country by country preference, but will give the A2 a go anyway. Lucky my machine is insured! lol

    Why would you stay away from A2? It seems to be 50/50 on the forums with A2 and Wookong, some hate it, some love it.

    The setup I have decided with is T-Motor FLAME 80A ESC's, with A2 and T- U7 motors.
     
  8. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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    If you do a search on the internet and multirotors forum you will see that a good number of people have had flyaways and major incidents with their copters as they have shown to go full throttle out of control. Some of these are very experienced users and know what they are doing. This is all with the latest firmware that reportedly has fixed the issues. I would not run an A2 rig if you gave me a free HL rig with A2 and even paid me to use it. I cannot take any chances with my equipment and would never take a chance to endanger anyone. The Wookong on the other hand is tried and proven with 5.20. I have over 600 flights this year on mine and not one glitch. There's also another board member on here that's gotten the same exact results as me as I copied his exact combo.

    I know that there are people that use them but I question how many flight hours they have on it. I have no question that the A2 can appear stable but are people really putting it through the ringer? I would never chance it even with just a small chance.
     
  9. JASPER GLAVANICS

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    The companies that I have spoken with here are some of the leading ones in Australia. Heliguy, Rotorworx, XM2 .. but i understand where you are coming from.
    With my old S1000 i never had any issues with the later A2. I did however in the beginning of the A2 life. But with the Wookong on the other hand i had never ending issues.. I lost an S800 into the ocean as it flipped upside down and spiralled to its death. This was back a few years ago now, but switched systems as soon as i could.
    Ive given the go ahead for an A2 install, so will see how the system goes and report back here.
     
  10. Dave Pare

    Dave Pare New Member

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    Hello! Is anyone know if it possible to fit a ronin M on a freefly alta?
     
  11. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Can you mount a Freefly Toad in the Hole to the Ronin M? If you can then you can mount it to the Alta.
     
  12. Angus Benson-Blair

    Angus Benson-Blair Active Member

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    As Ronin M doesnt have a GPS unit I wonder how well it will deal with the Alta accelerating. I suspect you may get some pretty terrible drift. Do you know anyone who has flown a Ronin yet to verify or kibosh this?
     
  13. Jason Herring

    Jason Herring Member

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    Is there a way to roll back from the latest wkm firmware to 5.20?
     
  14. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    Yes, you just download the assistant for 5.20 and do a firmware "upgrade" which puts you back to 5.20. You can find it on the DJI downloads page.
     
    Chris Jordan likes this.

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