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Freefly Alta with Synapse is here!

Discussion in 'ALTA' started by Steve Maller, Apr 12, 2015.

  1. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    #1 on the preorder wait list!
    image.jpg
     
  2. Jason Toth

    Jason Toth Active Member

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    Nice 1st preorder!
    Can you confirm the batts are 6S... a hex with that much payload weight I would think would be 8S (4S in parallel)?
    Thx, J
     
  3. Sam Fleishman

    Sam Fleishman Member

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    any synapse info yet?
     
  4. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    Confirming 6S. Synapse will not be sold as a stand alone FC we were told.
     
  5. Jason Toth

    Jason Toth Active Member

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    Thx!
    I have a hard time believing 2x 9000Mah 6S will lift 15lbs for 15min?
    I hope they change their minds about Synapse, I would love to retire the WKM's :)
     
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  6. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    I think they said that the 15 minutes would be an M5 with a DSLR camera. Pushing the higher side of the weight limit would get you about a 10 minute flight.
     
  7. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    A couple extra photos I had received...

    image.jpg image2.jpg
     
  8. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Sorry for another picture but I'm so psyched about this new bird. It's a brilliant piece of engineering. Here's a photo of me holding one at the Quadrocopter booth (Hi Karsten!). The FF guys said that handle on the top is for carrying it, but it's also sturdy enough to grab any of the collapsed arms when they're locked in travel position and use them as a carrying handle, too. There are a lot of very sturdy-looking metal parts in those hinges on the arms, and those are also 30mm CF booms, which seem considerably stronger than the old straight 25mm booms we've used on the Cinestar-class machines.

    2015-04-13_15-49-48.jpg
     
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  9. Drew Kachurak

    Drew Kachurak Member

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    Looks great Steve! Love the size of it when all folded up! Did you get any feedback from Tabb and the crew as to why they went flat 6?
     
  10. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Like Michael said below, that flight time estimate is for a smaller payload (MōVI M5 and GH4/A7S).

    Their logic around Synapse is understandable, and was explained in detail by a couple of their folks, as well as Tabb himself.

    In a nutshell, they decided a while back that the only way to ensure that one gets the most out of a flight control system like Synapse is to design/build/sell the entire chain from the power distro all the way to the props, as well as the airframe itself. It's kind of the Apple design philosophy, and given Freefly's target market, it makes a lot of sense. They built everything from the ground up to work together, and they intend to stand behind it. I'm sure they learned a lot from the years of watching folks like me fumble with their hardware with periodic successes, but sometimes epic failures.

    So this time IMHO they're leapfrogging DJI and the others by building the iPhone of Medium-size UAVs. And like I said above, I'm the fanboy who's first in line in the lawn chair outside the store. :rolleyes:
     
  11. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Yes, they wanted to use larger props and motors and build something that was capable of folding down easily for transport. Both of those factors led directly to a hex.

    It seems to me that there should be a larger bird someday, but I doubt they'd sell enough $15-20K+ megalifters with $40K MōVI XLs to make it worth the R&D. That said, if the math works out, you might see one someday. But as cameras get smaller more powerful (did you see the new Blackmagics?) the need for such a beast becomes less interesting from a business perspective.
     
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  12. Drew Kachurak

    Drew Kachurak Member

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    The new Blackmagic looks very interesting!! Thanks for all the info - you definitely deserve bird numero uno! Looking forward to ours as well!
     
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  13. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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  14. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    It was hanging way up above the fray, and the Freefly folks I talked to described it as "a work in progress". It's a beast with something close to 100 pounds of lift capacity, but nobody was ready to say anything publicly about it, as it may be a ways off. But one might infer that with a $40,000 gimbal built to swing $50,000 camera systems they're going to make damn sure it works before anybody outside of Freefly gets to play with it.

    Here's a photo I took of it.
    2015-04-13_12-29-04.jpg
     
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  15. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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  16. Devin Card

    Devin Card Member

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  17. Cam Batten

    Cam Batten Member

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    Great article Steve, a good insight into the considerations for the craft. I assume there must be a carefree style mode for motor loss. Did they elaborate at all on what sort of flight options the Synapse has, or how it can be 'tuned' for types of shots as hinted in the release film?
     
  18. Josh Lambeth

    Josh Lambeth Well-Known Member

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    I have my Preorder placed and can't wait to start flying mine!
     
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  19. Tom Hirschmann

    Tom Hirschmann New Member

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    Hi everyone! My name is Tom and I own FlyBy Films. I currently fly an m5 and m10 on a couple x8s. Been on the other threads but haven't posted before.

    I was also at NAB and pre-ordered the ALTA and got some details on the Synpase while I was there as I've been waiting on the new FC since we first heard about it 2 years ago. Here are some notes and observations:

    Synapse Notes:
    - No full rate or manual mode
    - Does have Attitude and GPS modes
    - It will have scalable inputs for pilot stick inputs. If you want to ensure slow smooth movements, you can dampen your stick inputs. If you just want to slowly rise while tracking fast, you can adjust throttle input on the fly. Traditionally we do this using expo curves set to a switch in the transmitter but it will be interesting to see how a flight controller will incorporate this.

    ALTA notes:
    - 15 pound payload designed to hover at 50-52%
    - 15 minute flight time with lighter payload
    - Water resistant body and electronics, looking forward to hearing more about this.
    - New aerodynamic landing gear.... no retracts.
    - Switching MoVi from top to bottom is as easy and removing the MoVi and battery plates and switching them, that's it! Vibration dampening is accomplished through a central core that isolates the battery plate and MoVi. The isolation dampeners appear to be cinestar style o-rings.
     
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  20. Frank Castle

    Frank Castle New Member

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    I like the Alta, but I do not like the price, ha ha. I am trying to find out what is included in the $8495 dollars?! Frame, motors, esc's, props, FC, PDB and a few little things here and there... but that is pretty much it, right?! Maybe a case?!

    thanks,

    Frank
     

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