Aloha guys, If anyone is interested, I'm selling this to the highest bidder. I guess we can start at $100+shipping. Yesterday was its last flight for me. Here's some details: Freefly Systems Cinestar 8 Octocopter Freefly Systems 3-axis Camera Gimbal w/Radian Stabilization Quadrocopter 8X -- QC-3328 Brushless Motors Freefly Systems 2-axis gimbal mount MicroKopter Navi-Ctrl with GPS MicroKopter Flight Control V2.1 ME with Acc Upgrade (assembled) MicroKopter Okto XL BI-Ctrl V2.0 Power Distribution Board Quadrocopter (6 count) - QuadroPower 8000/4s Lipo with EC5 Connector Quadrocopter (3 count) - QuadroPower 1200/3s Lipo with Dean's Connector Vislero 2200/4s Lipo (for FPV monitor/receiver) Graupner Transmitter MX-20 / Receiver GR-24 HOTT Freefly Systems HDMI Converter Eagle Tree Systems OSD-PRO FPV System with guardian stabilizer and GPS IBCrazy 5.8GHz Bluebeam Heliaxial 58 RCHP 12dBic Helical Antenna Iftrontech Mondo Stinger 5.8Ghz 500MW AVD Transmitter Iftrontech Passport Diversity 5.8GHz Diversity Receiver MicroKopter 7" LCD Monitor (mounted on Graupner MX-20) Miscellaneous parts Mahalo, Jon
Can you define "hard hits to that flt ctr?" I'm basically giving it away because I've tried to sell it unsuccessfully for months. The only people that want this are technical nuts like ourselves. Andy (and some other great guys on this forum) helped me build this thing a few years back, and I just thought this would be a little way for me to give back. I've also done more and more work that doesn't involve aerial and that's a direction that I can deal with. In a nutshell, it was a business decision that turned out to be a bad one for me. I guess it was like Windows Vista... or when Fox signed over all Star Wars product merchandising rights to Lucas in the 70's for a small reduction in his compensation. All kidding aside... if I ever get back into aerial, I'm going to look for a turn key system that meets the needs of 99% of my customers. The last 1%, I'll leave it to real aerial cinema pros like all of you. Aloha, Jon
For what its worth, I had this exact same system (accessories and all), and I sold the electronics and converted the frame into a custom built X8 heavy lifter, and used the old motors/batteries for an endurance quadcopter. Sounds like you dont want to mess with it anymore, but I learned a ton about building and different configurations. Might not have been the best route to take, but I am grateful for the learning experience that is otherwise hard to find this day with all the RTF systems. I'd take the frame, motors and batteries off your hands though
Thanks for the response, Alex. I actually thought to do just that... an X8 with a new FC. After laying out a list of pros and cons in my mind, I thought I'd be better off spending the immense time and effort on my core business as well as a new idea I have that'll really help photo/video pros in my local area save money. You're right, though. I don't really want to mess with it anymore. As an engineer, I've always been a builder and tinkerer (muscle cars, motorcycles, lawn mowers, sprinkler systems... you name it) but at this point, I think my time and money would be better spent on other costly ideas that may directly support my current work. (I'll trade for a really nice jib!) As intriguing as it is and as much as I know I could learn, I have much more to learn about other things right now that'll really help me (i.e. improve my interviewing skills, become more proficient with After Effects, build the database backend for my new idea). I'll see what people here want to do with my Cinestar, but if it get's cannibalized, you've got first dibs on the frame, motors and batteries. In fact, if you give me an offer for them, I'll start taking it apart. Seriously. Aloha, Jon
Much as I hate to see you leave the aerial biz, Jon, as a business man, I commend your logic -- it's tough sometimes to find out what your core business is and then realize that what you've been doing is actually what is distracting you from it. Your commitment to focussing on your core business is therefore commendable and understandable. You know where to find us if you ever decide to get back into the aerial biz. Andy
Mahalo nui loa (Thank you immensely), Andy. I truly appreciate your comment. It goes without saying that simple statements of support like yours is really what makes people thrive. Aloha kaua, Andy. Jon
Jon: If you don't get any takers for the aircraft, you might consider donating it to a non-profit college that's teaching STEM classes that might include the use of unmanned aircraft -- then you can take the donation as a tax deduction. Just a thought if it comes to that... Andy.
John, I have gone through living hell on a trade for a setup two years ago from a suppose big fish in the united states. An older ship I completely rebuilt after I received it. Lots of issues I found,and lots and lots of expense. Long story short a lot of late nights on wiki and an ohm meter.. I had it as a backup and certainly would not put the movi on it. I dont trust the FC, or navi. The downside is I have 10 4s batteries for a machine. I am looking for a solution/frame without dropping 800 for a new stack, and troubleshooting it till I am 80 years old. Message me on your thoughts and different scenarios for your machine. I'm so sick of I2C errors happening randomly every 5-10 flights I gave up on it for now. -Cody
Cody I2C errors are normally caused by the cables that connect between the fc and pcb or the cable that runs between the navi and gps. I would try using new cables if you have them or switch them over (they are the same!). see what happens that mine suggestion
Also it's quite normal to see a burst of them at power up -- for example, I will occasionally see as many as 81, but only at the start of the log file. As Jason says, if you see them *during* the flight, the most likely culprit is the cabling. If you are going to change cables, change them one at a time and test -- then you can identify the specific bad cable. It's just possible that it might be a bad board though -- the I2C bus runs between all the boards and around the power distribution board (so that the flight controller can "talk" to the ESC. Andy.
I actually haven't had much, if any, I2C problems. GPS and NAVI also both seem to work quite well. If I had to change one thing, it would be the Radian gimbal. It just isn't anywhere near as smooth as my handheld brushless gimbal.
Jon, I sent you an email, and pm. Not sure if you have been busy, or getting the message. I was on the phone with Quadrocopter yesterday. I do not have a I2c converter on my setup. Its either the C&D not connected as the signal of the ESC, or the cable which Quadcopter has seen go bad one or two times in his life. Since this is a new distrib board/esc ring I may change out the cables with some glue on them as Quadcopter recommended so they do not move around and give the bird a run. -Cody