(09-Jan-2022, 08:37 PM)Scott_M Wrote: I am not sure I really need a cage around my camera, I have never broken one in a crash before but I guess the first time is always near. Plus they look cool and I wanted to make one. So here we have my version.

This is the Solid model in my CAD program

 
After modeling we need some tool paths, so into the CAM program to work out a machining strategy, define tools and then generate toolpaths.



Then to the CNC milling machine
set up the stock and define the coordinate system. If this had been a production run I would do this all differently but as a one off pair I am doing them with no fixtures or machine finishing and deburring.
Here is one being milled out. The part will finish at .187” thick. I am machining to a depth of .2” The parent stock is .250”thick 6061 T6 aluminum. So I am milling 5 sides with this set up.


 
I then moved in on the stock and cut another one. Rough sawed the 2 pieces out. Turned them over and held them in the vise and machined off the back and brought them down to the finish size of .187”.



Liberated from the parent stock


 
Here they are in the vise to have the notches squared up and the holes drilled and tapped.


 
After some hand deburring and sanding 



and some various glam shots








Scott


Next up will be "The Ducts "

Love the machine work.

Holy cow man that looks so mint!!

Thanks for the kind words !! it is appreciated

The funny thing is, I think I enjoy the building and fiddling more than the flying.

Questions on GPS mounting. Everything I read in the INAV documentation talks about having a clear view of the sky and having the gps unit facing it squarely. But is that while "cold starting " or initial acquiring of sats before arming or while flying?
Most mounts I see have the gps pitched about the same as level flight would require, so does that mean when you are waiting to acquire sats that you should have the back of the quad jacked up so the gps is level?
Or does it not really matter that much?
And then I see them on masts that do not pitch them. And I have a Hubsan 501SS and its gps is level. But it does not go very fast either.

So on a Cinewhoop slow crusier
Level   or   pitched  ????

Curious to hear your thoughts

Scott

(10-Jan-2022, 01:42 PM)Scott_M Wrote: Questions on GPS mounting. Everything I read in the INAV documentation talks about having a clear view of the sky and having the gps unit facing it squarely. But is that while "cold starting " or initial acquiring of sats before arming or while flying?
Most mounts I see have the gps pitched about the same as level flight would require, so does that mean when you are waiting to acquire sats that you should have the back of the quad jacked up so the gps is level?
Or does it not really matter that much?
And then I see them on masts that do not pitch them. And I have a Hubsan 501SS and its gps is level. But it does not go very fast either.

So on a Cinewhoop slow crusier
Level   or   pitched  ????

Curious to hear your thoughts

In my experience the angle of the GPS unit pointing directly vertical towards the sky isn't that critical as long as it's well enough away from any components that can cause RF interference or you use one of the "quick GPS fix" methods. It is all dependent on the location you are flying at and the time of day you are flying.

I sometimes get a 3D fix on my GPS unit with the quad powered up via a USB cable on my workbench in the house away from the window and with the curtains closed, which I was quite surprised to see.

Thanks Snow

(10-Jan-2022, 03:26 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: I sometimes get a 3D fix on my GPS unit with the quad powered up via a USB cable on my workbench in the house away from the window and with the curtains closed, which I was quite surprised to see.

My office and computer are in the basement, I cannot acquire sats from my desk. But if I take it outside and acquire them, then come back into my office it will keep the 3D fix indefinitely. Which I also was surprised by.

My plan was to keep it about the same height as the top plate, but behind it. I will also make provisions in the sled/holder to line it with some copper or aluminum foil if needed.
It will be about 1 1/2 " behind the ESC and about 2" from the motors, but right next to the XT30.
It will also have provisions to hold both antennas.

Hi Scott,

Wow!     Excellent machine work. 

Since I don't have the tools nor the skill set to machine my own cam cages, I just buy them. 

I don't know that the angle of the GPS is particularly important. I can't tell the difference.

The TomoQuads Katana frames come with a TPU GPS holder which is intended to be mounted
off the tail using the rear standoff columns like the Flywoo Explorer, however, I like to mount
mine a little higher so I use standoff columns rising from the top deck plate.

Picture of Katana-LR4      Picture of Katana-LR5

On my Ronin-MK1 ONE build, I went a little ghetto and used a piece of clear plastic from 
an MCT Oil bottle, heat shrink the GPS unit onto it, and bent is slightly while still warm to
get the slight angle that we are talking about. I also used aluminum cam cages on this one. 
{I don't remember which cam cage that I used since I buy various ones from time to time}.

Thanks Harry !

Did you raise them up like that because of a problem ? or just to be safer ?

My battery will be on my top plate so I would not want to go higher than that, My action cam is about the same size as the battery and will be in front of it. So that will fill the top deck to about the same height.

This thing is getting heavy   

Scott

(10-Jan-2022, 11:23 PM)Scott_M Wrote: Thanks Harry !

Did you raise them up like that because of a problem ? or just to be safer ?

      You know, they say try to keep the GPS away from the electronics, so I did.
      Even though I generally have the RX antenna and sometimes the VTX antenna
      toward the rear as well, I have never had any issues. I mount the RX antenna
      off to the side and the VTX antenna is always a bit higher than the GPS.
   

My battery will be on my top plate so I would not want to go higher than that, My action cam is about the same size as the battery and will be in front of it. So that will fill the top deck to about the same height.

     Actually, almost all of my batteries mount up top. I just don't like bottom mounting
     the battery. My standard battery at this point is the GNB 3S 1100 mAh and I use
     it on pretty much everything from my 2.5" GEPRC Phantom to the 5" Katana-LR5.
     
     Picture of Katana-LR4 with battery mounted.     with 3 18650s in holder.

     Picture of Katana-LR5 with a 650 mAh battery mounted (just to keep it under 250g).

     The Katana-LR5 is fitted with  FPV Cycle 2203 3450kv T-Mount  motors which are a bit heavy
     at 20g each, so batteries larger than 3S 650 mAh push the AUW over 250 grams. 


This thing is getting heavy   

Scott

Hi Scott,

Sir, you are truly a MASTER Craftsman!!     Or, should I say Smithy. 

You may have guessed that I might be a bit eccentric. 
I march to my own drummer and often play outside the box. 

These pictures of the Katana-LR4 have the VTX antenna mounted up front, however, I have since moved it 
to the rear like my other quads. I generally zip tie the antennas to the extended rear columns. All of the 
antennas are at the rear, but they don't seem to interfere with each other. I like this arrangement. It works
well for me. By the way, the antennas do NOT get damaged in crashes {yeah, I crash land all the time. Just
never bothered with working on the landing, ha, ha.}. I try not to fly over hard surfaces, but the ground is
still pretty hard especially if something goes south at the altitudes that I fly.

There have been some previous photos with the prop guards shown so I will get right to the details.
I first tried printing in PLA, way to brittle. The  -1-  I printed cracked with a gentle squeeze, never hold up in a crash. Then I printed a few in ABS these were far more promising but would delaminate with repeated flexing. I was also having trouble with overhangs and did not want to print support that would not be used until the last few layers. Waste of material and time. If it could be printed from both sides it would not need support. So I split the duct in 2 pieces and printed them both on the glass. This worked well. Nice finish, no overhangs or supports. I glued the 2 parts together with ABS paste ( ABS scraps dissolved in acetone )
But they just weren’t that durable. With only a few squeezes in the hand the glue bond started breaking and the delaminating started again. I have been meaning to get some Nylon to try for another project and thought this would also be a good use for Nylon. So I got some and  did a couple of test prints on a small part to dial in my settings. I was really happy with the way the Ducts printed. And they are super durable, you can squeeze them all you want. They are fairly stiff like the ABS but these don’t delaminate or crack !! 



What I did not consider was gluing the 2 pieces together. Glue won’t stick to Nylon   
Not super glue or E6000 or Epoxy. It just peels right off after curing. Bummer
So I figured that we know “melting” it together works ( 3D printed ) so I took a base and duct over to the soldering bench and put my real pointy tip on the soldering iron and poked through it all the way around.  20 times to be exact. This worked.





So in the end they are pretty nice ducts. The only thing I do not like is the weight. All 4 weigh 45grams. I am going to leave it this way for now and see how the big pig flies. I can always Swiss cheese the ducts with a bunch of holes or slots later if needed.
Next up Antenna and GPS mounting

Scott


           

they did good research on the freezilion racewhoop about filament - believing... maybe you can get good info about there. not sure if its the actual suggestion for the freezillion but "pctpe" was it once.

Thanks Hugs
That is interesting, I had to look it up, but it seems that the pctpe is a tpu and nylon blend. Melts at a lower temp and slightly more flexible than regular Nylon. I am happy with its stiffness and would not want it much softer or flexible. So it looks like we both came to the same conclusion about Nylon.
A lot of people complain that it is hard to print and do not use it. I had no trouble with it on this project. I may be my new favorite filament.

Scott

(10-Jan-2022, 01:42 PM)Scott_M Wrote: The funny thing is, I think I enjoy the building and fiddling more than the flying.

I suspect that describes a lot of people in this hobby moreso at IntoFPV. I certainly love the building part. The flying part is like a confirmation that you didn't mess up the building part lol.

I'm still drooling over the alu cam cages man.

I am absolutely loving this build thread. Your skill set is light years beyond mine.

I’m really curious to hear how it flies both with and without ducts.

I don’t know much about wood (other than the balsa I used to use for rc planes)- did you have to give any thought to grain direction on the plywood?

(15-Jan-2022, 09:31 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: I am absolutely loving this build thread. Your skill set is light years beyond mine.

I’m really curious to hear how it flies both with and without ducts.

I don’t know much about wood (other than the balsa I used to use for rc planes)- did you have to give any thought to grain direction on the plywood?

Thanks ! It is turning out to be a fun build.
The plywood has 3 layers, top layer is this way, bottom layer is that way and the middle is some kind of filler. So I don't think it has a predominate grain.
With the top and bottom tied together and attached to the ducts it is getting really rigid.
I think it will be plenty stiff enough to see if it flies worth a damn. I am sure a few crashes will destroy it quickly but it will last long enough to see if it works.

Here is a teaser shot of the Antenna / XT30 mount . TheGPS mount will be 3D printed and go around this and also mount to the rear standoffs.
Just finished this a few minutes ago.





Scott  

       

I had some time to work on this today. I machined some rear standoffs and temporarily installed the antenna mount, and sure enough the SMA pigtail hits the ESC. I thought it might and have already ordered a 90 deg model.

The XT30 mount is really nice, rock solid. It should make swapping batteries a breeze.

I guess it is time to solder up the motors, I may not get to that for a few days, but soon. I will model up the GPS mount in the meantime.

Here are a couple more pics.  The 2.4Ghz dipole comes up through the mount and I will shrink tube or zip tie it to the Lolipop.



In this shot you can see I necked down the top of the standoffs, this is where the gps mount will go. Trapped between that shoulder and the mount above it.



Scott

I did take some photos while the mount was being machined, if anybody wants to see them, I can post them .  Did not want to overload the post with pictures nobody wants to see.
If you do, let me know.