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dreslism
07-19-2006, 09:25 PM
Ah, got it all together finally, but no sun left to try it out. :(

I love the smooth tilt. I was running direct drive tilt before, so needless to say, it was not smooth.

I made some mods to the build. I did not rip down the hdpe thickness between the carbon plates, just left it at 1 inch. Saved lots of time, but will be slightly heavier.

I also just ran bolts all the way through instead of drilling and tapping from each side. I bought a bag of 30mm bolts, to bolt all the way through as that is what the plans called for on the servo mount.

Bad thing is since I did not rip down the 1" thickness between the plates, the 30mm is not really long enough. I can get a nut on it, but can't get it to take enough in to hit the nylon part of the locknut. I'll have to get some 35mm bolts, but the 30's will work for now.

Couple of operator errors slowed me down alot.

I am listing them here to save others time.

Based on where I drilled the holes in the hdpe for the axles, I could not get enough tention in my belt. Even sliding the tilt servo all the way up in the slots was not tight enough.

At first I though I was going to have to recut and drill 2 new squares of hdpe to hold the axles.

Then I thought about flipping the blocks over, based on the hdpe mounting holes, it lowered the axle hole enough to tighten the belt, only now it was TOO tight and I could not get the belt on the pulleys. :arggg: :arggg: :arggg: :arggg: :arggg:

I made the slots in the carbon for the pulley servo tention a little bigger, and then I was able to make it all fit, but probably wasted an hour overall.

I may have to do the pulley lightening holes.

My gimbal used to be self leveling in roll, but it isn't no more with that pulley and servo on the same side!!

I'll have to play some tricks like a nylon bolt on the pulley side, and a real bolt on the other, and also velcro my downlink to the back of the gimbal on the non pully side.

Hopefully that will even things out. I guess I could also slide my camera mounting plate on the rails away from the pulley.

Thanks DJ, can't wait to get it in the air.

AZ ChopperCam
07-19-2006, 10:36 PM
thanks for the update. the CNC HDPE parts coming soon adress any problems like that.... but I can't figure why it was either too tight or loose. were the axle holes not in the center of the block??

as far as roll being level. I usually run the downlink on the opposite side and also slide the camera to the one side about .5" from center. that's whats nice about the rails.. you can slide it wherever you need. the lightened pulley will help too

dreslism
07-19-2006, 10:43 PM
Actually the holes were in the center of the block.

I just checked my blocks and I think I used some I had laying around that were 1.5" not 1 3/8, so that was the problem.

AZ ChopperCam
07-19-2006, 10:56 PM
yep... that would do it! that makes sense... I was sittin here wonderin' how the heck it would change belt tension if they were flipped.

:shock:

tcgliderguy
07-20-2006, 10:21 AM
I just received my AZChopperCam gimbal kit last night... and I have to say DJ... if you ever quit your day job, you certainly have a bright future as a manufacturer. The parts were beautiful, the instructions are the best that I have seen on ANY R/C helicopter related project. I couldn't be happier with the product. I can't wait for the Askman part of the mount/gimbal support, etc....

Thanks from a happy customer!

-Taylor

dreslism
07-20-2006, 10:43 AM
Ugh. Finished all up last night, ready to go for a flight, and it's raining today!

:arggg: :arggg: :arggg: :arggg:

Looks like really bad rain all day and night today. Of course yesterday was clear blue skies and no wind all day!!!!

Hey DJ, have you noticed any creep in this tilt servo?

Just checking so I can watch for it or be aware, or better yet let my camera operator know to watch out for it and what to do if they have some.

I did not notice any last night once I trimmed it, and I stuck 100% expo on it, so it is reeeeeeaaaaaal smooth.

Seems to have good holding power too. I stuck camera vertical and did not have any slipping or creeping. Turns out by chance that the axle comes pretty close to the cameras CG, so that helps a great deal.

I know you're running one of your panasonic video cameras with a wide angle adaptor (so more weight than my still),so I thought I'd check if you have seen any issues.

Yeah I'm looking forward to the askman part also...

AZ ChopperCam
07-20-2006, 11:42 AM
Taylor, thanks!

Scott, no servo creep ever... once you set your subtrims. the best way to set the subtrims is to try to rotate the pulley by hand when the servo is on. you may see it want to travel one way easier than the other. adjust the subtrim so that it takes even force one way or the other. you then have the subtrim set.

these servos are not your typical off the shelf modified for 360° like others are using. it has a wider deadband but yet still has good holding power at center. they are made for this application and you'll find you like them very much!

play around with setting up some expo and ATV to get the smoothness and speed you like.

askman kits should be ready for sale in 2-3 weeks

dreslism
07-20-2006, 12:06 PM
Scott, no servo creep ever... once you set your subtrims. the best way to set the subtrims is to try to rotate the pulley by hand when the servo is on. you may see it want to travel one way easier than the other. adjust the subtrim so that it takes even force one way or the other. you then have the subtrim set.

these servos are not your typical off the shelf modified for 360° like others are using. it has a wider deadband but yet still has good holding power at center. they are made for this application and you'll find you like them very much!

play around with setting up some expo and ATV to get the smoothness and speed you like.

askman kits should be ready for sale in 2-3 weeks

Yeah, I'm digging these servos, I'm gonna half to pick up a couple spares and some for a mast system I am putting back together. I think they are dirt cheap too.

Thanks for the trim info. I saw no creep either, but will check it with your method.

I have expo setup on the tilt already, and it gives really good control over fine adjustments on the tilt, how could ATV affect it at all though since it is a 360 servo?

hmmm, thinking...
I guess it would effect speed or determine the expo rate based the the ATV's. As far as the radio is concerned, the expo it sends out is based on position of stick relative to endpoints, so that is where the atv's come in I would think.

AZ ChopperCam
07-20-2006, 12:08 PM
atv = pulley speed

AZ ChopperCam
07-21-2006, 12:34 AM
the new lower gimbal kits will be ready along with arches, hdpe and askman frames in 3 weeks if things go as planned.

the new lower gimbals are 55% lighter than the 1st version and are tuneable to allow for various heights of cameras.

finally I will be able to sell a complete kit with everything needed. Assembly time is probably about 2 hours total... and quite fun to build!

by the time I get this Raptor stuff perfected TT is going to release the E620 and I'll be starting almost all over again! :arggg: