Lightning a Broadcast 360?

[loewermx]

Anybody have any tips to shave a little weight off of the Broadcast 360? I thought about a few but I know there are more out there

Alum Bolts and washers
Carbon skid runners
going to a single air tank

Can anybody give me the pros and cons to using these mods.

[MLaBoyteaux]

On my Mark IV I removed one air tank this weekend and saved 2 ounces. With 130 psi I can still get 5 retractions.

Removed the big flat plate and full size 3004 servo running the air valve (4.5 ounces) and replaced it with a smaller version and a Hitec HS-85MG servo (2 ounces) for a net reduction of 2.5 ounces.

Removed the rubber lord mount vibration dampners and associated structure. Not sure how much weight I saved, but it stopped the mount from acting like a paint mixer. Talked to another company who bought the new EC-4 and it's shaking like a dog crapping a peach pit. It has the same rubber dampners. I told them to remove 'em and put the skids back on their heli and use bungee cords. They did and it's much better.

I've made so many modifications to the Mark IV I got from Jody that the only thing original on it now is the upper frame. I even put longer legs on it this weekend because I had to build a whole new lower gimble. The original one was too small to put my HC1 camera with wide angle lens on it. I couldn't slide the camera far enough back on the cradle to balance it before it hit the rear frame. Then if you tilted it down, the back of the camera would hit the pan gear at the top and bind. The original cradle was out of alignment and would bind up whenever I tried to tilt it down. I had to wittle a bunch of material off one side to get it to clear and then put several washers on the pivot shaft on the opposite side to keep the cradle centered.

My new gimbal now has double ball bearings on all axis and there is zero slop in the drive train. The mass is now centered on each axis as well.

I also learned you have to be very carefull when tightening the retracts down on the gear legs. If you tighten them too much, they will deform and bind in the retracted position. This would really suck if it happened in flight. I discovered it in the shop, but it surprised me.

Ops checking the retracts is part of my pre-flight inspection.

The retract mechanisms weigh 4 ounces each. You could change to the smaller ones like on the EC4 and save 2 ounces each, but they only support 3/8" gear legs. So you'd probably have to go with a sturdier gear leg (I think the EC4 legs are stainless) to make up the difference.

What are you using to lift your Broadcast 360? My mount is 12.5 lbs (it also has a Kenyon Gyro) and I'm lifting it with a Condor. It has plenty of reserve power at 27 lbs AUW.

[loewermx]

I have 2 different machines that I could lift it with. A Spectra swinging 720's and a Maxi Joker swinging some 800mm semi's. I am trying to get as much weight off of it as I can for the Joker, I know it will not have a problem lifting it but with the trade off of flight time. My plan is to get a front mount for it when they are avaiable.

The Spectra has a pro mod 260 from Hanson with the Tempest head. I have thought about stretching it to run some 800's but I don't really want to dedicate this machine to AP.....yet.

Do you happen to know what size bolts are used throughout the 360? I am going to get some alum. ones to replace the steel.

[MLaBoyteaux]

Yeah, they're all 3mm of varying lengths. You might also try adding lightening holes to the HDPE pieces. That stuff is tuff and great to work with, but a bit heavy. I suppose you could trim a couple of ounces by going with aluminum hardware. Every little bit helps!