New Logo 10ap & AP2000 question

[lakespinner2]

I have a new Logo 10 up and running with the askman camera mount, ggoodrum heli/powertrain and with the ap2000 by angelos. I'm sure I can find a way to bolt some of my DJ goodies on it somewhere. :wink: Great support from all these guys by the way!!

I'm loving the little Logo already !! Small, easy to carry and plenty of power. :happyd

I don't have the video downlink set up for it yet but I took it up for three flights today and played around with the little point and shoot camera. It all seems to be working pretty well considering I've never had a Logo heli or an ap2000 before. It's hard to believe 'that' much wiring will fit on one tiny heli. :shock:

I guess my biggest question after flying it today is what should be the 'normal' in-the-field operating procedure for the ap2000 (latest firmware).

What I did was to go up way high, over the trees, perform the cal for at least a 'one mississippi' second, then raise the gain some random amount until the heli could fly by itself. I could tell the ap2000 was doing most of the work. Most of the time after a cal the heli would be slightly out of trim and would scoot in some direction at a pretty good clip. (Way more than the slight wind would account for) I re-cal'ed it a few times for practice and I never got it really as stable as I think it probably should be.

I'm wondering if I'm cal'ing it so high that I can't really tell if I'm in a totally flat stopped hover . Perhaps it has some slight tilt to it when I'm doing the cal. Perhaps I can't hold a hover for one full second. :D Do most of you folks cal it fairly low. I plan to try that tomorrow, I'm hoping I can see it better down low to ensure it's dead stopped in a hover.

And do you find it helpful or necessary to trim it after cal'ing it, to fine tune it ?

I have it very close, I'm guessing it's going to involve trims, perhaps I don't have it trimmed perfectly before engaging the ap2000. Anyway, these are fine tuning details, I love it already and I can't wait to get it back in the air tomorrow.

Here's a shot I took at a buddy's house this morning, I couldn't see anything but trees, I just kept snapping pics blindly and got this.

Larger version: here (http://www.flyupyours.com/bbs.jpg)

http://www.flyupyours.com/bbs.jpg

[Tonystott]

Can't help you with the AP2000i question (yet :)), but what a great photo!

[AZ ChopperCam]

I CAL mine at about 50' hover. High enough to get it off the ground and away from obstructions but low enough that I can tell if it is in a flat hover or not.

Even then it will still require a couple clicks of trim in any direction.

Youre going to love that Logo/AP combo!

[WillJames]

SWEET Photo Randy, beautiful lake!!

Looks like you are doing very well.

[dreslism]

I have a new Logo 10 up and running with the askman camera mount, ggoodrum heli/powertrain and with the ap2000 by angelos.


What power system did you stick in yours?



Here's a shot I took at a buddy's house this morning, I couldn't see anything but trees, I just kept snapping pics blindly and got this.


Blind huh? You're gonna be dangerous when you get a set of eyes up there. Very nice picture.

What camera?

[lakespinner2]

Thanks for the info guys. Now where did this rain come from ? It's not looking too good for trimming test flights today. :( Maybe I'll get the video downlink installed. :wink:

Scott, the logo 10 has a cc45hv, zPower 1110 kv motor and a FlightPower 3700 6S lipo. I believe it would likely do some gentle tic-tocs WITH the camera. :wink: That's with the governor set at 55% throttle. I have a couple pinions on the way to play around with headspeed/power/runtime.

So far, I'm pleased with the CC45hv's governor function, it seems to be working well. And I WAS skeptical. If I go below 55% the gov/gyro starts pulsing the tail a little, but it runs fine at 55% and higher. When the smaller pinions get here I'll run the % up higher. I'm surprised how well it runs at 55%.

The camera is a little fuji e900. I have mixed feelings about it. It has lots of megapixels but the purple fringing is noticeable. And I tend to often blow out the whites, which is probably just me. Anything above 80 or 100 ISO is too noisy to use. It's fine for the web but I'm not sure what printed photos would look like, the noise level is pretty high. Why o why can't they make a dslr this size. :mrgreen:

Here's one from yesterday with my normal blown out white.

randy

[MarkWebber]

Randy

Try to keep it as low as practical when you do the calibration. Of course, it's always more difficult to get a good hover higher up. Get your logo trimmed as well as possible to start, also. That's always the best start.

Get a pic of the heli too. I'd like to see how you managed to squeeze it all on there.

[SeaHawk]

Mark,
If you set your calibration at a low hover and then climb to the desired atlitude, doesn't the sensor then 'see' a different IR signal than at the lower altitude where you set it? Or, is the difference typically minimal enough to not make a difference?

[dreslism]

Mark,
If you set your calibration at a low hover and then climb to the desired atlitude, doesn't the sensor then 'see' a different IR signal than at the lower altitude where you set it? Or, is the difference typically minimal enough to not make a difference?

I say calibrate as low as possible but in an environment that is similar to what you plan to use it at.

i.e. if you're going to be taking shots from 75 ft high with buildings all around, then at 30 feet those buildings are still there, so calibrate at 30ft because you can make sure your in a good hover there.

If you're going to take photos at 300ft, then most likely there are no buildings in your way at 300ft, but calibrating at 300ft is impossible to tell if your hover is good. If you're clear of stuff at 50ft (then that is the same environment you'll be at at 300ft), then calibrate at 50 so you can see it better, then when you go to 300 ft, you'll still be good to go.

[dreslism]

Scott, the logo 10 has a cc45hv, zPower 1110 kv motor and a FlightPower 3700 6S lipo. I believe it would likely do some gentle tic-tocs WITH the camera. :wink: That's with the governor set at 55% throttle. I have a couple pinions on the way to play around with headspeed/power/runtime.


Randy, I have also just picked up about the exact setup. I went with logo 10 3D, cc45hv zpower 1110kv but I have 5s and 6s 5000 FP lipos. I have a 17th pinion I think, what is yours and what pinions do you have coming?

Yes, post some picts, I'd like to see your layout. I think I might have to get one of those askman mounts for this heli as I'm not sure where else I'd stick the camera.

[lakespinner2]

Ok guys, here are some photos. She's no prom queen, but she is adorned in her halloween colors. I put it beside the ugliest thing I could find hoping to make it look better.

I think it looks like a cross between a Borg and a pumpkin. A borkin ?

Scott, it currently has the 18T pinion on it, I'll be trying the 17 and the 16 this week. And I'd probably get the L10 3d next time too. I ended up adding a few bits initially that probably come standard with the 3d.

First the excuses. :mrgreen: I ran out of black zip ties and I used what I had, which was a multipack of many different colors from harborfreight. Next time I WILL go get some blacke ones. :wink:

I've already been taking some grief over the many-colored antenna tubing from the local guys, but hey, it makes it easier to see, it's a vibe indicator. :tongue

And hey, the sun just popped out. :banana

[askman]

looks great. very visible. :)

for ap2000i, once you are above the roofline, you should be able to get pretty good calibration. relatively speaking, 50' and 300' vs horizon is not a big difference.

[dreslism]

Looks good randy. I was hoping to see how you stuffed the battery in. Any shots of that?

That is the tightest fit for me.

Yeah, the 3D came with some nicer parts like bearings, metal swash, carbon blades, tail boom supports. Cost for kit from Gary was much cheaper than buying all those parts extra.

I think I just lucked out though, my intention was to buy just the deluxe, but Gary happened to be out that day and said I he had the 3D, so I bought that.

[lakespinner2]

I'll see if I can get a shot of the battery placement. The FlightPower 3700 6S battery fits great and the CG is perfect. Do you have the extra little carbon battery tray that sticks out front ? It fits nicely with that tray.

[dreslism]

I'll see if I can get a shot of the battery placement. The FlightPower 3700 6S battery fits great and the CG is perfect. Do you have the extra little carbon battery tray that sticks out front ? It fits nicely with that tray.

No I don't have that tray, I saw it and was gonna buy one and saw it was like $40. I just made my own out of G10 I had laying around. :D

My 5000 packs make it a tad nose heavy, but once I get a mount and camera under there, it should be fine.

Thanks

[WillJames]

Very nice Randy!! Thanks for sharing hte pics of it.

You obviously have it going on with this new cam ship!! :smokin:

[MarkWebber]

Looks pretty good for such a small package. Good securement of the sensor wire. What keeps the IR sensor from moving, if I may ask?

Oh...and tell the guys at the field. There's no prize for uniformly colored zipties. The prize is in the pic and it looks like you're on your way there!

[Nitrospazzz]

Those little Logos are great camera ships as long as you can settle with a light camera. Would love to see one of those in action. Just seems like a perfect ship for realty and small jobs so small, quiet and capable. Anyone have a shot of a Logo 10 next to a Bergen, I'm trying to picture how big these are.

[dreslism]

Those little Logos are great camera ships as long as you can settle with a light camera. Would love to see one of those in action. Just seems like a perfect ship for realty and small jobs so small, quiet and capable. Anyone have a shot of a Logo 10 next to a Bergen, I'm trying to picture how big these are.

I fly a stretched raptor titan. I picked up a logo 10 a week or two ago.

When I got it, I thought it seemed so small. It seemed like I could stick this logo 10 in the canopy for the raptor!

I call my logo my pocket heli. I swear I could carry it around in my pocket. :D

[lakespinner2]

What keeps the IR sensor from moving, if I may ask?
Why my very smooth, gentle flying style of course. :smokin: :bs

Actually I used the bottom half of a horizontal fin clamp along with a hand-hewned hunk of hdpe (the white stuff), topped off with a thin piece of aluminum cut to the shape of the sensor plus a little finger to support the wire. 2 long bolts lock the whole thing down tight to the boom. The green zeal pad is thicker than the bolt heads so I just cut circles in the zeal for the heads and the sensor sits on the sticky zeal pad. The blue wrap is just for added insurance, it's stuck to the center of the sensor (on top) with a tiny bit of matching adhesive velcro so it won't slip forward or backward, with holes punched in the bottom of the blue straps to accomodate the bottom of the bolts and nuts, which also helps keep it centered.

It's ugly but it works. :wink: I ordered some extra boom clamps but I didn't want to wait for them to arrive. I'll make it look a little better at the first upgrade 'opportunity.' The delicate sensor plug has some constant pressure pushing it into the connector socket.

I'll probably solder the wires directly to the sensor and shorten the sensor cable later. It's nearly a foot too long for the tiny logo.

Here's a few shots of the battery. It has some velcro on the bottom, it doesn't need much on top to hold it.

Having never owned a logo before, or really even seeing one closely, I didn't know where to put the ESC. I made a little 'bridge' for it from aluminum that goes up, over the battery and back down the other side at a diagonal. It's about as wide as a popcicle stick. At least it keeps the noisy ESC up front and further from the receiver. Later I learned mikado makes an optional bracket for that purpose.

I also put a some ferrite rings on a few of the wires for peace of mind. So far it range checks very good, even with the motor running.

I've got the video downlink about half installed.

[Cryofix]

I am jealous, Gary is waiting on gettin motors before I can place my order.

[dreslism]

I am jealous, Gary is waiting on gettin motors before I can place my order.

Heck, buy a combo now anyway and build it up. :D

Get the motor shipped when it comes it, that's the easy thing to install, at least you can have the rest of the heli together and setup when the motors come in.

[MLaBoyteaux]

What size blades does a Logo 10 swing and what's the all-up flying weight?

[dreslism]

What size blades does a Logo 10 swing and what's the all-up flying weight?

Out of the box, 500's. You might squeek, 520's or 530's on there, but I am not sure and have not tried it. To go 550's I think you have to stretch it.

AUW, hmmm. With camera and mount?
Even battery choice will make a diff in AUW. I weighed mine the other day but for the life of me cannot remember, I'll have to hang it up tonight to get another reading.

[lakespinner2]

Good question Mark, I hadn't weighed it since I finished it.

Grand total auw is: 3287 grams, or 7.24 pounds.

Heli (without fugly canopy) but with the 6S 3700 FlightPower battery and Askman cam mount: 3027 grams

Canopy: 54 grams

Camera: fuji e900: 203 grams

Nylon camera bolt/wingnut: "priceless" (3 grams)

I still don't have the downlink on it. I may put a small lipo onboard for it, I'm still not sure. So far I've run the motor, electronics and even the camera straight off the main lipo. Also remember I have about half a pound of zip ties on it. :)

I should mention that the battery is usually around 85 to 100 degrees after landing, I haven't seen it over a hundred yet. The ESC is usually in the 90's, and the motor is around 90 to 110. This all at around 2060 headspeed and 55% governed throttle.

The blades I'm using are the Mikado CF stock length 500 mm. I think the tail boom/tail case is the same for the Logo 10/14/20 so stretching is pretty easy. I have the 14 boom and belt I may try but I'd probably only do it to get extra flight time, if that's possible. The 500's are working fine. I think the stock L14 blades are 550 mm and the L20 has 600's.

It's working SO well I'm wanting one to haul the canon rebel. I keep looking at a L14 stretched to 600 (or even longer) blades. I already have some nice 680 semis, I just need a heli to go under them. :wink:

My biggest fear is that if I see Will's new Logo 14 tearing up the sky I'll be unable to turn one into a mule. :mrgreen: I drool just watching Danny's vids of the 14. I'd HAVE to set it up for 3D. I think even this little L10 would be a blast to fly 3D. The power2weight is good, AND I can 'see' it.