New eTitan/Raptor 360 degree Askman PanCam Mount

[AeroMattics]

Great idea with the G10 rerazor!

[AZ ChopperCam]

belt drive is the way to go

Belt Drive = My Favorite! :D

[rerazor]

good job robert. the way I am planning on implementing it is by using 3 piece setup. I want to be able to move it back and forth for balance centering. belt drive is the way to go. too bad, I can't use it on the smaller pancam, as it has very little room.

Ah I understand. I'm thinking maybe a slider system that will let you adjust it "in/out" for different width skids and fore/aft for centering with wing nuts for quick adjust.

I just used the supplied H mount as the template and have the Main bolt screw lined up with the bottom G10 mount hole (mainshaft).

Of course, if I had a CNC machine it would be easier . But a saber saw, power drill and bench grinder in a unheated freezing garage is what I have to work with :arggg: :roll:

[GGoodrum]

Wow, that is VERY cool! Are those the stock skids? Man, you are way ahead of me. I'm finally coming up for air tomorrow, so I should be able to get back to mine.

-- Gary

[askman]

rather than slide, I am thinking about predrilled hole .5" apart. I hate long slide slots. I just want to get it close.


I have a question to ask. right now, the .30size pan mount cannot use belt due to dimension contraint. would people go with 3-4oz weight penalty to go with belt drive? it will stil use lighter shorter legs, so it will be bit lighter and would cost bit less. (about 4oz less than large vs 7-8oz right now) it would make it bit easier to keep track of inventory for me as well, but not a big deal about that. frankly, they are both very strong. my feeling is that even the small size can handle heavy load pretty well. may be I will also play around with thinner material to save weight on the .30size setup.

what do you think?

[AZ ChopperCam]

Andrey, what's the major weight addition with belt drive? I'm assuming it's the pulleys. My pulleys are rather heavy but I mill them out so they have 3 or 4 thin spokes and it shaves quite a bit of weight.

I'd say run those large pulleys through a mill and leave them with 3 spokes at 3/16" wide.

[askman]

it is not the weight issue. right now, the small pan mount as it exist does not have enough clearance for the belt drive. it is designed to be compact and light. right now while sharing part with the small non pan mount. it would be easiest to make the smaller mount the same size as the larger mount, but bit lower and made light possible using thinner material, but it becomes harder to differentiate between the small/large.

I think I am best off to staying with gear on the smaller mount and make it light as possible. I can shave couple oz off the existing design. it is also easier to differentiate between the product.

[rerazor]

Pre-dilled holes would work just fine.

Yes stock skids.

[AeroMattics]

askman,

I hope this comes across ok, I love your work and by no means am I trying to suggest a bad product.

I have been wanting one of your mounts for quite a long time now, mostly for their light weight and, well thought out, strong design. Only one issue has kept me from getting one...

I really like having one mount for both my .30 size heli and the .50 sized heli. I currently use a HCS Sport 30. I think it pales in comparison to your designs, as far as strength and weight. Yet, I can use it for both helis and quickly dismount either heli for travel or flight conditions.

I'd buy a Pan mount from you right now if I could mount my Swift or Raptor to it without major modifications. The belt drives are very attractive, and since you only have one version where a belt is used I'd be inclined to take the .50 sized pan mount. Now I would have 2 mounts to lug around, which isn't terrible but would be much more convenient with just one.

This is just my preference. Maybe my idea here is far from what most would prefer for their setups. Does anyone else use/prefer one mount for both .30 and .50 helis?

Is it possible to have pan mounts sized as such..?
.30-.50
.50.-90
.90-.90++

With your current .50 sized pan mount, is it too cumbersome for my Swift? Could I adapt the plate for it? Is there a way to lightened it but keep its strength and integrity?

An eager future customer! :)

[askman]

I am still debating on the size. In non pan model, I have .30 sized, .30-.50 sized and 50+ sized. I could do something similiar in the pan model. really there will be only small price difference between the models and weight, so that is why I have not done .30-.50.

50 size pan would work with swift. there is about 6oz difference in weight between .30 and .50, so that is not too bad. swift with 550mm blade should have no problem. I am going to offer a strap on kit for the both setup, and this will allow you to swap between helis pretty easily.

I've had enough request for strap on type, so all the V2.0 mount (pan and none pan) will have an option to have strap on kit installed. it will add few oz though. I am still working out the details on it.

[AeroMattics]

With my HCS mount, I'm lifting well over 3lbs. With an A620/Nikon 7900, downlink, etc..

What is the AUW of the .50 pan? If I can keep everything under 4lbs, I'm sure I'll be fine.

[askman]

large pan is about 2lb 4oz or so with both servo. a620 is about 8oz, and downlinks are about 3 to 4oz, so total should be about 3lb.

for the pan, strap on option will not be too much . may be 25 bucks, as it adds 2 more part. I will probably just sell it as strap on version probably.

I am also planning on different gimbal options down the road.

[rerazor]

I'm right around the 3lb mark with all electronics minus camera. My "H" plate is far from "light". I made it wider then it needs to be so it can fit my R50 and still have room for the narrow L10 skids to fit. This is all for testing purpose. I have the ole L10 extreme (box) running Ms515mm blades. Less then ideal for Ap but nonetheless a few test hops for testing will be interesting.

These mounts are very strong and durable. You would have to land very hard to break it and I have YET to get to that stage of testing :bomb: .

[AeroMattics]

Yeah, I am very interested to see how your Logo handles it. I have 550s on my Swift, so if your Logo can hack it swinging 515s I shouldn't have any trouble.

Do you think putting some lightening holes in the "H" plate would sacrifice its strength? Maybe you could lose a few oz at least.

[rerazor]

It can and will be much lighter then it is right now. I'm not familiar with the strength of G10 so Askman will have the knowledge on how the final "H" plate design should be. I went for the stronger side for testing purpose.

[askman]

the design is very much an overkill. :) the new mounting bar will be lighter than one on the picture. 1/8" g-10 is strong stuff. just have to make it wide enough so that it does not flex much with the weight of heli. I will be making it size adjustable, which means I can make it much lighter.

there are areas I may be able to take some weight out. we will see.

[GGoodrum]

Yeah, I am very interested to see how your Logo handles it. I have 550s on my Swift, so if your Logo can hack it swinging 515s I shouldn't have any trouble.

Do you think putting some lightening holes in the "H" plate would sacrifice its strength? Maybe you could lose a few oz at least.

The Swift with 550s should do fine. My Logo 10 Carbon PanCam setup, shown below, weighs about 9-1/2 pounds with a Canon A640, an add-on wide-angle lens adapter and with a single 10-cell a123 pack, and I'm only using the stock Mikado 500 CF blades. Frankly, this power setup could easily do well in a Raptor so power here is not a problem. Without the camera and mount this thing is a real rocket! :D

http://www.tppacks.com/photos/Logo%2010%20-%20PanLG-01.JPG


If I were going to do a Swift, and try to do a "strap-on" configuration, I think I'd look at getting a lower profile set of bows/skids. The stock Swift gear is pretty tall.

-- Gary

[AeroMattics]

I suppose I could put my extra Raptor LG on the Swift. Then I wouldn't need to change the position on the strap on plate.

A little off topic question. Are the noodles in the shot when using your wide angle?

[askman]

the noodle can easily be pushed back if needed. it is adjustable.

[GGoodrum]

I suppose I could put my extra Raptor LG on the Swift. Then I wouldn't need to change the position on the strap on plate.

A little off topic question. Are the noodles in the shot when using your wide angle?

Not with the camera in the portrait orientation. They are just out of view.

-- Gary

[dreslism]

I suppose I could put my extra Raptor LG on the Swift. Then I wouldn't need to change the position on the strap on plate.

A little off topic question. Are the noodles in the shot when using your wide angle?

Not with the camera in the portrait orientation. They are just out of view.

-- Gary

Have you tried this on the Larger pano mount? I think the camera is going to sit in there deeper and they may show. I am not sure what your wide adapter gives you for a lens size, but I am looking to put like a 15mm lens in there and I hope the skids don't show.

[askman]

larger pano is about 1.5" longer in the frame, but I ship same length skid tube. if skid tube does not show on logo, it should not show on raptor, as camera position is same. .

[GGoodrum]

I'll take some pics, when I finish getting it together, but the camera/lens combo I will use, which is aSony a100 with the 11-18mm lens, is a bit longer, so it shouldn't be a problem.

-- Gary

[Steve CP Pro]

I would love to see some video while flying.

Vibration would be my big concern, and how it can be dampened for a stable picture.
If that "Frankin-Copter" does makes a real stable picture, this could have many interesting applications.

[GGoodrum]

I would love to see some video while flying.

Vibration would be my big concern, and how it can be dampened for a stable picture.
If that "Frankin-Copter" does makes a real stable picture, this could have many interesting applications.

Both the Raptor and the Logo 10 are inherently stable platforms and what little vibration there is seems not to be a problem. I don't have any video from the Logo 10 PanCam setup but here is a pano I did from it last week:

http://www.tppacks.com/panoramas/House-Coto.htm

It's a big file, sorry, but I was trying to see the max resolution I would get with this setup. In any case, the shots are sharp. There's about 25 that make up this pano.

I finally got a little more time to work on the Raptor/larger PanCam setup today. I probably won't get it airborne until after Christmas, but I'll get some HD video with it then. I'm hoping Santa brings me one of the new Sony HD hard drive SR-1s for Christmas. :)

-- Gary