F450 vs. Discovery Pro

[adanac]

Is there something I can do with a Discovery Pro that I can't do with my F450, which I already own? The footage they have just posted is compelling and I could use a very solid GoPro rig. Thank you!

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I've spent a bit of time looking at that system, and, from what I can see, it's slightly better than an F450, but not radically so. The layout is obviously designed for the purpose. No question about that. And it's kind of a nice All-in-One design with the gimbal controller, etc. Actually one of the best features is simply the fact that it gives you more "real estate" to install FPV gear.

But it's not perfect by any stretch. The mounting system of the gimbal is a bit hoakey looking to me. Lots of people struggling to cure vibrations and prevent camera shake. You're always going to have a battle with that because of the way they laid it out. You can easily do better with an F450 in a hanging application, but then that frame will never do as well flying fast forward. So it just depends on what you want to do.

 

[sixshooterstang]

Lots of people struggling to cure vibrations and prevent camera shake. You're always going to have a battle with that because of the way they laid it out.

People also never precision balance their motor bell as well as their props. The tbs in general holds a few advantages over the f450. The frame is more sturdy/durable, the flight charecteristics are a little more responsive pitching forward and the swept back front arms makes the feel of your roll commands a little more controllable and the camera cannot see props, every piece of fpv equipment has its spot onboard, your flight controller/battery are protected nicely.
the bad is that your Center of Thrust is a pain sometimes to set and its a pain to work on anything inside the frame.

I have found an excellent alternative however to the tbs pro that IMO is the way to go.
-regular tbs frame
-tarot t-2d gimbal
-5000mah 4 lipo and appropriate motors/props
-landing gear/leg extensions

Buy a sheet of carbon fiber. G10 is best. Cut out a long L shape. drill holes to mount the L to the top of the posts behind where gopro normally sits. drill holes to mount gimbal. put it all together and add longer landing legs and you have a tbs pro just with plug and play gimbal for only 350 bucks

 

[sixshooterstang]

the tarot also works on the f450 as well

 

[R_Lefebvre]

People also never precision balance their motor bell as well as their props.

Shouldn't be needed. If the vibration damping system can't deal with these vibrations, then it also won't be able to deal with aerodynamic induced vibrations. And this is what we're seeing.

I have perfect video, zero vibration, and I haven't balanced the blades at all.

 

[sixshooterstang]

Shouldn't be needed. If the vibration damping system can't deal with these vibrations, then it also won't be able to deal with aerodynamic induced vibrations. And this is what we're seeing.

I have perfect video, zero vibration, and I haven't balanced the blades at all.

Is needed always, camera or not as the sensors hate any amount of vibration. A vibration reduced power system will make sure there is little vibration to begin with. Dampeners work but not as well as balancing combined with dampeners.

I have never heard of the disco pro having vibration issues. A google/bing search finds nothing but articles on the non-pro frame and vibration dampening issues

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I didn't say the Disco Pro has vibration issues. But it does have camera shake issues. Lots of people having to futz around with dampers.

http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread...OVERY-PRO-brushless-gimbal-quadcopter/page198

The problem is the damper system is not well designed. So if it's soft enough to prevent vibrations, it's too soft to prevent shake. It doesn't have to be this way. You can have both. I have the lowest vibration levels ever measured by an APM, despite never even bothering to balance the props. But I also don't have any camera shake.

Just to say, it can be done. But the Disco Pro isn't well designed here.

 

[kloner]

the biggest advantage is it has a built in osd, built in alexmos, built in video voltage supply, built in gimbal, perfect CG for real FF and FFF, not some gimbal dangling off the bottom of something good enough to hover around with. it makes a huge difference on motors. It has a built in data plug for immersion vtx's that shows all the data possible regarding rssi and signal quality in the built in osd.

if anybody is trying to use a brushless gimbal and not balance everything, hell a rc aircraft in general isn't very proficient in understanding the forces at play.... i'll leave it at that. Any frame like this that your looking for quality footage, long range capability and quality footage from that's not integrading distro and power supply for real fpv gear,,, talking 433, 2.4 video and miles of non interupted fun, not an imaginary flight 1000 feet away

The disco is also rf transparent on the top plate still so that helps video range not having to penetrate 2 layers of carbon fiber. nothing makes a worse fpv experiance than cf rigs..... i use one for a living and it sucks. CF props too, pita

 

[PeteDee]

If they had just designed the gimbal a little better so that the centre of the sensor was the middle of the roll motor it would have been perfect.

Pete

 

[Emowillcox]

6shooter u got a photo of the design your talking about?

 

[sixshooterstang]

design? you mean the tarot gimbal on the non-pro discovery?

 

[R_Lefebvre]

If they had just designed the gimbal a little better so that the centre of the sensor was the middle of the roll motor it would have been perfect.

Pete

The problem is bigger than that. The entire camera and gimbal is cantilevered out in front of a narrow-set damper array.

 

[PeteDee]

design? you mean the tarot gimbal on the non-pro discovery?

Hell no I don't want no hanging contraption under my wee beastie, if it had just been positioned a little better so that the sensor lined up with the roll motor. I already have a monster hanging under my 550 hex and it can now get chucked in the bin, the Pro is such a nice compact size that I will live with small annoyances and just work with it.

Pete

 

[PeteDee]

The problem is bigger than that. The entire camera and gimbal is cantilevered out in front of a narrow-set damper array.

Yes but it could still have been better, the damper array could have been bigger, the gimbal board could have been a separate board sitting between the top and bottom plate.

Pete

 

[sixshooterstang]

Hell no I don't want no hanging contraption under my wee beastie, if it had just been positioned a little better so that the sensor lined up with the roll motor. I already have a monster hanging under my 550 hex and it can now get chucked in the bin, the Pro is such a nice compact size that I will live with small annoyances and just work with it.

Pete

It is out in front of the craft but set up so that the gimbal is hanging. Only hangs about 2 inches below the belly. with short leg extensions you have all the clearance you need for it

 

[kloner]

his is setup like the pro, it just uses a really big one

in my testing different damper arrays in other gimbals, i had the best luck not using one at all and hard mounting straight to the frame. trappys damper works bitchen if you can build and tune. takes quality parts to just buy, build and fly but it is possible. I've assembled 10 now...... not one has had a problem that made any problem in the footage, just like the regular disco it's all about the graupner props. The CF props like tiger and tiger clones are killer too, but they have to be balanced. The graupner 9" fly straight from the package jello free dampers or not

 

[PeteDee]

It is out in front of the craft but set up so that the gimbal is hanging. Only hangs about 2 inches below the belly. with short leg extensions you have all the clearance you need for it

Sounds good, do you have a link to some photos of this, might try modding my other gimbal.

Pete