Hoverfly The Disadvantages Of Not Calibrating HFP Board

[Earl E Adobtr]

As long as you ARE NOT running a GPS board, there doesn't appear to be any disadvantage. As most of you are pro, this MAY be the wrong forum for this but at the same time you guys have more experience so...

let me explain. I loaded up firmware 4.6r2 and stability in wind seemed to suffer some. So I reloaded 4.6, then had all sorts of problems calibrating the gimbal which I won't go into here. After resetting the board and loading up 4.6 fresh, I decided to be brave and see how the quad flew without calibration. First I gingerly hovered a few feet off the ground on grass expecting the worst. Then once it seemed to be behaving, I ramped it up. I was surprised at how much better it flew, especially on rapid descents. Anyone else tried this with bad results? Will a rapid change in board temperature maybe cause problems? Am I taking a chance here? So far I have not flown in public with this setup. Thanks!

 

[mbsteed]

The more stable descents are probably due to the new firmware - that is suppose to be one of the improvements with the new firmware. I wonder if the calibration stuck around from the last time you did it.

 

[Earl E Adobtr]

mbsteed, calibration boxes were unchecked in the client after resetting which may or may not really mean anything. Descent was a bit more stable without calibrations in 4.6 than with calibrations in 4.6. On that subject, I have since canted the arms on my quad up about 5 degrees and that has made all the difference on descents as well as smooth flying in general. The AV I shot today around my house was the best quality I've ever gotten period -this is absolute uncut raw footage shot with Hero3 in Protune mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zydbwotQsA0&feature=youtu.be

 

[S11D336B]

Is the artificial horizon level after you perform the calibration? Also, make sure you have manually downloaded and installed the v4.6 or greater setup client and have run the calibration with the corresponding v4.6 firmware installed on your HoverflyPro.

These are common problems when running the accelerometer calibration with the v4.6 firmware.

As long as you ARE NOT running a GPS board, there doesn't appear to be any disadvantage. As most of you are pro, this MAY be the wrong forum for this but at the same time you guys have more experience so...

let me explain. I loaded up firmware 4.6r2 and stability in wind seemed to suffer some. So I reloaded 4.6, then had all sorts of problems calibrating the gimbal which I won't go into here. After resetting the board and loading up 4.6 fresh, I decided to be brave and see how the quad flew without calibration. First I gingerly hovered a few feet off the ground on grass expecting the worst. Then once it seemed to be behaving, I ramped it up. I was surprised at how much better it flew, especially on rapid descents. Anyone else tried this with bad results? Will a rapid change in board temperature maybe cause problems? Am I taking a chance here? So far I have not flown in public with this setup. Thanks!

 

[Earl E Adobtr]

Thanks for the tip on horizon check, George. How important is it to keep board absolutely vertical when calibrating? Also does it take any time for the accelerometers to settle down after repositioning?

 

[DucktileMedia]

Wow, I am amazed at how little lens distortion there is. I am assuming thats because the gopro is gimbaled, right? Is the GoPro 3 that much better with distortion? Thats almost usable footage!

 

[Earl E Adobtr]

yeah, pretty decent - you can see the tree bend on the left and then straighten up when it's centered

 

[S11D336B]

It's not critical for the HoverflyPro to be perfectly vertical when calibrating. You also don't need to wait long. Just a second before clicking the calibrate button.

Thanks for the tip on horizon check, George. How important is it to keep board absolutely vertical when calibrating? Also does it take any time for the accelerometers to settle down after repositioning?

 

[Earl E Adobtr]

It's not critical for the HoverflyPro to be perfectly vertical when calibrating. You also don't need to wait long. Just a second before clicking the calibrate button.

Thanks, I'll definitely give calibration another try to compare.

Yuri, here's (short) finished Hero3 footage - same location today with a flock of birds I tried to get to - almost made it. This is 1080 60fps Protune, slowed down with bumped up sharpen, contrast, saturation and 50% warp stailizer - the footage seems to hold up pretty well even when it's heavily massaged. I guess that's the big advantage of shooting raw.