Flight Characteristics of DJI Naza vs other Flight Controllers?

[Trike]

Currently, I have a DJI Naza on my Carbon Core Hexa AP rig. So far, I'm not liking how it flies. It feels "sticky" and not as "responsive" or "smooth". Even in Manual mode, it just doesn't feel "right" to me. I like how the Openpilot board flies on my small 550mm quad. I even like how the Blade MQX flies. I'm not sure if it's partly due to the large frame and the amount of inertia of the AP rig.


I'm thinking of switching to a Hoverfly Pro board. Mainly because I'd like to upgrade to an Octo or X8 and looking for something that flies "smoother". I was also thinking of the WKM, but if the WKM flies anything like the Naza, I think i'll be dissapointed.


Has anyone flown a Naza and a different FC on the same frame? What are your impressions of the flight characteristics between the FC's?


Here's my rig:
Carbon Core 950mm Hexa
3 Axis CS Gimbal
DJI Naza w/GPS
SunnkySky 2814 700kv
APC SF 12x3.8
HK 30A blue series ESC flashed with simon k
Ran on 4S


My Naza Gains:
Roll/Tilt: 200
Yaw: 215
Vertical: 190
Attitude Roll/Tilt: 100

Thanks!

 

[kloner]

the sticky is partly to the high gains and the simonk firmware. the lower that is the less it has control of it..... I fly 120-140 on your first 4 mentioned and 80-84 on teh atti gains. Mines like sliding across ice, reminds me of drifting. the gps mode though, that ones like driving with the e-brake on. manual down around 100 is all over the place, 130 is pretty locked in but falls out in alot of g force when it fights a little. i've never even tried that high in manual, mine oscilates like crazy around 140-150 just light forward flight. i can hover in the settings you have here, but i mean fly like fpv see ya later kinda flying

I am hankerin to try an OP board. what did it have naza doesn't or vice versa? anything changing but sensors on cc3d?

 

[Stacky]

The cool thing about the OP CC board is that if you want you can configure it to do all sorts of things. One guy I know called Mat Wellington is forever coming up with all sorts of crazy flying configurations and so its a great board for messing with. The whole project is run and supported by a very cool community. I have only 2 complaints about the CC board and they pale into insignificance when kept in perspective of the whole project and from what I understand these things are fixed with the CC3D board. Firstly I have had never ending battles with drift and inconsistent behaviour with the 2 CC boards i have had. I have messed with the settings and tried others settings till im blue in the face but no luck getting a consistent week in week out flying experience. Its not very bad and not something that massively bothers me. The other thing is so minor i shouldnt even bother to mention it but the fix indicates the fine detail the OP gang have gone to to improve on the CC board with the CC3D. On the CC board the mounting holes were too close to electronics or pcb tracks so you had to be careful with screw heads etc. Stupidly insignificant I know but the OP gang have addressed this tiny detail with the CC3D which is pretty impressive to be fine tuning so much.

I did own a NAZA and thoroughly enjoyed it and as far as I can tell the main differences are simply so many tuning options on the CC board and its more expensive than the CC board but the NAZA has superb Altitude Hold which the CC doesnt. I think if you are going to really like a CC board you need to have a certain desire to do a bit of tinkering with the wide array of settings and options available, Im still amazed at how much the developers have been able to pack into the board and the firmware and GCS.
The NAZA is probably the easiest to get going as a beginner and DJI clearly hit a home run with that one.

 

[thepelell]

you definately have to lower the atti gain if you want more smoothness from the flight.. i am using 65 on atti on a y6 and 190 as basic gain. This way you have the sliding on ice behaviour like kloner said..
i have an AQ50D board too, and actually i like it more than the naza as far as feeling goes. It handles wind much better too.. but until now it lack baro for height hold, but the latest board has it and i have one in the post that should arrive next week so i can make a direct comparison.

 

[Trike]

Thanks guys for the replies. Over the weekend, I took your suggestions and started turning down the gains. I may have them turned down too low, but it feels a lot better now. I have basic gains set to 100% and the Attitude gains set to 70% I'm still getting some wobble in my video, but it's a lot better now. I'm still considering moving to a board that handles wind better. Even at 100% basic gains, when a small gust of wind hits it, it starts to wobble pretty hard.

Now that I have the naza gains at a reasonable level, I can start tuning the gain on the radians.

 

[kloner]

the closer you can get it propped to carry your load at mid throttle and hover in manual, the less of that wobble you'll see. if it's wind related, use smaller props and more volts.

 

[Trike]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind to try and tune it like that. I have some 12x3.8's on it right now. I have some JXF 12x6 woodies coming too. I've never thought to try and tune the props to mid throttle in manual mode.

I feel my setup is already getting heavy for the motors. Seems like the rule of thumb is to maintain a 2:1 power/weight ratio. With the SF 12x3.8 props, each motor can produce 1.6kg of lift. About 9.5kg total lift. Without a camera mounted, I'm already pushing 4.5kg.

Thanks for tips Kloner, your description of how the naza flies in the different modes seems accurate.

 

[thepelell]

naza does really prefer smaller props spinning fast, and it's not really made for big heavy machine. You can raise basic gains, and try to put atti at 50 and see if it is still flyable, but don't expect wobble free flying in the wind... its the biggest problem of Naza.

 

[Trike]

Yeah, That's what i've been finding out so far. When it gets a little gusty, you can hear the props go nuts. I ordered a Hoverfly Pro board and will be moving my Naza to another rig to learn FPV on. Hoping to get the same smooth flying results as other HFP owners here.