little O/T, Zephyr ZII FPV





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rcmike

Member
My ZI I bought used broke up in a dive so I built a brand new ZII a couple of weeks ago. This thing is rock solid with absolutely no flex at all. It is super stable also. I usually use Fly By Wire on my RVOSD to stabilize the plane but I have forgot to turn it on and it took me a while to notice. I have flown 8.5 miles so far and had a flight over an hour long. I have also had it up to 100mph a couple of times. I can see why they are so popular. They are very versatile. You can fly fast or just cruise around just as easily.
 

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Jessestr

Member
I'd like to have one.. But not with all the expensive electronics.. It could be cheaper than TBS offers .. or not?

rcmike said:
My ZI I bought used broke up in a dive so I built a brand new ZII a couple of weeks ago. This thing is rock solid with absolutely no flex at all. It is super stable also. I usually use Fly By Wire on my RVOSD to stabilize the plane but I have forgot to turn it on and it took me a while to notice. I have flown 8.5 miles so far and had a flight over an hour long. I have also had it up to 100mph a couple of times. I can see why they are so popular. They are very versatile. You can fly fast or just cruise around just as easily.
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R

rcmike

Member
Oh yeah, it can be done much cheaper. I think theirs is partially built so I guess that is why it is so expensive. I just checked and the servos I have on mine are $17 hitec servos. :) The Zephyr doesn't need much throw at all so the best way to do it is to put long control horns on the control surfaces and use the inner holes on the servo arms. This allows you to use more of the servo throw and you have a lot of leverage so the servos don't have to be super strong. I am using an RVOSD which is kind of expensive but you can go with no OSD or something much simpler. There are several different motors and ESCs that will work ranging from cheap, Hobby King motors to top of the line. I would go and check out the ZII threads on RCGroups or FPVLab.com. There are several different ways to do it.
 

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Jessestr

Member
Thanks for the reply RcMike!

Might get one in August then..

OSD: I like to fly and I think I'll like to fly FPV (never done that before). Really.. I would love to fly hundreds meter in the air just cruising around and then dive at high speed.. Can't wait. Only thing I need is an OSD which shows my battery voltage :)!
Motor: Not going for any HK motor. Probably some higer grade motor since I only need one motor it will be pretty cheap. Any recommendations on motor power?
Stabilisation: Should I use flightstabilisators?
Servo's: great! :D

Only probkem I have is that I want to use the same vTx as my TBS Discovery.. because they are expensive and I don't want to get two yet.. Since I see everyone wrapping the zephyr with some foil.. you can't access the electronics anymore :(.. that's something that I don't like
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
keeps your eyes peeled in the fpv classiifieds at fpvlab and rcg for vtx's. you probably want to put that 800mw on a zeph and get something smaller for your quad.

suppo makes a decent motor, same with rctimer,,, 30mm, 600+ watts. for servos they recomend over 100 oz tq servos, if your flying autonymously, faster the better
 

J

Jessestr

Member
I'm using Suppo's on my quad too now..
And the vTx I use for my quad is 600mW, still need something smaller for quad?

Might wanna look at some Suppo motors. Will make a build and post it here in another topic for a checkup :)!

kloner said:
keeps your eyes peeled in the fpv classiifieds at fpvlab and rcg for vtx's. you probably want to put that 800mw on a zeph and get something smaller for your quad.

suppo makes a decent motor, same with rctimer,,, 30mm, 600+ watts. for servos they recomend over 100 oz tq servos, if your flying autonymously, faster the better
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kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
better lighter less obtrusive gopro and board cam mount with jello free mount

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Got all the spars mounted, got all the seams filled with glue. got a bitchen heat sink on the vtx. Should be ready to wrap tomorrow. Waiting for the gorilla glue to finish expanding. Turned it all on today and the video is crazy clear. Pretty sure i got the crap out of my bowl
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
got it sealed up sanded and ready to wrap. next up is loctite 2000 and the carbon fiber wrap. got plans for some graphics though this time

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camera mount transition came out way better this time
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kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
should be able to find it if i loose it now.......

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Gonna take this for maiden sunday too. these are the stories told "As The Glue Dries..........."
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
got all three ready for tomorrow. Just gotta setup the tracker for the plane and i can start packing up.

Looks like a party, wish you guys could make it
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hjls3

hjls3

Member
good stuff kloner. is that a carbon fiber look alike vinyl wrap? if it is, that is high quality cuz it looks just like the real deal. i flew mine this morning and had forgotten how much fun they are. i did manage to come a whee bit too close to a bush though. that is the beauty of the wing...no big deal - no real damage. i do have another question for you though, you have a lady in your life and if so, how do you get to have this much fun without pissing her off? any help on that front would be appreciated, im currently in the dog house :) have a great sunday. looks like that will be hard not todo.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
thanks

it's some cheap carbon fiber printed vinyl from ebay. i get 2x 60"x24" for $36 to my door. aint bad, spray it with loctite 200 and lay this over it while tacky pretty much locks it in. im not one to hang onto crashed stuff to long so as long as the legs stay under it when it lands, it should stay pretty clean without heat transfer lam.......

Been married 21 years. IF i showed you a picture of my house, you'd have a heart attack. The whole house is covered in models, model making, and dead birds. If i clean up later i'll post a pic. She just leaves me alone as long as it aint showing up on the credit card bill. i make a little cash on the side with the whole clone thing so it keeps me goin, legaly. Shes a pretty understanding gal. i've worked from home since 2000 and now have been a also stay at home dad so that gets me out of alot of crap. Watch kids then lock into my models. Some guys surf, others work out, i build crap. she just wishes they took longer to build to slow me down a bit. They used to....... It's been my only outlet to keep my mind so she leaves it at that. We got a 41 month and 23 month old babies. there a ton of work

I just blamed my Bixler on my daughter and she bit. Gonna work on getting that thing dialed in to let the kids touch the sticks and see it do stuff. may as well break em in early.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
I'm such a dork. last night all i had to do was hook up the gopro wire, when tried to take it off my old zeph, it broke the wires in the connector. for some reason i had it in my mind what was what and when i kicked it on, i had this crazy scrambled picture. messed with it and messed with it and nothing i did changed things. Went as far to steal a gopro wire from the loners 450 to trouble shoot it and when i tried that not even a signal. Couldn't sleep last night thinking i gotta tear into this one to get it going too? had tested it right before vinyl and it was killer, but using that wire from the kloners. Well today when i tried to test fly the kloners rig before sending it off, no signal, wtf????? I took the shrink wrap off and found a broken wire. musta done it taking the wire off to try on the zeph. when was there noticed the connector closest to the plastic was ground, and last night, my zeph was showing ground on the tip......... Uhhhhhhhhhhhh my heart sank, but couldn't wait to get home. Walked in and first thing i did was flip the wires and there ya go, perfect picture again. Crazy how something was making her stay home today but mot likely for the better. maiden to come next weekend if i can swing another trip.


DORK
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
heading out early next week to maiden v.2, shes totaly ready other than the pixim cam is in the mail so gopro live feed it'll be. got the first 1.3 helical under my belt, kinda big for my current tracker, we'll see. 10.35" long, 3" diameter, 9.85" baseplate. beast 4 1/2 turnheli

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kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
I've been trying to go maiden this thing all week but one thing or another keeps getting in the way. now it is suppose to be 115-119 out there today. i'm so scared of dumping something out there in the morning and find myself walking across the desert looking for it later that i think i'll wait for it to get back on the 105 range. should be a week or two..... i'll probably still die but at least it wont be misserable. it is humid too, 60-70%, crazy down there. monsoon season, can see the thunderheads in San Diego from it all.
 

yakjock

yakjock

Member
Hey Kloner
Thanks for posting this I have been looking at one of these for a while & your looks very nice.
 

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