NAZA flying below freezing (0 C or 32F)??

Hello to all of you MR flyers!

About to embark in my first season of COLD weather operations with NAZA MC on DJI F550. Any words of advice, experiences or lessons learned while flying in the snow?

One thing for sure is that my motors, ESC and battery pack are nice and cool.... Ha! Ha!

The air is also denser so it allows for better aerodynamic performance. There must be some drawback to all of this besides frozen fingers??

Kloner, I don't expect to hear from you on this one.... lucky you! Joking here.... You know you are always most welcome!

Cheers!

Rodge
 

kloner

Aerial DP
bla bla, bla bla bla

hahaha, aint never gonna have this problem

one thing i know from being around the block is frozen lipos have less power and too cold is bad. keep em warm till flying then get them back to warm. lipo cars like chevy volt have a heater inside the pack to keep the cells healthy, cooling too.
 

Tomstoy2

Member
Let the Naza acclimate to the outside temp well before powering it up.

Don't own a Naza but my WKM work well in the cold, a lot better than the 10 lbs of titanium I have for a knee does. Shouldn't be a problem.

Remember, the cold makes thing more brittle.
 



yeehaanow

Member
I had an issue once in the cold where the motors would start up and before takeoff everything would just die. Like it was unplugged. Had to unplug and reboot.
It happened a couple times but I just took off faster and didn't let it idle. :)
 

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Cameras should be sat outside to acclimatise.. no mither flying WKM in -32ºc motors had a few issues though but I have sorted that now for this years foray to finland

Dave

 
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Thanks to all for your very precious info, even you kloner..... I can't believe you have very useful info even if you are flying in the desert! You're a real one dude!

I will take all of you advice in consideration, that is batteries in the warm car and f-550 outside in the cold for a good 15 mins before the flight. If my motors act strangly on takeoff, reset and get airborne sooner!

I am impressed with rapidity, quantity and usefulness of info provided. Thanks again!

Will forward video of frozen flights....
 

Congrats on this very well thought video Droider, the footage is excellent and I noticed that you aren't afraid to brush up with the trees... Good show! Very inspiring for me, we encounter the exact same conditions here in Québec!

Again, very impressive video, you can be proud!
 

meme

Member
Flown the Naza yesterday an -6 Degrees Celsius, Take off 3 minutes after i taked it out from the warm car. No problems seen.
 

SjaakZwart

Member
Cameras should be sat outside to acclimatise.. no mither flying WKM in -32ºc motors had a few issues though but I have sorted that now for this years foray to finland

Dave


Wonderfull!! I enjoyed it...!! Thumbs Up!
 
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Phil550

Member
Cameras should be sat outside to acclimatise.. no mither flying WKM in -32ºc motors had a few issues though but I have sorted that now for this years foray to finland

Dave


Superb video!
What Gopro settings did you use?

Phil
 
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Naza specs indicate -10 deg C is OK while the WKM specs call for -5 deg C minimum.
Internal pcb temperatures should be a couple of degrees higher than ambient when powered but wind chill effect can suck the heat away from everything when moving quickly.
Keep in mind that temperature typically drops with altitude gain due to atmospheric lapse rate.
But there also winter days with a temperature inversion so that higher latitudes have warmer conditions.
Check temperature graph for your battery which should show significant reduced capacity with lower temperatures.
If multicopter is loaded with payload, the cold battery will warm up soon enough during flight!!!
 

Benchmark

Member
I flew regularly here in copenhagen within the lask week and the has been between -7 and -1 centigrade under freeze point, no problems so far with the Naza M but i can not comment on any practical experience with the wookong as i do not have one....yet :)
 

chopper

Member
regarding low temp performance:

Its -6 in here in Alberta and the WK-M flew well this morning, no issues. Altitude hold (atti mode) and general performance is as good as 15+ weather. I cannot comment on the performance with GPS enabled as I have yet to test its cold weather performance.
With regard to the Naza, when I flew it last year in around -1, I noticed that it did not hold altitude as consistently as the WK-M in at the same temperature, but I have yet to try it this year with the updated firmware.
 
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I also live in Alberta, i.e., Calgary,Been flying Naza @ -5 to -9 deg C with no issues re: attitude or GPS. Where are you located and when/where did you get your WKM....? I tried to get one but gave up after 1/5 months due to US supplier delays in combo with factory recall....so I bought the Naza for now...
 

chopper

Member
Hi Peter, I live in CGY also. I picked up the WKM from uavproducts in the USA. Robert should be able to help you out. Now is a good time to get one if you haven't already as the iOSD is half price with the purchase of a WKM as part of the DJI Christmas Sale and looks like they have some in stock.
 

Thanks for sharing this with us meme. I am just returning from a shoot with a winter storage enterprise that required some aerial video for promotional purposes. All went well except fot the /&*++/"ÉÉ' Gopro2 that got weird after I connected my homemade 3.5 to 2.5 jack type connector. The proper poles are correctly soldered and it always ends up working ok but I wonder what is the deal with connecting a Gopro 2 to DJI video tx and have the Gopro display going bezerk??? Always something to bug your day isn't it? After many reboot of the Gopro 2 things worked out well but I really would like to know what is the issue here?? What do you think? I am certain not to be the only one facing this frustrating situation while at a potential''customer''. Please help me!
 

IMHO
There are several possibilities....
a)The jack's molded plastic prevents full insertion of the jack to make reliable contact inside the GoPro camera plug (shave down the diameter for a deeper fit).
b) RFI - get a shielded jack cable or add a shield/sheath to your cable to help reduce radio freq interference and/or make sure the wires in the cable are twisted pairs.
c) MR vibration can also lead to momentary issues with item "a" above. Get all props thoroughly balanced.

Before field testing again, include a low temperature system test on your bench by leaving your GoPro in a freezer or outdoors for 30 minutes before bench testing.
 

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