XAircraft SuperX Orientation
- Thread starter Idahobell
- Start date
Aerovideo
Member
Welcome to the SuperX, looks like we're neighbors!
Aerovideo
Member
Yeah, I've got 2 SuperX's. One for my hexacopter and another for a quad. The GPS and altitude hold functions are great although I'm having some difficulty with motors pulsing during fast forward flight.
Av8Chuck
Member
This has been debated to death but I've been flying long enough that I don't NEED IOC but it can make single pilot AP a lot easier. Nevertheless the SuperX is so much better than anything DJI has even with IOC.
jfro
Aerial Fun
I guess I'm some sort of freak or just don't get it. Last year, I started on Hoverfly Pro on an x8, then small quad with Naza V2/gps. Then put xAircraft on my x8 and was thrilled with it in no to light wind but not so happy in wind. I had a ton of fun flying and learning on a small 450 with the naza & gopro last fall.
This year built 640 quad with 3520/ and put Naza V2 on it and really enjoyed flying it. Built heavier x8 with 3515's and after about 15 flights gave up on the Xaircraft and put the Naza on the x8 & Xaircraft on the 650 quad.
I'm currently satisfied with my X8 & Naza V2. On my650mm quad, I'm actually contemplating getting another Naza to compare. Light and no wind, SuperX and Naza are pretty comparable IMO. In wind, I'm kind of leaning towards the Naza, although I'd like to fly in the same wind by just swapping out the flight controllers between flights. I can carry a gh3, gh2 on the quad which gives it some more weight which helps.
On a scale of 1-10 as a pilot, I'm in the middle of the scale. I can slow fly for filming and as long as I keep orientation, I'm in pretty good shape. I don't think I"m expert enough though to get out of jams quickly enough in certain orientations. Need more flying time for that.
I hate to admit this, but I have used IOC 3-4 times. Recently I flew over water (which makes me nervous on the quad) and I wanted to stay 90 degrees filming the shoreline . Not sure I want to do that all the time, but once setup with the framing on the shot, it was pretty easy to fly just off the shoreline filming the shore. I'm sure in time, I'll not need the security blanket, but for now, it worked out ok. Just need to remember to switch out when done.
I'm currently learning how to tune a pixhawk manually. My point to all this is I sometimes wonder if I know how to tune these MR's. I get some flying beautifully and other times I struggle to get something flying as smoothly as I'd like. I read all the love shown to the SuperX (except the x8 config) and wonder if I just can't get it dialed in correctly. I have been able to get a better handling X8 with the Naza and I'm not so sure I don't like my quad better with the Naza. Nothing changed on the quad other than me changing out the FC and GPS puck. I fly alone so I don't have anything to compare myself to other than reading what others say.
Maybe someday I can hook up with someone who has a great flying xAircraft to see how it compares to what I have. Till then, I'll just keep flying & trying.
p.s. yes I read about the Naza fly aways, but haven't reached a conclusion as to whether they are operator errors or FC bugs. I have never had a malfunction.
jfro, it is odd that you have better luck in the wind with the Naza than the SuperX. My experience is the complete opposite. With my current fly away the hexacopter was in a hover when it decided to go it's own way which ended up crashing. I wouldn't consider that operator error. Good luck with the Naza but I am staying away.
P.S. I have a Naza Lite for sale also. Only flown a couple of times.
P.S. I have a Naza Lite for sale also. Only flown a couple of times.
jfro
Aerial Fun
Idahobell, no, I wouldn't call that pilot error either. But I also don't know what it is. Could it have been loss of signal, radio issue, hiccup or failure of an ESC or Engine, low voltage from battery or 1 cell, or could it be a bug/shortcoming in the Naza/DJI Flight Controller. I have no answers for stuff like that, and it's always in the back of my mind, but so far, I've not had any issues and I haven 't heard of a ton Naza V2's flying away.
I recently flew with a very experienced glider pilot whom is meticulous in is prep and flying. In 2 days he had a glider come apart in the air and one die into the ground on take off which shook him up because he doesn't usually have issues. 1 was structural failure and the other was his error in resetting up his radio.
This isn't a perfect world and there are many more DJI systems out there (from what I read which makes it a guess) so it's a tough decision. If I could get something else to fly to my satisfaction and there were no issues with fly aways, that would be a no brainer for me. However, right now the Naza flies a bit better for filming. Could be I'm luckier with the Naza setup or just understand it better. I don't really know, but it is my experience so far. Except for X8 configs on the SuperX, I've heard no complaints on it. Peeps are very happy with their MR's.
Av8Chuck
Member
jfro, your right. If you trust your DJI and its flying well then that's what matters. At least your out there flying it. I tried to get others on the SuperX thread to request IOC on the SX but most everyone there thought of it as a "beginner" issue and the SX is so easy to fly it doesn't need it. IOC can be very useful for single pilot AP. I think the resistance was mostly bias against DJI, there's no one more biased against DJI than me, in case you haven't noticed, but there are some things that I think DJI is trying to do that as much as I don't care for them I can respect or admire what they've accomplished.
A lot of the time when MR's are unstable its because the motors and props aren't matched to the type of conditions or mission your attempting to fly. X8's and Y6's are generally much more stable in windy conditions, if its a bit twitchy in the wind it may have been over propped, with my Y6 I use a slightly higher KV motor with a smaller prop than I do on my Hex.
My bias comes from 62 stitches in my face which resulted from one of two flyways with two different DJI's, a NAZA V1 and WKM. I too was in about a five foot hover and it went to full throttle and hung a hard left straight at me when I switched from manual to attitude mode. When intelligent cutoff was introduced my Hex was descending and at about 20 feet it completely shut down fortunately I had both incidents on video and when I shared them with DJI they told me I should have switched back to manual mode and I must have had a bad connection because ISO could not shut down in the air. After the crash I removed what was left of the broken prop and it armed just fine.
I know the risks we take flying MR's but for me I'm not willing to continue risking it with DJI when in neither case would DJI help me determine what was wrong and therefore help mitigate the risk. And if you notice its not just that there are a lot of DJI controllers so there's a lot fly-aways, its the excuses that bother me. Everyone makes excuses for incidents involving DJI controllers and as long as people are more concerned about making excuses than getting to the truth it will never be fixed.
If you started with HoverflyPro about a year ago then you should recall all the problems they were having with GPS, some could make it work, most couldn't but you didn't read pages of excuses and HFP wasn't blaming the users. I sold mine about a year ago so I wasn't involved much after that and don't know if they ever got it working but the HFPro flew great and I knew it would always do exactly what I told it to do. That's what I like about the SuperX, it has the smoothness and reliability of the HFPro with better position and altitude hold and GPS than DJI.
I'm going to build another Y6 or maybe an X8 with a SuperX so hopefully I'll be able to get it to fly well.
A lot of the time when MR's are unstable its because the motors and props aren't matched to the type of conditions or mission your attempting to fly. X8's and Y6's are generally much more stable in windy conditions, if its a bit twitchy in the wind it may have been over propped, with my Y6 I use a slightly higher KV motor with a smaller prop than I do on my Hex.
My bias comes from 62 stitches in my face which resulted from one of two flyways with two different DJI's, a NAZA V1 and WKM. I too was in about a five foot hover and it went to full throttle and hung a hard left straight at me when I switched from manual to attitude mode. When intelligent cutoff was introduced my Hex was descending and at about 20 feet it completely shut down fortunately I had both incidents on video and when I shared them with DJI they told me I should have switched back to manual mode and I must have had a bad connection because ISO could not shut down in the air. After the crash I removed what was left of the broken prop and it armed just fine.
I know the risks we take flying MR's but for me I'm not willing to continue risking it with DJI when in neither case would DJI help me determine what was wrong and therefore help mitigate the risk. And if you notice its not just that there are a lot of DJI controllers so there's a lot fly-aways, its the excuses that bother me. Everyone makes excuses for incidents involving DJI controllers and as long as people are more concerned about making excuses than getting to the truth it will never be fixed.
If you started with HoverflyPro about a year ago then you should recall all the problems they were having with GPS, some could make it work, most couldn't but you didn't read pages of excuses and HFP wasn't blaming the users. I sold mine about a year ago so I wasn't involved much after that and don't know if they ever got it working but the HFPro flew great and I knew it would always do exactly what I told it to do. That's what I like about the SuperX, it has the smoothness and reliability of the HFPro with better position and altitude hold and GPS than DJI.
I'm going to build another Y6 or maybe an X8 with a SuperX so hopefully I'll be able to get it to fly well.
jfro
Aerial Fun
If I had 62 stitches in my face from an MR, my MR's would be in the junk yard courtesy of my wife before I got out of the emergency room. Wouldn't blame her. I get very nervous when my MR is near and always on my toes and don't recall ever hitting a switch to change modes when I'm that close. I'm new and cautious.
In my case, just a few weeks ago, I swapped the Naza and SuperX between two MR's. Naza flew better on which ever one it was on. Here's some Naza x8 video from my gh3. http://vimeo.com/97469367.
I've spent a lot of time balancing and changing props. If you saw my investment in props, you'd call me a fool.
Regarding support, I find it's pretty much missing in this industry with the exception of a few companies/dealers. Having been a pioneer in small PC & Mac graphic systems, I've grown accustomed of being on my own. You buy it you own it. If it doesn't work or perform, too bad so sad.
I will be very interested in hearing about your x8. I haven't found anyone in that films happy with a mid to large size x8. I think they have some more tuning to do there.
In my case, just a few weeks ago, I swapped the Naza and SuperX between two MR's. Naza flew better on which ever one it was on. Here's some Naza x8 video from my gh3. http://vimeo.com/97469367.
I've spent a lot of time balancing and changing props. If you saw my investment in props, you'd call me a fool.
Regarding support, I find it's pretty much missing in this industry with the exception of a few companies/dealers. Having been a pioneer in small PC & Mac graphic systems, I've grown accustomed of being on my own. You buy it you own it. If it doesn't work or perform, too bad so sad.
I will be very interested in hearing about your x8. I haven't found anyone in that films happy with a mid to large size x8. I think they have some more tuning to do there.