Solo Initial flights

Posted by John Oberholtzer on June 10, 2015 at 12:36pm

Received Solo last week, had to wait for Saturday for the Solo app for Andriod be to be released.

Mounted GoPro per instructions and inverted video.

Downloaded app and performed update per instructions.   Took 10 or 15 minutes to complete the process.

Took Solo outside and turned on Solo, controller and connected Solo app. No Video and Solo searched for GPS for about 5 minutes. Re-started everything a couple of times, finally got GPS reception. Initiated a test flight with no video. Solo flew great, the initial settings for the flight controls are really dialed back and are great for getting a feel for flying Solo.

Troubleshooting the Video issue. You need to make sure that the HDMI cable gets plugged into the GoPro solidly and that the HDMI connector does not hang up on the camera mount opening.

I found the longer manual for the Solo at http://3drobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Solo_User_Manual_v1.pdf, that had some good information in it. That manual is no longer posted on the 3dr website.

I have about 10 flights in on the Solo. Getting about 15-20 minutes of flight time out of the battery. The controller gives you a battery warning at 25% battery. Once you land with less than 25% battery, you cannot take off again.

I have had 1 crash so far with the Solo, and it does not appear that the Solo goes into Crash mode and shuts down like my Y6.  Lots of spinning props and I did not know about the A+B+Pause shutdown.

And, the Solo does not come with a Prop wrench for chaning props.

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Replies

  • Kelly Schrock June 15, 2015 at 1:54pm

    I was about to ask what the prop wrench was for, in preparation for making a point about how you don't need it. Then I tried taking one of my Solo's props off, and it won't budge. I need a wrench!

    • John Oberholtzer > Kelly Schrock June 15, 2015 at 3:26pm

      Those self tightening props work really well.  :)

  • Gregg June 14, 2015 at 9:10am

    I have the Iris and the x8 and am not really impressed with the loiter mode on either one. They struggle with altitude holding which is  important when I take stills. Everything has been calibrated more than once. Flew my new inspire and did not have to wait for gps lock and the gps hold was rock solid. Im going to shoot a video of a side by side comparison on gps holding capabilities between the inspire and x8. Im not sure if im going to buy a solo until I can see it fly.

    • Greg > Gregg June 14, 2015 at 12:42pm

      @Gregg

      Why don't you use AltHold or PosHold instead of Loiter?

    • Gregg > Greg June 14, 2015 at 6:38pm

      isnt it the same thing? I have 3 position switch..stablize, loiter and auto on my radio. Isnt position hold the same as loiter?

    • Greg > Gregg June 14, 2015 at 7:37pm

      They share many features, it would be interesting to see if either of the other flight modes would have any effect on the altitude holding issues you reported.

      I thought I had read that the flight modes assigned to the stick could be changed.

    • Gregg > Greg June 15, 2015 at 9:44am

      my bad..I have loiter and altitude hold programmed on the switch not stabilize. And yes you can go into the advance tuning and change the settings to all sorts of modes. Im going to try to do a auto tune today to see if this helps. The boys over at UAS professionals in Denver said they could help me with my PID tuning.

  • John Oberholtzer June 10, 2015 at 9:14pm

    Here is a video of the Solo after a couple of flights.

    https://youtu.be/7hk1egRnf3U

    • Gregg > John Oberholtzer June 14, 2015 at 9:14am

      Hey John, just watched your solo video and was wondering if you had the gimble on...didnt look like it. How does the solo hover in loiter mode? Is it solid or does it drift up and down?

      Thanks

    • John Oberholtzer > Gregg June 15, 2015 at 3:37pm

      No gimbal yet, GoPro in stock Solo mount.  The Solo seems to hold alt better than my Y6 in hover.  The Solo controller has a 'Pause Solo' button that puts Solo into Loiter mode.  I was getting a bit cocky after a couple of flights, pure operator error.

      I will take a video of the Solo hovering and post it.

This reply was deleted.