Gender
Male
About
Location
Loveland, CO
About Me:
Retired since 2009. I left the hobby around 2022 after a tragic crash of my home built Tarot 650 Sport due to a propeller separation. I have decided to return by building a new Tarot 650 quad using old tech - Ardupilot, analog video and a GoPro camera. Will also navigate the new laws and restrictions.
Please tell us a bit about your UAV interest
I have previously built several quadcopters as well as one hex. All have crashed as part of my learning experience - pilot error, mistakes in flight controller configuration and mechanical problems. I miss building my own aircraft and have decided to build one more: a Tarot 650 Sport quad using old tech - Ardupilot/APM, analog video using a GoPro Hero 10 camera on a 3-axis gimbal. I am also interested in navigating the gauntlet of regulations and documenting my experience.
Hometown:
Loveland, Colorado
Activity Feed
"I decided that the splice idea will not work as I watched a video of a guy having the same problem and he had a more accurate measurement of the I.D. of the 16mm tubes. So, I've decided to buy longer 16mm tubes, cut them to size and replace the…"
I left the hobby in 2022 after the crash of my Tarot Ironman due to a propeller blade separation resulting in complete destruction of the aircraft. Since then I have been flying an old DJI MAvic Pro that I bought used from a photographer who wanted…
After a few years hiatus, I have decided to build a new quadcopter. It will be a Tarot 650 Sport utilizing strictly old tech stuff as it is what I'm familiar with and my needs are modest: 15 minutes endurance, a three-axis stabilized GoPro Hero 10…
"I think that I have fixed the problem. I replaced the ESCs I had with Tarot AIR series 40 A ESCs and made sure that the timing is set to "Intermediate". I had two successful flights yesterday - one of them was a simple waypoint mission that lasted…"
I completed a build of a Tarot 650 Ironman and have done two short test flights. I am experiencing random motor surge/twitch which makes the aircraft unstable. In a previous build I had the same problem. Once, during a waypoint mission, the aircraft…
"I solved my telemetry and compass calibration problems. The telemetry issue was my mistake - I plugged in an identical looking module into my laptop; once I used the correct one, it worked just fine.
The compass calibration issue was solved by…"
The compass calibration issue was solved by…"
"John, forgot to thank you too. I hooked things up and tried again, but this time I got calibration failures and I decided to quit after three tries. It's a pain to do the compass dance while the quad is connected to my laptop! I wanted to power up…"
"Golly, thanks for the help Cliff! I did use M.P. and the compass calibration page dis not display the graphical rotating dots as I expected from doing the compass calibration with an APM. Instead, the aicraft repeated a slow beep and I started…"
"I need help! I have just completed a build of a Tarot 650 Ironman and I chose to use a Pixhawk PX4 for my flight controller/autopilot:
I am using a MATEK 6S FCHUB PCB for power distribution, a 10S APM Power Module and 40A OPTO ESCs for my power…"
I am using a MATEK 6S FCHUB PCB for power distribution, a 10S APM Power Module and 40A OPTO ESCs for my power…"
I have a Tarot 650 Sport quadcopter that I built. It uses an APM flight controller and is powered by four MN3220 T-Motors, which require 6S power.I have flown this several times, but recently made a few mods/adjustments, including adding 15"x5…
"RESOLVED! After reviewing my results I decided that the problem was the Silicon Labs driver I was using. So I uninstalled the driver and downloaded an FTDI driver from the Dell download page and installed, rebooted the Dell..... It works - Mission…"
"Addendum: I can connect to my aircraft by plugging a USB cable from the APM to the laptop - M.P. sees COM4, which I used and it connected just fine even though it connected at a higher baud rate. I've attached a screen snippet of the error.Baud Rate…"
Hi all -I recently had a GPS issue with my quadcopter that almost flew away when I switched on the autopilot to fly a waypoint mission - successfully brought it back manually and a review of the logs suggested some sort of GPS glitch. So I decided…
Guys, I hate to post this, as radio calibration failures have been reported before, typically the problem was something simple such as reversing the pins (signal to gnd) or reversing the inputs/outputs. I have searched this forum and have found…
"@Patrick, I've installed my gimbal - it is working fine. Also installed the R.P. but have a question: Don't I need a connection from the receiver to the APM for the camera trigger? If I use CH7, which is AUX2 in my setup, don't I need to connect the…"
