Hmm... I re-read my post and I see that I used the word arms when I was talking about the conversion. I really meant to say legs. To be clear, the conversion kit comes with new legs and some of the arms from your existing Hex are reused.
This is my first hex so I haven't invested in a camera or gimbal yet. I do occasionally mount my GoPro to it just to record some flight video but I don't use a special mount or anything. To attach the GoPro to the hex I'm simply using some foam to help absorb vibrations and then I'm using rubber bands to secure it to the tower. It's a pretty low tech way to get flight video and I still get the arms and props in my shots but it serves its purpose. :-)
With the new Y6 conversion arms I gained just about an inch in height compared to the stock arms on the Hex C. From the bottom plate to the ground there is now about 5 inches or 13cm (whichever you prefer). I mount my battery underneath the bottom plate so with my 4S battery mounted there is still 3 1/2" to the ground.
As far as flight times are concerned, I hadn't really charted my previous flight times so I don't have exact figures there. I do have a timer on my Tx set up to alarm at 8 minutes on a 3S 5000 battery so that's what I was flying to. I did exceed that a couple off times so and still had a little battery to spare so 9 minutes on that battery would probably be doable depending on how aggressive my flight was or what the wind speed was, etc. Josh recently stated that a 4S battery would probably be a good choice on the Hex so last night I did another test flight using a 4S 4350 and easily went over 10 minutes on that. It's probably too much battery for how light my Hex is though as I was hovering at below 50% throttle. Placing a gimbal and camera setup on there will obviously increase the weight so then a 4S will make more sense.
The ultimate goal for me is to do aerial photography and I've been looking at gimbals but so far I'm on the fence. It seems that new ones are coming out all the time so I'm hanging back for a bit longer before I buy one. If anybody has a recommendation as to which one is a good buy then throw a suggestion my way! :-)
Are you running any cameras on your current setup? My biggest issue with the hex is the landing gear being features so prominently in all my videos and pictures due to the 3DR camera gimbal position between the closely spaced hex legs.
Looks like this is not an issue with the Y6 setup due to the increased space between the arms and the landing gear that bend backwards. Can you confirm if you've noticed any flight time decreases. Also, (if applicable) have you had to reconsider your camera setup due to the shape or, most importantly, the length of the legs? It looks like the Y6 sits pretty close to the ground.
Yep, I converted my Hex C to the Y6 you see here. The weather has turned a bit here and I've only managed three 10 minute flights on the Y6 up to this point but I'm happy with the results! I don't know if it's more stable or not empirically but to me it feels more stable. Just a feeling though. :)
I know that Josh has a parameter file written up for the Y6 but he wrote it for the lower kv blue motors but I'm running the 880kv black motors so I didn't use it. I do plan on taking a look at his values though and may input them into my parameters. For these flights I simply loaded up the 3.01 firmware and flew with the defaults there. It flew remarkably well and while I would probably benefit from tweaking out the PIDs I'm going to concentrate on the physical stuff first like vibrations and protecting the barometer before I mess around with the software.
From the 3.01 release thread it looks as though they're identifying some bugs that will be cleaned up in the next general release.
Is this the 3DR Y6? Did you convert from Hex? I'm curious to know because I have a Hex C and would like to know if there is any difference in stability after the conversion. Have you noticed any other differences (assuming this was converted)?
Comments
That's what I figured. The new legs really stand out, but in a good way. Hey check your wall, I wanted to ask you something unrelated to this post.
Hmm... I re-read my post and I see that I used the word arms when I was talking about the conversion. I really meant to say legs. To be clear, the conversion kit comes with new legs and some of the arms from your existing Hex are reused.
-Mike
@ Mega,
This is my first hex so I haven't invested in a camera or gimbal yet. I do occasionally mount my GoPro to it just to record some flight video but I don't use a special mount or anything. To attach the GoPro to the hex I'm simply using some foam to help absorb vibrations and then I'm using rubber bands to secure it to the tower. It's a pretty low tech way to get flight video and I still get the arms and props in my shots but it serves its purpose. :-)
With the new Y6 conversion arms I gained just about an inch in height compared to the stock arms on the Hex C. From the bottom plate to the ground there is now about 5 inches or 13cm (whichever you prefer). I mount my battery underneath the bottom plate so with my 4S battery mounted there is still 3 1/2" to the ground.
As far as flight times are concerned, I hadn't really charted my previous flight times so I don't have exact figures there. I do have a timer on my Tx set up to alarm at 8 minutes on a 3S 5000 battery so that's what I was flying to. I did exceed that a couple off times so and still had a little battery to spare so 9 minutes on that battery would probably be doable depending on how aggressive my flight was or what the wind speed was, etc. Josh recently stated that a 4S battery would probably be a good choice on the Hex so last night I did another test flight using a 4S 4350 and easily went over 10 minutes on that. It's probably too much battery for how light my Hex is though as I was hovering at below 50% throttle. Placing a gimbal and camera setup on there will obviously increase the weight so then a 4S will make more sense.
The ultimate goal for me is to do aerial photography and I've been looking at gimbals but so far I'm on the fence. It seems that new ones are coming out all the time so I'm hanging back for a bit longer before I buy one. If anybody has a recommendation as to which one is a good buy then throw a suggestion my way! :-)
-Mike
Thanks for your reply Stone.
Are you running any cameras on your current setup? My biggest issue with the hex is the landing gear being features so prominently in all my videos and pictures due to the 3DR camera gimbal position between the closely spaced hex legs.
Looks like this is not an issue with the Y6 setup due to the increased space between the arms and the landing gear that bend backwards. Can you confirm if you've noticed any flight time decreases. Also, (if applicable) have you had to reconsider your camera setup due to the shape or, most importantly, the length of the legs? It looks like the Y6 sits pretty close to the ground.
Hey Reuel!
Yep, I converted my Hex C to the Y6 you see here. The weather has turned a bit here and I've only managed three 10 minute flights on the Y6 up to this point but I'm happy with the results! I don't know if it's more stable or not empirically but to me it feels more stable. Just a feeling though. :)
I know that Josh has a parameter file written up for the Y6 but he wrote it for the lower kv blue motors but I'm running the 880kv black motors so I didn't use it. I do plan on taking a look at his values though and may input them into my parameters. For these flights I simply loaded up the 3.01 firmware and flew with the defaults there. It flew remarkably well and while I would probably benefit from tweaking out the PIDs I'm going to concentrate on the physical stuff first like vibrations and protecting the barometer before I mess around with the software.
From the 3.01 release thread it looks as though they're identifying some bugs that will be cleaned up in the next general release.
-Mike
Is this the 3DR Y6? Did you convert from Hex? I'm curious to know because I have a Hex C and would like to know if there is any difference in stability after the conversion. Have you noticed any other differences (assuming this was converted)?