Blackstork OSD Tests on eSavage

This was my first test of the new Blackstork OSD:

- GPS fix was aquired quite fast (under 1min)

- speedometer worked good for a small car, running down a longer straight would have been a better test tough

- home position indicator also worked good - even in this rather small testing area - when flying FPV GPS surely has an easier job because the distances are greater

- OSD gets a little hot - no problem
(I think this is because of voltage regulator from 12v to 5v for GPS)


I learned from two errors in this test:

1.) while setting up the OSD I wasted most of the videobattery - during the test the battery got empty - picture gone - blind - this shouldn't happen in the air!!!
One has to keep an eye on the videobattery voltage!

2.) a new pan-servo now moves 180deg. - this is great - but you have to secure the cable with some tape - after panning the cam the cable unplugged - again - this would't be nice in the air!!

FlyCamOne III

Hi, I just found this new version of the known FlyCamOne:
Website with infos

It seems like a professional, prebuilt and inexpensive FPV equipment. I did't find exact infos on the resolution and range yet.
But they even have headtracking and video-goggles! Optionally the headtracker can be used with their own transmitter (if you ran out of free channels on your main radio).

Twinstar2 - Lumix Cammount-Tests

Twinstar - Panasonic Lumix FX35 Tests from Mario Schimanko on Vimeo.

I found a way to savely transport my digital camera without producing enormerous air drag.

see this post for more details and pics

On this vid I did two flights. First was non FPV to test everything, second was fully FPV - unfortunately the angle of the cam was too much downwards pointing - you can see the result.

But it was a great "proof of concept" - the Panasonic Lumix FX35 can be a great FPV cam.
+ it's an 150g lightweigt!
+ you have 25mm wideangle (gives a great FOV)
+ you record in 1280x720@30fps
- but only about 8:27mins (that gives 2GB - this is the limit even when using 4GB SD Card or greater

Definitly the wideangle is the most important point here! The shakeyness of the flightvids is much lower if shot in wideangle compared to tele (35+mm).
See this vid for example - it's shot useing a standard mini SD camcorder with 35 or 40mm FOV
(OK the colors where great here - but this depends much on the sun!)

Also this was my first video where you can watch the landing from three different views - that's for Paul - to not get complaints about the missing landing :-)

Music: H-Bloxx - Countdown to insanity

Twinstar2 - new Cammount Idea

Hi fellow FPV friends!

On my search for a better way to mount a conventional digital still camera on my Twinstar2 RC plane I came to this solution:



This should minimize the air drag (which can definitly be an issue - I learnd this before!)
The position of the cam, facing down left, should give me great flight videos - stay tuned for the first tests!

This way works not so well (but the perspective would be great also):

Von Ablagebox

eSavage Winterfun

eSavage Winterfun from Mario Schimanko on Vimeo.

The weather wasn't good enough to fly so I had to have some winterfun on the ground.



Greetings,

RCSchim

Twinstar 2 with flaps

This weekend I finally installed real flaps to my TS2. I crashlanded the second flight (with no damage) because of a stall - but after some getting used to the flaps can be a great improvement when it comes to slow gliding with a heavier plane or on the landings (with full flaps the bird gets really slow and will decend quickly - short landings).

Total weight now: 1684g (with battery, 2cams, Video TX, 2 additional batteries for cams).

Greetings,
RCSchim

Twinstar 2 - Iceflyer

Yesterday we were out on a frozen lake wich made a very good runway. Starting from the ground without landing gear was never easier as you'd guess.
Temp was -9°C and foggy - therefore video is a bit blurry. The shakes came directly from me and transfered to the controls :-)
The selfmodded jaytech has some battery issue in this cold - even tough the battery is inside the plane it just lasts about 12mins before it goes out (normally it can record over 60mins). This time I was lucky enough and the whole flight was recorded (but shortly after the landing the jaytech stopped 'cause the battery was frozen).




And here as a special for Paul - the exposureroom-Version of the above video:

Twinstar 2 - Iceflyer By Mario Schimanko
View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit Mario Schimanko's ExposureRoom Videos Page

...and here some bonus footage. The laptop used for recording via usb framegrabber didn't like the cold either and the battery gave up after a few mins.

Twinstar 2 Dualperspective, FPV fun

Today I was lucky enough to fly some rounds on my "home"field.
It's actually the field you can see in the background of this last video: vimeo.com/2682293

First I wanted to test everything and it was a bit shakey. Up and down it flew :-)

Before we packed our stuff I took the chance and did put on my goggles again...

Sadly the cheap JayTech cam stopped recording midair before I reached the highest point of this awesome FPV flight - so you can only guess how great the view was.

Jaytech Cam - new cam setup for FPV recording

After some experiments even with the lumix on top I cam back to this setup:
This solution should have little aerodynamic effect and the position and faceing of the cam is quite good. Additional benefit: with the top mounted FPV cam I can see the back of the Jaytec and the LED status tells me if it still records video - or if I've even forgotten to press the record button!

Here's my history of cammounting:
New FPV Panmount
Twinstar2 - better Cameramount, slightly better Design
Panasonic Lumix on top
JayTec modding, reverse engeneering
Twinstar 2 - neue FPV Cam

Frozen Twinstar - last Flight 2008

Here we tried a new airfield up above our hometown. Great view, enough space - a great starting point for FPV sessions. Unfortuately it was way too cold to fly longer than just a few minutes.