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Re: [Paparazzi-devel] beginners questions
From: |
Martin P |
Subject: |
Re: [Paparazzi-devel] beginners questions |
Date: |
Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:17:06 +0200 |
Hello Tilman!
> I see there is a forum somewhere, but I find forums totally inadequate
> for discussions.
In general, I find forums fine, even better than mailing lists, but the
Paparazzi-forum on http://rc-autopilot.de/smf/ seems to be pretty dead.
> ... Money will be a issue, so I
> need to start small and cheap.
Have a look on http://www.diydrones.com/
They have the ArduPilot which is by far not as capable as Paparazzi but
definitely cheaper and they say it is easier. Just to see something else, too.
Not a suggestion.
> I see that small airframes like the FunJet are pretty popular. But I
> guess this is mostly because it is a bigger challenge to make a small
> and fast plane fly stable.
> I guess there is not much room for payload like digital cameras.
In R/C flying, a bigger and slower airframe is definitely easier to fly. I
guess it is the same for autonomous flight.
> Can anyone maybe suggest a bigger and flexible and of course cheap
> solution? Maybe some easy DIY plans. Optics are irrelevant. :)
> And how difficult is it to scale things up? Maybe they get unreasonable
> expensive... I have no idea, I'm not a RC guy.
Welcome to the world of R/C flying!
I started R/C flying recently, so I feel competent to answer beginners
questions.
See http://home.pages.at/martinpi/modellflug/anfaengertipps.html for some hints
(in German, sorry to the other readers).
I strongly suggest that you look for an R/C club in your vicinity.
Btw, I just bought an inexpensive "pilot assist" system via Ebay which can help
a beginner to save the plane from a crash and which could possibly be used in
combination with the ArduPilot mentioned above (but definitely not with
Paparazzi).
Although I have never flown the Multiplex TwinStar, I think this could be the
thing for you. Used TwinStars are often available through Ebay. Optics not too
bad, somewhat crash-resistant, easy to repair if not.
Building a plane on your own usually doesn't make it cheaper. Strange but true.
I love my Minimag which is my tried and proved workhorse and which will
probably be my first UAV.
See http://modellflug-martinpi.blogspot.com/search/label/MiniMag
> Apropos RC. I guess I will need some RC equipment? I'm thinking about
> leaving the RC stuff out and controlling the plane via the telemetry
> link. But buying some used RC stuff via ebay is probably a more
> reasonable approach. :)
Yes to ebay. People sell their equipment when they go for sophisticated
features which you will definitely not need.
There is one more point which makes R/C equipment necessary, this is the legal
situation.
I am still investigating, but IMHO as long as I watch the plane with my finger
on the mode-switch and I am ready to take over, I can claim that I am R/C
flying.
See
http://www.rc-network.de/magazin/artikel_02/art_02-0001/art_02-0001-00.html#9
(German, again)
Furthermore, you should have a liability insurance. This is available for R/C
flying. And we are R/C flying, aren't we?
> How well to the IR sensors work near big hills and urban areas?
That's something I would like to know, too!
> Regards
> Tilman Baumann
Greetz!
Martin from Vienna, Austra