Thomas in Niagara
Member
Tips 'n' Thoughts
Hello Hello! I'm new to the hobby and am so excited about it! My other hobby is metal detecting which led way back when to me posting things like this on those forums. So if this looks glitzy... shucks. This is intended for the noobs like me who are just getting into the realm of quads or are thinking about it. [NOTE: These tips and methods are for PC use. I don't nor have I ever used a MAC. Sorry. I'm no smarty pants but here goes:
Here's my Syma X5C-1 workflow
And Finally....DON'TS
Hello Hello! I'm new to the hobby and am so excited about it! My other hobby is metal detecting which led way back when to me posting things like this on those forums. So if this looks glitzy... shucks. This is intended for the noobs like me who are just getting into the realm of quads or are thinking about it. [NOTE: These tips and methods are for PC use. I don't nor have I ever used a MAC. Sorry. I'm no smarty pants but here goes:
- This IS just a hobby for now. Let it be fun.
- Don't allow your first flights to be close to [or have within sight] trees. Especially tall ones.
- Don't fly on breezy days. At least don't soar off into the yonder. There are more breezier things going on up there than the ones ruffling your eyebrows down here. You will lose your quad. It will just drift off like a bird and suddenly drop into the topper of a tree when it severs ties with the controller which was gripped like the neck of my worst enemy, in my hands.
- Order the spare parts kit the same time you order the quad copter. You'll need parts sooner than you think.
- Keeps the quad facing fore and aft to your stance. Makes forward and backward ahead and back to the operator. Left and right turns make more sense.
- Practice hovering over a single spot without going all wiggy. The Syma X5C-1 will not hover stationary for more than a few seconds without input from the operator.</li>
- Don't practise indoors amongst table and chair legs or sharp corners like doorways or cabinets. So…just pick a spot and keep control of it. Own it. Also see step 4.
- If on acceleration the quad flips over. Suspect a bad motor if a blade is not turning. Usually one won't turn while the rest power up correctly.
- If all blades turn but it won't lift off, then you've got a blade or blades on wrong.
- There are times when the quad is flipping over like one of the motors may be burned out. Hold the quad by the landing gear and power up the quad motors. Twisting your hand around to work the gyros sometimes brings the errant thing back to life. Beats changing out a motor. . Use caution.
- Replacing a motor is easy. There are plenty of YouTube videos outlining all repair procedures. Don't let all the screws scare you. They come out easily and the screwdriver that came with the X5C-1 fits snug in the heads. It is tedious and there is some soldering to remove and replace the 2 motor wires.
- There are 5 screws in each leg with 2 above the on/off switch. 22 all up with 4 different screws for the props. Don't mix them up. The big prop screw is usually the last one I take back out after 20 other screws weren't it. Yes 20. I don't know where the 22nd screw went.
- The plastic props will crack. They won't always look it as they are hairline cracks that run not quite the length of the plastic blade. The quad will not lift off or will fly to one side or another. The blade tends to flare along the crack when the quad is powered up.
- Buy the large parts kit. I've had to change motor housings, blades and motors so far. I know, repetitive but trust me you'll be glad you did.
- Use the navigation lights. Knowing fore [yellow] and aft [green] is essential if it starts to get away from the operator. Even then they may be hard to see as it flies off and you crank the toggle in circles trying to make it come back.
- Try to master away and backs when out for a battery or three.
- Using Mode 1, yawing left or right is hard without some wild rise or drop of the quads altitude. Camera shake is introduced this way too. Practise this indoors.
- Leave the bumpers on until you kind of get the idea or order the large spare parts kit that comes with 16 blades.
- Read the small print. Blade balancers won't balance some quad blades. Check first before ordering. The carbon fibre balancer does NOT work on Syma X5C-1 blades. You can, after spending more than you should on it, adapt it but.. well…. RTFM.
- Screws stick to motors. If you get 17 screws in and have six holes left see if you can see one stuck to one of the motor bodies inextricable inside the motor housing. Yes that CAN happen. Don't leave it in there to munkee up the plastic gears.
- Charge your batteries while your PC is on and monitored. Have them ready to go when the wind dies down either at dawn or dusk.
- You can get a stuck quad out of a tree. It takes two patient and unrelenting people. Using cords long enough to go over the bow it's on and down the far side for someone to grab and pull. A sawing motion will dislodge it. I tried a slingshot with a fishing weight to go over the tree limb. Not as good as throwing.
- Don't practise around dogs, cats, little kids, body builders or pet sponges. To quote the Russian Hacker, 'Saftey his or fest priortee.'
- Colour code them if you have multiple batteries. I have an Excel sheet printed out with boxes to check off the state of the battery. 'Charged, Charging and Discharged'. I was always forgetting which battery is charged when out in the field. I have three now and may add more depending on my ability to fly this thing.
- I also have a flight log. I keep track of all my 'minutes' in the air. Logging these may seem dopey but if I show up for a job with a flight log over some young whip without… well.
Here's my Syma X5C-1 workflow
- Pre-flight check [aprox. 4 minutes] with blade check after each battery if required:
- Blades - no cracks, sharp edges or burrs; rotate freely with no binding;
- Chassis - no cracks, battery door secure;
- Motors - fire up ok, no binding, gears clear and free of dirt and lint;
- Motor housing and gears - gears rotate freely, no stickyness, cracks or binding;
- Bumpers - no cracks, enough clearance, no distortion;
- Batteries - charged, no swelling, plug installed; and
- Controller - fully charged batteries, no issues with sticks.
- Flights.
- Post Flights:
- Flight Log;
- Crash Reports (uh huh); and
- Repairs.
- Remove memory card from camera:
- Insert the card into provided USB plug as shown and plug this into the PC;
5. Wait for prompt:
- Open in Windows Explorer;
- Navigate to the applicable drive;
- Open folder containing Photos or Video;
- Transfer files to a folder on your desktop [easiest way to find them].
- When you have downloaded what you need, Select the applicable drive as shown and format the card. These next steps ensure the continued working of the X5C-1s camera. USE CAUTION: format the correct drive. DO NOT FORMAT C:\;
- After formatting the card, eject the card from the supplied USB plug as shown. Problems arise with the card if these steps aren't followed for some people;
- IMPORTANT! Remove the card from the USB adaptor and reinstall in camera. Avoid problems by using this method. Remove the card from the adaptor. Don't just pull the adaptor out with the card inside. This causes problems and will likely cause the camera to not work at all. This method has worked flawlessly for me so far.
And Finally....DON'TS
- Don't allow your first flights to be close to [or have within sight] trees. Especially tall ones.
- Don't practise indoors amongst table and chair legs or sharp corners like doorways or cabinets. So…just pick a spot and keep control of it. Own it.
- Don't let all the screws scare you. They come out easily and the screwdriver that came with the X5C-1 fit snug in the heads. It is tedious.
- Don't mix up prop and chassis screws. The big prop screw is usually the last one I take back out after 20 other screws weren't it. Yes 20. I don't know where the 22nd screw went.
- Don't fly on breezy days. At least don't soar off into the yonder. There are more breezier things going on up there than the ones ruffling your eyebrows down here. You will lose your quad. It will just drift off like a freaking bird and suddenly drop into the topper of a tree when it severs ties with the controller gripped like the neck of my worst enemy, in my hands.
- Don't just pull the USB adaptor out of the USB slot in the PC with the card inside. This causes problems and will likely cause the camera to not work at all. This has worked flawlessly for me so far.
Balancing the blades seems to be a big step in hover stability also. I'll try and become a regular poster here as I have a lot of questions (stooped ones too) and posting some of the stupider things I do might be amusing or educational to some. Cheers HD!
