Friday, November 20, 2015

SuperNova Maiden Flight - Successful

Winds at 5mph at small Rec-Center field. Cloudy. Was getting 12 sats and dhop =< 1.2 ... wondering if this model has a slightly different GPS module (or is it the new mounting procedure)? Anyway, that's some really nice GPS stats for a cloudy day.

Maiden flight went great. Went ahead and ran through 2 batteries on this flight-session. Tested Stabilize, Alt-Hold, Loiter, Land and RTL. Loiter was steady. It even landed itself twice (Land and then RTL) without tipping over (motors shut-down when they were suppose to) ... so this altimeter (barometer) seems better than the one in first Nova.

SuperNova is very stock (see previous post). With PowerModule and 915mhz Telemetry radio installed (no other payload) THR_MID at 530 is just about right. No Auto-Trim seemed necessary.

Was getting some 3DR-915mhz-Radio RSSI warnings from Tower while not LOS (still on ground and my car was in the way). Not unexpected, but will continue the monitor it. Didn't have any problems with it during normal flight (but I wasn't flying a long/far mission).
This Super-Nova: 3DR v1 radio-set with no coax-extension - stock supplied 2.4ghz antennas
First Nova: v2 set-set with 6-inch (15cm) SMA coax-extension cable - stock supplied 2.4ghz antennas.

Tower/DP3 had no map data for this field. Not sure if it was because I haven't flown here in a while or because I forgot to preview the field at home (on WiFi) before leaving (to cache it). Used my iPhone's HotSpot feature/ability for a minute or so to retrieve it ... worked fine. Good to test this for the first time and I'm glad it works (no reason to fly without a map and real-time gps).

I pulled the (fairly detailed) logs so that feature is working fine (flash memory in FC is good). Still need to calibrate the PowerModule. Soon, I hope to install gimbal and a camera (might finally get to fly Xiaomi-Yi?)

Had a family emergency that took me away from all flying for over 2 months. Felt a little weird being on the sticks again. A little extra pressure with it being a maiden flight, but good to be back flying again.