Thursday, September 7, 2017

Sabre, New Mounting for the Mobius

So far, in the 38 flights I've done with the Sabre, the one consistent issue is that every HD video recorded with the Mobius camera (same camera as on my rockets) shows significant "jello." This is also called rolling shutter effect, and is a result of how the camera records line by line (rolling shutter), combined with vibration in the plane. It appears to be a function of the throttle setting, so I'm assuming that the vibration is related to the motor and propeller.

All videos so far except for flight 38 had the camera taped to the nose, in front of the pan/tilt mechanism.

Mobius Camera Taped to Fuselage


I've tried a piece 1/4" thick foam under the camera without success. I've also tried re-balancing the propeller, shimming the propeller to fit the shaft better, and trying a replacement propeller, all without success.

Flight 38 had the camera taped to the wing. This also didn't help. After doing some reading, I found out that you're supposed to balance the propeller blades and the propeller hub. I never had balanced the hub before, so I ordered a better prop balancer (Dubro #499) and gave that a try (I haven't flown since).

At the same time as the prop re-balance, I also mounted the Mobius on the pan/tilt mechanism. I used the mount that the Mobius came with for a tripod, and used the 1/4-20 insert to mount a piece of 1/4-20 nylon bolt. That's slid into the paper tube that's glued to the camera mounting plate. The front end of the Mobius is secured with a Velcro strap around the FPV camera.

I'm hoping this will correct the jello by helping to isolate the camera from the airframe. At the same time, it will allow the HD video to follow the FPV pan/tilt while I'm "looking around" while flying.



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