+Wind1000100 Sweet! I highly recommend it. I built 2 nodes first without the PCB just to do a poc. I already had all of the parts needed without buying anything. It went so well I had to buy the rest to build out all 8 nodes. Good luck with your build! You won't regret it!
Awesome vid man. Just built a 6 node for my club. Would love to see a tuning video. With explanations of what each paramater effects and how to overcome missed calibration and missed laps. ( Using livetime)
John E Fly I had a couple of pilots that weren't getting first passes. Had to lower calibration threshold to 60 to get it to drop below the calibration rssi. Which made it a bit sensitive. But at least to was consistent. Basically I had an rssi of 210ish and a resting 115. So my understanding is you pretty much add the calibration offset and calibration threshold together and the rssi has to fall below that to calibrate trigger.
That understanding is correct. Were you running 5" quads? Tiny Whoops? Indoors or Outdoors? Flying around concrete or metal? I've found that those outside factors play a big role in the configuration settings I need to use. The type of track being flown, how large it is, etc. can all have an impact. In general, like you were mentioning I like to have as large of a calibration threshold as I can which still consistently catches first passes which tends to result in the best trigger rssi. The balance is to make sure you don't miss any first passes. Flying Tiny Whoops in a small space surrounded by lots of concrete and metal was my most challenging tuning yet, but it just took me a few more tweaks and eventually it was 100% consistent. The values were VERY different than when I run my 5" quads outside though, that's for sure.
Wow, so ideal conditions. Those are some interesting numbers. Outside in perfect conditions I tend to be somewhere around 85, 15, 45. I guess that's not too different from where you are...
John E. Has anything changed your opinion of this device (or any mods to it) sinc eth epostin of this video 6 months ago? Have you heard of, seen, or used the PIFlight Lap Timer and/or have an opinion of that DIY for around $20? Thanks. Great vid
Nothing has really changed, I still absolutely love this thing. I've been using it as the main timing system at Detroit Drone events for 6 months now. It's been extremely reliable for me. It definitely takes some tuning to ensure there are no missed laps at each venue, but the reliability of it has been way better than we used to have with the TBS Event Tracker. I had a quad crash into it once which smashed it to pieces, but luckily all of the internals were okay, and it was good to go once I printed a new case for it.... I have heard of PIFlight but never used it. It's actually using the exact some components as the Delta5 for the most part (the Delta5 has a Raspberry pi as well). Once you start supporting 8 pilots it'll cost more than $20. If you add wireless support, it'll cost more than $20. With my Delta5 I can place it very far from me, and use wired ethernet to communicate. The software is super reliable, and most importantly for me it integrates seamlessly with Livetime. This was an awesome investment for just $150 in my opinion. Especially when the TBS system was $1000.
Thanks for the reply. Great to hear its working out for you still. I saw they used some of the same components. Think I'll start out with just the PIDFlight Lap Timer for personal practice (not flying with anyone else right now). That will give me a start and then I'll advance to the Delta5. Very much appreciate you bringing light to the Delta5. Looks great! You have progressed so far in such a short amount of time. Love to watch your enthusiasm and skills. keep going!
Looked at the documentation. Pretty simple. I'm trying to get something going at a club here and I just may build this setup over the winter. Build it and they will come - right? Thanks for the info. Excellent video.
Sweet man, yeah I think he built the exact same system. Let me know how it goes for you guys, or if you run into any issues and need a hand troubleshooting let me know if there is anything I can help with!
Awesome! because of your video im now waiting for the parts to arrive so I can start building one, also 8 channels! thanks so much! About the PoE... the injector puts 24 V i believe and then on the splitter side you get 12V right? but how much current? do you happen to know how much does it consume? im guessing about 2.5 amps but not sure... Thanks again!
I bought a LapRF for the same reason you did and have been looking at the Delta 5 project because it would not track more than 2 pilots reliably. You have made up my mind, I am going to build one too. Again, thank you for sharing, very cool. I was thinking of using a multi-channel DVR alongside for playback or showing feeds live, as that would be a great add-on. Have you connected video? "Pay it forward", always...
I have used video at the same time as my Delta 5, BUT, you cannot integrate video with the Delta 5. In order for the Delta5 to be reliable you either need to run it without antennas, or you need to wire custom patch antennas with attenuators to reduce the reception in order to get reliable tracking results. Therefore, if you were to look at the video feed from the receivers within the Delta5 they would be absolutely horrible. If the video feed was good, the RSSI would be too high to reliably tell when the quad is passing through the gate. So if you want to also include multi-channel DVR, you'll need separate video receivers running through a multi-channel DVR system. I've been playing with those for a bit. Unfortunately, I followed some bad advise at first and purchased a DVR which performs very poorly for FPV feeds. Luckily it was only a $32 mistake!
I don't really think LiveTime is more difficult, it's just different. Yet another thing to learn. Making a quad fly can range from super simple to very complicated. Personally, I think that anyone that has ever spent the time to troubleshoot a quad issue, and is passionate about using a timing system will have no problem picking up LiveTime. Especially when they have a really good video on how to setup LiveTime for FPV on their training page.
Great video, I'm looking at building one myself for using during practice. Looking at the github description it says u have to open up the rx5808 and remove a resistor? Did u have to do this in your build using that pcb?
No, I did not. It seems that all RX5808 receivers ordered through banggood have been shipped with the mod already applied for quite some time. I did open the first 3 receivers only to find they already had the resistor removed. After that I just used them without opening them and all was good. To be honest, taking the shield off and putting it back on is a bit of a PIA. I'm glad they are all shipping already done now.
Ah cool fingers crossed mine have already been removed as taking it off looks a head ache. The link for the pcb you have supplied does that come with minimum of 5 for 4 dollars?
+Bert FPV it was a minimum of 10 for $5 + shipping. You can probably order them elsewhere though. And you may be about to find people selling some since they don't need all 10.
I did not add any capacitors, and I've been using my build for about 3 months now. I use it a ton, and it's been working great. I would be curious to know why the capacitor was needed in the other builds. I also ran my build without the pcb in the past and didn't run into issues.
ok thanks, yea i have no idea, im thinking it's just one of the boards. DeepImpactFPV has a build video using a 6 node board and it has a place for them. I've got everything ordered, and printed a case. This will be great for our local chapter this year! We were talking about getting one together last year but never actually did it.
S K I imagine that you can put a video transmitter on the bike because that’s what it uses to track with. You wouldn’t need a camera just a $10 vtx with a antenna weighs a few grams and it would time your laps for the bike.
@@rbmwiv - Something like this? www.akktek.com/products/vtx/akk-race-vtx.html Feed it 5V, small antenna, use the button to set the channel/band? I play wheelchair basketball and it would be interesting to set something up for lap times, etc. for training. Thanks!
Too bad someone doesn't sell one of these pre-made. I'd love to buy one. I suppose I could try to build one, but I'd need a step by step video or manual to figure all of this out.
I'm probably going to work on a video showing everything step by step. I'll probably only build it with one node to start, but I also know some people interested in purchasing them, but not interested in building. Subscribe to the channel, and we'll see when I can finally put it out. There are quite a few steps involved, but it's well worth it IMO!
John E Fly The last of my widgets come in tomorrow 2/12/18. If your interested in doing a build video; you can use my components and I'll pay you for your efforts. I think were neighbors (I live in Northville), so coordination shouldn't be an issue. Please let me know. Also, in your video's you are flying around in an indoor soccer field. Are you renting the time or is open to the public?
I don't think this was ever the best timer out there. The LapRF 8-way event timer by ImmersionRC is clearly a better timer, but it also costs significantly more money. I think this is the best you can do for $150.
is it stil good in 2019 ?? and a how to build it ?
yeah, I also want to know if its possible for single quads for cheaper
Yep, I'm going to do this for my chapter as well. Going to put those engineering degrees to good use :) Thx man, keep these vids coming!
That looks great! I was going to build a personal timer based on a similar concept, but I might make one for 2-4 pilots.
Wind1000100 th D5 works for up to 8 pilots. You can build it to track 1 pilot if you really want to. It's all up to you.
+Wind1000100 Sweet! I highly recommend it. I built 2 nodes first without the PCB just to do a poc. I already had all of the parts needed without buying anything. It went so well I had to buy the rest to build out all 8 nodes. Good luck with your build! You won't regret it!
Awesome vid man. Just built a 6 node for my club. Would love to see a tuning video. With explanations of what each paramater effects and how to overcome missed calibration and missed laps. ( Using livetime)
+Adam Fursdon cool, I can start working on something. What environments are you running into issues with?
John E Fly I had a couple of pilots that weren't getting first passes. Had to lower calibration threshold to 60 to get it to drop below the calibration rssi. Which made it a bit sensitive. But at least to was consistent. Basically I had an rssi of 210ish and a resting 115. So my understanding is you pretty much add the calibration offset and calibration threshold together and the rssi has to fall below that to calibrate trigger.
That understanding is correct. Were you running 5" quads? Tiny Whoops? Indoors or Outdoors? Flying around concrete or metal? I've found that those outside factors play a big role in the configuration settings I need to use. The type of track being flown, how large it is, etc. can all have an impact. In general, like you were mentioning I like to have as large of a calibration threshold as I can which still consistently catches first passes which tends to result in the best trigger rssi. The balance is to make sure you don't miss any first passes. Flying Tiny Whoops in a small space surrounded by lots of concrete and metal was my most challenging tuning yet, but it just took me a few more tweaks and eventually it was 100% consistent. The values were VERY different than when I run my 5" quads outside though, that's for sure.
Outside , open field , 5inch ,25mw, mgp gates. Ended up with numbers 60,25, 40.
Wow, so ideal conditions. Those are some interesting numbers. Outside in perfect conditions I tend to be somewhere around 85, 15, 45. I guess that's not too different from where you are...
John E. Has anything changed your opinion of this device (or any mods to it) sinc eth epostin of this video 6 months ago? Have you heard of, seen, or used the PIFlight Lap Timer and/or have an opinion of that DIY for around $20? Thanks. Great vid
Nothing has really changed, I still absolutely love this thing. I've been using it as the main timing system at Detroit Drone events for 6 months now. It's been extremely reliable for me. It definitely takes some tuning to ensure there are no missed laps at each venue, but the reliability of it has been way better than we used to have with the TBS Event Tracker. I had a quad crash into it once which smashed it to pieces, but luckily all of the internals were okay, and it was good to go once I printed a new case for it....
I have heard of PIFlight but never used it. It's actually using the exact some components as the Delta5 for the most part (the Delta5 has a Raspberry pi as well). Once you start supporting 8 pilots it'll cost more than $20. If you add wireless support, it'll cost more than $20. With my Delta5 I can place it very far from me, and use wired ethernet to communicate. The software is super reliable, and most importantly for me it integrates seamlessly with Livetime. This was an awesome investment for just $150 in my opinion. Especially when the TBS system was $1000.
Thanks for the reply. Great to hear its working out for you still. I saw they used some of the same components. Think I'll start out with just the PIDFlight Lap Timer for personal practice (not flying with anyone else right now). That will give me a start and then I'll advance to the Delta5. Very much appreciate you bringing light to the Delta5. Looks great! You have progressed so far in such a short amount of time. Love to watch your enthusiasm and skills. keep going!
Hi, amazing project. Can we use it with RC cars?
Looked at the documentation. Pretty simple. I'm trying to get something going at a club here and I just may build this setup over the winter. Build it and they will come - right?
Thanks for the info. Excellent video.
Sweet system! I think one of our local guy just built one! Or at least similar, excited to try it
Sweet man, yeah I think he built the exact same system. Let me know how it goes for you guys, or if you run into any issues and need a hand troubleshooting let me know if there is anything I can help with!
hi do you by any change have or know someone that have a circuit diagram of the AMB transx transponders?
Awesome! because of your video im now waiting for the parts to arrive so I can start building one, also 8 channels! thanks so much!
About the PoE... the injector puts 24 V i believe and then on the splitter side you get 12V right? but how much current? do you happen to know how much does it consume? im guessing about 2.5 amps but not sure...
Thanks again!
I bought a LapRF for the same reason you did and have been looking at the Delta 5 project because it would not track more than 2 pilots reliably. You have made up my mind, I am going to build one too. Again, thank you for sharing, very cool.
I was thinking of using a multi-channel DVR alongside for playback or showing feeds live, as that would be a great add-on. Have you connected video?
"Pay it forward", always...
I have used video at the same time as my Delta 5, BUT, you cannot integrate video with the Delta 5. In order for the Delta5 to be reliable you either need to run it without antennas, or you need to wire custom patch antennas with attenuators to reduce the reception in order to get reliable tracking results. Therefore, if you were to look at the video feed from the receivers within the Delta5 they would be absolutely horrible. If the video feed was good, the RSSI would be too high to reliably tell when the quad is passing through the gate.
So if you want to also include multi-channel DVR, you'll need separate video receivers running through a multi-channel DVR system. I've been playing with those for a bit. Unfortunately, I followed some bad advise at first and purchased a DVR which performs very poorly for FPV feeds. Luckily it was only a $32 mistake!
Would you consider doing a video how you use Live Time with the Delta 5? Think a lot of people would appriciate it. Keep up the good work
Yeah I could probably do that. Especially given how much changed in the 3.0 release. Thanks for the suggestion!
What guide did you follow to build this exactly? Thanks!
There is a learning curve to figuring out BetaFlight, if you can make your craft fly how much harder would figuring out LiveTime be?
I don't really think LiveTime is more difficult, it's just different. Yet another thing to learn. Making a quad fly can range from super simple to very complicated. Personally, I think that anyone that has ever spent the time to troubleshoot a quad issue, and is passionate about using a timing system will have no problem picking up LiveTime. Especially when they have a really good video on how to setup LiveTime for FPV on their training page.
Great video, I'm looking at building one myself for using during practice. Looking at the github description it says u have to open up the rx5808 and remove a resistor? Did u have to do this in your build using that pcb?
No, I did not. It seems that all RX5808 receivers ordered through banggood have been shipped with the mod already applied for quite some time. I did open the first 3 receivers only to find they already had the resistor removed. After that I just used them without opening them and all was good. To be honest, taking the shield off and putting it back on is a bit of a PIA. I'm glad they are all shipping already done now.
Ah cool fingers crossed mine have already been removed as taking it off looks a head ache. The link for the pcb you have supplied does that come with minimum of 5 for 4 dollars?
+Bert FPV it was a minimum of 10 for $5 + shipping. You can probably order them elsewhere though. And you may be about to find people selling some since they don't need all 10.
Does this just track the video tx/rx signal(spike) or can this be used for mylaps type transponders??
This is amazing! Thank you!
Yes build vid please.
on some build lists i see .01uf capacitors, are they needed with the v2 pcb that you used?
I did not add any capacitors, and I've been using my build for about 3 months now. I use it a ton, and it's been working great. I would be curious to know why the capacitor was needed in the other builds. I also ran my build without the pcb in the past and didn't run into issues.
ok thanks, yea i have no idea, im thinking it's just one of the boards. DeepImpactFPV has a build video using a 6 node board and it has a place for them. I've got everything ordered, and printed a case. This will be great for our local chapter this year! We were talking about getting one together last year but never actually did it.
What’s the link to the case ?
Thanks for the reminder. I updated the description to include it too. Here you go: bit.ly/2lCXTTt
Cool👍 happy new year
Build video please
Does this only work for drones? I'm looking for time tracking for motorcycles.
S K I imagine that you can put a video transmitter on the bike because that’s what it uses to track with. You wouldn’t need a camera just a $10 vtx with a antenna weighs a few grams and it would time your laps for the bike.
@@rbmwiv - Something like this?
www.akktek.com/products/vtx/akk-race-vtx.html
Feed it 5V, small antenna, use the button to set the channel/band?
I play wheelchair basketball and it would be interesting to set something up for lap times, etc. for training.
Thanks!
where is everyone getting their Boscam RX5808
Too bad someone doesn't sell one of these pre-made. I'd love to buy one.
I suppose I could try to build one, but I'd need a step by step video or manual to figure all of this out.
I'm probably going to work on a video showing everything step by step. I'll probably only build it with one node to start, but I also know some people interested in purchasing them, but not interested in building. Subscribe to the channel, and we'll see when I can finally put it out. There are quite a few steps involved, but it's well worth it IMO!
That would be awesome. I'd send you some cases of beer if I could :)
John E Fly The last of my widgets come in tomorrow 2/12/18. If your interested in doing a build video; you can use my components and I'll pay you for your efforts. I think were neighbors (I live in Northville), so coordination shouldn't be an issue. Please let me know.
Also, in your video's you are flying around in an indoor soccer field. Are you renting the time or is open to the public?
Dan I would be interested. Can you e-mail me at johneflyyt@gmail.com ?
Is it still the best race timer out there?
I don't think this was ever the best timer out there. The LapRF 8-way event timer by ImmersionRC is clearly a better timer, but it also costs significantly more money. I think this is the best you can do for $150.
thats sick john e fly
Can You sell this system to me? For car races
Thanks for sharing. "Easy race lap timer" isn't that good. This looks fantastic.
+Spencer Owen my pleasure! I love mine
Can you make a “how to” video please?
peace..V
Does this just track the video tx/rx signal(spike) or can this be used for mylaps type transponders??