Misc. Spirit GeoLink Problem

Heliman450

Well-Known Member
Hi again,

At long last I can report that I have achieved a successful test flight of my 550E with its GeoLink activated. It's been a long road that's too much to feature even if I'd made videos :bellyroll: Here's a summary:
  • Contact with Spirit Support finally resulted in advice that changed my focus on the solution (Thanks to them for responding to my prompt after 8 months of silence)
  • Their feedback was that the Geofence area was incorrectly programmed indicated by the swashplate tipping over to the right
  • I have given up on the idea that it's a viable solution to programme the unit without using the laptop with a direct cable connection to the SpiritPro gyro
  • Transporting all my kit to the helipad is a major exercise as it's about half a mile away from the club's car park, part of which is across a field (See photo)
  • The software asks for an internet connection so the first task was to establish this using my mobile phone's Hot Spot
  • For obvious safety reasons the motor was disconnected throughout the programming
  • Fortunately I didn't have any problems with the connection as in the beginning of my quest so thanks to Randy for his early input
  • With a stable connection the map tab in the software does actually show a map albeit from a very high altitude making it impossible to define a limited area
  • Zooming in is required to make this possible but our permitted flying area is very small for those piloting helis (Club rules define this)
  • I walked the heli to the defined boundaries and witnessed an expected swashplate reaction to return to the home point albeit very extreme tilting of the swashplate
  • I cleared all my kit from the helipad and took a short break in the shade to cool down and connected the motor ready for the test flight
  • Without activating the Geofence I carried out a short hovering test, landed and activated the Geofence and slowly flew to the forward boundary - The heli received a full tilt backwards to begin its journey to the Home Point. I had control of the altitude during this stage but moved the cyclic stick to disengage the Geofence before it reached home. I repeated this into two of the remaining boundaries leaving the rear until another day
  • Last task for now is to capture the process for future use as in my opinion the online manual isn't accurate enough for its intended purpose
Bye for now
 

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D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
I'm not fond of clubs but that's me. I do like your cart to make your life easier to get around the flying field.
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
Their feedback was that the Geofence area was incorrectly programmed indicated by the swashplate tipping over to the right

Hmm ... just throwing this out there without a clue if it ( the Geofencing setup ) is able to use GIS data or not...

GIS data is simply a method to define dots, lines and shapes onto a map basically ( if not technically correct ). When I was creating a radiused cutout from a street map for my radar software, I used a free program called QGis to define the radii for each radar site supported by the US radars. While mine were defined in miles ( up to 250 miles for the largest ), there is no reason you couldn't also do it in feet, meters or whatever sized measurement to create the radii for the locations you want to make for any various locations.

Of course this idea still depends on the Geofence software to support importing a GIS file that defines the area you want defined and then tested onsite to verify everything lines up properly.
 

Heliman450

Well-Known Member
Wow! Thanks for the feedback Randy but that sounds way over my head as things stand now. I posted a new query with Spirit and already had a reply.

Q1. Is there a minimum size for the Geofence area - Answer No, but 15mx15m should work (See attached for the current club location and my defined Geofence)
Q2. Is there a way to tune the unit's response when it reaches the boundary - Answer Yes, within the software as defined

I'm capturing the setting up information and the next phase of testing is to tune the unit to be more user-friendly. At the moment, it's response is too extreme for use by anyone other than a reasonably competent pilot. My objective is to see if it's a worthwhile assistant for less experienced pilots, too.

I don't have much choice other than to be a club member. I'm currently looking into another option as we're expecting to undergo a massive change to the club area to make way for expansion of a neighbour's glass-house business that will radically change the whole flying experience.

My transporter was originally a bicycle trailer stripped to the chassis and rebuilt using aluminium box-section profiles for the upper section. It seems to be working fine :arms:
 

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RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
RC clubs are going to vary just like peoples attitudes do. One may be snobby and the next over zealous. The one I was a member of was pretty accommodating to most flyers but their focus was clearly for airplanes with a smaller heli area not given much room at all. They have a large convention/concert hall on one side and if events were going on, it limited the area that the club flew in.

Still, due to the number of variety of people, finding a club that fits your own attitudes will always be a bit hit and miss no matter where you are. I enjoyed the group we had in the club at the time I was a member. We all supported each other if help was needed and it was always nice to visit with each other when we weren't flying.
 

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
due to the number of variety of people, finding a club that fits your own attitudes will always be a bit hit and miss no matter where you are.
The clubs I tried didn't like helis and attitudes were felt by me like you're not welcome here, and their poop didn't stink.
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
I can certainly understand a club having a specific focus ... space is always a premium and trying to support more than one type increases the cost a lot, basically it doubles it each time you add another type so each aircraft has the area they need to fly and have fun. At the club I was a member of, they started really long ago before heli's were even a thing, so naturally it was airplanes primarily. At the same time, several members also got heli's so a space was created for them but typically, the airplane pilots would just "give" the field over too a heli flyer when they wanted a turn at flying... Also we typically didn't fly many airplanes at the same time either unless all of the pilots were experienced.

As for the ones with attitudes, those will exist anywhere with any type of airfield. Some people just think their opinions matter more than other peoples and I see that happen all over the place, not just this hobby. I did see some of that with a few members, but it seemed the other members would step in if they saw it happening also.
 
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