DarkButterflyRC

Meshcore Solar node

Based on the Heltech V3 ESP32 LoRa radio, it uses a 10,00 mAh protected lithium cell and a USB solar panel to charge it.

The antenna is 3dBi 868MHz with an N connector

The case is an outdoor junction box

3D printed vane controlled tricopter whoop

I finally got it flying after much tinkering

The specs are

Matrix 3in1 FC

DJI O4 lite

x3 betafpv 1102 motors

45mm props 2 CCW and 1 CW

Maiden flight done

Inverted Tail Tricopter

Based on the HGLRC Rekon Y6 5 inch frame

Specs.... Motors 3x 2204 SpeedyBee mini 4in1 ESC SpeedyBee mini F405 mini flight controller DJI 04 lite air unit 9g MG servo 5v UBEC to power the servo

Assembling the frame is relatively straightforward as there's not much to it once you have the arms attached to the mid section.

Attaching the motors, I had to design some custom adapters in orange PETG.

The YAW mech is a custom design for this frame, using a direct drive tilt mechanism attached to a metal gear 9g servo.

The O4 Air unit lite, uses custom camera mounts 3D printed in orange PETG.

Connect your SpeedyBee FC to betaflight, (I'm using a F405 mini)

Flash with the latest Firmware and make sure to include servo option

Reconnect and go to the motors tab, select the Tricopter frame layout

CLI stuff

Type Resource Show 

A list will show of assigned resources, I want to reassign the Camera Control B14 pin as my servo output

To do this, free the resource first, type  resource CAMERA_CONTROL none

Don’t forget to type save after making the change.

Double check with Resource Show  The list will show B14 as FREE

Assign servo 1 to B14, type resource servo 1 B14

Press enter, then type save

Verify with resource show 

Optional CLI settings if you’re having trouble with servo direction

Servo reverse in CLI

smix reverse 5 2 r save

The command was like this

smix reverse (servo number) (option number) (r or n)

Tricopters in 2024-25

Little bit late adding this to the blog, my bad.

Had a blast building this one, made from a scrap RD290 hexa frame, with custom 3D printed top plate.

Little tidbit to know about setting this up, in my case in betaflight.

Open the cli and type “resource.” After that, find the designated port name for which you wired the servo to. Type “resource servo 1 (insert port here example: B01)”. After that type save. Pins A08 for F405 mini

Servo 5 reverse in CLI

smix reverse 5 2 r save

The specs are:

Speedybee F405 mini

AKK VTx analog

1806 motors with littlebee ESCs

New brain for my large 3D printed wing

Morseduino keyboard based CW keyer

Based on an Arduino nano and CardKB mini keyboard. The parts you need to build it are

Arduino nano

CardKB mini keyboard

BC547 NPN transistor

1K resistor

5v reed relay

Socket for the reed relay

Stereo jack for the output

Two on-off-on switches, for speed and power

3D printer to make the enclosure

link to enclosure below

Wire up the speed switch with the centre pin to D13 of the Arduino, this is the reference pin. Connect the either side of the speed switch to D2 and D3 respectively

Wiring up the relay

The diode is not needed with a reed relay IC

The Arduino code

You will need this for the hardware to work, copy and paste it into Arduino IDE. Please respect my work and leave the top comment in.

/*

(c) 12/10/2024 Morseduino by Robert Rayner, M0YNW

This software has no warranty and you use it at your own risk.

*/

#include <Wire.h>

// Define pins for relay and LED

const int relayPin = 7; // relay output

const int ledPin = LED_BUILTIN; // built in LED (specify pin number if using an external LED)

const int speedSwitchA = 2;  // Pin connected to one side of the switch

const int speedSwitchB = 3;  // Pin connected to the other side of the switch

const int fastWPM = 20; // Fast speed (20 WPM)

const int slowWPM = 12; // Slow speed (12 WPM)

int wpm = fastWPM;  // Default WPM is set to fast

// Morse code timing variables

int dotDuration, dashDuration, elementSpace, letterSpace, wordSpace;

// Morse code representation for characters (A-Z, 0-9, /, =, . ?)

const char* morseCodeMap[43] = {

    ".-", "-...", "-.-.", "-..", ".", "..-.", "--.", "....", "..", ".---",  // A-J

    "-.-", ".-..", "--", "-.", "---", ".--.", "--.-", ".-.", "...", "-",   // K-T

    "..-", "...-", ".--", "-..-", "-.--", "--..",                           // U-Z

    "-----", ".----", "..---", "...--", "....-", ".....", "-....",          // 0-5

    "--...", "---..", "----.",                                              // 6-9

    "-..-.", "..--..", "-...-", ".-.-.-"                                     //Special characters: / . ? =

};

// CardKB I2C address

#define CARDKB_ADDR 0x5F

// Function to map character to Morse code

const char* getMorseCode(char c) {

    if (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') {

        return morseCodeMap[c - 'A'];

    } else if (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {

        return morseCodeMap[26 + (c - '0')];

    } else if (c == '/') {

        return morseCodeMap[36]; // Morse for /

    } else if (c == '?') {

        return morseCodeMap[37]; // Morse for ,

    } else if (c == '=') {

        return morseCodeMap[38]; // Morse for =

    } else if (c == '.') {

        return morseCodeMap[39]; // Morse for .

    } else {

        return ""; // Return empty for unsupported characters

    }

}

// Function to read the slide switch and set WPM

void readSpeedSwitch() {

    // Read both switch states with internal pull-up resistors enabled

    int switchAState = digitalRead(speedSwitchA);

    int switchBState = digitalRead(speedSwitchB);

    // Update WPM if one switch is high and the other is low

    if (switchAState == LOW && switchBState == HIGH) {

        wpm = fastWPM;  // Set WPM to fast speed (20 WPM)

    } else if (switchAState == HIGH && switchBState == LOW) {

        wpm = slowWPM;  // Set WPM to slow speed (12 WPM)

    }

    // Update timing variables based on the current WPM

    updateWpmTiming();

}

// Function to transmit Morse code

void transmitMorse(const char* morse) {

    while (*morse) {

        if (*morse == '.') {

            digitalWrite(relayPin, HIGH);

            digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // Turn on LED

            delay(dotDuration);

            digitalWrite(relayPin, LOW);

            digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // Turn off LED

            delay(elementSpace);

        } else if (*morse == '-') {

            digitalWrite(relayPin, HIGH);

            digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // Turn on LED

            delay(dashDuration);

            digitalWrite(relayPin, LOW);

            digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // Turn off LED

            delay(elementSpace);

        }

        morse++;

    }

    delay(letterSpace); // Space between letters

}

// Function to read a key from CardKB

char readCardKB() {

    char key = '\0';  // Initialize with null character

    Wire.requestFrom(CARDKB_ADDR, 1);  // Request one byte from the CardKB

    if (Wire.available()) {

        key = Wire.read();  // Read the byte from the CardKB

    }

    return key;  // Return the key (or null if nothing was read)

}

// Update WPM and timing variables based on new WPM

void updateWpmTiming() {

    dotDuration = 1200 / wpm;

    dashDuration = dotDuration * 3;

    elementSpace = dotDuration;

    letterSpace = dotDuration * 3;

    wordSpace = dotDuration * 7;

}

void setup() {

    Serial.begin(9600);

    pinMode(relayPin, OUTPUT);

    pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // Set the LED pin as OUTPUT

    Wire.begin();  // Initialize I2C communication with the CardKB

    // Enable internal pull-up resistors for the switch pins

    pinMode(speedSwitchA, INPUT_PULLUP);

    pinMode(speedSwitchB, INPUT_PULLUP);

    digitalWrite(13, HIGH); //connect this to the centre pin of the speed switch

    updateWpmTiming();  // Set initial WPM and timing values

}

void loop() {

    // Read the current position of the slide switch

    readSpeedSwitch();

    // Read key from CardKB

    char c = readCardKB();

    if (c != '\0') {  // If a key was pressed

        Serial.print("Key pressed: ");

        Serial.println(c);

        const char* morse = getMorseCode(toupper(c)); // Convert to uppercase and get Morse code

        if (morse[0] != '\0') { // If valid Morse code

            transmitMorse(morse);

        } else if (c == ' ') { // Handle space between words

            delay(wordSpace);

        }

    }

KK2 tricopter complete, also crashed on maiden flight, broke the servo, the frame remained rock solid, my fault for using a plastic geared servo.

Rebuilding my KK2.0 based tricopter in 250 style frame fully 3D printed.

My new UMX Timber Turbo 😊

The most docile and fun thing to fly, it's really lightweight, with full flaps engaged it lifts off effortlessly, even hand launching is a breeze, no need to throw, just a push and it takes off.

If you're new to the hobby, I highly recommend this plane, very beginner friendly.

I recommend not flying in wind over 10mph due to its small size and weight

Horizon Hobby recommends a battery 3s 350mAh, I was flying a 3s 450mAh.

I do have an 850mAh 3s lipo but it's heavier than my 450mAh, so it could make it nose-heavy, meaning I'll have to move it back, the only issue with that is the FC with the servos are right behind the battery, so there isn't much room to move it back, the 450 battery seemed about right.

Update on the 3D printed plane.

A new wing build,

Designed Autodesk Fusion 360 on an M1 MacBook Air and printed using my CTC printer that's around 8 years old.

I'm using tough PLA.

It had its maiden flight today, flew nice and level until the glue holding one of the wings on let go, fortunately it was on the ground when it happened, so just reattached it with a little more glue then I'd used before, it's holding well.

Pizza box flying wing, made entirely from one pizza box and two toilet roll centres for the EDF motor.

I'm using a Frsky nano receiver going into a FC151 dualsky unit.

Two 9g servos.

This is the second of two wings I've built this weekend, the first failed the test fight, as I stupidly forgot the centre spar and the wing flattened out, caused loss of lift. 🤣