Flying..again!

I hinted that there would be more info to follow, well here it is.

I took the MaxiSwift out to fly again, and did a couple of flights with it to test out the new ground station as well as the monitor on a stick...er...on a tripod.

The ground station was a pleasure to use, and the cleaned up wiring payed off in easier setup and teardown.  The monitor, on the other hand, didn't do so well.  It was one I had picked up some time ago, most likely at at hamfest.  I had used it a few times on the bench when I needed a monitor for whatever, and it did fine.  However, during the longer flights I was putting in, it failed.  The LCD went wonky, and was rendered useless.  Good thing I was wearing my goggles and using the monitor for passengers!  The upside is Eli liked having a monitor to watch while I flew.  Luckily,  I have a few more that work correctly for long periods.  I just need to modify them to use with my setup.

The last flight of the day started at dusk, and was a lot of fun.  I have video of it, and while the recorded video isn't great, I still enjoyed watching it.  The view in the goggles is allot better than what I captured, due in no small part to my budget recording setup..but hey, it works and it is cheap!  Anyway, the video is here:

I am looking forward tuning and tweaking the platform more until I get it right.  It flies pretty darn good now, but like anything else, it can always be improved.

In other news, I am assisting the guys over at http://deaconeye.blogspot.com/ with their sUAS vehicles.  I have known Marcus for a while now, and I was pretty blown away when he asked if I would be interested in helping out.  So far, we have flown a couple of times, tweaking the flight control system on Catfish.  I have also visited the lab, and will soon (tomorrow) have a hexa in my hands to set up for use with the program.  We have some exciting missions coming up and I am looking forward to participating in them.  It is an interesting application of the hobby for me, and I think I will learn more from the rest of the team than they will learn from me..but either way, it will be fun.  I will have a chance to contribute to research that could have huge benefits for folks around the world!

Planes, Multirotors, and friends

Allot has happened since the last update, but this will be a short entry..more to follow later.

Something struck me since my last entry...I hear how technology has made it harder for people to communicate face to face, what with texting, and email, and social media.  My experience has been the opposite.  Some of the best friends I have are a result of forums and electronic communication.  Just tonight, I had dinner with a buddy from Alabama, passing thru town on his way to see a mutual friend we have in Va.  Another friend from Michigan who has recently moved to NC joined us.  These are guys I met while discussing RC stuff on rcgroups.com, and subsequently have met in "real life."  I was thinking about that on my way home from dinner and I realized I have friends from all over the world that I have met because of my involvement in the RC hobby, and these are guys I get to see once every year or so at an event, yet I can really call them my friends.  I can pick up the phone and call them to ask for advice on a project, or just to see whats going on.  It occurred to me that maybe technology isn't the problem here, instead it might be how some choose to use technology...strangely enough, that can be applied to more than just electronic communication methods.

FPV adventures

I have been tweaking my FPV setup.  I currently am flying a MaxiSwift, using 1.2Ghz video gear, and 72Mhz for the RC side.  I am happy with the airframe, but my ground station needed some attention.  I have cleaned up the wiring quite a bit, made a 1s2p 1400Mah pack for the flight video recorder, and added a tripod mounted 5" display screen to be used in addition to the Trimersion goggle set I have.

Anyway, now that things in the ground station case aren't so cluttered, I wont have quite the rats' nest of wires to sort out when it is time to fly.  Since I also have a 5.8Ghz setup on a mini quadcopter, I needed to do something to clean it up..switching wiring between RX's was a pain when I wanted to fly the quad vs. the plane.

Hopefully I can test it out this weekend and get some pictures posted as well.  It isn't much to brag about but it works, and it didn't cost allot, so I am happy.

A new blog...

Maybe I will do better with keeping this one updated..only time will tell.  Follow along on my adventures in my many hobbies..