Category: General

Maker Faire NYC 2014

Post author By Greg2B
Post date September 24, 2014

This past weekend I was able to attend the Make Faire on Saturday in Queens, NYC. I had heard of this from the NYC Drone User Group email newsletter and the build-In I went to but didn’t really think to much of it in terms of attending. Then I found out that Flitetest would be attending and that got me a bit more interested in attending but I was still on the fence most of the week before and didn’t get my ticket till the day before.

So on Saturday I made the trek out there from NJ to experience the Maker Faire which really was the greatest show and tell. There was so much going on it was kind of hard to focus on anyone thing specifically. I should have used my experience from going to NYCC to really plan out what I wanted to do ahead of time. I did have two main things do plus what I marked as some fav’s in the maker faire app, but when I got there I didn’t look at the app at all.

The top thing on my list to was to visit the FliteTest Tent and talk to those guys. It was really cool being able to talk to all of them after watching all of their videos on youtube. I had the chance to talk to all of them for a bit including their production/camera man and talk a bit about the production of the show too which was really cool. I took a few pictures of their tent and some of the planes and multi-rotors they brought with them. My favorite from the show that they brought was the toaster plane.

FliteTtest didn’t get to fly much that I saw at this event since for the most part it was not allowed but Peter did get a chance to fly his VTOL in the Game of Drone Cage for a bit with some other multi-rotors. Check out the footage I recorded. I also have some footage of two drone battles that I may add-on my YouTube channel.

The second thing that I had in mind for the trip was to see the DroneKraft presentation and their racing quad that they where showing off. The overall presentation was nice but a bit boring if you had some experience in quads at all before. They did do a nice bit on explaining what their goals where and what they do with “drones” vs the military. And I think the crowd liked the videos that they showed. They also took a nice risky flight of their quad in the small area they had to present. I took a video of it you can view below.

Other than those two main things I pretty much walked around without much purpose looking at all the cool things. I took a lot of interest in there 3D printers since I’m looking to get one. There was a lot to look it, it definitely would have been cool to go back for a second day if I could, I think next year I will. Here are some other pictures I took from the event. I also posted some gifs on my tumblr.

Tags airplanes, dronekraft, faire, flite, flitetest, maker, planes, test

General Multi-Rotors

Flying Summer Recap

Post author By Greg2B
Post date September 17, 2014

So it seems I have gone almost more than 2 months without me posting anything to my blog. Well most of my summer has been working and flying/building my multi-rotors. Here is a picture of all four of them as of right now.

I may go to a “Build-In” near me to repair it with other hobbyist and the like. From when I started drafting this post I went to the NYCDUG Build-In. I didn’t work on fixing my quads at all but I did get to meet a bunch of cool people who are in to multi-rotors/drones and the like. Some of their rigs where pretty cool like the two big hexacopters.

I also got to control the rig for the camera on one of the guy’s hexacopter.

It was really cool being the operator of camera that is just flying the sky. I have some footage of me controlling the camera but it’s mainly just me repeating how cool it is so the pics above will have to suffice. If you look on the MeetUp page you can see the photos that I took at the build-in. I also did a quick edit of all the footage I took at the event to hopefully get across how fun it was.

Back to my quads, the one that I’m the most proud of building so far is my Tricopter since that required a bit work with the servo then all of my other quads. The build log is on the flite test forums.

It still needs a few upgrades like some better motors and ESC’s also a better tail servo wouldn’t hurt either but it flies pretty well.

It also seems to attract a bit more attention as I was flying in a park near me and two young kids and mom came up to me and asked about what I was flying. After flying it around the kids in the air, above their heads, I was able to land it and show them my tricopter and my other quads to them.

It was pretty cool being able to show them and see how interested they where in them. It might have gone over their heads a bit but who knows, like their mom said they may become the scientists or engineers who build/design them in the future.

The other quad that I built this summer is the BLACKOUT quad that finally came in from Australia. This build was the most intensive one I’ve had to do yet just because everything has to fit into the tiny frame. There is almost no extra space for anything non-essential in there and I couldn’t use bullet connectors with the ESC’s so everything is solder directly. You can check out my build log on the flite test forums. Here are a two in progress build gif’s I made.

That’s most of my summer minus work and few other personal projects. One of which I will be doing a small post on soon. I have done a few more flight videos since I last posted about my MHQ quad that can all be found on my youtube channel.

Tags blackout, blueskyrc, mhq, micro h quad, multi-rotors, nyc, quadcopter, tricopter

General Multi-Rotors

Hovership Micro H-Quad Review

Post author By Greg2B
Post date June 8, 2014

So a while ago I came across this cool looking 3D printed quad frame from hovership. When I was looking to do another quad build and after the success of my other 3D printed frame I decided to order it and start my next quad build. I have had it build and have flown it for over or close to a month now and decided to review it for the hovership site. Below is my review of the quad frame so far but before that a few videos of my FPV flights.

These are my two most recent videos. I have a long way to go until I fly at the level as many other flyers on YouTube, but my skill seem to be improving. I have a few more videos on my page as well as some flights from my other quad. My thoughts on the quad are as follows.

3D Printed Foldable Awesomeness

The MHQ was my second build of a multi-rotor and my second purchase of a 3D printed frame. The quality of the 3D parts are great and with the included accessories it all comes together nicely and feels very sturdy. It has been a great flier for me since I built it a few weeks ago, I do however have two issues with it.

The first is the legs that are included with the kit are not that strong unless you have perfect landings all the time. As another reviewer has noted they are a bit weak and broke for me on my second set of flights. Since then I have broken all the legs off with the middle section still screwed on. Also the antenna mounting plate broke as well so I just zip tie the antenna to the camera deck now.

My second issue is the vibration dampeners while awesome and a great way to separate parts of the quad, where impossible for me to pull through the flight controller deck. It could be my 12amp T-motor ESC’s are just to thick but I could not push them through. I could get one or two on the edges maybe but the rest where not going through. In the end I just zipped tied the two together with the dampeners in between to keep it all together and it flies well.

After a few weeks of flying it has survived all the crashes I have put it through. The best thing for me so far has been the fordable arms. I have on many occasions clipped branches and fences and gone down only to find a dirty quad with an arm or two pushed in. They also make it handy for traveling. The only part that has seen any real damage is a small chip on the front arm plate from me going head first into a fence. (I was trying to pull up.)

Overall I have to say I’m very happy with my quad so far, it’s size and fold-ability has been a real plus for me. The guides help a new builder like me to put it together with no issues at all minus having to use some extra screw to mount the motors. I made a short build log on the flite test forums with videos and some of my fpv flights (new flier alert!) on my YouTube channel G2BPro. I would recommend this frame for any one looking to get good durable frame at a reasonable price.

My Build:

MHQ Frame
12amp T-motor ESC’s
RCX 1804 Motors
Acro naze 32
JST to XT60 distribution cord
micro spektrum compatible dsm2 receiver
altitude rc transmitter
5.8 GHz SpiroNET Omni Antenna
RMRC-MINI-V2

Tags flying, fpv, h-quad, hovership, mhq, multi-rotors, quadcopter

General Inspiration

Quad Blog and First Quad Build

Post author By Greg2B
Post date March 25, 2014

So it seems I have neglected this space for almost another 2 months but I have made posts just now here… So as I mentioned in my last post I have recently been focusing all of my extra time on Quadcopters, Multi-Rotors, Drones, what ever name you like or hate to call them.

If you would like to follow my flying journey you can check out my blog on the flitetest. I’ve posted videos of my flights as well as recording the build of my first quad. Here’s the video of my first test flight.

It’s pretty cool being able to build something and have it actually work out and fly in the end. I’m planning on doing a larger post to recap my Multi-Rotor experiences so far that I will be posting here first so stay tuned for that.

Tags flying, multi-rotors, quadcopter, video

General Inspiration

A New Year & Quadcopter’s

Post author By Greg2B
Post date January 30, 2014

So the new year begins and I’m scrambling to make a my first post of the year. The reason for this is partly do to work, which is a good thing, and second because of my new-found interest quadcopters or multi-rotors in general. Their fun, easyish to fly, and have endless possibilities for uses. So far I have 4 micro sized ones (one had to be replaced pulling an Icarus move in the sky) and a DX6i Radio to control two of them. My main use in for them, other than to have fun flying them, is for very amateur aerial video.

The video above is one of my better videos so far using a key chain camera (720p) on top of my Red Eye One quad in light snow and some “mild” wind, hence the video being at a constant angle. I really shouldn’t be taking it out in hazardous weather but their so fun to fly out doors. Once I can get some steady video footage I’m going to have to figure out how I can integrate some cool motion graphics

The next thing I would like to do is build a quad, probably using a kit so I can be sure every thing will work right, and do some First Person View flying. I probably need some more stick(flying) time before I do any real FPV but it looks likes a lot of fun and there is any easy, but expensive setup for the Red eye one, so I’ll have to see. I also would like to make the next quad I get a bit bigger in size so well see. If I get to the custom building stage I have some cool ideas for ones I could build using a 3D printer to make the frame and other parts.

Some place I’ve been following are

Flyin’ Ryan RC – Who does great reviews on on planes and quads.

FliteTest – Who not only does reviews of planes, quad, heli’s but is also a full site dedicated to the R/C Hobby and getting people involved in the hobby.

rcgroups.com – a great site for all things R/C related.

So now I’m off to do some more flying.

Tags design, editing, quadcopter

Animation News General

Avatar Online Podcast Episode 67

Post author By Greg2B
Post date September 22, 2013
No Comments on Avatar Online Podcast Episode 67

This weekend I was a new guest host on an Avatar The Last Air Bender Podcast. You can hear and other avatar fans talk about a great episode of Avatar. Also check out a bunch of other great podcasts too.

http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/avatar-online-podcast-episode-67/

Tags avatar, avatar the last airbender, avatar the last airbender online, korra, nick

Photos

New Orleans Super Bowl 2013

Post author By Greg2B
Post date February 12, 2013
No Comments on New Orleans Super Bowl 2013

This year I had the chance to go to New Orleans for the Super Bowl for work. Although I spent most of my time working I was able to take a few picture while I was there. I had a pretty good experience overall and definitely would travel there again given the chance for work or for fun.

Tags football, new Orleans, nola, super bowl, travel, work

General

New Theme

As you might have noticed I have changed the theme. This was some what prompted by the recent WordPress update that made so I couldn’t use various posting features. It seems that in my case my theme was stopping me from adding media or switching to text view. There seems like many people have issues with their site so hopefully there will be a big fix from WordPress, but for now I’m happy with my new theme.

Tags updates, website

General

Webcomics

One of the people I follow on deviantArt neoyi posted a Journal about Webcomic recommendations (round 2). After going through the suggestions I found a few that I though would be interesting. Now being able to read these online is great but I wanted to take them with me on my commute to work which gives me ample time to read them. Part of my trip is above ground but most is on a train underground where there is no 4G or wifi so I needed a way to download them all and read them when ever I wanted.

I remembered a program I tried a while ago called Woofy that lets you download all of the webcomic strips from a site. You need to use definitions to get the comics and a few are included with the program but most are on the site. The two main comics I wanted though where not on the site list, ShortPacked & Dumbing of Age, so I had to create the definition that runs through the pages and downloads the images. You can get them on the Woofy wiki. If you have any idea about programming or html you should be able to understand how to make one for your fav. webcomic if it is not there already. The forums are a big help and these thread(1), thread(2) helped me a lot.

After all that I figured out that I would need a way to read these easily on my tablet/phone easily. I first thought about using an image gallery viewer but that wouldn’t remember the last place I read if I switched comics or closed the program. So I though I should group the files and make CBZ/CBR file to read in comic rack or another android comic reader. Apparently this is really easy to do you just zip/rar it and rename the extension to .cbs/.cbr.

Here a some of the definitions I created and other webcomic I’m now following. I have a few others I’ve download but I’m not sure yet if I will be reading them.

New Webcomics (links to definitions)

ShortPacked