Happiness is...

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  • Wireless has made my CAT-5 cables thru the house useless. Cellphones are making telephone cables obsolete. SCSI cables? Why keep them? 75 ohm Video cables with the crimp connectors, 300 ohm TV antenna cable, same thing for all of that.

    I've got a couple of glass bell jars filled with banana jacks, stainless UHF converters from 75 ohm coax to 52 ohm coax connectors, etc. Maybe someone on ebay would buy the cables by the box load for a few bucks. Everything I used to do as a tech is old hat. As an engineer I learned circuit design. That's probably still happening. But, the clock rates on most PCBs are in the Ghz. The connecting lines between chips are in nanometers. It's certainly a new ballgame and you have to learn the software program to get the transistor array wired right.

    My son will be studying Materials Engineering at college next year. Maybe he'll find the magic ingredient missing in rechargeable, cheap, batteries. It's about nanotechnology, chemistry and biology - I'll be watching him struggle. Time changes it all in a matter of months.

    I still have a few thousand feet of #12 solid wire that would have made a rhombic ham antenna. I liked building all of that. I won't be doing it anymore because ham radio is also obsolete. Internet gets you connected with anyone via email or skype.

    I saw a 6 foot HDMI cable for $49 at Target.

    Have you noticed what an over the counter allergy drug like Claritin costs today?

    I think there are some greedy companies out there.

    Progress comes at a price to all of us - or is it the free market?
  • edited 12/18/2012 @ 6:02:06 PM
  • I remember TechGuy talking about flying RC things at his local park. I thought there might be some restrictions about flying u-control airplanes with gas motors. But, I don't think there are any u-control models anymore. There still might be some old guys with gas-propelled RC airplane models and they may be restricted about when one could fly them in a public park. Now-a-days the motors are electric and lithium-battery-powered. So, the noise just ain't there. There still might be some danger of a model hitting some kid playing in the grass or something.

    Cyclo, have you been told of any restrictions about flying the RC helicopter? It seems that most of the cheap helicopters are meant to be flown indoors. They don't have much of a remote distance with those IR control systems. So, I'd be surprised to see any restrictions about them. I know you have real radio control devices. So, you prolly have quite a remote distance available.

    Yeah! Those years keep rolling by. Happy New Year! We all seem to get older at the same rate. I don't remember ever being aware of time until I got to about 30 years old. Once I started realizing that time is actually adding up, I also noticed that it only goes one way. So, I'd like to add that question - about how to go back in time, or how to slow it down - alongside of how to create anti-gravity and warp drive. I'm waiting for the apple to fall on my head...
  • edited 01/05/2013 @ 1:39:24 PM
    Post edited 01/05/2013 @ 1:39:24 PM by cyclo
  • I'm jealous that you have this hobby. I've spent a lot of time watching others race their RC boats in the park lagoon and fly RC planes. I built a few U-control planes and flew them for a short while. I didn't really get the hang of it. I did have a few RC boats. They were easier to control and gave you some time to look around. The RC plane I had was powered by a Fox .35 and it was also way too fast for me. I guess my reflexes aren't as fast as I always thought they were.

    I suppose that a helicopter that will hover if there's no control signal sent would be something I could handle. I was looking for a way to hang wires between 80 foot pine trees for my ham radio hobby. I considered a helicopter. But, I found a tennis ball cannon (powered by compressed air) that would shoot the tennis ball (with attached fish line) over a 100 foot tree. So, I never got the helicopter.
    Now, ham radio has become unpopular. There haven't been any new people on the air since about 20 years ago. So, Internet is the way to go these days. No more need to string the big wire antennas or even the tower with the yagi. It just doesn't pay off that much for the amount of money for the transceiver, the antenna system, and all the extras - mike, antenna tuner, coax, ground system, etc.

    I need to find something creative to do. I don't want to play shuffleboard or bingo quite yet.
  • I do see them. I assumed it was the holiday cheer driving you to do something festive. They look like sprites from the days of the old 8-bit word and 8-bit address computers - like Commodore 64. I had a lot of fun writing lines of code, typing them into 1K of RAM and seeing what happens. I bought kits from PAIA to make music synthesizer modules that would run on the Commodore. I had it reading a keyboard and making weird sounds by sending signals to those Voltage-controlled signal generators, amplifiers, and filters. I really had fun making synth music.
  • edited 01/06/2013 @ 3:46:43 PM
    Post edited 01/06/2013 @ 3:46:43 PM by cyclo
  • I'm quite interested in doing something with helis. So I've checked out a lot of youtube videos and am now overwhelmed by all the products and terms. I'll check them out as fast as I can without needing an aspirin to cool myself out. As I see it, there are 3 channel ones that are pretty small and mainly indoor. Then, there are 4 channel ones that are either coaxial or fixed rotor - there are many types of these, and finally, there are 6 channel ones that get big and expensive very quickly. You seem to have a small one to start (Blade mcpx), then a bigger one in the 450 class - what's the brand of that?

    I'm willing to start with about $100-150 for the whole shebang. I saw an ad for a Walker HC180Z that was a fixed rotor blade with an electronic stabilizer board. I liked the brushless motor and the tail rotor driven by the main drive motor. It was within my price range. I also saw a 450 class which has a lot of stuff for about $229. I think this is more than I want to start with.

    Do you have anything suggestion for a starter? My son (Sabuk) just walked by and showed some interest. I've been looking for something to have in common with him. I'm teaching him to drive a stick shift car. It would be fun to drive to a park, drive around for a while and then park at the park and try out the RC helicopter. There might be too much for us all to learn. He still has this next semester to finish in High School along with finding a place to live near the college etc. But, now's the time - better than later.

    It's not that windy out here in the forest. But, there are lots of trees to hit - not that much cleared space. We had problems flying kites or finding enough space to set up a telescope.

    So, I'll just stop talking and do some listening.
  • I've done some more looking and I still have the question of which one to start with. The cheap helis seem to be indoor only. Maybe it would be fun to start there and just have it hover near the computer. The next step is really up to where I could run it. I could start on making a larger area free of trees with the chainsaw. If I cut down some trees up at the top of the hill, I could carry it all up there, run it for a while and carry it all back as exercise. It seems like I'd need a heli that could handle more wind in that situation. So, I guess I'd have to wait until I learned how to handle a 450-sized, variable pitch heli.

    I'm finding some resources. Did you buy the blade mcpx book? He'll send it free if I buy that heli. It's kinda small and probably wobbly with the flybarless system. I think it's like the Walker HC180Z. Is this apples and oranges? I'm still not sure what to do. I guess too much talking keeps me from starting. So, maybe I'll just get something and make my own mistakes...
  • I'm seeing how quickly the prices add up. I guess I'll start with an ARF Blade mQX. I think I'll play around with a slow, stable quad and the (crappy) included transmitter. I will also try and find a simulator that can give me some idea of CP heli flight. This already gets me into the $300 range without any CP flight.

    Apparently the DX6i transmitter has bad plastic trim controls which can be fixed with aftermarket aluminum brackets from ebay.

    Maybe I'll take the boys to our local airport this Sunday and see if there are any RC clubs or any local gurus that would be helpful.
    I still have to pay for both boys going to college next semester. It may not be the best time to get into this expensive hobby.

    I'll take it slow and try to find out what my real interest is. I don't want to fly imellmans or half piros quite yet. I'd be happy flying around all my local trees nice and slow.

    Thanks for the advice, cyclo. I'll let you know how I proceed.
  • It looks like a room to work in might be needed. I have a very curious cat who walks around on every table looking for food until he gets fed. I guess there isn't that much to glue anymore. I used to keep things pinned to large jigs while they dried. This was for hulls or wings out of balsa. It looks like building now is bolting things or snapping them together.

    But, still there are the Lipos that need to be stored at 3.7 volts per cell. So, I'll need an area for charging the batteries and monitoring their voltages.

    You have a large table with that 500 size heli picture. I don't have an extra room to do this work. I'll have to share the garage with the automotive stuff - and the cold.

    I got my antenna tennis ball cannon back from the physics teacher today.

    Sabuk drove home from school with his drivers' permit. He had to shift up to 5th gear and drive at 60 mph. He kept the car on the road. If we can keep up this practice for a while, he'll get used to being in the car and thinking about where to pull off the road if there's a tailgater, etc.

  • edited 01/09/2013 @ 5:09:01 PM
  • Regarding LiPOs, they seem to be getting a lot more popular, and they allow for much greater speeds. Are you at all scared about the fact that they're supposedly "riskier" than NiMHs though? Do you charge them in one of those fireproof bags that they make for them?
  • I'm guessing that the Nintendo type transmitter has a pile of surface mount chips along with some cheap trimmers that are difficult to cut and paste. It would be easy to parallel(or series) a resistor across a potentiometer if it was the old style of part containing solder-able connections. If there were wires connecting these control arms to the circuit board, it would be easy. So, I'll probably have to progress a lot slower than you did. My wife needs a $900 crown on her cracked molar. This will delay any fun buying for a month or two.

    Being old has the advantage of having time fly by like one is standing still. So, I'll progress in no time anyway.

    The model world does have new stuff every few weeks. It seems like it is quite the popular world. I'd bet that it provides a good profit. I've viewed the repair videos on youtube for the Blade quads. It really is made up of a tiny circuit board, four plastic arms to hold the motors, and a plastic housing for the battery/landing gear/frame. The transmitter looks like an afterthought. I'd like to start with something bigger in kit form. Maybe something made of aluminum able to lift a camera. I'll keep looking around. I know they do exist. I'm sure that it would cost more. But, it would keep me occupied while I wait to buy the radio equipment.

    I wonder if I could resurrect the 4 channel Futaba radio equipment I was using years ago. I'm not sure if it was 27 mhz or 72 mhz from the ancient times. I'll dig it up and see. I guess the servos of today would have to match the connectors of yesterday. Probably not worth the re-soldering hassle. Still, the radio did work. The batteries might have corroded the connectors if I didn't remove them. I hope I remembered that. I'm going out to see right now.
  • edited 01/10/2013 @ 6:51:57 PM
  • I agree that this radio is way outdated. It's a Futaba FP-T4L and an FP-R4F (on 72.910 mhz.) with 2 servos and a motor speed control in a plastic boat. It still works. I googled around and found that there are people trying to sell a working set like mine for $20 - with no luck. OK. I have to get with the times.
    So, I'll get the quad and a DX6i as soon as I find the money.
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