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 Post subject: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 11:54 pm 
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I now have a copter...

Length is seven inches height is four inches, rotor width is 6.5 inches. I don't know the actual scale. It is actually a cheap toy. Then again... it actually flies! Can I control it yet? Heck no but I DID manage to get it off the ground for a moment. ;)

This thing is a total trip. It is going to take a LOT of practice to actually control but is a total riot! With my employee discount the cost was ~$17.00 USD.

Here is the critter... not yet named. :mrgreen:
Image

Here is the controller. Not going to bother taking another shot but I must have jerked a bit as I took the photo. The double words on the thing are not really there.
Image

The thing DOES fly!! My first take off attempt caused me to turn off my ceiling fan... I figured it was not a fair fight. :mrgreen:

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:05 pm 
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:rofl2: Boys and their toys, I can see you having a lot of fun with that Jay enjoy. ;)

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:30 pm 
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Ya... I hear you! :mrgreen: "Boys' and their toys". :shock:

Just as an update I have actually managed to fly and land... sort of. ;) LOL! Usually it ends up under my couch or behind my TV. Still, there HAS been progress. :mrgreen:
I figured that I'd show the danged thing in the dark; it does have lights... Well, not really dark but best I could do at the time. :mrgreen:

Image

Also wanted to show it with the rotors going. Yes, I taped the danged thing down. :shock:

Even though my copter is really just an in door toy it made me thing about when I used to fly powered planes, just brought back memories. Of course the memories made me do a search. I am in awe! I doubt that you would want to put this in a model plane but I am TOTALLY impressed. 44cc displacement totally working V-8 engine.
[youtube]B9zt3SF_Flc[/youtube]

I am blown away with the size of this v-8 engine compared with the size of the hand. Also I am impressed by the response to the throttle.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:45 pm 
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LOL Amazing, Jay.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:49 am 
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These are fun and for around $500 you can get a powered plane, ok, a drone, that has a camera and can be controlled by your phone. I saw one of these last Christmas and let me tell you it was hard for the adult to give it up to the kid who got the present. Loads of fun!

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:01 pm 
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@ Patty: Is he LOL about the miniature V-8? Some of the stuff I was looking at is totally amazing! There is actually a working gas engine that will fit on your finger tip.

@ Manny: Only problem is that I don't carry a cell phone... :mrgreen: Happily there are many drones that have their own controller. :) I've thought about it...

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:06 pm 
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The LOL was for "boys and their toys." It amuses me, not in a bad way. I love my toys too, but they tend to practical ones. Well aside from my Zunes. Those are "soul food." :)

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:13 pm 
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Actually I really don't have a lot of toys... I should correct that! :mrgreen: Outside of this toy helicopter I have my camera and computers. Sad to say that the 'copter is probably going back. Turns out that it isn't really controllable. Something that is intended for indoor use NEEDS to be controllable. :shock:

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:54 am 
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You have had lots of toys over the years, Jay. And how many computers do you have? ;) We are gadget lovers, sometimes they are just cool computer parts - like your SSD drive. E-readers. Smartphones. Smart cars! Whatever. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 10:32 pm 
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@ Patty: Oh I have electronic 'toys'; camera, laptop, desktop, tablet, etc... I meant actual 'play things, toy toys. :mrgreen: Any toys I end up getting would likely still be electronic in nature but I mean something away from computer stuff.

@ Manny: I have looked at drones but not planes. If I ever got one it would probably be a 4-rotor copter. Here are a few at which I've looked. If I ever do get one it would not be until next year. Some of these things are sophisticated enough to use GPS to automatically 'return home' and land themselves.

Basic unit with 720p video.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... rack227-20
A little more pricey at $800.00 but does include 3 batteries and 14MP fisheye 1080p camera with three axis image stabilization. Not really in the running considering the price I want to pay but really nice.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... rack227-20
At $600.00 this is probably the highest price I would pay off the bat. Eventually I would probably end up paying the $800.00 or close like the previous. This unit does not have either a camera or gimbal. Both can be added. What it DOES have is GPS and auto pilot. Lose site of the thing and it will come back to you with a flip of a switch on the controller.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... rack227-20

I would love to have something like this but don't know if I'll ever justify actually getting one. It would be really nice to be able to do aerial photography but, with my luck, I'd be trailing an eagle and it would decide the drone looked tasty. :mrgreen: Sigh, on the other hand, I like doing photos of things in flight... obviously. To actually be able to fly with a bird and take photos along side of the thing instead of from below is VERY tempting.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 5:44 pm 
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OK... I now have a 'toy' toy. :mrgreen:
The copter is gone as it was impossible to control. I need a LOT of practice but the replacement is a LOT better as will be obvious from the pictures below. I was able to hover and take photos at the same time.

Comparatively it is a cheap drone at ~$90.00. I figure that if I'm still using the thing after a couple of months I will continue to do so and can start saving for a good one at ~$800.00

Size: Prop guard to prop guard diagonal == 16 inches.
Camera: 720p video and still.
Flight time not yet known.
From dead to full charge time not yet known.

Special features: If it loses contact with the controller it will automatically land and shut down. A few pre-programmed 'stunts' such as flipping and barrel rolls. Unfortunately the pre-programmed stunts require that the camera be removed. I assume that this is a stability issue. Automatic shut down if a prop is fouled. Automatic 360 degree rotation when hovering for 360 degree panoramic video. Front, Back, Left, Right and rotation trim controls.

One thing that I would like to know is why it would specify NOT to use rechargeable batteries in the controller. I don't understand why it would matter.

Top view.
Image

Sort of looks like a weird bug. ;)
Image.

Starting to lift. The red and green lines are actually 'squiggles' from the LED lights. Hey, still not to bad as I have my camera in one hand and the controller in the other. ;)
Image

Houston, we have lift off! :mrgreen:
Image

This is the smaller of my two portable car jumper boxes. It has a USB output to charge devices. Since the drone is charged via USB I can take the drone and jumper box to a park and fly all day.
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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 7:48 pm 
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Figured that I should see what the camera will do...

Still shot from the drone. For a cheap drone I consider this to be not too bad as the area is not well lit.
Image

A single frame from a taken video. Again the area is not well lit. When the video actually plays the quality looks better.
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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 9:10 pm 
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I got brave and took the danged thing outside and promptly lost it by hitting the wrong directional control, it disappeared over the apartment building. It went out of range and landed on top of the apartments but I walked around the building and it connected again.

With outside lighting the photo and video quality is much better. Also, if you look at the size of the cars in the video, it can be seen that the thing achieves a decent altitude.

Here is an outside shot from higher than a three story building.
Image

Here is an outside video. When things actually get steady and smooth is when the thing lost contact with the controller and landed on the apartment building. LOL! At least I now know that that function works well. :mrgreen: For the price of the thing I'm actually rather impressed. On the majority of the following I was flying blind as I had already lost the thing...
[youtube]jBBuw8eoFXc[/youtube]

BTW charging the thing from the car jumper box has been proven and works well.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:49 am 
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Brilliant it looks like great fun, do you know how long a charge lasts ?

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:51 am 
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I haven't totally drained the battery but I'm guess around 15 minutes.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:00 am 
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Not too bad for something that has to do so much, I should think running the camera while flying would put a drain on the battery.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:05 am 
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Yes removing the camera would increase the flight time. The camera is meant to be removable and just clips on/off. It came with a 4GB micro SD card for the camera plus an adaptor to a full sized SD.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:09 am 
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It definitely sounds like the right toy for you Jay, enjoy. ;-)

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:42 pm 
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These things are a total trip! I've been looking at videos for the drone I am most interested in to see what it does. I've been looking at both consumer and company videos. What these things will do is totally off the wall! While I don't consider a 'toy' that costs ~$800.00 an actual toy we will call it a major geek toy.

Here is the one that holds my interest. Price is ~$600.00; ~$800.00 after adding a camera and camera gimble. Can add a camera without the gimble but the gimble adds a whole new level of stability. Normal flight time is ~15 minutes. 15 minutes does not seem like a long time but it is. The cheap drone I got is close to that flight time and it wore me out.

If I find that I am still flying in a couple of months I will seriously consider getting this unit.
https://store.3drobotics.com/products/iris
This thing totally blows my mind. It not only offers full control through the controller it can be pretty much total programmable. With an Android app I can basically use my finger to define a 'mission' flight path. it even allows a flight path to be defined to 'hold' a specific location as center. In other words the camera will always be pointed toward center.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 8:54 pm 
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Just two curiosity type questions if anyone has a thought.

1) The instructions for the 'toy' drone I bought specifically states to NOT use re-chargeable batteries in the controller. I don't understand why it would matter. Any thoughts?

2) Since none of you have this drone I don't really expect an answer on this aspect yet it seems strange to me. Keep in mind that this is a 'dumb' drone. It is not programmable nor does it give any telemetry feedback. It is strictly line of site and do it with the controller. Anyway, I wanted to see just how much flight time was available under full throttle so I tied it down and set for full power as to lift. It will not do it! Within ~10-15 seconds it will just shut down. The thing is still powered and I can tell it to lift again but the result will be the same and it will shut down again. I am sure that this is involved with some sort of safety feature but do not understand. Any thoughts?

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 4:26 pm 
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Perhaps it's the type of battery that makes the difference, alkaline or nickel, funny I was looking at a program this morning and they were talking about batteries and the best type to get.

As for your second question I'd go with your thoughts and it's a safety feature.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 8:15 pm 
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:mrgreen: OK... Another toy...

It seems that I will not be getting the expensive done described earlier in this thread. Since I'm sure most have totally forgotten the discussion I will give a quick refresh.

I bought a "cheap" drone for $90.00 to see if I was in to it enough to warrant paying $800.00 for what is basically a toy. I did not use the thing enough to warrant spending the money for a decent unit. With a decent unit being more stable and having MANY more features I would probably use it more but not enough to justify the cost. My test worked out and I still have a drone to play with now and then that does decent video.

Now to the NEW toy. A while back I picked up a very basic and pretty small radio control car. This I HAVE played with pretty often. Today I went out and got another not quite so small, it is a 1:10 scale vehicle. If you have ever built car models that is quite large, 1:18 or 1:24 being common. The thing flies and is pretty strong using a 12.8 volt lithium battery. Well enough introduction. This is it. The slipper is to give a size reference. Run time is ~20 minutes. Oh, you can see the shocks above the tires. It is a fully working independent suspension. It is a bit squirrely on thick grass but holds its own. A lot of the trim around the apartment is loose granite stone. Hit the throttle hard and it will throw stone up in the air behind itself. Like I said, it uses a 12.8 volt lithium battery. It has enough input power to put out quite a bit of torque.
Image

This is REALLY a bad video but it takes two hands to handle the controller. With practice I'm sure that I could get a better video but it shows a quick flash of the power the unit possesses. If it were not for the bars on the back it would flip itself over. What would be cool is if I could figure out a way to attach the camera from the drone to this vehicle.
[youtube]NDYsh0cCsQ0[/youtube]

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:41 pm 
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It's certainly got good acceleration. Better than the model car we had many years ago, but that didn't run on battery it had an engine running on fuel. We used to go to model car racing.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:39 pm 
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Just don't fly it over my house.

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 Post subject: Re: Yet another new toy
 Post Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:42 pm 
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LOL! It is sort of hard to fly a car. :mrgreen: I haven't even flown my drone in a while. I found that I prefer cars.

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