0 Techie Tuesday

Hello Again.

We are continuing this week with the quadcopter build. Today is payday (woohoo!) so I pulled the trigger and purchased all the main components (minus misc stuff like batt. strap and other minor tidbits). Take a look below.

I paid $32 in shipping from Hong Kong. Hopefully this will motivate the little man in the rowboat to row faster :) FWIW- My other 2 orders took about 2wks to arrive with the cheapest shipping option.

Here is a video of the frame

That's it for now.

-no$mike

0 Techie Tuesday

Hello.

I have some projects that have been floating around my head for a while and as of yesterday nailed down 3 that I want to do/chronicle for various reasons. Some of the reasons are:

1. it's easy/cool enough to accomplish in the short amount of time I have between painting/cleaning/moving/eating/sleeping/taking care of the family when I can and ohh yeah, working.

2. relevant to my hobbies.

3. maximizes return on investment (ie. lowest cost for maximum FUNctionality)

4. I hope to put a smile on someone's face and save some of that hard earned coin, who doesn't like that?

For this first project you will follow me on a journey to build a FPV quadcopter.

?????????????????

Let's start with a little explanation. FPV stands for First Person View. Basically you fly your aircraft remotely using a camera mounted to the airframe, seeing what an actual pilot would see. Pretty cool ehhh!

A quadcopter is an airframe (like a helicopter) that uses 4 rotors for movement in either an "X" or "+" configuration. For this exercise we will be in the X config because we will be mounting cameras.

This will be a learning exercise for both of us as the video and maybe even telemetry (checkbook allowing) transmit "Tx"/receive "Rx" is new to me.

Basic rundown of BillOfMaterials is as follows.

Essentials for basic quadcopter (money)

1. airframe
   
2. motors x4
3. ESC or speed controllers x4
4. receiver (OrangeRx R610 which I already have)
5. battery
6. quadcopter controller board
7. transmitter (DX6i which I already have)

FPV components (money money)

1. camera
   
2. GoPro (for recording memories)
3. video Tx
4. separate battery for Tx
5. video Rx
6. Rx antenna
7. display for viewing video (goggles or stand alone display)

This build will be broken into 2 parts. The first will be the build and trimming of a basic quadcopter ensuring proper flight characteristics and working out any bugs. I'll also tweak the design to afford a comfortable load carrying margin for the added weight of the FPV equipment. The second part will be the install of the FPV gear, debugging and finally some flight footage (yeahhhhh).

I'm excited because FPV is uber geeky cool. I feel like capturing some incriminating footage of someone ;) Also, this will be used to video the in-law's house in Guimaras, which was the initial intent of the failed flying footage posted earlier. Round 2 I hope will be better.

Next week I'll detail the build list and cost and hopefully have some parts on order. Most of the electronics will be coming from HobbyKing's international warehouse so 2 weeks transit is the norm.

See you next week.

-no$mike

0 Techie Tuesday

Things have been VERY busy around here so pardon me for not posting in a while.  This week I will take advantage of this opportunity to not only enlighten you with brainy type stuff but also drop a Father's Day hint (woohoo!).

This week's topic is gyro stabilization for RC airplanes.  A gyro counteracts the effects of wind forces keeping a plane flying in the pilot's intended path (flies as if there is no wind- ideal condition).  These are installed in series with the servo that controls a particular control surface (elevator for pitch/rudder for yaw/ailerons for roll).  As the wind pushes a plane in a certain direction the gyro will sense this and actuate that particular servo to move the plane back till no more change in direction is detected.

I purchased a Detrum GY48V (pictured above) for the HZ Super Cub for use with the elevator.  After some thought I figured out how to mount 2 of them to take care rudder and elevator duties (the Super Cub is only a 3ch plane so no aileron).  This is on my personal fun "to do" list.  I'll report back once installed and evaluated.

An alternative to purchasing 3 individual gyros is to get an Eagle Tree Guardian 2D/3D stabilizer.

This little unit contains all 3 axis gyros in a neat and attractive (IMHO) package.  This would be the way to go if I had a larger "full house" plane (Fun Cub comes to mind).  At $75 it's a little more than purchasing 3 separate gyros (not by much) but the size and completeness of it is worth the extra coin.

Now...if I were to be asked what I wanted for Father's Day I would have to say the new UMX Carbon Cub SS BNF with AS3X Technology by E-flite.

The Carbon Cub comes equipped with rudder/elevator/ailerons/flaps/nav and landing lights (pre-installed)/brushless outrunner and AS3X.  AS3X stands for "artificial stabilization 3 axis" which is fancy speak for what we talked about above.  What E-Flite managed to do was pack 3 gyros onto a small circuit board.  The advantage is that it allows the smaller micro planes to fly better in moderately windy conditions.  This should be a fun park flier.

Expect a full report after Father's Day (wink wink nod nod).

-no$mike

2 Kelley's quiche with a side of dancing

Hey folks, it's Monday and you know what that means?!

Time for another yummy breakfast recipe!

***muppet arms in the air***

YAYYY!!!

So if muffins aren't your thing and you're lookin' for something savory, here's a dish that can be made the night before and ready to fill your belly in the mornin'. Oh... and if I had a pretty little apron like Kelley's, I'd be dancing too! ***tee-hee***

***********************************************

Kelley from Casa Crafty here,  I don't tend to eat a big breakfast.  Mostly toast, fruit, yogurt, COFFEE.  You know the basics.  SO, when Venus asked me if I wanted to help out with a breakfast series, I thought about explaining to you how to use a toaster, but I thought maybe you had that down already...

My name is
Kelley and I like to dance with a Quiche pan...

I do however have a ton of eggs.

This time of year sends my hens into a fever of production.  I only have a dozen, but they make a dozen eggs every 40 hours or so... What do you do with 4 dozen eggs a week?

You make Quiche!

I make quiche in all sorts of ways.  The house favorite and specialty is Burn your Bum Quiche.  Lots of kale lots of chorizo... The beauty of quiche is its ability to resemble casserole.  You can make it with leftover bots from the week before, you can make it all veg.  But, you should stop reading now if you are vegan, gluten free, or some other restricted diet.  I don't know how to make quiche without eggs and cheese...

For breakfast I thought we should combine some classic breakfast foods.  Eggs, Bacon, cheese, yummy yummy crust...

 What do you need?

well, the crust recipe I use is from Betty Crocker, a classic.

1 c flour plus more for dusting

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 c plus 1 TBL butter

water (about 2 TBL)

For your quiche innards you need:

1 bunch red chard

1 lb pepper bacon

1/2lb grated cheddar cheese

For your egg mix:

5 eggs

1 1/2c half and half

What's my method?  well first you need some "vintage" Beastie Boys ( I like Paul's Boutique)... start shakin' your booty, don't drop the quiche pan.  I used to use a plain ol' pie pan, until I found
this ceramic beauty at a yard sale.

okay, lets get started...

Get a good bacon frying pan heated and make your bacon.



Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

 While your bacon is workin' it, grate your cheese, wash, chop and spin or pat dry your chard.



Start making your crust.  The key to flaky crust, I have discovered, is cold cold butter and cold water.  I put the flour and salt together in a bowl.  Then chop the butter into little cubes and blend it into the flour mix with a pastry cutter.  When it gets to a mealy texture I add enough water to get the dough to pull
from the sides, but not too sticky to handle.   Then on a cleaned, floured work surface, roll out your dough.  Now, I like to use my husband beater rolling pin.



 Its super. He really should know better than to clean his guns when I am cooking, I really dislike the smell of gun cleaner. What can you do?



Murphy always wants more cheese...



Layer your crust in your pan, try to make it pretty...  Your bacon should be done, chop it into small pieces so its bite size.  Layer some cheese, then chard, then bacon, and then MORE CHEESE.

Beat your eggs and 1/2 and 1/2.  Pour this mix onto the top of
all that layering. 

Bake at 450 for 30 min then reduce your temp to 350 for 20 min.

 who's gonna clean up????

you want to cook this buddy until the egg is set, so test by slipping a chopstick or butter knife into the center.  If it comes up "clean" (not gooey), your quiche is done!

eat up

eat lots

enjoy!

Thanks for having me Venus!

0 be your best

Hi everyone!

I want to talk to you (the kids) about why it's important to be the best you can be. Just recently I received the Eastlake Optimist Club of Chula Vista's Student of The Year award for 2012 and it took hard work and focus.

I received a medal and $50 cash!

Sometimes it can be hard to do your best. Many times I don't want to do my homework or clean my room, and sometimes I make poor choices, but not doing the right thing has consequences like not being able to play on my Xbox or listen to my iPod. It's always important to try your best no matter what you're doing or where you are. If you study hard, you will go far and might even be rewarded with cool things like medals or awards, and when you get older you could get scholarships or even go to a really nice college.

One of the worlds most awesome teachers, Mr. Ly.

You just have to study hard and get good grades (maybe even be the teacher's pet... I hear that has perks). That's all there is to it! I know it sounds easy and I know it's not, but just try.

Oh, and avoid any bullies. They'll just bring you down. Just ignore them and avoid any drama. After that, school is a worry-free place and actually fun. Here's another tip: try to participate in clubs or Student Council. Get involved!

Waiting to receive my award.

I'm the Student Body President and Sergeant Leader in Safety Patrol. If I can do it, YOU CAN TOO! 

It was fun talking to you... I have to go and do my homework.

Bye!

9 KCWC: mix tape tank

Hiya!

KCWC is in full swing and here's what I made for Lala.

Sometimes it's hard finding the right fabric for that one project and other times you find the fabric but no project. So while I was per-oozing Spoonflower, I found the perfect fabric and the perfect project.

I just love when that happens, don't you?

Because Lala is still a wee one, I got away with using a fat quarter of this awesome mix tape fabric by Penny Candy for Spoonflower.

Rockin' the lace in the back... OH YEAH!

I also added a big ol' sparkly button to the tank top.

You gotta have bling!

***

Oh my gosh, have you seen all the awesome goods for KCWC? OH.MY.GOD.

My heads gonna explode.

It's a rad Wednesday... get craftin'!!!

0 Techie Tuesday

Today's Techie Tuesday was brought to my attention by the Mrs., it's the AWESOME button. What's that you say, sounds like the "easy" button you saw on TV. You are pretty gosh darn close. This project from Make Magazine (one of the coolest zines ever) is actually an easy button hack. The guy in the video made his to insert synonyms for "awesome" when he was typing something on the computer. The beauty of this hack is that you can make it do almost anything your cheeky little mind can think of.

Check it out...



I think I'll make one to help me with some of the repetitive tasks in my weekly report at work. That's it for this week.

-No$Mike