Video of flight

I have hovered etc with the Helicommand equipped Blade 400, here is a video of the first out of hover flight I have made, including landing on an object (hot tub...covered). I fly it up to rooftop level.

I was kind of chicken, I didn't know how long the battery would last, so I minimized my time up there...also I still have some adjusting to do on the collective/throttle settings, I have too much throttle in to get it to climb. (so I use the battery faster)

But I am happy with the results...

The video was recorded with my camcorder connected to the 2.4Ghz video receiver. (it is located in the corner of the house the helicopter is facing). The Blade 400 uses the Spektrum DX6i RC transmitter which ALSO uses the 2.4Ghz frequency. I set the video transmitter to the lower end, and the Spektrum decides where to best put its transmissions (they go from about 2.35 to 2.45 Ghz).

Notice I only get one slight drop out and some video artifacts. The oscillations are from the Helicommand over correcting for my inputs.
Enjoy

Yes that is a camera

Yes under the middle part of the body there is a wireless video camera.

I plug the receiver to my camcorder and record video. (that is why I need the stabilizing system)

It operates on 2.4 Ghz and is very low powered...the RC transmitter/receiver is ALSO 2.4 Ghz. So I put the camera at its lowest frequency (within the 2.4 spectrum) and the RC system gets out of the way. If the RC transmitter is between the video transmitter and receiver, then I get some noise or drop outs.

I don't have any demo's yet...I only recently installed it on this helicopter (I originally had it on another smaller helicopter).

I flew it

And is still in one piece.

I still have some adjustments to do, but it makes the helicopter much more controllable and predictable.

Here are some pics...

Another way to throw away money

No, I am not talking about the iPhone...I personally don't want to switch to AT&T...but it is tempting.

No I am talking about Radio Controlled Helicopters. (not the little ones in the grocery store) By themselves they have some cost involved...especially when a gust of wind throws it into a tree, and you have to buy a few new parts.

But now you can buy an 'autopilot'...well actually an auto leveling/position holding system.

There are a few different styles on the market...but this is the one I am installing, getting ready to try out...

http://en.helicommand.com/

The Helicommand apparently has three axis of gyros giving input to the 'brain'. In addition it has a camera on the bottom to view contrast...to tell if the vehicle is moving (drifting) or holding position. It took a week or so to install and set up (so the helicopter doesn't crash on the first try).

More later when I actually fly it.

Sprint Tethering again

So far with the Tethering lately with my Vista laptop, it either works very well, or doesn't work at all with no reason why.

What I have learned so far...

If the cellphone battery has less than 2 bars (out of 4) it will not tether...

If PDAnet won't recognize the phone is connected, yet the phone is sync'd with the computer...reboot both of them

Sometimes the cellphone is trying to access the internet through the laptop..rather than the laptop through the cellphone...disconnect the cellphone from the laptop, get the cellphone to access the internet (will probably need to reboot it) close whatever was accessing the internet, then reconnect to the laptop.

If after fooling around trying to tether and now your phone won't sync at all...reboot everything and start over.

I can't tell if it is a Vista issue, or my hacked WM6.1...the issues occurred simultaneously.

But once it is connected, unless I am actively downloading something, my calls come through. But I will usually have to command PDAnet to reconnect to the internet (still connected to the phone...just disconnected from the internet).

Sprint Touch with GPS and REV A.

The walkthrough is here at PPC Geeks!

After much fear and trepidation, I went ahead and tempted fate (bricking) by hacking my Sprint Touch.

It went as planned. I had already made a backup of the system using SPB Backup. I am still working through how to restore stuff, but I did restore my contacts and calendar.

The GPS works pretty good. Here is a photo of the Touch in my office surrounded by electronic gear, picking up 2 satellites (5 right now)...zoomed out for privacy thank you.

Part of the hack involves an upgrade to WM6.1, so you have that going for you...which is nice.

Futuremark (3Dmark) scores

Using the free version of Futuremark (you cannot change the settings), here are some relative benchmarks of the systems I own.


1165 =desktop 2.2Ghz Celeron Radeon X1600 WinXP DX9 (my beater system)
1421 =M1330 2.0Ghz Core2Duo E4400 - GeForce 8400MGS - Vista DX10
1574 =M1330 (etc) with new drivers from www.laptopvideo2go.com
1866 =desktop 1.7Ghz AthlonXP - Radeon X850 - WinXP DX9 (recently deceased)
8853 =desktop 2.4Ghz Core2Duo E6700 - Radeon HD2900Pro - WinXP DX9 (my gaming rig)

What I don't know is if the 3D mark penalizes DX10 systems...when you install the software, it installs a few DX9 things...

So far the M1330 runs Team Fortress2 and Portal just fine, full resolution etc. Haven't tried Bioshock yet (note:apparently you need updated drivers to run Bioshock)...and Crysis makes even my fast gaming rig cry at the end.