It's Official Now, I'm Out Of My Mind!

[b06tmm]

After watching this video:



I bought this quad-copter.

I have a Go Pro camera already so we'll see what mischief I can get into!

[cop414]

That's cool Tim. I always thought that those would make a great business. Looking at a house to buy, want to see the roof, gutters and such, hire it out. Contractor wants to give an estimate on a job high in the sky and needs some pics, hire it out. Local PD needs recon for something, hire it out. You could have great fun with that and a good camera and make good money as well.

[Vincent65]

Originally Posted by cop414

That's cool Tim. I always thought that those would make a great business. Looking at a house to buy, want to see the roof, gutters and such, hire it out. Contractor wants to give an estimate on a job high in the sky and needs some pics, hire it out. Local PD needs recon for something, hire it out. You could have great fun with that and a good camera and make good money as well.

My wife and I started an accountancy biz in the UK a few years ago, and one of our clients did just that. I named the company for him.

[Watchdog]

Very, very cool, Tim.

Enjoy, my friend.

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

My wife and I started an accountancy biz in the UK a few years ago, and one of our clients did just that. I named the company for him.

Great idea !

HAGOne

[b06tmm]

I can't get too crazy where I live because I'm in the flight path of a major runway for MSY.

Once I figure it out though I may take it downtown and give y'all a bird's eye view of the French Quarter...

[Hairdude1]

Cool video

[77T]

They are cool in wide open spaces...

I'd think twice about the French Quarter - many metro PDs are being advised that private airborne cameras (aka "drones") are illegal under local "Peeping Tom" codes. Check before overflying private premises IMHO.

Generally, the local DA can interpret drones as "spying" or invading the privacy of persons being observed at their private residence. It is not a necessary that the "Peeping Tom" be upon the premises of the person being spied upon. Remote surveillance using webcams has been enforced already.

In NOLA the fines can be up to $500, or six months in jail, or both. Not raining on your idea - just sharing in spirit of communication.

[Lion]

'Very cool and looks like you are having a lot of fun with the 'Drone'.......

[kilyung]

Isn't the AR Drone cheaper?

[Kingair]

Nice Tim !

Works great

HAGOne

[b06tmm]

Originally Posted by 77T

They are cool in wide open spaces...

I'd think twice about the French Quarter - many metro PDs are being advised that private airborne cameras (aka "drones") are illegal under local "Peeping Tom" codes. Check before overflying private premises IMHO.

Generally, the local DA can interpret drones as "spying" or invading the privacy of persons being observed at their private residence. It is not a necessary that the "Peeping Tom" be upon the premises of the person being spied upon. Remote surveillance using webcams has been enforced already.

In NOLA the fines can be up to $500, or six months in jail, or both. Not raining on your idea - just sharing in spirit of communication.

Good points, thanks!

Originally Posted by kilyung

Isn't the AR Drone cheaper?

Yes it is, but the Phantom has an electronic compass, GPS, and a 6-axis accelerometer. This allows it to return to home if it loses a connection with the transmitter. Also, the AR is WiFi and you control it with a iPhone or iPad and the Phantom is RF and uses an RC controller. The big advantage for me is the Phantom has a mount for a Go Pro camera, which I already have.

Originally Posted by Kingair

Nice Tim !

Works great

HAGOne

Thanks, I should have it tomorrow! Been watching the setup and training videos this morning and reading everything I can on it.

[stockae92]

If I see something like this flying in my backyard, I will be shooting it down ... LOL

[b06tmm]

OK, the quad copter was just received but its a little late to do do some flight training.

Will start tomorrow...

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by b06tmm

OK, the quad copter was just received but its a little late to do do some flight training.

Will start tomorrow...

Nice Tim

Shoot some movie

HAGOne

[b06tmm]

Originally Posted by Kingair

Nice Tim

Shoot some movie

HAGOne

Don't know if I'll put the camera on for the initial flight training!

Tonight I'm going to balance the props, charge the battery, and isolate the camera mount for vibrations.

See this video:

[b06tmm]

OK, here's my first flight. I edited out the first part where I flipped it over because the grass was too long, yes - that's my story.



Here's the second flight. I brought it up a lot higher and did a couple of 360 degree rotations, but was freaked out. I think I should put a "reward if you find me" message on this. If you notice the white van that is passing by when I start, he stops and comes back by to watch me and then comes over to talk to me.

When you can see the house in the field I am facing North and you can see Lake Pontchartrain in the background.

Oh well, another Police song.

[Kingair]

Really nice Tim

So I know I started reading about it . . . hope it stops by reading . . .

Love the result you get . . .

Shoot some more movies and post them !

HAGOne

[b06tmm]

Originally Posted by Kingair

Really nice Tim

So I know I started reading about it . . . hope it stops by reading . . .

Love the result you get . . .

Shoot some more movies and post them !

HAGOne

The fist video was 1920 X 1080 and the second one was the lowest. I'm trying to figure out the best resolution per file size for You Tube.

Will try again tomorrow and see if I can't get it higher!

[The Joker]

Originally Posted by b06tmm

The fist video was 1920 X 1080 and the second one was the lowest. I'm trying to figure out the best resolution per file size for You Tube.

Will try again tomorrow and see if I can't get it higher!

Very Cool Tim.

I tried to put the vid in HD, but only allows 480p.

[b06tmm]

Originally Posted by The Joker

Very Cool Tim.

I tried to put the vid in HD, but only allows 480p.

Wes, will try again tomorrow/this weekend, I freaking hate iMovie on the Mac! I also have CS6 suite, but need to learn how to use it.

Got to put a "reward if found" thing on here before i get too crazy...

[b06tmm]

Originally Posted by The Joker

Very Cool Tim.

I tried to put the vid in HD, but only allows 480p.

I'm pretty sure I optimized in iMovie to 960X540 to upload it to YT. This is just a 2nd generation Go Pro so the max resolution I can do is 1998X1080 @ 30FPS.

Looking at the videos it appears I have some distortion a little right of center on the lens, I'll see if I can polish that out this weekend.

There are several different flight modes I can enable on this. The default one is pretty tricky, especially when the copter is high up because if I yaw left or right, forward on the stick is not forward anymore but left or right and the orientation of the copter is hard to determine when up high.

There is one mode where it will remember the orientation of the copter when engaged, so forward stick will be away from you and back stick will come back to you, no matter the orientation of the copter. Unfortunately, this software only runs under windows so I may install a Windows VM on my Mac this weekend to try the different things you can tweak. One of the things the software will allow you to do is put it into manual mode so you can do flips and rolls.

I don't see me doing this anytime soon!

[b06tmm]

OK, just did some low level maneuvers on my street (dead end) and ended up crashing into a mail box at the end of the street. Unfortunately, I have no footage of this because I think the battery died on my camera and it didn't close the file correctly.

Bummer, because I thought I was doing good! Until the mailbox, that is.

I found a spare battery for the camera so I will charge that up too when the internal battery finishes charging. The copter battery was low as well and that's why I had to walk it back to my place and may be the reason I crashed into the mailbox. That's my story!

Oh well, no new videos yet...

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by b06tmm

OK, just did some low level maneuvers on my street (dead end) and ended up crashing into a mail box at the end of the street. Unfortunately, I have no footage of this because I think the battery died on my camera and it didn't close the file correctly.

Any big damages ?

Hope not . . .

HAGOne

[b06tmm]

Originally Posted by Kingair

Any big damages ?

Hope not . . .

HAGOne

No damages, but no film either.

I'm uploading a couple of clips now. #5 that was just OK, I landed very near where I launched from. #4 where I hit the open tailgate of my Grand Cherokee and hit the power lines above that. I also just missed some power lines further into the flight.

Practice makes perfect!

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by b06tmm

No damages, but no film either.

I'm uploading a couple of clips now. #5 that was just OK, I landed very near where I launched from. #4 where I hit the open tailgate of my Grand Cherokee and hit the power lines above that. I also just missed some power lines further into the flight.

Practice makes perfect!

And how hard is the flying itself Tim ?
Does it stabilize itself ?
Because I have seen movies where people flip the DJI in manual mode.

Post some movies.

You really got something in my mind now . . .

HAGWe

Marc

[b06tmm]

The past weekend was on and off rain and drizzle so I didn't get much practice in.

Originally Posted by Kingair

And how hard is the flying itself Tim ?
Does it stabilize itself ?
Because I have seen movies where people flip the DJI in manual mode.

Post some movies.

Yes, it does stabilize itself and it is quite amazing. Below is a short video of the copter clipping the extended tailgate of my Jeep and then hitting the power lines above that. The battery door opens when it hits the Jeep and is so far the only weak point of the design that I have found. You'll also hear the engines spool up when it rights itself.



Here is the self righting in slow motion.



Here is a video showing more of my crashes, along with the one above.



I've gone through all of the spare propellers and have ordered a bunch more so I won't be playing in the street anymore until I get those. I also got the new Go Pro Black edition camera that is orders of magnitude better than the one I've been filming with. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it uses a micro SD card and the only one I have around here is just a 2GB one from my old Blackberry and it is SLOW. The card has a hard time writing the data so the video is choppy. I have a new 64 GB FAST card arriving today via Amazon Prime!

Will post more videos with the new camera soon, but until then check out this one. This guy has balls of steel!

[Andad]

The kids gave me an AR Drone for my birthday.
Great fun, flies itself with just a little input from my iPad or iPhone.
I might try fitting my Contour GPS to it.

[azguy]

Technology has come a long way...Looks like fun

[b06tmm]

I'm still waiting for the brown truck to arrive so I'll post a pic of the two Go Pro cameras I have.



The one on the left is the older one and the innovations to the one on the right are pretty dramatic.

The max resolution of the older one is 1080p @ 30 FPS and the newer one supports 1080p @ 60 FPS, 1440p, 2.7k and 4k.

Another neat thing about the newer one is that it has built in Wi-Fi. That means you can get the Go Pro app and then stream live video to your iPad/iPhone. I don't think I'll be using this feature for a while unless someone else controls it while I fly. Oh, it also comes with a Wi-Fi remote so you can change video modes while in flight.

The clear camera cases have changed as well. Both cases come with two backs, one that is waterproof (60 meters) and one that has a semi open back to capture sound with the video. It's recommended you use the waterproof case for videos taken over 100 MPH. The older round-lens case has a convex lens extending out a little and could get scratched up in a crash, while the newer one is square, flat, and recessed a little. The newer case also has a third button to activate Wi-Fi.

Here's a picture of the camera case mounted.