Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Sunday, May 26, 2019
the lack of math and logic is killing us
Humans have NEVER cared about the planet. EVER.
I was "reading" about Frank Herbert, THE AUTHOR of the massively best selling Dune.
He spoke at the first Earth Day.
Strange, absolutely NOTHING has changed since then. NOTHING.
Until ADULTS are willing to die for this issue. To give up EVERYTHING that they own. quit their jobs and march to war to change things,
NOTHING will change.
HALF of society wants to go backwards.
No facts or logic will change their view. Nothing.
I'm not willing to DIE to change this, are you?
nope
"but but I dont use plastic straws" ... yawn
"but what if we could replace ALL of the lightbulbs with even BETTER lightbulbs????"
I did the math the other day, IF you could replace 100% of all lightblubs, (which is impossible and costly in polltuion), you would reduce the amount of electricty used by ... a whopping 0.5%.
And a moron said "every little bit helps". No it does not.
WANT to cut CO2 emissions? lightbulbs wont do squat. Zero.
WANT to cut co2? Replace ALL fossil fuel power plants with fission.
THAT will reduce emissions by 40%!!!!!
AND if you only replaced half of them, your reduction would be 20%
MASSIVE
nope ... let's spend time and energy on worthless benefits. 0.5%
the lack of MATH and LOGIC is what's killing us.
I was "reading" about Frank Herbert, THE AUTHOR of the massively best selling Dune.
He spoke at the first Earth Day.
Strange, absolutely NOTHING has changed since then. NOTHING.
Until ADULTS are willing to die for this issue. To give up EVERYTHING that they own. quit their jobs and march to war to change things,
NOTHING will change.
HALF of society wants to go backwards.
No facts or logic will change their view. Nothing.
I'm not willing to DIE to change this, are you?
nope
"but but I dont use plastic straws" ... yawn
"but what if we could replace ALL of the lightbulbs with even BETTER lightbulbs????"
I did the math the other day, IF you could replace 100% of all lightblubs, (which is impossible and costly in polltuion), you would reduce the amount of electricty used by ... a whopping 0.5%.
And a moron said "every little bit helps". No it does not.
WANT to cut CO2 emissions? lightbulbs wont do squat. Zero.
WANT to cut co2? Replace ALL fossil fuel power plants with fission.
THAT will reduce emissions by 40%!!!!!
AND if you only replaced half of them, your reduction would be 20%
MASSIVE
nope ... let's spend time and energy on worthless benefits. 0.5%
the lack of MATH and LOGIC is what's killing us.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
scent - luca turin
AH !@! My other favorite.
The Shape Theory of Scent.
Complete, and total BULLSHIT.
WE KNOW that TODAY. BUT the entrenched morons wont let it go.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBFMR0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Luca Turin should win the nobel prize ... in chemistry, physics and biology ... for the work that he did on the vibration theory of scent. But the fuckers will wait until he DIES before they admit that he was right.
THE BOOK, highlights the BULLSHIT of peer review journal articles.
His article was rejected by three groups.
Physicist "The physics is right, but I cant review the chemistry or biology"
Chemist "the chemistry is right, but I cant review the physics or biology."
Biologist "the biology is right, but I cant review the physics or chemistry"
the perfect catch-22
PROOF that his theory is "RIGHT"?
People using the shitty shape theory of scent are unable to predict the scent for new synthetic molecules.
BUT Luca said FUCK IT, founded his own company and has patented new replacement molecules for a number of scents.
LOLOLOL
sigh
seriously amazing fun read ...
dichotomy
sorry trying not to LOLOLOL
yup ... I jsut posted elsewhere about future shock and luddites
my "guess" is that this is the norm from our DEEP evolution.
HALF of the people are "conservative", they will never try the new beetles, that new mushroom you brought home, half will cross that river and never return.
HALF of the country wants to run backwards.
Evolutionary it makes "sense".
IF everyone was risk adverse, we would all die in the first potato famine. IF we are all insane risk takers, we would all die from eating pete's cooking. (my beef kimchi stirfry tonught was yummy)
Koalas will go extinct soon. They can ONLY eat one tree leaf.
And ... and I just learned this yesterday, they are stupid. Their brains are SMOOTH. If you put the leaves on the ground, they wont eat them. LOL Their brain is one of the smallest, proportionally of all mammals.
While WOMBATS will eat anything vegi, and have the most developed brain of marsupials, larger than expected, highly convoluted.
great. now I need to take a trip[p down under
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
KIDS THESE DAYS
BUT ... I "might" have a couple different data points ...
Reading "this book will make you smarter" ... super amusing collection of VERY short essays, by crazy smart people (get it, read it, blame me later ... lol)
One of the essays lalked about "kids these days" ... watching TV, doing their homework, while talking on the phone /texting /whatever.
And their point, that's kids brains are different these days than ours. Their immersion in this new age has changed their brains. Sure, some kids cant focus, but others have ......
And the second data point .... The Walking Dead, school shootings and an anecdotal story.
My friend's HS age son is a huge walking dead fan (like every kid in the universe), he is aware, and followed the school shootings, his school has drills, blah blah blah.
AND then there was an active shooter scare (car backfire or "STRANGER" at the school door, who knows), and the school went into lockdown.
literally every mother's nightmare
So he tells her later the story ... about how he jumped into action and helped secure the door with "tools", while the poor 20 something teacher was in shock, READY TO PROTECT the students.
"how did he know what to do?"
Unknown to everyone else, he and his friends had already googled what to do.
so yah ... this will totally FUCK UP ... a ton of kids/adults ...
But I wonder ... if like every previous generation, the kids are "less" affected by it than the parents?
50s had DUCK AND COVER
80s had st ronnie raygun and MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION
AIDS, shootings ....
the adults are clearly NEVER GOING to change this ... and it will break some of the kids ... but the rest? will be what they are ...
WTF ... I AM NOT TRYING TO SOUND OPTIMISTIC ... when did this happen?? ARGHHHHH
so yah .... the book is a really mind bending read
Friday, May 17, 2019
backwards
Was reading about this from the SIDE ....
.....
99.98999989999% of everything came about because of other things ... strange paths and accidents and unintended and ooo look at that.
Look at all the POISONOUS food that we "treat" and eat?
Corn is worthless without nixtamalization.
And the natives were doing it LONG before white men discovered WHY.
Tomato, potato, rhubarb, leaves and stems are poison.
Lima and kidney beans are poisonous.
Raw cashews!! lol death.
And yet, humans have domesticated and eat pretty much EVERYTHING on the planet that is edible,
WHICH MEANS, people must have gotten sick and died in the early days. LOL
Chemists???BEAHAHAHAHA
Look up pretty much every element. and most compounds.
We know what they TASTE like.
LOL
Thursday, May 16, 2019
drones - DAMMIT
https://www.aldeid.com/wiki/Category:Drones
Flying style
The very first question that should be answered before building your drone is what you want to do with it. You won't choose the same items (frame, motors, ESC, ...) depending on whether you want to do racing, freestyle, long range, cinematic.
I would distinguish the following styles:
- racing: the best combo will be power/speed/light-weight.
- freestyle: power will be the main criteria. Smooth motors will also be appreciated by many freestylers.
- cinematic/long range: depending on how far you want to go, your main issue will probably be the motors, to find the right balance between speed and efficiency.
Frame
A lot of frames exist on the market, for different purposes. Here are some points you may want to consider:
- Frame size: the majority of the frames today are 5", 6" and 7", and they serve different purposes. 5" frames are commonly used in racing and freestyle while 6" and 7" are more widespread for long range. However, there are experienced people who will prefer to fly 5" frames for long range.
- Space: space is important because depending on how many elements you will want to add to your frame, it may become a nightmare to place all of them in a frame that has no space. For example, on the Flowride frame, space may become an issue if you have a 4-in-1 ESC stacked with the flight controller, and you want to add a big capacitor, a GPS, a buzzer, a diversity RX. It doesn't mean that you won't be able to place them all, but they will likely be close to each other, which may not be the best option (e.g. best to have the RX as far as possible from the VTX)
- price: the price of a frame may be an important point to consider, unless you have a lot of money to spend. There are very expensive frames that are not that better than cheaper ones. For example, I've flown with the AstroX frame which I really loved (but expensive one) as well as the Flowride (much cheaper) which is also a great one.
- quality/solidity: frames are made of carbon sheets that are compressed. The carbon used and resulting quality may vary a lot, but if you choose a known frame, you are likely not to be disappointed. I started with a GB210 frame bought on gearbest which had a very poor quality. Crashes have been fatal and the frame had a bad time. On the other hand, I crashed many times with my AstroX and it resisted to most of them. Some frames will be pre-chamfered (rounded edges), which is good to increase resistance to crashes. If your frame is not chamfered, I recommend doing it manually.
- weight: this is important to consider weight for racing and long range. The heavier it will be, the more power it will need to fly. May not be your main question for freestyle.
- interchangeable items: this may be an important point to consider if you are likely to break something often on your quad (e.g. freestyle, racing). Are arms interchangeable? Can you buy them individually or should you reorder the complete frame? This may not be relevant for long range as you are less likely to crash.
- available accessories: some frames come with a lot of accessories to protect your arms, to put additional items like the HD camera, antenna holders, ... However, even if there are not a lot of official items available, chances are that you will find what you're looking for on 3D print websites (e.g. bmc3d.co, thingiverse.com, ...)
- availability: take care of this. If you're buying a frame that is only available in another country, anticipate the customs taxes. Also take into account that some items may no longer be available. For example, I bought an AstroX first generation and broke an arm. I was very frustrated that this item was not available anymore on my favorite online shop, because the new version had replaced it.
Motors & props
Motors
Motors are determined by:
- your flying style (freestyle, long range, racing)
- the speed (low kV, high kV). Low kV motors will probably let you fly more time while high kV will generally consume more.
- the torque: the force that turns your propellers
- the efficiency (some motors will drain your battery in 3 minutes while others will let you fly 10 minutes or more)
- the size (depends on the props size, itself depending on the frame size)
For my 5", I loved the JohnnyFPV 2207 2700kV motors, and for my 6" Long Range quad, I love my T-Motor F80Pro 2408 1900kV motors
Props
There is no good or bad choice for props. All you need to do is buy some and test them to make your own opinion and choose the one you prefer.
Some props though are widespread in the drone community, like the HQProp 5x4.3x3 on 5" quads. I really like the DAL6045 for my 6".
Points to consider might be:
- bipale, tripale or quadripale: tripale is the best choice in my opinion for most of the flying styles, but some people prefer bipale for the long range
- flexible or rigid prop: I tend to believe that rigid props are better because they will easily break in case of crash, which is better for your motors
- durability: probably a point to consider if you crash often
- efficiency: there are some props that will drain your battery in seconds while others are better for long range. You'll need to test yourself with different props
- vibrations: vibrations can be caused because of unbalanced props or just because these props are not good for your quad. If you notice unexpected vibrations, change props for another brand to confirm, before you investigate on other parameters
Electronics
ESC
You should consider the following points to choose your ESC:
- 4-in-1 ESC or individual ESC: both have pros and cons. A 4-in-1 ESC is stackable but you will likely not be able to add a PDB (not needed in most cases though). Remember to put a big capacitor, especially if you fly with 6S lipos. Also a faulty ESC on that kind of configuration will probably mean that you will spend more money to replace it. On the other side, chances are that you will need a PDB if you choose individual ESCs, but a dead ESC will be easily replaced. For this kind of configuration, some people recommend to put capacitors on each ESC, especially if you fly with 6S lipos.
- Voltage and continuous amps / burst: consider the maximum continuous amps the ESC can admit, especially if you plan to fly with 5 or 6S lipos. For example, if you plan to fly with 6S lipos, the battery will drain up to 25.2V. Ensure that the ESC is 6S ready. Same rule applies to amps; if you plan to plug a 1800mA/95C lipo, it will drain up to 1.8*95=171A. Of course there are other parameters to consider, but I will recommend to ensure that your ESC is cooled with a continuous air flow.
- Reliability: I would recommend that you rely on widely tested ESC rather than choose unknown/untested ones. The more positive feedbacks, the more likely reliable your ESC will be
- Supported protocols: oneshot, multishot, dshot
- BlHeli/BlHeli32:
- Compatibility: ensure that your ESC will be compatible with your FC. For example, even if it's possible to use non-KISS ESC in combination with a KISS Flight Controller, it will probably be easier to use KISS ESCs.
Capacitors
The more power you're providing to your quad, the more likely you will need a capacitor. Low ESR capacitors will help clean up the power and are beneficial for a better FPV signal, better filtration of the noise for the flight controller, hence better flight characteristics.
I recommend the following low ESR capacitors:
Where | Lipo | Recommended capacitor | Link |
---|---|---|---|
4in1 ESC | 4S, 5S | 1000uF 35V | |
6S | 1000uF 50V | link | |
separ. ESCs | 4S, 5S | 470uF 35V | |
6S | 330uF 50V |
More information can be found here
Flight Controller (FC)
The flight controller is the brain of your quad. For that reason, it can be tricky to choose the appropriate one for your needs. Below are a few things that you should consider:
- firmware: do you want KISS, F1, BetaFlight, ButterFlight? once you have chosen, it will filter a lot of available flight controllers. Be aware that some vendors have custom firmware (e.g. BrainFPV has its own BetaFlight repository, which results in delays to have the latest releases of BetaFlight. It should not be a big deal, but if you want to test the latest releases immediately, that may not be the best option for you).
- processor: F4 or F7? Good question and no good answers. It really depends on preferences. Some people tend to believe that F7 is the new generation and you should forget F4. I'm not in agreement with this statement. I've a BrainFPV Radix which is a great F4 flight controller and it gives me full satisfaction.
- barometer: Some flight controllers have an integrated barometer. If you flight with BetaFlight and decide to do long range, I would highly recommend to have a barometer. If you don't, BetaFlight will still be able to assess your altitude with GPS but it will be less accurate. It is highly recommended to protect your barometer with a piece of foam in order to avoid incorrect values.
- BEC: Flight Controllers have Battery Eliminator Circuits (BEC) with 5V and 10 or 12V outputs. Make a plan of what you want to plug on it and ensure that you will have enough BECs to power all the stuff (FPV camera, VTX, RX, buzzer, GPS, LEDs), especially if you don't plan to use a PDB.
- Current sensor: having a current sensor is not an option. It will tell you how many amps have been consumed and will report the value in your OSD.
- SD Card slot: some flight controllers have a SD card slot that will let you store flight logs on it
- Integrated OSD: some flight controllers are now shipped with an internal OSD. I love the OSD built by Radix with the vertical bars for the speed and altitude, it's unique:
FPV
FPV Camera
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Video Transmitter (VTX) and video antenna
VTX
- Brand: there are many brands for VTX and TBS or AKK are widespread in the FPV community. My preference goes for the TBS Unify Pro 5G8 HV SE (MMCX)
- Connector: UFL and MMCX are the proposed connectors for VTX. I have a preference for the MMCX connector which I find more reliable
- Power: most of the VTX can module the transmission power from 25mW, up to 2W (2000mW).
- However, country legislations often limit the maximum power to 25mW.
- Also keep in mind that more power means more distance in theory, but the most important point is rather the receiving antennas. With good directional antennas, you should be able to cover a good distance, without the need of 2W.
- And keep in mind that you need 4 times the power to get 2 times the range
Video antenna
This is probably something of less importance if you do racing or freestyle but if you do mid/long-range, this will probably become one of your main concern.
My experience demonstrated that:
- the antenna should be the longest possible (pigtail) so that it is not hidden by any element of your quad (frame, battery, HD camera) whatever its position in the space
- you avoid as many connectors as possible (if you can, avoid a pigtail from your VTX to the antenna). This is not always possible though
I have very good results with the AXII Long (very good antenna), the VAS Ion v2 (the pigtail is a bit too flexible though), and am in the process of testing the Double Quad DragonFire 5,8ghz Longrange
Video Receiver (VRX) and antennas
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Goggles
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Radio
Radio itself
There are several choices but remember that the radio is an important item to consider. Points to consider to choose your radio:
- Compatibility of the radio transmitter you want to install on it (e.g. Crossfire).
- Price
- Number of available channels
- Operating system
- Telemetry support
The following radio are common in the quad and wings community:
- FrSky Taranis X9D+ (SE): this is what I have and I'm very happy with it. It's a bit expensive and heavy but this is my favorite.
- FrSky Q X7 and Q X7S
- FrSky Taranis X-Lite
- FrSky Horus X10 and X10S
- FrSky Horus X12S
- Spektrum DX6
- Futaba 16SZ
Radio transmitter (TX) and radio antenna
- I'm used to the Crossfire micro and Crossfire light (the same as the Crossfire full but without bluetooth) and have tried the Crossfire stock antenna, the Crossfire diamond and the True-Mox and my preference goes for the True-Mox because it is tuned for my radio frequency (868mhz).
- The diamond antenna works also great but it is not tuned for a specific radio frequency (915Mhz or 868Mhz). However, it's been said by TBS that they are 80% as efficient as if they would be tuned for a given frequency, which will be acceptable because you can fly dozens of kilometers.
- There are also some people who like the FrSky R9M TX for their radio but I could not tell how it compares to Crossfire
- For long range, there are some other people who like the Dragon Link systems but I could not tell much on this topic because I've never tested it.
Radio receiver (RX) and antenna
RX
I recommend TBS Crossfire RX because they are very reliable and will let you fly with confidence kilometers.
- TBS Crossfire Nano RX
- TBS Crossfire Diversity Nano RX
Depending on your radio TX, you may consider different RX.
RX antenna
Especially if you fly long-range, the RX antenna will be an important factor. Many people fly with the immortal-T antenna, placed under the arm. Keep in mind that this is a great antenna but it's not tuned to a given frequency (868Mhz or 915Mhz). In addition, placing the antenna horizontally is not the best place for long-range because it increases the likelihood of a null.
I build my antennas myself because I want them to be tuned to my frequency (78mm for 915Mhz and 82mm for 868Mhz). In addition, it lets you choose the length of the pigtail, which I choose long enough to allow the passive element of the antenna to be high enough. Refer to this post if you want to learn more.
If you can, your antenna should be vertical and long enough. For a diversity receiver, the other antenna should be horizontal.
Batteries
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Miscellaneous items
Buzzer
A buzzer shouldn't be an option. It's cheap and can save your life. I really recommend the Vifly2 buzzer because it has a battery that charges when the quad is powered on. If you crash and your battery is unplugged, your buzzer will still beep during several hours. The Vifly2 also comes with a LED that flashes to help you find your lost quad during at night.
GPS
A GPS is not mandatory but highly recommended, especially if you fly mid/long-range. It is also one of the cheapest item for your drone. Considering it can save your life, I would not recommend to fly without one.
It will serve 2 main purposes:
- show your home direction (arrow) and the distance to your home
- Betaflight has a nice feature called GPS-rescue that will bring your quad to you (don't consider it as a fully automated assistant though)
Several GPS are used by the drone community but you can buy a BN-180 or BN-220, which are cheap but great GPS.
HD Camera
The HD camera can be one of the most expensive item on your quad. Choose it carefully depending on what you want to shoot.
- Runcam 3: cheaper camera that has a good image quality for racing
- Gopro session 5: cheapest of the gopro cameras, but does not have native stabilization features.
- Gopro 7 black: great camera, probably the best at the moment for shooting all kind of situations. However, it is expensive so not everybody will be able to afford it, and remember that you can also loose your quad, or crash, which can make you reluctant.
- ND filter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G97g5jbDL8
Best settings on the GoPro 7 Black with PolarPro ND filters:
ND filter | Weather condition |
---|---|
ND8 | cloudy weather |
ND16 | bright weather |
ND32 | very bright sunny day, snow |
Settings
Param | Description | Recommended value |
---|---|---|
Resolution | 2.7K/50FPS/SuperView | |
FOV | SuperView | |
Stablization | Hypersmooth | |
Protune | On | |
Shutter | Should be twice your frame rate (e.g. 1/60 for 30FPS, 1/100 for 50FPS, ...) | 1/100 |
EV Com | Exposure Value Compensation. Acts a bit like an electronic ND filter | 0 |
White Balance | Auto | |
ISO min | 100 | |
ISO max | Lock this in at 400. It will result in the least amount of noise from the CMOS sensor. The only exception to this rule is if you are flying in very low light. | 400 |
Sharpness | Set this to Low. The less your GoPro processes the CMOS pixel data, the better | Low (Medium is OK) |
Color | Choose "Gopro color" is you're not doing post-production color grading. Else, choose "flat" | Flat |
Recommendations
Building your drone
Water proof your quad (especially if you plan to fly in wet environments, fog, clouds, snow)
- I use to protect my electronics with Tropicoat
Before you build your drone:
- ensure that you have a clear overview of what goes where. I always spend days making my diagrams, checking that everything will be fine. It will also help you a lot when you will be in the process of soldering the components.
- Place the components inside the frame before soldering them. That helps cutting the wires to the correct lengths.
When connecting your very first lipo:
- Always double check what you've soldered with a magnifying glass. If you're not happy with a solder joint, do it again.
- Check with a multimeter that there is no short
- Never plug your first lipo without a smoke stopper. It costs a few buckets only and can save your quad.
Before the very first flight:
- Make a first test in a wide area without your goggles.
- Hover a few seconds to check the behavior of your quad.
- If anything looks wrong, stop and try to analyze where the issue may come from.
Don't be too ambitious
Take care of what you see on Youtube. You will see some people flying above the clouds or 5 kilometers. Remember that 3 kilometers is already a lot for a quad, and you will need confidence and experience. Be prepared (can you fly 3 kms and forth and back with a 1300mA 4S lipo?). You will probably learn from your mistakes but it's better if you can avoid some. Loosing a quad means a lot of money for most of us, especially if the quad was caring a gopro.
Experience has to be progressive and smart. Progressively increase your range on a wide field instead of directly flying high in the mountains. Make sure to have an objective and understand what it costs in terms of money and time to achieve your goals.
Check list before you fly
- Enough satellites acquired (at least 6)
- DVR enabled on your googles
- Crossfire TX powered on with external battery
- Fan plugged in on your goggles
Plan your flight
Use Google maps to prepare your flight, choose the best spot where you will be LOS all the time
Analyze your logs
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