rotarydoc

Hey guys,

I had to work Saturday, and had a side job as well...then there was part 2 of the SSD install, and then PHOENIX...so I've been keeping pretty busy this weekend!

The final verdict for the SSD is in; it's incredible! Most programs open instantly; it takes half the time to open big ones, and boot up and shut down times are roughly half as well...some of the boot time is due to a fresh Windows install too, I am sure. IT's amazing, if you click the control panel button, the thing opens the instant you click it...I am impressed for sure!

It took all day yesterday to get Phoenix back to version 3.0q, which is the latest. The servers for the model and field downloads are SLOW and buggy, I had to re-try several of the helicopter and flying field files. Startet at 1PM, got done around 7PM...

It was worth it though, Phoenix runs better and faster than ever, I have all the settings maxed out, even anti-aliasing (keeps the jagged edges down to a minimum, takes a lot of video horsepower) and it feels like I am at the field...who needs real RC helis?? [X(]

Now I can get some sim time in, finally.

Looks like I didn't miss much...

Mark,

I guess we'll be looking for a maiden soon!!?? Glad to hear the swash leveler made it finally...

JPEE,

Interesting stuff on the Turnigy servo and what not...they are really keeping up with the latest technology over there...I hope the quality is decent for the price, and it works out for you.

Glad to hear about your good flights, and sounds like your friend there is coming along nicely with his learning curve as well...

Nick,

Yeah, seems like the general public is getting quite a kick out of the Mazda 6 spider issue...and believe it or not, the public knows about as much as we do, Mazda has not provided us with any info on the recall yet, and we have customers calling in already..

I think the issue is one of opportunity...the spiders are everywhere; there just happens to be an inviting little slot in the fuel vapor system that they can find and fit in comfortably, and call home...the fix is a small spring that covers the slot, so the spiders can't make the fuel system their home anymore...

Glenn

JPEE

Glenn,
You have been busy. No rest for the wicked I guess lol.

Just some additional information, Chopper Dave sent me this
link. It is for another comparable servo for 611 gyro. [link=http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=8255]S9256 Clone Servo[/link]

Aframomum

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Have to run to work real soon but wanted to get some pictures loaded up:

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hey guys,

Still have a bit of work left to do before my maiden...mainly wiring cleanup and tail servo/gyro setup. I just wanted to do a spool up and see how everything ran and check the gear meshing.

As you can see this is something I decided was too big to do any kind of spool up in the bedroom...from now on any adjustments that require me to spool up the motor is going to be done outside...this is just too large for me to feel comfortable...my 500 had me on edge and I felt I was pushing it with that one doing it indoors. And I haven't even put the main blades on yet.

Mark

Aframomum

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Finally getting a break at work so can get caught up...

John,

I bet you were happy to get a chance to get some flying in with the 450 and 500...sounds like your 'trainee' is progressing nicely and I can imagine being on the buddy box keeps you on your toes.

Those Turnigy servo's look really good for the money...some of the clone items are top notch as inexpensive replacements. Turnigy actually seems to be a great alternative...their batteries, motors, and servo's all seem to get great reviews...I can't see you going wrong with them.

Glenn,

Interesting and great news on the SSD drive...but I always thought that the speed at which programs opened had to do with RAM memory...but with the rapid advacement of computer equipment I'm sure that has been outdated and I'm just a few decades behind! I suppose much of it has to do with the NAND description you posted? Glad you patiently waded through all the reloading of Phoenix...sounds like it payed off for you.

Yep...sometime this week I will be getting my maiden in.

Doing the spool up in the drive way this morning really got me hyped to finish this thing up...hopefully I can finish tonight and do a quick driveway hover tomorrow morning. Sorry John for messing your up MOJO...of course you could find some MOMBA - I hear thats always better then MOJO! Lol.

Mark

evdreamer

John,

That is cool you are able to use a cheaper servo. That is cool you got 6 flights in a couple of days ago.

The day started out with snow, but luckily it all melted and finished with the day raining. I just hope that doesn't freeze.

I have been working on my math algorithms for my microcontrollers. I developed a new 32bit division algorithm that is a 1000x faster than my previous one. Now I can do complex math operations and still have some accuracy.

Mark,

That is cool you are getting close to the maiden.

Nick

evdreamer

Guys,

I found out my club's field is one of the stopping points for the 2011 Huckfest! It is an event for large airplanes. I read on another forum that some people from South Dakato and Iowa will be coming.

evdreamer

My new Hyperion charger came today. It is about the same size as my old one, so it still fits nice on my power supply. It also had a discharger unlike my old one. My Velocity parts came too, so maybe this weekend I can finish it up.

JPEE

Hi Nick,

Cool that your new charger came in today. Being able to discharge a pack is really nice, so that is a nice bonus for you! Oh boy Velocity

parts, man that would be great if you could get her done this weekend. I hope the cold weather and snow are gone by then for you.

What does this mean from your other post? 2011 ****s Huckfest! It appears you might have to PM me if it can't be posted,

would you please?


Mark,

I hope the 550 is getting her blades on and going dancing soon. I know it will go wonderful for you, my fingers are crossed.



I am so busy these days, but today I got over to the LHS today. While there some I asked if they had a Futaba top case number #

yadda yadda yadda that Futaba told me was interchangeable with my 9256 from my 600 tail. They did not, but they did have the whole case

for $8.00 and change. So I brought that puppy home, tore open the bag like a 9 year kid on Christmas and sure enough, she fit like a glove.

My $120.00 tail servo is back! !


Time to hit the rack, this old boy is "blowed" tonight.

John

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Nick,

That is cool that you are going to get back on the Velocity this weekend, hope all goes well on it.

Your new charger sounds nice, and the discharge mode can really come in handy sometimes.

Sounds like a big plane event, I guess you'll be seeing some nice ones....some of those bigger ones are pretty cool, they really look like real planes in the air.

JPEE,

Glad you got the servo part to wrap things up....

What's up with the tiny font? I'm getting up there, I don't need to be squinting at the screen like an old man to remind me...lol...

Mark,

Cool pics! I can understand the intimidation factor....it will take some getting used to for sure, the bigger birds definitely demand respect!

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for ya on the test hover, and the eventual maiden!

The speed at which programs open depends on a lot of things, and RAM is one of them...as well as processor speed, bus speed, how fragmented the hard drive is, etc. This machine I have is already fast, so the SSD really woke it up that much more....it may not be as noticable on a slower machine with less RAM, slower processor and bus speeds, etc. The SSD just kinda put the icing on the cake, so to speak..

Good luck!

Glenn

evdreamer

John,

I didn't type that, so RCU must have inserted that. It is another forum that must be competition for RCU. I tried posting it again and RCU did the same thing.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi guys,

Nick...congrats on the new charger and long awaited Velocity parts.

Here you go John...blades and all...just waiting for these winds to diminish but supposed to have rain tonight into tomorrow. Maybe the weekend.

BTW, saw the shuttle pass over the house at 11:42 this morning...left a very long and distinct contrail or something similar...very cool. Missed the sonic boom though.

Pictures of my finished heli...

Mark

rotarydoc

Mark,

The new 550 looks absolutely stunning! Great job!

It if flies half as good as it looks, you have nothing to worry about!

Cool that you got to see Discovery go by for the very last time....

Glenn

JPEE

Hi Glenn,

I looked through what I thought was a brand new 400 screw set with tons of tiny bags and did not find a matching screw. I "did" find a screw that was very close but the threads were more course than

my needed screw so it is unusable. If you could when you have time, just tape that little punk inside of a regular letter envelope and mail out I would be grateful. You don't need some special fancy shamcy

costly mailer. THANKS


Sorry about the large text, I'll go back and reduce it.



Mark,

I saw your last post today on my phone while I was flying and she does look very neat and tidy. I typed a nice reply this afternoon from the Fly Park only to have it freeze up on my iphone and become lost in

cyber space. Drat's, I hate that! It was a 75 degree beautiful, sunny clear day today to say the least. It's really neat you got to see the next to the last Shuttle come in, something worthy to tell your children.

However, by the time they are old enough to understand all of this we will all be driving flying saucers lol. Back to the 550 for a sec, I "love" that canopy!


FOR ME: I got in on a deal today on HF and got another Align 100 amp ESC slightly used from a 600e ESP which is the blue one with extra cooling fins on it. On my 600-1 it came with its stock motor and a

75 amp esc for back in the day use. But I thought, if I am building these birds up then I might as well move up the game a bit and keep the 75 ampere for a spare and have both 600's flying on 100 amperes just for

safety sake. I got it for $62.00 mailed, it retailed for $120.00 plus tax so that brightened day.

That is it from Cali............ JPEE

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hey guys,

I was very fortunate to be outside with my son at the time Discovery flew over the house (that is just so cool sounding ), of course afterwards I ran inside to watch it land on the teli. Endeavour is scheduled to launch April 19 at 7:49PM...very possibly a night launch!! I hear they are amazing and I will be taking my wife and son to go out to Titusville and see it...if it goes up as scheduled. I love living in Florida.

Thanks for the compliments on the 550...I get a huge smile every time I take a look at her (yeah, my wife is a bit jealous lol ). On the canopy, John, it has a latch on the bottom that connects to the front landing gear strut so there's almost no chance it'll flip up into the blades when doing hard 3D...I think at IRCHA a 700E crashed b/c of a canopy flying into the main blades during a 3D show. I like how secure fitting it is (of course I won't be doing hard 3D but it is nice to go inverted and not have to worry about a loose canopy )

Nick,

Looks like the FlyingGiants Huckfest is going to be in your area June 9-12...guess what? There going to be in Orlando May 26-29...beat ya lol. Should be something really cool to see in person.

How's the Velocity rebuild coming? Now put down all your other projects and get that bird airworthy again...Spring is coming fast you know?!

John,

Sorry about your phone freezing up...that's up there on the ol'frustration meter with RCU dumping a post. [:-] At least you were at the flypark enjoying some you time.

Great catch on that 100Amp ESC...can't beat half off.

Glenn,

Thanks for the explaination on your new HD speed.

Do you have any plans to fly this weekend? I saw possible snow for PA over the next few days but it seemed further north of you, maybe just rain right now? I sincerely hope winter is coming to a close for you.

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Your 550 looks good.

That is cool you saw the shuttle come down.

Yeah, I want to go see the Huckfest at my field. My company hired a new guy, so by then I should be able to get some weekends off again.

I haven't started on the Velocity yet. I don't have much free time during week days with school and work. I have been addicted to my programming projects and what free time I have is used for that. Once I get a programming idea in my head I can't stop thinking about it until I try the program out.

John,

That is cool you got another 100A ESC.

Nick

evdreamer

Guys,

I had some time and decided to work on the Velocity. It is now air worthy. Now I just have to finish breaking in the engine.

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

When it rains, it pours...literally...we have a deluge of rain here, complete with flooding, closed roads and more...I think it's tapering off now, and supposed to clear up tomorrow. I didn't get it nearly as bad as some of the people in New Jersey, and places around there.

JPEE,

Cool on the extra ESC. Definitely a good move over the 75 amp, a good safety margin for sure.

Your tiny little screws for the 450 head are on the way, mailed them earlier today. I hope they make it in that regular envelope, I'm not sure how much those mail sorting machines compress the envelopes when they go through. I guess we'll see if they make it..

Nick,

Sounds good on the Velocity. Now all you need is some good weather.

Good luck on the engine break-in.

Sounds like you really enjoy your programming projects. Keep up the great work..

Mark,

Thanks for the better weather wishes...this weekend sounds pretty nice, a lot better than this constant rain...but it lools pretty breezy for flying. Plus I am thinking the fields will probably be mud baths...

I still may fly a couple of packs, we'll see....it depends on how much I am enjoying the new iPad2... They go on sale tomorrow at 5PM...I'll be in the line at Best Buy..

Glad I helped clear up the PC speed picture for you. I'm still loving this new found speed!

Glenn

JPEE

Hi Guys,

Nick, what wonderful news you had time to sneak in there and get to your Velocity. Next I wishe for you is some decent weather for you to test her out and break her in.

I'll bet now that you are really growing with the help of your classes of program writing. Your probably crunching numbers in your sleep! Man it must be fun to be at your

stage in life where everything is new and you have so many discovery's to make. I am happy for you..........


Glenn,

Thanks for getting the screws off in the mail. I doubt there will be any problems with them arriving safe and intact especially after you wrapped them in 4" of foam...LOL.

Seriously, I do appreciate you support. It is hard to believe that it takes all of this to find two micro small screws. I mean, what's a guy to do when you can't get these

parts at the LHS?

Let me get this straight, you are going to buy a new iPad2 tomorrow? So your stepping up to the new iPad-2 because of its greater power and technology? I just did a

Google on it and found that it should be more powerful and have two cameras for SKYPE-ING...........he he he. My best wishes for you that you get in on the deal

tomorrow. Remember! when standing in line to get in on a deal like this "anything goes"! Push the smaller and older people down in line and out of your way and get to

the front of the at all costs! No measure is too small to be considered!


Mark,

I hope your weather clears up like you forecasted for this weekend's maiden. Even if it doesn't clear up enough, just looking at that beauty sitting on the table is a gift

unto itself. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

JPEE

rotarydoc

JPEE,

You are welcome, hope they make it OK.

I did find some in bulk, from the same company that sells the kits that I got the screws I sent you....only problem is you have to buy 15 of 'em...

http://www.rcscrewz.com/product_info...oducts_id/2599

Looks like they make both 6 or 8 mm length.. the ones I sent you seem like they are somewhere in between that, I got about 7.7 mm....so they must be the 8mm ones...

I wasn't using them anyways, so I'm glad I could help.

Yeah, the iPad 2 is thinner (thinner than an iPhone 4!) a tad lighter, faster processor, more RAM, and yes, the dual cameras....all while keeping it at the same price....

What I wanted them to do (and a lot of people did) was to increase the display resolution....but that would have been costly, and quite a challenge to do. I have gotten really spoiled by the "Retina Display" on the iPhone 4...it's kinda like watching HD TV, once you've seen it, you never want to go back...

I still can't wait...


Glenn

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Successful hover tonight!!

And I video'd it this time...no hard landings (made sure all radio settings were corrected )...lessons learned from earlier times. A bit of tail wag and I didn't have any expo thrown in so it was kinda twitchy...but other than that it was great.

Video: http://vimeo.com/20908513

Mark

JPEE

Mark, I am so tickled for you! A great video indeed with great narration! ! ! What your words we got to live the maiden with you, we could hear and feel your excitment!

John

JPEE

Glenn, we are seeing lines blocks long here to get the new iPad, did you get your?

evdreamer

Mark,

Your 550 looks at home in the air.

Glenn,

Hope you got your iPad 2.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

First of all, congrats on the first hover Mark! Looks nice, sounds nice, and the video came out really well too....CONGRATS!! I heard those nervous gestures there at first, really adds to the feeling of the video! We've all been there!


WELL, I did NOT get an iPad 2 yesterday, and I must say that has to have been one of the most frustrating days of my life that I can recall (except for maybe a certain B400 vibration, that sent me scurrying to a LHS 60 miles away to replace it...lol).

Summary; I went to 3 different Best Buy stores, a Target, a Walmart, a Best Buy Mobile store, an AT&T store, and finally an Apple store over a course of about 6 hours and untold miles...and came home with nothing....empty handed..

Apple obviously did not anticipate the demand, or went ahead anyways, not sure which. The way Best Buy stores ran the distribution is a joke...when I got to the first BB, I was about 65th in line...and there were plenty behind me...they walked around and counted people, then later on, they start handing out "tickets" which entitle you to an iPad of you choosing (of what's left by the time they get to you). Well, by the time they got to me, they had 2 left, neither of which I was willing to purchase (a decision I'd later regret...). So, I got there at 3:30, stood there for an hour an a half, and got nothing...and, there were at least 50 people behind me that I'm sure didn't get one either...

And the story goes on, from one store to the next. The second BB was even worse...I got in the end of the line, and waited, again, for a good 45 minutes....and one employee came out and asked if everyone had "tickets"...well, no one told anyone in the back of the line about any tickets...

By the time I finally got to the front, I was offered a white Verizon 3G, 64GB model...which I certainly didn't want...so I had to walk from that one too...and then on to Target, Walmart, Best Buy mobile, AT&T (who offered to order it for me...oh, really?? I think I can go online and do that myself, thanks!), and finally the Apple store itself, which was completely out...

I was about at the end of my rope by 9:30 or so, and out of gas....

Oh well...when I did finally get to see/hold one, I realized that it isn't all that much of an improvement/upgrade, just minor tweaks, really...so I'll just wait for next year's model...

But what an experience. I have read on iPad 2 forums that I definitely wasn't the only one...some people didn't get one after standing in line for 10 HOURS....

You can bet if I go to another big Apple release, and REALLY want to get one, I'll take the whole day off of work, and get there very early....most who did, got what they wanted...

Hope you guys are having a great weekend!

Glenn