[TowerTalk] Fwd: the future of antenna and tower inspection

David Robbins k1ttt at verizon.net
Tue Apr 16 15:19:36 EDT 2013


i only see control apps for i-thingies and android devices.  they use the tilt sensors in the devices for control, and can use the compass in them for absolute orientation also.  though they do have a joystick type of mode that would eliminate the need for tilting and turning.  the control apps are also set up so you use the touchscreen as the joysticks or to do other controls functions.  they do have a sdk available that you might be able to use to rewrite it for some other type of control.


Apr 16, 2013 01:13:16 PM, k2xx at swva.net wrote:

I have two questions re this topic. Can one use a laptop or netbook 
rather than a tablet to control the aircraft?

There appear to be high capacity batteries available for it. Has anyone 
tried them? If so, what is the maximum flight time with them?

Thanks.

73, Joe
K2XX

On 4/16/2013 9:00 AM, n4zkf wrote:
> I have two of these that I use for checking active bird nests on towers
> before we climb up to do work. They work off my iPad and iPhone and are
> pretty slick with a 720p video cam in front and a still cam in the bottom
> but the battery lasts about 10 minutes and it's done. Time to bring it to
> the ground.
>
> Other than that it's a great piece of equipment. When you turn it on you
> even set how high off the ground you want it to start. So it pops up to 4'
> (what I have it set at) right off the bat. It's not effected by the winds
> for sure. I live on the ocean.
>
>
> 73 Dave n4zkf
> e-mail: n4zkf at n4zkf.com
> web: http://www.n4zkf.com
> AR-Cluster node: 145.05 Mhz. or telnet://dxc.n4zkf.com:23
> CC-Cluster node: 145.07 Mhz. or telnet://ccc.n4zkf.com:7373
> Packet BBS: 145.05 Mhz.-14.098 Mhz. or telnet://bbs.n4zkf.com:6300
> BPQ Node: 145.05 Mhz.-14.098 Mhz. (n4zkf-5)
> SEDAN Node: 145.770 Mhz. (n4zkf-7)
> N4ZKF/R 147.375 Mhz. Tone 103.5
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 4/16/13 2:38 AM, "David Gilbert" wrote:
>
>> I think the biggest problem with a balloon or kite is that you're
>> totally at the mercy of the wind. At least a copter tries to hold it's
>> GPS position if the winds are not too bad. The demo video I've seen of
>> the OctoCopter makes it look like it has power to spare to overcome some
>> pretty strong winds, assuming the wind speed doesn't change too fast
>> (gusts) for the reaction time of the system.
>>
>> 73,
>> Dave AB7E
>>
>>
>>
>> On 4/15/2013 10:41 PM, Jim Lux wrote:
>>> On 4/15/13 10:33 PM, Grant Saviers wrote:
>>>> piling on,
>>>>
>>>> the leads/antenna could be small gauge with power sent via high
>>>> voltages/low current, since the motors could be PWM driven with the
>>>> onboard processor or a simple buck convertor.. Taking out the LiPo
>>>> battery saves weight too. Any Maker's that have hacked one? btw
>>>> having flown a MEMS gyro in a rocket, I don't think the MEMS gyros are
>>>> stable enough for long term unattended hover positioning, so periodic
>>>> radio position control would probably be needed, or maybe a GPS lock.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I think optical station keeping would be easiest. Most of these
>>> things have a video camera looking down, so what you'd do is set up a
>>> colored target, and it would try to keep it centered.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Of course, a Kiteoon would be easier.
>>>
>>> from TT, April 4th, 2003, WB6WIK writes
>>> Hi Mirko,
>>>
>>> I've paid about $200 for a kiteoon, locally. The 8-to-9 foot diameter
>>> WX balloons are usually about $30 each, so a kiteoon is definitely more
>>> expensive -- but, the kiteoon is reusable, whereas the latex WX
>>> balloons are not. Once they stretch from use and the He starts
>>> leaking through the latex (which it does, within about two days), the
>>> WX balloons are good for the garbage bin.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
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