RE: Draganflier used for business?
Maybe the BL motors are what make all the difference. Don't you love those E.U. transmitters? BTW the guy in the video looks exactly like my brother, who happens to be flying the Bell 412 pictured in my avatar. He just went to work for Blackwater - I told him he picked a great time to go to work for those guys! Guess he'll be crying all the way to the bank.
Posted on: 12/10/2007 8:33 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6740563

RE: Draganflier used for business?
I'm playing a bit of the devil's advocate here. If you had all the money in the world, probably the MicroDrone quad would be da bomb for any kind of AP you could want to do. The DF is an excellent learning device, and can be used as a springboard to other missions. The disadvantages... setup at both transmitter and rotor head, etc., etc. I've successfully flown the DF more than any
Posted on: 12/10/2007 12:07 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6738507

RE: Draganflier used for business?
. I would argue that it is all about one thing: "What is your mission?" I found the DF... off with the DF because I felt it to be small, light, easily deployed, and safe around people
Posted on: 12/9/2007 8:10 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6736122

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
Here's how "The Beast" is coming along. Take-off weight is going to be around 18-20lbs. The last picture shows a comparison between a 600mm T-Rex main blade and the 820mm Vario blade. The tuned exhaust was custom built for the heli. Cheers! Bruce
Posted on: 12/9/2007 7:47 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6736018

RE: Draganflier used for business?
Here's a challenge to anyone: list the reasons why a quad is better than a conventional for commercial work?
Posted on: 12/6/2007 9:30 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6723787

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
recovering ex-DF flyer from this forum! Then I'll take what I've learned and fix up
Posted on: 11/29/2007 10:38 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6693195

Want to sell your M920 Video Headset?
Anybody want to sell their Icuiti (now Vuzix) M920-Video headset? DFI does not carry them any more (actually they had the best price). I sold my Eyetop Centras to a friend expecting to immediately buy the M920, but now everybody's got them on backorder...
Posted on: 11/27/2007 11:10 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6683871

I'm getting a divorce!
-time job now shooting AP stills, and plan to put the money from the DF sale towards building a $4000 Maxi-Joker over the slow winter months. The DF has been a lot of fun, but I need to lift a heavy SLR... DF and receiver systems (the DF has a brand new Spectrolutions board), I've got another brand... sunglasses, 6 batteries, 8 sets of blades. I've logged 28 hours on the DF and it shows some wear
Posted on: 10/10/2007 4:30 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6376864

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
Great video, Clement, as always! What's that camera mount with the skids that fold up? I've seen that before and it looks like a good design. Here's a real estate marketing slideshow put together with shots from the T-Rex over the last couple of days. http://www.360vplus.com/204358 Cheers, Bruce
Posted on: 9/5/2007 11:23 AM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6330628

RE: Flying above 300 feet
is a lot more skittish than the DF! Cheers, Bruce
Posted on: 9/2/2007 12:48 AM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6316893

RE: Flying above 300 feet
[quote]ORIGINAL: Old Man Mike 1) Adding large colored skids 2) Spotter friend with binoculars to call out orientation 3) Head mounted monocular. [/quote] 4) T-Rex![:D] 5) Maxi-Joker![;)]
Posted on: 9/1/2007 8:24 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6315972

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
[quote]ORIGINAL: BB_DF Sky, why don't you show the gang the technique for making aerials look like miniatures? [/quote] Turns out Picasa (free download from Google) has this function built in. I has just two sliders, one to set the size of the center oval, and the other to set the degree of soft focus outside the circle. Works great. Great price, too! Ciao, Bruce
Posted on: 8/21/2007 10:29 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6270057

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
Ah yes, winds 25 MPH gusting to 45 - what better time to check out what's going on over at Jethro & Bubba's place? All that wind howling, they won't hear a thing. Can we get a little banjo music here? This is the place that the DF crashed previously with a power drop-out. Pretty scary sneaking back there behind those buildings trying to find it. The pieces were lying around
Posted on: 8/21/2007 12:02 AM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6265479

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
Sky, why don't you show the gang the technique for making aerials look like miniatures? After I saw those examples you PM'd me, it's easy to visualize how shots like these could be candidates for the "miniature train" treatment. Ciao, Bruce
Posted on: 8/20/2007 1:25 AM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6261134

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
Clement, Thank you for your tutorial! You are a gentleman and a scholar - and a darn good salesman to boot! You definitely convinced me to go the gasser route instead of the big electric, based on your real-life experiences. Sometimes things look good on paper, but then reality raises its ugly head [:D]. Also, you're right that you can visually check your fuel level, when with an electric it's always guesswork. Although the T-Rex 600 is great for stills, the first question everyone asks when you discuss aerial video is "can you shoot HD?". Looks like the gasser is definitely the way to go. I've shifted most of my technical discussions over to [link=http://www.helifreak.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53]THIS FORUM[/link] as "crewchief" so I hope to see you over there too. Thanks again, Bruce
Posted on: 8/18/2007 10:53 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6256274

RE: NON-DRAGANFLYER / OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION
Hi Clement7, Your aerial video work is excellent - what most of us strive for! We're trying to decide to add a second heli to our fleet, and are undecided between the Maxi-Joker2 electric and the Century Condor gasser. I have two questions for you, if you don't mind: 1. What model gasser do you fly? 2. Did you have the engine balanced before you built it, and if not, how's the vibration level? The nice thing about the big electrics are that they're super smooth German engineering. Of course the shortcomings are shorter flight times and less lifting power. The batteries are also expensive, but if you baby them they'll run for 100 hours, and I think that makes up for the mess and fumes. Thanks a bunch, Bruce
Posted on: 8/18/2007 3:05 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6254627

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
DF high altitude markers (could be made lighter for better climb). Must be flown in absolutely calm conditions!
Posted on: 8/15/2007 9:55 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6243687

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
I'm trying to get high enough (perhaps I should re-phrase that[:)]) to get in the majority of an average sized development. The clarity of this shot is not very good, but it was a successful altitude test. I was shooting too fast (800) for the conditions, which were overcast and hazy. However, on the first flight shooting auto ISO, all the images were blurry. In order to get the necessary speed with the small lens, I think I'll have to shoot on bright, clear days, like on some of the previous tries that turned out better. I'll re-shoot this on a sunny day for comparison. After a few more flights I'll get comfortable with going a little higher, but this flight just about pegged the old pucker meter. I'd guess this was 400 - 500'. The exact altitude is not really important - I don't think I'll ever be able to get into controlled airspace. The frame is 4' wide and the colored foam pieces are 3' long. Still, it reduced to the size of a small bug in the sky. The overcast was helpful in keeping it oriented, though. It seems to take forever to descend - about 3 minutes! All you have to go on is throttle position. You can't tell visually if it's ascending or descending, and you can't hear it for about the first two minutes of descent. - Bruce
Posted on: 8/15/2007 2:41 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6241974

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
Yep, you pretty much hit the nail on the head!
Posted on: 8/13/2007 7:44 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6234270

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
[quote]ORIGINAL: Sky High As you know, that's something I can easily identify with. [:D][/quote] Sky - That looks like exactly the same rig! Maybe you could throw some light on this. I noticed the camera had about 4 stubby antennas sticking out of it, and also there was a guy walking around with a vest on, like a human antenna farm. What's the deal?
Posted on: 8/13/2007 6:45 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6233992

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
[quote]ORIGINAL: Old Man Mike ...Although I like the angle shots much better, I can see the value of near vertical imaging. How high do you think you were? [/quote] Mike, A lot of these ideas will be relevant to the DF after you attain more lifting power with the BL motors. For instance there'... about a similar very lightweight CF version for the DF, maybe using painted cardboard tubes
Posted on: 8/13/2007 3:41 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6233144

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
[quote]ORIGINAL: Old Man Mike This one looks just like a shot from Google Earth. In fact, I would love to see a side by side comparison which should be easy to do with an address or lat/long for that location.[/quote]
Posted on: 8/13/2007 5:10 AM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6231198

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
. When you get your OMMM DF working, and guys who want to build the Q4 to lift some small cameras
Posted on: 8/12/2007 6:16 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6229064

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
[link=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d85/bboatner/GH1203w.jpg]Vertical shot GH1203[/link]
Posted on: 8/12/2007 5:30 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6228882

RE: A complitation of my Draganfly video work
Great work, Dirk. Doh! Thanks for putting this together - brings back fond memories of my 6 months in England. Thanks also for the "banned" MicroDrone video. Cheers, Bruce
Posted on: 8/12/2007 5:11 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6228806

RE: AP Wire video of new quad copter
[quote]ORIGINAL: Fire Fly The handheld box looked like a man's electric shaver. For the price they are charging for the MD you would think they could use a custom housing or something a little more professional looking [/quote] It is an electric shaver case. It's just a proof of concept demo and not for sale.
Posted on: 8/12/2007 10:03 AM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6227607

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
I built this mount to test straight-down shooting, like a satellite photo. The mount included highly visible orientation markers, so I can keep the camera aligned with the compass directions at high altitudes. Lesson learned: even with a wide angle lens, it's hard to cover a really large area, like a subdivision. A small amount of tilt in the camera angle would increase the viewable area tremendously. [link=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d85/bboatner/Alt1.jpg]Vertical Shot 1[/link] [link=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d85/bboatner/Alt6.jpg]Vertical Shot 2[/link] - Bruce
Posted on: 8/11/2007 6:35 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6225494

RE: LANDING GEAR FOR DRAGANFLYER SAVS
Welcome, Ross. I couldn't find any examples of it off-hand, but I've seen a lot of quadros using a flat springy metal loop or half-circle running from the motor mount to the main hub under each motor support arm. Maybe somebody knows where to find a picture of it for you. A lot of the home-built jobs use that approach. Cheers, Bruce
Posted on: 8/10/2007 4:12 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6221517

RE: Another Custom Camera Mount
For anybody interested in following OMM's lead in using a high quality camera... Here are three unedited shots with the FX-07, ASA 400, antishake mode 1, and the low angle camera mount. I was practicing guesstimating the altitude & stand-off distance for such a large subject. I made a second trip out there after downloading the first batch of pictures, and got much better shots. This kind of exercise will of course be relevant regardless of what you're flying. Lesson learned today: very smoothly keep changing altitude and stand-off distance, and also continuously slowly pan back and forth. Don't think you've got it nailed and sit there in the same hover for a long time. All it takes is one good shot to make the session work, and there's nothing more frustrating than having 500 frames that are cutting off the edge of your subject. The wide angle lens makes it look like it's shot from a very high altitude, but it wasn't really. Before you mount the camera on the heli, look through the viewfinder and find how far away you need to stand to frame the subject correctly. This will tell you about where you should launch to give you the correct lateral offset at altitude. 1600 x 1200 pics: [link=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d85/bboatner/_CB1.jpg]Factory_1[/link] [link=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d85/bboatner/_CB2.jpg]Factory_2[/link] [link=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d85/bboatner/_CB3.jpg]Factory_3[/link] - Bruce Thumbnails:
Posted on: 8/10/2007 3:52 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6221444

RE: Ti problem
Sky's right about the calibration. You didn't say anything about how you set the level, which is just as important as the calibration. -Bruce
Posted on: 8/10/2007 2:44 PM by Author "BB_DF" in the forum "Draganfly Innovations Products"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=6221183