hobbies

All posts tagged hobbies

Since I really love LEGO and have a bunch of small kits assembled on my office shelf, this really sounds good to me.

I think I’ve received a dozen emails from people pointing me to a LEGO model of the Curiosity rover at the CUUSOO website. CUUSOO is a website where LEGO modelers can share concepts for kits. The CUUSOO community can vote to support concepts, and if the concept receives 10,000 votes, it goes to a LEGO committee. Each quarter, the committee reviews the supported concepts, and may choose one to actually bring to market as an official LEGO kit.

An amazing LEGO model of Curiosity | The Planetary Society.

Shopping Cart
Item Unit Price Qty. Cost
Main Rotor Blades V2 $7.00 1 $7.00
Propeller (Purple) $3.00 1 $3.00
Propeller (Yellow) $3.00 1 $3.00
Propeller (Red) $3.00 1 $3.00
Thunder AC6 Smart LiPo Balance Charger/Discharger w/ AC Adapter for 1-6 Lipo/ 1-15 Nimh + USB to PC Software $42.90 1 $42.90
8-pcs AA 2200mAh NiMH Rechargerable Battery $13.50 1 $13.50
Fast Charger for AA & AAA $15.90 1 $15.90
Screw Set $2.00 1 $2.00
O Ring $2.00 1 $2.00
EXI 450 Pro Carbon Fiber RC Helicopter BELT-DRIVEN Kit $70.00 1 $70.00
Dynam 450 brushless motor+40A ESC+4PCS 9g servos+GY48V gyro for Trex/EXI 450 $45.00 1 $45.00

$167.75, from Xheli.com
This is the latest 2.4Ghz Walkera HMV200D01 Flybarless Brushless Micro helicopter, come in Ready-To-Fly package with all the necessary items inside. It’s using shaft transmission and the 3 Axis Gyro System ensuring stable fly. Its overall length is 432mm. The new flybarless structure consume less power and let you have a longer flight time. The 4-channels 2.4Ghz transmitter with over 100+ channels allows you to find different 2.4Ghz at the same time without interference, also the power indication avoids accidents caused by lack of transmitter electricity.

With the new 2402D controller, the 3 Axis Gyro System controls the balance in the 3 direction of elevation, rudder and aileron, and features automatic amending of the flight status. It is the optimal mode for beginner!

Features

The design of flybarless balance characterizes low power loss and great efficiency improvement
Three-axis gyro control makes the Flybarless balance system automatically amend the flight status and provide safety for the beginners
Powerful brushless motor ensures safe, fast, and smooth flying and control
The Devention 2402D Devo transmitter features the basic 4ch control with programmable servo reversing displayed on an easy to see backlit LCD screen.

Specification

Brushless Motor: WK-WST-21-003
Brushless Speed Controller: WK-WST-20A-1
Weight: 268g
Tail Rotor Diameter: 121 mm
Main Rotor Diameter: 440 mm
Overall Length: 432 mm
Gyro: Walkera 3-axis Flybarless System with built in Receiver. (Devo version)
Battery: 7.4V 1000mAh Li-Po
DEVO 2402D 2.4Ghz Transmitter with (DSSS) ARM micro computer system encoder **Transmitter requires 8 AA Batteries)

Walkera V200D01 Flybarless Metal 4 Channel RC Helicopter w/ Auto Stabilizing Gyro + 2.4 GHz 2402D Devo Transmitter RTF.

Up just after 7 and messed around, got sheets ready to wash but noticed I was out of detergent. Then did some cleaning around the house, 409 and then vacuuming first the upstairs and then the down.

Brian headed out to the range to shoot his mosin and others out on a outside range somewhere in south ATLANTA. I had not wanted to get mostly due to my not feeling really comfortable with the cleaning job I’ve done on my mosin.

I also tried a little maiden flight for my falcon40, it seems to be spinning in the clockwise direction wpuntil it leaves the ground and then it seems to steady up. But then the ‘copter pitches to the left, I need to look ontheweb to see if I can find some tips on tuning and stuff, the v2 is different than the v1 which I’ve learned mostly about.

Went over to the shroom for lunch, Justin showed up and I got to see the gals there, mostly Caitlin fawn over him a bit, he’s cool like that :). The dude does have a following there and is very popular with the gals. Erin was her typical standoffish self but smiled more than usual. Lauryn was a bit slow early on but after she go stone caffeine in her she was mu ch more fun. Caitlin was at the beach or at least the poplin the last couple of days, the tan lines where her bikini top was were very evidence and kept drawing my eye, I really do like tan-lines. Talked about Portal, a new store called Xxxxxxx, the Olympics but only by me.

Went over to Hooters after since I don’t have any will power, Katrina was working the bar and Kris awa working manager, let them both know about the night Patty and Rob are suppose to be in town, also Kree sho I expected to be working bar was on the floor, mmmm.

20120717-095828

I then headed on home, picking up some laundry detergent and after getting to the house realizing that Nicki and Jorael were there and the washer/dryer were occupied. Nicki then told me that she feels she may loose her job @ the “school”. They have a new Manager, not Ashley whom I knew and hired her but another lady who is very close to the owner whom Nicki does not get along with very well. She also says her “class” is shrinking due to many getting on to school this year so when that happens very soon now she may not be a lead teacher (or she will have to go part time). I hope things go well and I let her know that if she is not comfortable with her job security she really needs to start looking HARD.

I then decided to head over to the pool for some R&R and some ultra-violet light. Had a beer there and got to chat a bit with Patty from next door. Heard a tail about the folks being asked to “tend” to the overgrown area behind their prospective houses, the area between each and the creek, by Patty and I it is part of the “border” of the Post Office but I think their’ is only between each of their houses. Also, Patty’s step-son has been with them the whole summer and they hope to go back to TX with him and possibly be able to bring him back to go to school here and stay with them. Hope so too, he’s a nice kid.

Went out to Taco Mac while Nicki and Jorael watched the Olympics, I caught the volleyball and then some of the men’s gymnasics while there. Brian came by and had a beer with me as well along with some dinner, we both had the new roast beef and blue not a bad wrap but I could and should have taken half home. Had the Festive Ale 11 and the Rogue Dad’s Little Helper, both dark and sweet. A new gal behind the bar with Nicholas, Meg (but not the one from Johns Creek with the tattoos), seemed nice but a but quiet, like Meg with the tattoos.

It began to rain about 9pm or so, the TVs in Taco Mac began to search for signal and I walked outside and noticed a few large drops, the ground was still about half dry but I went ahead and put the top up on the car, wiped down the seats and things to dry the little rain that did get into the car. I left about 20 minutes after that and it was a lot wetter as I got closer to home.

Came home and watched “Source Code” with Jake G*&*((&*, whatever his name is.

Features:
1.Simplify, compact and high-rigidity Carbon Fiber frame. let all electric system install easy and nice looking.
2.Use Direct-belt-drive, save power and let helicopter very quiet.
3.Use new gear inverse design:13:105, let motor more powerful and long-time.
4.By optimize design of tail gear inverse 51:11 and more long tail-blade journey, let helicopter tail more Smooth and easy lock when you flying.
5.Simple, separate servos-frame, let flyer easy install and repair.
6.In main Carbon fiber frame, use 3pcs belling, insure to the main shaft concentric and less shake.
7.High-precision Carbon fiber tail double-push frame, more smooth and wearable.
8.The separate main gear let flyer install and repair more easy and fast.
9.Carbon fiber tail boom.
10. Carbon fiber main blade.
11. Carbon fiber tail blade.
12. Carbon fiber main frame.
13. High performance head lock gyro (GY48V)
14. Full aluminum alloy upgrade.

Specification:
1. Type: RTF Electric 3D Heli
2. Transmitter: 6CH RTF 2.4Ghz
3. Length: 25.8in (655mm)
4. Main Rotor Diameter: 28.3in (720mm)
5. Tail Rotor Diameter: 5.3in (135mm)
6. Gross Weight: RTF with li-po battery(670g)
7. Battery: 11.1V 2200MAH 15C li-polymer
8. Motor: Brushless 2750KV
9. Control mode: 120-Degree CCPM system

—-OR—-

Shopping Cart
Item Unit Price Qty. Cost
Dynam 450 brushless motor+40A ESC+4PCS 9g servos+GY48V gyro for Trex/EXI 450  [remove] $45.00 $45.00
6-CH 3D Carbon Fiber EXI 450 Sport Edition 25” Remote Control Helicopter Kit  [remove] $68.90 $68.90
FS-TH9X 2.4GHz 9CH Transmitter – RC Helicopters/ Airplanes Transmitter Receiver  [remove] $89.50 $89.50

Dynam 6-Ch 2.4Ghz Carbon Fiber E-Razor 450-3D Metal RC Helicopter RTF w/ Direct-Belt-Drive, 6CH Fully-Loaded Radio System, Lipo Battery, Brushless Motor+ESC.

This is the newly built and redesign Falcon 40, ready to fly, 2.4Ghz Falcon 40 Helicopter from Exceed RC. Never before have electronics of this quality been utilized in an popular RC Beginner Helicopter. Thanks to sophisticated components and advanced engineering, the 2.4Ghz Falcon 40 are not only ready to fly, they fly remarkably easy as well.

via Exceed RC 2.4Ghz Falcon 40 V2 4-Channel RC Helicopter RTF Fixed Pitch – 100% Ready-to-Fly w/ Lipo Battery & LCD Transmitter Monitor (Blue).

Sunny and warm, didn’t get outside at all today during working hours.

I found out this afternoon that the latest (fixed) version of PhotoSmith is suppose to be released worldwide this evening,

I messed with trying to get my device provisioned using enrollment codes but the system wasn’t letting me do it. The SQL server was down again, seems to be something with the computer in support going to sleep. Had a small lunch with

My order from X-Heli just got into town this afternoon about 2:38pm, into Atlanta and should be on the truck tomorrow for delivery. I’m a bit excited to get the 4ch fixed pitch heli so I can see if it flies closer to what I have been noticing the emulators do. I’ll be moving the “training gear” onto the new smaller 9958 ‘copter and playing with it from Thursday on. the three channel ‘copters are just plain messed up since you can’t properly fly them the same as you would the 4CH and 6CH ones. I’m ready to buy a 6CH EXI 450 for about $70 with no electronics, it is made mostly of metal and carbon fiber, not sure if I want the spindle or the belt driven tail rotter though, the belt may fair better in a crash.

I’ve also realized that I just like the idea of constructing a helicopter and then all the adjustments and fine-tuning along with the electronics of the transmitter and programming that. So my next order from X-heli will be the mechanical EXI450 and some spare parts for the 9958. A

Stopped in to the Home Depot in Jones Creek and finally picked up a Dremel Tool, I’ve been wanting one for some time now and I just bought it on impulse since I’m getting more excited about constructing a ‘copter. I also picked up a small caliper and metal ruler both are what I really went to the Depot for to begin with. Lastly, I picked up a set of small drill bits for the Dremel and some locktite as well, the blue kind they said was good for the metal to metal screws on the ‘copters.

Celebrated Katie’s birthday and we all had tequila shots, yuck, we ended with 2nd place due to to some nice questions, the last being how many seats on the Stock Exchange, there is over 1000, but I had no idea and we ended up guessing about 200 something, the gals behind us got 3rd and the two guys (English) won 1st. Katie had turned 28 on Saturday, wow so young, and smart too. took some photos but nobody was really looking. I had a few good moments, one where I was the one to get the answer to the main plant used in the production of Absinthe, wormwood.

Sunny and wispy clouds this morning, lots of thunder and dark skies about 3pm, I went out and put up the top on the car, it didn’t actually rain at all though.


Nicki pressing me for an answer about Jorael staying at the house for some period of time, not sure when and I’m not sure where they are going to put all their “stuff”, I just texted “No”, well a bit more than that but I do not feel right having him stay at the house, I’m to set in my ways and already feel put out when they are in the house. They take over the TV and the living room. I know that the issues that will arise from the kitchen again if she moves back in may be too much for me to bear. Both of them will be impossible. I refuse to be the parent who allows their child to live off them and have the boyfriend/girlfriend staying too. Plus I wouldn’t have done that to my parents I expect her to do the same for me.

Later in the morning I went out for a walk which consisted of taking some photos of several shrooms, a spider and a blue heron. It also contained a bunch of back and forth texts where Nicki tried to make me feel “bad” for not allowing Jorael to stay @ the house, it’s really nothing against him but I just don’t feel it’s right and I refuse to be “pushed” into yet again doing something for Nicki because she has made a bad/un-thought-through choice. She continued to try to make it a “you don’t like him” issue but I explained it wasn’t and I wasn’t going the change my mind. Not sure if she will be coming back to the house or not, she implied she will stay with him, in the car. I have a bad feeling that she will push some sort of thing where he stays @ the house all day and evening only to park himself in the car @ night like they did before. I’m not down with that and will have to fight that.

I haven’t seen the “apartment” and I think I should have went over there before this. Now the dream is over and I would love to be able to visit my daughter in her place sometime but it’s hard if she only has one for about 3-5 months before leaving it again. I really wish she would get a place with some actual roommates instead of living with someone. I really think they both need to be comfortable with living on their own and taking care of themselves alone before trying to do things together.

Drive home still no rain, kept the top up anyway. Home and re-heated the pork cutlets from the day before, still good but I eat a bit too much. Watched some TV, mostly Cooking Channel stuff, some silly Man vs Food and then the one where the guy eats all kinds of odd things. Moved all the photos from the iPad to the MacBook and onto the Desktop.

Then spent some more time watching some videos about RC Copters and finally messed with some simulator time, I think I need to get at least the Heli-X software for about 50 euros or the RealFlight 6 software and controller for about $199. Didn’t get to bed until almost midnight, I have to stop doing this.

Yeah, Friday the 13th. Got paid and paid some bills so not all that “evil” 🙂
Weather was on the cool side, lower 70s and still a bit wet. Rained in the morning but by noon the sun was peaking out occasionally.

Ordered up the parts for the Double Horse 9100 and a toolkit along with a new 9958 mini 4CH FP heli to play with. Realized that I should have never bought a 3CH copter and only a 4 or above. I’d like to get another 4 channel next with a collective, so I’ll be needing atleast $200 or maybe $400.

Work is a bit frustrating, I think I’m getting Deanna mad @ me about not putting 100% into the issues when I continue to have to go back and forth with support just to get the things I need. It’s just so frustrating I just want to let it go and do somethings else. I also found out that another engineer solved the issue with the XSTrans traps, they were just what I thought and he fixed it by using flood control similarly to what we do in Outbound-Notification, smart. Now I feel stupid that I didn’t just think of trying that, although I know I’ve done the same thing before when I start a issue that someone else has had before me and hit a wall.

Ended up at johns creek for a delirium Noel and while the talked to the dude, David who is starting his own possible beer business, lots of people are trying to brew beer for profit these days after they brew in their homes for awhile. I chatted with a dude, thin tall guy drinking all kinds of drinks with maraschino cherries in them, sales guy for some sort of web-security thing that allows doctors to communicate “securely” for HIPA requirements.

Went over to the Mall of GA, glad I did, got to hang with John the Honda Guy and Lori the very cute Auburn fan I used to tease that worked over at the Suwanee store and now works somewhere by Lake Lanier. Lori was complaining about her long (beautiful, thick and dark) hair and about cutting it off. Had the Delirium Noel in both bottle and on draft, it tasted better in the bottle IMHO. I also added the Clown Shoes Eagle Claw Brown which is more like an Imperial IPA than a brown. Finished the night and came on home watching a movie Brian brought up with Katherine Hiegel one of my celebrity crushes.

Sun was out, got up a bit before 6am, was out the door by about 6:20 and at work just after 7. It was hazy and looked like it may rain so I decided to go ahead and put the top up on the car while at work. Lots of thunder @ night but I don’t think it rained.

Took a short walk around the tributary of the Big Creek just off my office complex on the Greenway. Only took a few photos of some bugs, a beachball bug, a beetle of some sort and a damselfly.

Arizona

Arizona

Work was boring, getting another bug, the one I had was re-assigned to someone else.

Came home and made some chicken and rice.

Took some photos of my little pewter Star Trek ships, I’ve been wanting to document the silly things I collect, and that is one of them. I guess I need to make a “family” picture to showcase them.