Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Just picked up the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and OMG I am so loving this phone. Had it for about a month now and just got the KitKat update last week and seriously this phone is awesome! HUGE screen for watching movies, Internet and Facebooking is a joy on Bell’s LTE network. But the BEST thing about this phone for me, the battery. I can go two full days with heavy to moderate use on this battery, NOTHING like I had with my old phone which I had to bring a charger to the office with me if I wanted more than 12 hours out of it. I see why they call this a “Superphone” instead of a “smartphone”, it is SUPER!

Storm Drone 4–SJ4000 Test Video

As promised, here is a little snip-it of a test video I shot using my  SJ4000 Full HD Waterproof Action Helmet Camera mounted to my Storm Drone 4. Hope you enjoy

In the school yard

 

Here is my second video:

Flying around behind the school

 

Here are the results of my flight

Yeah I broke an arm but thankfully that’s all I broke. I ignored the low battery warning for too long and this is the result. It’s just the arm that snapped, the prop and motor are fine.

Storm Drone – with Camera

Well I finally got my camera and mounted it to my Drone. I will start some testing this week and upload some video. I used a Jello Killer to mount the camera to the top side of the drone, here is a link for the mount if interested: 3K Carbon Fiber PTZ Anti-Vibration Frame Set for DJI Phantom Quadcopter. Also important to note, the mounting holes in the mount line up directly with the holes in the top of the Storm so it was real easy to mount solidly to the Storm.

Also, while I wanted to use a GoPro, the price for the GoPro 3+ was just too much for me now so after a lot of searching I found a substitute, the SJ4000 Full HD Waterproof Action Helmet Camera. The camera is a clone of the GoPro and even is compatible with all mounts for the GoPro at a fraction of the cost. I have done some testing and the camera works fine. One thing I noticed, while the camera performs flawlessly in 1080 HD 30 FPS, the 720 60 FPS mode is not worth using. It doesn’t actually record in 60fps but rather, it doubles the frames at 30fps to give you a “simulated” 60fps. Not real happy with that but at the price I’m not complaining.

Here is the drone:

Video to come

Upside Down Video Calling?

Recently I purchased a new mobile phone, the ZTE N861. It’s a Droid of course, I won’t go with anything else and while I am happy with the performance in general, I found an annoying issue. I have a front facing camera that I was looking forward to using in video calling apps like Tango and Skype but for some odd reason, the front facing inverts my video image when using any of these apps. I have contacted ZTE and I am awaiting a possible fix but I found it to be very annoying. The good news if you are reading this is there is a workaround. Hopefully all the people you want to video chat with have G-Mail account and if they don’t you will have to have them set one up.

So far, the only app I have found that works, that does not turn the video upside down, is Google Hangouts (formerly Google Talk). I have thought about posting this on some Android Forums but they are too numerous and I would have to create accounts in all of them. So hopefully if you have searched for “Upside Down Video Calling” you are reading this and I have helped someone out of a jam. I will of course post again if I ever hear from ZTE but for now at least, you have a fix.

Storm Drone-4 Quadcopter UAV

So before I begin telling this story, I want to make one thing perfectly clear for if my girlfriend is reading this, THIS DIDN’T COST ME A DIME. Keep reading below and you will see why, call it a trade in and in fact, I came out way ahead of the game and had a couple hundred left over after the purchase…

So, I have been flying R/C Airplanes and to a degree, Helicopters, since I was a teen (I’m in my 50’s now) and while I would say I am a fair to pretty good pilot with Airplanes and gliders, I suck at Helicopters. I have done the Simulators training (RealFlight G3.5) but can’t seem to get much past basic flight with Helicopters. I can hoover and maneuver fine but 3D flight (tricks) is beyond my capabilities.

That being said, I have been looking into and reading as much as I can on Quadcopters and find them fascinating. The real thrill for me is aerial filming and photography. Strapping a high res camera to the top of one of those and then grabbing some video is very appealing. So, I made the jump, I sold two of my helicopters on kijiji and purchased the Storm Drone-4 from www.Helipal.com and I have to say, I am very pleased with the purchase.

What you see above is the Storm Drone-4, it is the newest variant of the Storm Drone. They have made a few modifications to it, changing up the motors for more thrust so it can carry more payload, they are also lighter also the props have been swapped out for the carbon fiber ones. The radio that you see is the Devention DEVO-7, that same radio actually comes with it if you get the RTF version, in my case, I got the platform only cause I already had the radio and receiver, in fact, I had a few to choose from but went with the DEVO-7 cause the instructions for set-up were already available.

It came mostly assembled in that  it included prebuilt arms with motors, speed controllers and props (pre balanced) already assembled. All I needed to do was to solder the connections for my receiver and gyro board (came with the Storm FF Gyro) which has an industrial grade micro 6-Axis Gyro (Three axis sensor, Three accelerometer). They say it is  extremely sensitive, able to pick up the slightest movement, it is constantly monitoring all three axis which makes the Storm Drone 4 very stable. I have to admit, it is very stable for a fly by stick craft. I will eventually upgrade to a new board, probably the DJI Naza-M Lite Multirotor Gyro System w/ GPS but for now, till I learn how to fly it, I will stick with what I have. Honestly it flies more like a coaxial rotor than a helicopter, very stable.

This image was taken from the site, it shows the two screw fastening for the props. This is in fact a very cool system as it keeps the props perfectly centered. Very important for a Quad as non-centered props will cause vibration and that is the last thing you want for aerial filming.

Here is a little video (not mine) of the original Storm Drone in action. The pilot has a GoPro HERO HD camera mounted to it taking some great aerial footage. Again, this is the original and not the 4th incarnation but it gives you an idea of the stability of the ship and again, this is fly by stick, no GPS stabilization. The uses of this thing, for me, are boundless. So far I have taken it out for a test run only once and it was a fairly windy day, winds gusting up to 20 kph. Even with the gusts, it held fairly solid in the wind and I really only had one hard landing where it flipped on approach. No damage to anything though, a testament of the durability of the craft. So, I am very happy with this and I think I will get a lot of use out of it, my son thinks it’s, according to him “AWESOME”

Don’t take my word or even my son’s word, instead, have a look at this video, if this does not sell you on the possibilities of Quads I don’t know what will.

Published on 11 Jun 2013
In a robot lab at TEDGlobal, Raffaello D’Andrea demos his flying quadcopters: robots that think like athletes, solving physical problems with algorithms that help them learn. In a series of nifty demos, D’Andrea show drones that play catch, balance and make decisions together — and watch out for an I-want-this-now demo of Kinect-controlled quads.

More reviews to come as I get more experienced with it, hopefully a few videos too !

UPDATE: So after flying this for the summer I still have not changed my opinion of this multi-rotor at all. Throughout the winter months I will put some upgrades on it like the GPS V2 from DJI Naza and of course a GoPro camera, maybe if I can afford it, a gyro stabilizer for the camera. But if you do not plan on mounting a camera on this then you don’t need the GPS stabilization at all, it flies very well with out and is very easy to control.

Cannondale CAADX 6 TIAGRA 2013

I am seriously saving my money for this puppy. I had a Specialized Sequoia a little while ago and while it was a terrific bike, I just didn’t like the geometry of it and it never felt quite right. I guess I am just a die-hard rodie at heart. I think this will be the perfect compromise, a true road bike design but with a more rugged pedigree, a cyclo-cross.  Here is what Cannondale has to say about it:

Cross. Functional.

A supremely versatile bike, the all-new, completely redesigned CAADX cyclocross bikes demonstrate their racing heritage with CAAD10 and SuperX inspired tube shapes, SAVE stays and race-bred geometry while rack and fender mounts and a slightly more upright position expand its usability. Relaxed Race Geometry

The CAADX has a slightly taller head tube and slightly slacker head tube angle than the SuperX, providing a more upright position and stable handling.

SAVE Stays
The flattened shape and refined butting of the stays offer significant vertical compliance for comfort and control over rough surfaces, while remaining laterally rigid for solid power transfer and confident handling.
Smooth Welds

A true smooth weld, rather than the sand, putty, and paint smooth welds found on other bikes, Cannondale’s trademark double-pass smooth weld technology eliminates the stress-risers and weak points found on traditionally welded frames, enabling us to build lighter, stronger frames.

There are only two bike shops in Montreal that have these and I have placed an order for one in my size, can’t wait to get it

UPDATE:

I decided in the end to go with this version instead, the CAADX 105. Not crazy about the color scheme but I got a good deal on it and the Shimano 105 groupo is a better groupo than the Tiagra.

Here’s my puppy, at home, at rest 🙂