Monday, August 03, 2015
Vancouver Pride 2015
Sunday, August 02, 2015
Blade mCP X BL
For those that happened upon this post, I was introduced to r/c flight about 2 months ago with a Hubsan X4. As fun as a quadcopter is, it got boring rather quickly, and at about the same time, I discovered 3d helicopter aerobatics, and decided to pick up a beginner's heli to learn.
Now, there are broadly 3 types of r/c helicopters available. Coaxial helicopters are commonly found in big box stores, and their distinctive feature being the two pairs of rotors they spin. These are supposedly very stable and easy to fly. The next step up from them are Fixed Pitch (FP) helicopters. They spin just one pair of blades, and are highly popular as many are small enough to fly indoors and many, like coaxials, are self-leveling like quadcopters, but more agile than coaxials. I've never flown either of these two types.
The last type of helicopter, are Collective Pitch (CP) helicopters, which allow the pilot to alter the pitch of the blade in flight, as well as the regular controls found in other helis. Of the 3 kinds of helicopters, this is the only kind of heli that can do true aerobatics, like flying inverted.
It is also extremely difficult to fly.
Generally, the recommended path is to fly a coaxial to learn the various orientations of flying a helicopter, then move up to a FP before a CP. With the helicopter's tail pointed at you, it is rather easy to fly as the controls mirror the motion of the helicopter.
Things start to get trick when the helicopter is pointed at you - the controls on the right stick are now totally reversed. Flying with the helicopter to its side also poses its own challenges, and that's before flying inverted when things go really mad. And that you still have to control the pitch to maintain the correct amount and direction of thrust, as well as the yaw of the helicopter.
No, not easy at all.
Now the reason why I decided to just fly a CP bird is because ultimately, that's what I hope to fly. Unlike the FP and Coaxials, which utilize the speed of the rotors to hover, with CP helicopters you usually spool up the rotor to a fixed RPM, and rely on the changes in pitch of the blades to produce thrust in the correct direction you want.
As such, on the controls, leaving the left stick in the middle equates to no pitch at all, with the left stick in the down position maximizes the negative pitch. For FP and Coaxial helis, the same control governs RPM, so that's one major difference there - if you accidently push down on a CP helicopter, it's going to piledrive into the ground. In addition, CP helicopters are very unstable - or rather, extremely stable.
With most Coaxials and FP helicopters, if you do not give it any cyclic controls (the controls that bank/pitch the heli), the helicopter will actually revert to level flight, which makes it really easy to fly. Some consider this unstable, as the helicopter will constantly be fighting you to return to level flight.
A CP helicopter on the other size, remembers the last attitude you placed the helicopter in, and good, stable CP helicopters will maintain that attitude. Which means if you are pitched forward, it will maintain that attitude unless you tell it otherwise!
What means, is that if you want a CP helicopter to simply hover in a spot, you'd need to continuously give it tiny corrections so that it stays in place. Whereas with Coaxials and FP Helis, the will just level and hover, depending on how much throttle you give it.
After a few weeks with the quad and barely learning orientations, I'd bought a r/c simulator software called "Accurc" as well as a Specktrum DX4e to learn how to fly collective pitch birds. But the sim is hardly representative of the real thing, and the hunt was on for something to fly in real life.
Being new to the heli world, I checked out what brands are easy to find spares here in Canada (while I was still in Australia lol) and Blade Helicopters appeared to be available in lots of the hobby shops nearby. Nearby means about a 40 minute ride on public transport. Unfortunately, the smallest CP helicopter that Blade has, that is also very crash resistant, the Nano CPX was discontinued. Even their next bigger helicopter, the mCP X has long been discontinued. The smallest helicopter I could get, was an evolved version of the mCP X, the mCP X BL - a 2S (aka two cell) micro helicopter equipped with two brushless motors.
This helicopter has lots of power to do aerobatics, but unfortunately, power in the hands of a newbie is just endless crashing.
I remember my very first flight with this helicopter, barely twenty seconds in, I'd already flow it into the ground. One skill every pilot has to learn, is to know when to hit the throttle hold switch. This shuts off the motors in the event of a crash. With the motors not spinning and the light weight of the helicopter, a crash into grass usually means just putting some of the links back, pushing the canopy back or something minor. Flying it into a hard surface is another story, as I'd learnt - the rear boom that houses the tail rotor is hollow, and twisted into two pieces, while the motor's wires were torn out.
Several hours of flying later, I'm now able to mostly fly a battery pack without crashing, which is yay! And so long as I fly over grass, the crashes with throttle hold generally see no damage, apart from needing to put parts back that were popped out. I'd also bought a so-called computer radio with the helicopter. These more advanced radios allow you to setup how responsive the helicopter is. Now as mentioned above, CP helicopters are usually flown with the throttle fixed, and the left stick controls the pitch of the blades.
For example, earlier today, I experimented setting the throttle at a much lower setting, and that really helped calm the helicopter down, making it easier to control.
The first dozen or so flights were really quite bad. So far I've broke a canopy, two tail motors, two landing skids, one of the servos and even bent the main frame. The repairs are not too expensive, but some parts are annoyingly expensive like the tail motor, which is over 20 dollars a pop, whereas the plastic components can be replaced for only a few dollars.
The more I fly the heli and the less I crash it though, it seems the running costs are improving. It's probably a stage everyone goes through. I can't imagine flying one of the bigger helicopters, crashing one of those would cost a lot more!
That said, I have been lusting for a bigger helicopter. My mCP X BL is only about 25cm long, and is very easy to lose it's orientation if it gets far away. And thanks to its brushless motors, the power to weight ratio is very good, and easily gets lost in the distance.
A bigger helicopter would help with this, but there are several issues to consider:
a) Safety
b) Space for flying
c) Main equipment costs
d) Crash costs
e) Supporting equipment costs.
Now safety is obvious, the bigger the heli, the more kinematic energy the blades have. I've been hit by my mCP X BL from behind - how that happened, I don't remember! - but that had the throttle hold on, and through a t-shirt, I had a nice red line even though the skin didn't break.
Space is also another thing, why I was looking for a Nano CPX is the ability to fly indoors, if I actually had the skill for it, but a bigger heli just needs space to fly.
Flying a bigger heli means batteries cost more, and spares will probably cost more. Also, a bigger helicopter with heavier mass will cause more damage on impact, versus my heli which weighs less than 50g.
Apart from the helicopter, batteries and spare costs, there is also the need to purchase supporting equipment like battery chargers and tools to work with the larger helicopters. I actually do want to work on a bigger helicopter - parts are easier to fix and adjust, and a larger helicopter should be more stable.
I'm not willing at this time to move up - while a large helicopter alone is not too that expensive, once the additional costs are summed, I cannot really justify the price point at my current skill level, so I'll be flying this little one until I get good at it and maybe, just maybe, I'll get a larger heli after that.
The last type of helicopter, are Collective Pitch (CP) helicopters, which allow the pilot to alter the pitch of the blade in flight, as well as the regular controls found in other helis. Of the 3 kinds of helicopters, this is the only kind of heli that can do true aerobatics, like flying inverted.
It is also extremely difficult to fly.
Generally, the recommended path is to fly a coaxial to learn the various orientations of flying a helicopter, then move up to a FP before a CP. With the helicopter's tail pointed at you, it is rather easy to fly as the controls mirror the motion of the helicopter.
Things start to get trick when the helicopter is pointed at you - the controls on the right stick are now totally reversed. Flying with the helicopter to its side also poses its own challenges, and that's before flying inverted when things go really mad. And that you still have to control the pitch to maintain the correct amount and direction of thrust, as well as the yaw of the helicopter.
No, not easy at all.
Now the reason why I decided to just fly a CP bird is because ultimately, that's what I hope to fly. Unlike the FP and Coaxials, which utilize the speed of the rotors to hover, with CP helicopters you usually spool up the rotor to a fixed RPM, and rely on the changes in pitch of the blades to produce thrust in the correct direction you want.
As such, on the controls, leaving the left stick in the middle equates to no pitch at all, with the left stick in the down position maximizes the negative pitch. For FP and Coaxial helis, the same control governs RPM, so that's one major difference there - if you accidently push down on a CP helicopter, it's going to piledrive into the ground. In addition, CP helicopters are very unstable - or rather, extremely stable.
With most Coaxials and FP helicopters, if you do not give it any cyclic controls (the controls that bank/pitch the heli), the helicopter will actually revert to level flight, which makes it really easy to fly. Some consider this unstable, as the helicopter will constantly be fighting you to return to level flight.
A CP helicopter on the other size, remembers the last attitude you placed the helicopter in, and good, stable CP helicopters will maintain that attitude. Which means if you are pitched forward, it will maintain that attitude unless you tell it otherwise!
What means, is that if you want a CP helicopter to simply hover in a spot, you'd need to continuously give it tiny corrections so that it stays in place. Whereas with Coaxials and FP Helis, the will just level and hover, depending on how much throttle you give it.
Being new to the heli world, I checked out what brands are easy to find spares here in Canada (while I was still in Australia lol) and Blade Helicopters appeared to be available in lots of the hobby shops nearby. Nearby means about a 40 minute ride on public transport. Unfortunately, the smallest CP helicopter that Blade has, that is also very crash resistant, the Nano CPX was discontinued. Even their next bigger helicopter, the mCP X has long been discontinued. The smallest helicopter I could get, was an evolved version of the mCP X, the mCP X BL - a 2S (aka two cell) micro helicopter equipped with two brushless motors.
This helicopter has lots of power to do aerobatics, but unfortunately, power in the hands of a newbie is just endless crashing.
For example, earlier today, I experimented setting the throttle at a much lower setting, and that really helped calm the helicopter down, making it easier to control.
The first dozen or so flights were really quite bad. So far I've broke a canopy, two tail motors, two landing skids, one of the servos and even bent the main frame. The repairs are not too expensive, but some parts are annoyingly expensive like the tail motor, which is over 20 dollars a pop, whereas the plastic components can be replaced for only a few dollars.
The more I fly the heli and the less I crash it though, it seems the running costs are improving. It's probably a stage everyone goes through. I can't imagine flying one of the bigger helicopters, crashing one of those would cost a lot more!
That said, I have been lusting for a bigger helicopter. My mCP X BL is only about 25cm long, and is very easy to lose it's orientation if it gets far away. And thanks to its brushless motors, the power to weight ratio is very good, and easily gets lost in the distance.
A bigger helicopter would help with this, but there are several issues to consider:
a) Safety
b) Space for flying
c) Main equipment costs
d) Crash costs
e) Supporting equipment costs.
Now safety is obvious, the bigger the heli, the more kinematic energy the blades have. I've been hit by my mCP X BL from behind - how that happened, I don't remember! - but that had the throttle hold on, and through a t-shirt, I had a nice red line even though the skin didn't break.
Space is also another thing, why I was looking for a Nano CPX is the ability to fly indoors, if I actually had the skill for it, but a bigger heli just needs space to fly.
Flying a bigger heli means batteries cost more, and spares will probably cost more. Also, a bigger helicopter with heavier mass will cause more damage on impact, versus my heli which weighs less than 50g.
Apart from the helicopter, batteries and spare costs, there is also the need to purchase supporting equipment like battery chargers and tools to work with the larger helicopters. I actually do want to work on a bigger helicopter - parts are easier to fix and adjust, and a larger helicopter should be more stable.
I'm not willing at this time to move up - while a large helicopter alone is not too that expensive, once the additional costs are summed, I cannot really justify the price point at my current skill level, so I'll be flying this little one until I get good at it and maybe, just maybe, I'll get a larger heli after that.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
FPV Vapor indoors flight
Monday, July 27, 2015
Almost settled in, FPV Vapor
Went out Saturday morning for the last round of thing-buying - bought stuff like a sauce pan, a tiny stool, and a lightweight hanging rack for my clothes. Apart from wishing I had more lights at night, I'm more or less almost settled in for the time being.
Visited the hobby store to get some parts for my heli, and then came across this incredible offer for a Blade FPV Vapour for 89CAD - iirc it was around 200 just a few weeks ago. In fact, the fpv camera mounted on this plane alone costs a hundred bucks. So given the crazy price and the fact that I'd always wanted one of the Vapours for flying, but they are super expensive for what they are, I bought it!
I just maiden'd my vapor a few hours ago in my basement carpark and it was a blast. While it required a fair bit of throttle to actually take off, it actually needs very little throttle (30%?) to keep flying.
Hand launching this baby is uber fun, just set a 1/3 of the throttle and just throw it. I'd previously removed the FPV camera since I have no fpv gear, so it must have changed the flight characteristics. This aircraft loves to climb! I was never able to use more than 60-70% throttle as it was too fast, and I had to push the nose down constantly at that kind of throttle.
Quick bit on the fpv camera, it's around the head of a usb cable, and weighs nearly nothing (google says 4.5 grams). Given that the fpv vapour is only 24 grams in weight, removing the camera means it's about a fifth lighter! I've been lookingi at fpv gear but it's rather expensive and I'm probably going to experiment with cheap gear from hobby king or something.
Anyways, the vapor flies like a dream for uber noobs like me. This was my first r/c aircraft ever, but thanks to time spent in the simulator I had no issues flying it. Originally I had downloaded the Night Vapor's setup for my controller, but I'd modified it to have a switch disengage the motor (like my helicopter), a timer for the battery as well as adding a little bit of expo to the ailerons and elevators, and having a 3 way toggle to have various servo travel rates. Out of the box, my vapor flies to the right, so I'd tuned in lots of left trim and it flies well and true.
In the carpark, it is very possible for a brisk walker to go faster than the vapor in flight. Heck I can probably do it. Landing is uber easy, and I've successfully done what some youtubers have done with their vapors - catch it in mid air instead of landing it.
After two battery packs inside, I decided to tempt fate by flying it outdoors in an empty field near by. The winds were rather strong today, you can see the branches move, and the vapor is sort of flyable, in the sense that even at full throttle, it just can't penetrate the wind. It is very fun though, to see the aircraft hover as the winds were that fast! It was also twitchy as hell with the winds blowing it all over the place, but it was still generally controllable, but required an extreme amount of concentration. I think my heli flying experience helped alot.
When the battery ran out, I was rather worried as I lost thrust (_somebody_ overestimated the countdown timer for outdoor flight), but somehow with just the flight controls and a good strong wind, it just landed vertically lol.
I've had a few crashes outdoors and this was in a well trimmed grass field, and apart from the battery dropping from its velcro'd perch, everything appears to still be in perfect condition. Given that my vapor is now probably less than 20 grams in flight, there isn't much momentum to cause damage. Or so he says.
Looking forward to bringing my baby for a flight in the bigger field where I fly my heli at. Can't wait :)
Visited the hobby store to get some parts for my heli, and then came across this incredible offer for a Blade FPV Vapour for 89CAD - iirc it was around 200 just a few weeks ago. In fact, the fpv camera mounted on this plane alone costs a hundred bucks. So given the crazy price and the fact that I'd always wanted one of the Vapours for flying, but they are super expensive for what they are, I bought it!
I just maiden'd my vapor a few hours ago in my basement carpark and it was a blast. While it required a fair bit of throttle to actually take off, it actually needs very little throttle (30%?) to keep flying.
Anyways, the vapor flies like a dream for uber noobs like me. This was my first r/c aircraft ever, but thanks to time spent in the simulator I had no issues flying it. Originally I had downloaded the Night Vapor's setup for my controller, but I'd modified it to have a switch disengage the motor (like my helicopter), a timer for the battery as well as adding a little bit of expo to the ailerons and elevators, and having a 3 way toggle to have various servo travel rates. Out of the box, my vapor flies to the right, so I'd tuned in lots of left trim and it flies well and true.
In the carpark, it is very possible for a brisk walker to go faster than the vapor in flight. Heck I can probably do it. Landing is uber easy, and I've successfully done what some youtubers have done with their vapors - catch it in mid air instead of landing it.
After two battery packs inside, I decided to tempt fate by flying it outdoors in an empty field near by. The winds were rather strong today, you can see the branches move, and the vapor is sort of flyable, in the sense that even at full throttle, it just can't penetrate the wind. It is very fun though, to see the aircraft hover as the winds were that fast! It was also twitchy as hell with the winds blowing it all over the place, but it was still generally controllable, but required an extreme amount of concentration. I think my heli flying experience helped alot.
When the battery ran out, I was rather worried as I lost thrust (_somebody_ overestimated the countdown timer for outdoor flight), but somehow with just the flight controls and a good strong wind, it just landed vertically lol.
I've had a few crashes outdoors and this was in a well trimmed grass field, and apart from the battery dropping from its velcro'd perch, everything appears to still be in perfect condition. Given that my vapor is now probably less than 20 grams in flight, there isn't much momentum to cause damage. Or so he says.
Looking forward to bringing my baby for a flight in the bigger field where I fly my heli at. Can't wait :)
Monday, July 20, 2015
3rd weekend in Vancouver!
By the luck bestowed upon me by the three-bladed helicopters in the skies above, I managed to secure a place last week, and started moving in over the last few days. Usually I'd manage to either find some place that is just furnished enough to live in, or buy stuff off the previous tenant. Not this time, I had to totally furnish this new place!
This then presented me the most amazing opportunity to test out random stuff I've been wondering about, such as not sleeping on a futon or bed, and just use a camping mattress. I think many people think I've gone off my rocker but I've never been one to say no to random experiments!
This camping mattress, a Thermarest Mondoking XXL is actually quite expensive, about the same price as a top-of-the-line air mattress. The first few nights were rather un-restful, as I did not have a duvet and the temperature was so cold, I actually had to turn on the heater lol. In addition, the sun is up even before 5am nowadays, and I find it nigh difficult to sleep. And this is with all the blinds down, and set to reflect the light upwards!
Thankfully, the last two days appeared to have been enough to acclimatize myself to this sunlight, and the weekend saw me waking up past 8am (hooray for no alarms!)
Went down to Ikea yesterday, and it took quite a lot of effort to get there. First off, as a non driver, I had to take the train down to the middle of Richmond, then switch to a bus to get to Ikea. The bus appeared to be on an hourly schedule for weekends, and I had to have missed it by a few minutes >.> so I broke down and ponied up for a cab.
Shopping at Ikea is quite an experience. I've only been to the Ikea in Singapore possibly 2, 3 times, and I've only bought tiny trinkets like photo frames. This time, my big purchases was a nice sturdy computer table and a good solid chair. At the same time, I also took the opportunity to purchase stuff like a pillow, duvet, table lights etc. Not really planned to do it, but hey I was there, and it was super affordable!
So.... while it's a bit narrow, it's surprisingly comfortable, and the best part is I can just strew my books and mobile all over the side, and the reading lamp is perfect for use just before sleep. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out a way to get a desk that has proper ergonomics that is different from the norm... and not cost a fair bit of coin to buy. I just went for a regular table, but I got one chairs there that gave good support to the back.
Now delivery at Ikea was interesting (I'm an ikea virgin, give me that) - only the larger items could be delivered home, the smaller stuff I picked up I had to cart home on my own. Thankfully that was not too bad an experience, but I really don't see why they couldn't ship my duvet, pillow and covers. Oh well.
I think what's left is to get some more lights for the place, and I'm looking at LED strip lighting as they give off very little heat for the light, and draw less power too. The lights in my mini-kitchen area are horrendously warm regular incandescent fixtures, and I make it a point to shut them off when I'm not using the kitchen area.
Some of the stuff here in Vancouver throws me off. In Singapore/Oz/Uk, it's fairly common to purchase UHT milk, but here they are nigh impossible to find, and the only place I've found them, is in the baking section, where they costs over four CAD per litre! Compare that to Adelaide, where 1L of UHT was .95AUD.
Milk powder is another one, I've only found low fat milk powder, which is passable, but I really want my full cream milk powder! The pasteurized milk found all over the place is nice, but I really like the creaminess found in UHT or milk powder. Oh well.
Electricity here is also supposed to be affordable, as it's hydro powered. Internet is not bad so far, the place I'm in has Novus internet, and it's only connected to certain apartment buildings. Installation was a snap, the tech that came down fiddled with one of the panels in the house for a few minutes, and the router connected up smoothly. I got the lowest package, which already provides 25mbps down, with 250gb bandwidth a month.
I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes, but when you've spent nearly a year with an unstable 1mbps line (youtube buffers on 240p!!!!) with 50gb bandwidth a month.... you'd be very thankful.
Food here is pretty good, there is a chain here called Banana Leaf that has really good singapore/malaysian food. Maybe 80% of the real thing, and it's good enough for me. Japanese food is surprisingly abundant here, and very, delicious and highly affordable. A bowl of ramen usually runs about 10CAD (there is tax + tips) and every ramen place I've tried so far (I think I've tried at least 5) has a pretty good standard, usually my issue is the broth just isn't the kind I like, that's about it.
One other thing that again throws me off, is the donburis here are always found with a layer of lettuce between the rice and meat. Why?! It totally throws off the taste! Maybe it's a health thing, I dunno.
Will write more later, can't wait to get the whole apartment setup, then I can get back to doing stuff :)
Thankfully, the last two days appeared to have been enough to acclimatize myself to this sunlight, and the weekend saw me waking up past 8am (hooray for no alarms!)
Shopping at Ikea is quite an experience. I've only been to the Ikea in Singapore possibly 2, 3 times, and I've only bought tiny trinkets like photo frames. This time, my big purchases was a nice sturdy computer table and a good solid chair. At the same time, I also took the opportunity to purchase stuff like a pillow, duvet, table lights etc. Not really planned to do it, but hey I was there, and it was super affordable!
Now delivery at Ikea was interesting (I'm an ikea virgin, give me that) - only the larger items could be delivered home, the smaller stuff I picked up I had to cart home on my own. Thankfully that was not too bad an experience, but I really don't see why they couldn't ship my duvet, pillow and covers. Oh well.
I think what's left is to get some more lights for the place, and I'm looking at LED strip lighting as they give off very little heat for the light, and draw less power too. The lights in my mini-kitchen area are horrendously warm regular incandescent fixtures, and I make it a point to shut them off when I'm not using the kitchen area.
Some of the stuff here in Vancouver throws me off. In Singapore/Oz/Uk, it's fairly common to purchase UHT milk, but here they are nigh impossible to find, and the only place I've found them, is in the baking section, where they costs over four CAD per litre! Compare that to Adelaide, where 1L of UHT was .95AUD.
Milk powder is another one, I've only found low fat milk powder, which is passable, but I really want my full cream milk powder! The pasteurized milk found all over the place is nice, but I really like the creaminess found in UHT or milk powder. Oh well.
Electricity here is also supposed to be affordable, as it's hydro powered. Internet is not bad so far, the place I'm in has Novus internet, and it's only connected to certain apartment buildings. Installation was a snap, the tech that came down fiddled with one of the panels in the house for a few minutes, and the router connected up smoothly. I got the lowest package, which already provides 25mbps down, with 250gb bandwidth a month.
I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes, but when you've spent nearly a year with an unstable 1mbps line (youtube buffers on 240p!!!!) with 50gb bandwidth a month.... you'd be very thankful.
Food here is pretty good, there is a chain here called Banana Leaf that has really good singapore/malaysian food. Maybe 80% of the real thing, and it's good enough for me. Japanese food is surprisingly abundant here, and very, delicious and highly affordable. A bowl of ramen usually runs about 10CAD (there is tax + tips) and every ramen place I've tried so far (I think I've tried at least 5) has a pretty good standard, usually my issue is the broth just isn't the kind I like, that's about it.
One other thing that again throws me off, is the donburis here are always found with a layer of lettuce between the rice and meat. Why?! It totally throws off the taste! Maybe it's a health thing, I dunno.
Will write more later, can't wait to get the whole apartment setup, then I can get back to doing stuff :)
Saturday, July 11, 2015
First week in Vancouver
Most of my free time was spent house hunting - many places were visited, and they were generally very acceptable (by my standards anyways) and there was the usual pro and con of staying further for less and closer for more and saving time. After much ado and headbanging, I decided to go the spend-more-live-closer route, mainly because for just a bit more I got a very nice and small place.
One of the earlier places was just off Davies street, and had a frakking amazing view from the 20th story. I was imagining the amount of time lapses I could do off the balcony, and it was a very good price as well. In addition, the grocery store was built into the same building! However, being the lazy bastard that I am, it clocked it at about 25 minutes to get to work. While 25 minutes walk not too bad - it's healthy too - I think about almost an hour in this supposed wet winter and I decided to just pony up for a closer apartment.
I'm also preparing to move into the new place, and while usually I have had partially furnished places, this is my 2nd unfurnished place I will be moving into. Last time I moved into an unfurnished place, I explored sleeping on a single futon, and it was great! This time round, I instead got a Therm-a-rest Mondoking camping mattress to try out. It's sitting besides me at the moment, and I'll know more next week when I actually use it.
I'm probably going to get a single cover for it, a duvet of course, and hopefully can find a shot pile area rug to put it above. Apart from that, I will need a desk and some cooking appliances (steamer, air fryer etc) and I should be sorted for the year.
My new favourite store here is London Drugs. Not that I'm buying much from them, but they are located just across the street from work, and I thought they were only a pharmacy or something, the basement of their massive establishment had an incredible amount of electronics and household items. They even had ram for laptops! I can't remember the last time I saw a high street shop selling DIY components.
Transport here in Vancouver, so far, appears to be pretty good. Even during peak-ish hours, the train ("Skytrains") are hardly packed, especially by my Singaporean standards. What's interesting is that they appear to be moving to a new tap-to-ride system ala Singapore and many other countries, and I wish they wouldn't. The current system involves buying a ticket (or a book of tickets, as my commuting colleagues do), validating said ticket near the station entrance, then board the train, with no gates in the way. The tickets are good for 90 minutes, and can be transferred for use on buses as well.
Gates would suck, and I wonder if it will really help against fare dodgers. I've witnessed too many times in rome and london, people just vaulting over the gates.
I'm looking forward to moving in next week, then settling down for some r/c heli flying, music, houdini and unity explorations!
One of the earlier places was just off Davies street, and had a frakking amazing view from the 20th story. I was imagining the amount of time lapses I could do off the balcony, and it was a very good price as well. In addition, the grocery store was built into the same building! However, being the lazy bastard that I am, it clocked it at about 25 minutes to get to work. While 25 minutes walk not too bad - it's healthy too - I think about almost an hour in this supposed wet winter and I decided to just pony up for a closer apartment.
I'm also preparing to move into the new place, and while usually I have had partially furnished places, this is my 2nd unfurnished place I will be moving into. Last time I moved into an unfurnished place, I explored sleeping on a single futon, and it was great! This time round, I instead got a Therm-a-rest Mondoking camping mattress to try out. It's sitting besides me at the moment, and I'll know more next week when I actually use it.
I'm probably going to get a single cover for it, a duvet of course, and hopefully can find a shot pile area rug to put it above. Apart from that, I will need a desk and some cooking appliances (steamer, air fryer etc) and I should be sorted for the year.
My new favourite store here is London Drugs. Not that I'm buying much from them, but they are located just across the street from work, and I thought they were only a pharmacy or something, the basement of their massive establishment had an incredible amount of electronics and household items. They even had ram for laptops! I can't remember the last time I saw a high street shop selling DIY components.
Transport here in Vancouver, so far, appears to be pretty good. Even during peak-ish hours, the train ("Skytrains") are hardly packed, especially by my Singaporean standards. What's interesting is that they appear to be moving to a new tap-to-ride system ala Singapore and many other countries, and I wish they wouldn't. The current system involves buying a ticket (or a book of tickets, as my commuting colleagues do), validating said ticket near the station entrance, then board the train, with no gates in the way. The tickets are good for 90 minutes, and can be transferred for use on buses as well.
Gates would suck, and I wonder if it will really help against fare dodgers. I've witnessed too many times in rome and london, people just vaulting over the gates.
I'm looking forward to moving in next week, then settling down for some r/c heli flying, music, houdini and unity explorations!
Monday, July 06, 2015
First weekend in Vancouver - off the cuff thoughts.
Touched down on Thursday morning, during a bright and sunny day. Usually I'd head off to my accommodations, but this fine day I was a helping transport camera gear for a friend from Singapore, so I took a taxi straight down to Burnaby and dropped it off at his place - he was going to fly off to USA for holidays in just a few hours! Thankfully no flight issues on my part, so that went smoothly.
Transit was through Narita Airport, a very pleasant experience I must say! I had little trouble getting my SGD exchanged for JPY, had my first bite of Japanese food (in Japan!) and the airport had shower facilities that were very easy to access.
My dslr has been on the fritz lately - having to jiggle the battery before it powers up - so after I touched down in Vancouver I decided to just leave it behind while I went around. Shot some pics with my mobile phone but not really inspired with it. Should have brought my compact with me but I was busy house hunting.
Right now, I'm holed up a few blocks away from Davies Street, Vancouver's gay neighbourhood. One of the food places I visited along Davies Street, called the Banana Leaf actually had very good Malaysian food. Very close to the real thing. That surprised me. My first sip of the teh-tarik and I had very good feelings the Char Kway Teow I'd ordered would be good, and it did not disappoint. The Roti Canai was really an exercise in decadence, as I knew the noodles would be filling enough, BUT I HAD TO KNOW! Once again, it did not dissapoint. I am highly tempted to head there right after I post this for dinner, but I think trying out other places would be more prudent.
Weather wise, it actually reminds me of July in California, warm, and not too humid, with very enjoyable cool evenings. Unfortunately, there is a massive forest fire nearby, causing the air outside right now to smell like Singapore when the Indonesian forest fires are going on.
I've also sampled some of the fast food, and the McD's mcmuffins do not dissapoint. Not as kickarse as New York or Singapore, but still several notches above Adelaide. I was also introduced to this Japanese Restaurant called "Black Rice" smack dab in downtown. That has to be the bestest sushi I've had ever, bar none.
Side note: I've had a few japanese dons here already, and one thing that stands out is that all the dons I've had have had a layer of lettuce. No pictures right now, but I've had a Karrage Don and a Chirashi Don, from different places and both had have a layer of lettuce between the rice and meat.
I'm guessing this is a healthy local thing, but it really disrupts the flavours as they should be. I haven't yet have a japanese curry yet, but if they somehow put lettuce in, I'm going to.... eat it all.
Apart from my food excursions, I've made a trip down to Burnaby to buy some new toys, and I'll blog about that later. Mainly, my time has been spent hunting down an apartment to rent, and in between, exploring the downtown area. There is a massive Tom Lee's music just blocks from work, I can't believe they actually sell boxed copies of software, saw Trillian on the shelf, even an Omnisphere 2 upgrade. The best buy I visit is very well stocked as well, even having underwater filters for gopros.
One other thing I've been needing to get used to again is prices not having taxes on them, and paying tips on food and services.
The people here generally seem quite friendly, though I must say that rarely do people hold the door for people behind, and when I hold the door for people, some look bewildered and surprised. Is door holding a taboo or something not done here?
In any case, I'm looking forward to my stint here in Vancouver!
Transit was through Narita Airport, a very pleasant experience I must say! I had little trouble getting my SGD exchanged for JPY, had my first bite of Japanese food (in Japan!) and the airport had shower facilities that were very easy to access.
Weather wise, it actually reminds me of July in California, warm, and not too humid, with very enjoyable cool evenings. Unfortunately, there is a massive forest fire nearby, causing the air outside right now to smell like Singapore when the Indonesian forest fires are going on.
I've also sampled some of the fast food, and the McD's mcmuffins do not dissapoint. Not as kickarse as New York or Singapore, but still several notches above Adelaide. I was also introduced to this Japanese Restaurant called "Black Rice" smack dab in downtown. That has to be the bestest sushi I've had ever, bar none.
Side note: I've had a few japanese dons here already, and one thing that stands out is that all the dons I've had have had a layer of lettuce. No pictures right now, but I've had a Karrage Don and a Chirashi Don, from different places and both had have a layer of lettuce between the rice and meat.
I'm guessing this is a healthy local thing, but it really disrupts the flavours as they should be. I haven't yet have a japanese curry yet, but if they somehow put lettuce in, I'm going to.... eat it all.
Apart from my food excursions, I've made a trip down to Burnaby to buy some new toys, and I'll blog about that later. Mainly, my time has been spent hunting down an apartment to rent, and in between, exploring the downtown area. There is a massive Tom Lee's music just blocks from work, I can't believe they actually sell boxed copies of software, saw Trillian on the shelf, even an Omnisphere 2 upgrade. The best buy I visit is very well stocked as well, even having underwater filters for gopros.
One other thing I've been needing to get used to again is prices not having taxes on them, and paying tips on food and services.
The people here generally seem quite friendly, though I must say that rarely do people hold the door for people behind, and when I hold the door for people, some look bewildered and surprised. Is door holding a taboo or something not done here?
In any case, I'm looking forward to my stint here in Vancouver!
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Accurc + vmware fusion = win!
What more can I say. It works. I can now practice on virtual helicopters and planes. I must say that flying the virtual aircraft is quite a humbling experience; I must have destroyed several thousand dollars worth of helicopters and planes as I messed up the orientation and have them nose dive instead of pulling up :(
In any case, this will keep me occupied, don't think I'm going to get a real model too soon now!
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Last weekend in Adelaide
This is my last weekend in Adelaide. I will be rather sad to leave this lovely town and great co-workers at RSP, but the life of vfx people is moving around. Oh well.
Early this week, I sold my quadcopter as I decided that I want to learn how to fly a Collective Pitch (aka CP) Heli. Here's a demonstration of the aerobatics as performed by a top tier pilot:
So, I started this very, very fine weekend taking the tram down to the South Terrace, where the South Australian Radio Controlled Helicopters Members were practicing and doing their moves. No pictures as I wanted to be the King Of Non-Obtrusive R/C Helicopter Observation.
I watched several seemingly new members practice their hovering on their big ass (450, 500 sized?) helis, and shortly another member joined the field with what I _guess_ is a 700 sized nitro monster. That beast did amazing moves, and several times I breath caught as a seemingly guaranteed crash was suddenly turned around into a beautiful reversal.
Blessed be the God Emperor of Mankind.
Unfortunately, while in a simple bank, this gigantic heli suddenly fell out of the sky. I was a fair distance away so no idea what happened, but I could see one of the gigantic katana-like rotors had broken in two.
After observing another more relaxed example of helicopter aerobatics, I bid silent farewell to the fine folk with their birds, and moved on to my next destination, Model Flight.
Model Flight is 3 stops away from the South Terrace tram stop, and is chock-filled mostly with helis and aircraft, quadcopters and ground vehicles. I'd actually ordered in a copy of Accurc the previous day and was there to pick it up. I also picked up the cheapest 4 channel r/c transmitter that I could use with it, the Spektrum DX4E.
There are several schools of thought for learning helicopter aerobatics - one, you progress through the main types of r/c helicopters - coaxial, fixed pitch, collective pitch. Some people move from coaxial to collective directly.
Other suggest that if your end goal is to learn aerobatics, it would be better to just learn how to fly a CP from the start, as the throttle control of the CP Heli is very different from that of FP Helis - On fixed pitch, the throttle simply increases the RPMs of the rotor. In the event of a crash, you need to chop the throttle to zero in the hopes of minimizing damage.
On a CP helicopter, the same stick control no longer controls the speed of the motor, but the pitch of the blades. Hence, you can cause the helicopter to not only push air down, but push air upwards as well, a necessity for inverted flight.
Many budget and seemingly awesome helicopters that I was planning to buy (e.g. Blade 120SR, Blade Nano CPX) are sadly showing up as discontinued. While I'm certain parts will be available for years, I'm leery and decided that I will actually pick up a larger CP helicopter, one meant for advanced modellers, the Blade 180CFX.
The whole internet is probably shaking its collective head. But I'll see what happens down the road, it's not fixed in stone yet. Which is why, I decided to spend some moola for Accurc and the transmitter - to get some virtual practice in where crashes only use up electricity and time, not spare parts and time to fix stuff.
I've been reading about various Spektrum transmitters, and decided to just get the cheapest base model for using with Accurc. What's interesting, is that the version I got appears to be slightly different from the one usually seen on the Spektrum website. On their website, the DX4E has a 2 position ACT/AUX switch (as well as watching several youtube videos demonstrating this switch) that gave me a mild confusion about what I actually bought. Later, I found out from the Super Cub S manual that there are actually 2 versions of the DX4E, and I happened to get the version with the 3 way toggle switch for use with various flight modes.
This should be fine for when I try out fixed wing flight. Hopefully this won't be an issue with Accurc.
Speaking of which, as I'm running OSX, I actually cannot run Accurc as it is a windows-only application.
Gah.
Which means I will be running a virtual machine with vmware fusion, and will need to pick up a windows license tomorrow.
Bleh.
I'll see how that runs and will update here. I also need to download the 1.6gb v1.5 package. How does this software work? Is that usb thing that comes with the package a copy protection dongle of sorts? I still need to get windows installed in the vm, so we'll see.
After dropping all my new toys at home, I left again with my gopro to test out the various protune settings. Evidently, protune actually uses a higher data rate for the videos, giving higher quality. Mmmm.
My tests today were for the color profiles, between "GoPro Color" and "Flat". I recorded several resolutions with those two settings, and will have to spend some time with Davinci Resolve checking out how to grade 'em.
After this, I met some of my co-workers for an hour at Marksman Indoor shooting range, just by Chinatown.
Personally I was like "uh, guns. boring." but I ended up having a really good time there. Good friendly staff made for a great experience.
It also helped that I kicked butt with the various handguns we shot:
I think years of practice with the dslr helps :P
With the range done, we set of for one of Adelaide's best burger places, Bread and Bone, before ending the day with some desert at Movenpick.
Back home I'm now mostly packed up, and a bit lost before the move. Oh well.
Early this week, I sold my quadcopter as I decided that I want to learn how to fly a Collective Pitch (aka CP) Heli. Here's a demonstration of the aerobatics as performed by a top tier pilot:
I watched several seemingly new members practice their hovering on their big ass (450, 500 sized?) helis, and shortly another member joined the field with what I _guess_ is a 700 sized nitro monster. That beast did amazing moves, and several times I breath caught as a seemingly guaranteed crash was suddenly turned around into a beautiful reversal.
Blessed be the God Emperor of Mankind.
Unfortunately, while in a simple bank, this gigantic heli suddenly fell out of the sky. I was a fair distance away so no idea what happened, but I could see one of the gigantic katana-like rotors had broken in two.
After observing another more relaxed example of helicopter aerobatics, I bid silent farewell to the fine folk with their birds, and moved on to my next destination, Model Flight.
Model Flight is 3 stops away from the South Terrace tram stop, and is chock-filled mostly with helis and aircraft, quadcopters and ground vehicles. I'd actually ordered in a copy of Accurc the previous day and was there to pick it up. I also picked up the cheapest 4 channel r/c transmitter that I could use with it, the Spektrum DX4E.
There are several schools of thought for learning helicopter aerobatics - one, you progress through the main types of r/c helicopters - coaxial, fixed pitch, collective pitch. Some people move from coaxial to collective directly.
Other suggest that if your end goal is to learn aerobatics, it would be better to just learn how to fly a CP from the start, as the throttle control of the CP Heli is very different from that of FP Helis - On fixed pitch, the throttle simply increases the RPMs of the rotor. In the event of a crash, you need to chop the throttle to zero in the hopes of minimizing damage.
On a CP helicopter, the same stick control no longer controls the speed of the motor, but the pitch of the blades. Hence, you can cause the helicopter to not only push air down, but push air upwards as well, a necessity for inverted flight.
Many budget and seemingly awesome helicopters that I was planning to buy (e.g. Blade 120SR, Blade Nano CPX) are sadly showing up as discontinued. While I'm certain parts will be available for years, I'm leery and decided that I will actually pick up a larger CP helicopter, one meant for advanced modellers, the Blade 180CFX.
The whole internet is probably shaking its collective head. But I'll see what happens down the road, it's not fixed in stone yet. Which is why, I decided to spend some moola for Accurc and the transmitter - to get some virtual practice in where crashes only use up electricity and time, not spare parts and time to fix stuff.
Speaking of which, as I'm running OSX, I actually cannot run Accurc as it is a windows-only application.
Gah.
Which means I will be running a virtual machine with vmware fusion, and will need to pick up a windows license tomorrow.
Bleh.
I'll see how that runs and will update here. I also need to download the 1.6gb v1.5 package. How does this software work? Is that usb thing that comes with the package a copy protection dongle of sorts? I still need to get windows installed in the vm, so we'll see.
After dropping all my new toys at home, I left again with my gopro to test out the various protune settings. Evidently, protune actually uses a higher data rate for the videos, giving higher quality. Mmmm.
My tests today were for the color profiles, between "GoPro Color" and "Flat". I recorded several resolutions with those two settings, and will have to spend some time with Davinci Resolve checking out how to grade 'em.
After this, I met some of my co-workers for an hour at Marksman Indoor shooting range, just by Chinatown.
Personally I was like "uh, guns. boring." but I ended up having a really good time there. Good friendly staff made for a great experience.
It also helped that I kicked butt with the various handguns we shot:
Clockwise from top left: 9mm Glock, .45 Glock, .357 Ruger Magnum, .44 Super Redhawk.
I think years of practice with the dslr helps :P
With the range done, we set of for one of Adelaide's best burger places, Bread and Bone, before ending the day with some desert at Movenpick.
Back home I'm now mostly packed up, and a bit lost before the move. Oh well.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
GoPro and Can Openers
First up though, battery issues? The Hero 4 silver was fully charged and left on my table. That was Sunday. Today, when I switched it on, it was showing 2 of the 3 bars of battery life.
Is this battery drain? I'm going to have to keep track of this. The self discharge of lithium ion batteries shouldn't be so poor. Geez.
Next, I'm starting to get the hang of the workflow of GoPro studio, but discovered that certain things, like the speed of the clip cannot be keyframed. Evidently, this feature is only available in the Premium (and I'd assume also the Professional) version of GoPro studio. Even basic controls like curves are not available unless you pony up the moola.
So, for now, I'm thinking my workflow - if I _ever_ get into this editing thing - will be to use gopro studio to export the cineform quicktimes (if necessary) as my DI, then bring them for editing, colour correction and grading in DaVinci Resolve.
Apart from Resolve, I've also been trying out Lightworks. Couldn't really get into it as I've found some good tutorials for Resolve so I'm going down that route.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Argh, viewing 4k video on OSX
Something weird is going on, and I can't seem to figure it out yet. I've got a bunch of test footage off my gopro at various resolutions (4k, 2.7k, 1080P, 720P etc). However, attempting to view the 4k and 2.7k files using either vlc (2.2.1) or quicktime 10 definitely gives me some kind of scaled playback.
It seems that somehow, it's being scaled down to the width of my mbp's resolution before playback. What, and why?! Using Quicktime 7 gives a different story; when viewing a 4k file on Quicktime 7, I can only see a tiny portion of the image on my screen when viewed at Actual Pixels. On vlc and quicktime 10, this option is simply not available (qt10) or does nothing (vlc).
Very annoying.
There is a zoom function in GoPro Studio, but I don't see anywhere an option to zoom to 1:1 pixels. Blargh. While I'm not interested in shooting 4k, I would like to pixel peep my test footage to see what kind of detail can be pulled out of that tiny sensor.
It seems that somehow, it's being scaled down to the width of my mbp's resolution before playback. What, and why?! Using Quicktime 7 gives a different story; when viewing a 4k file on Quicktime 7, I can only see a tiny portion of the image on my screen when viewed at Actual Pixels. On vlc and quicktime 10, this option is simply not available (qt10) or does nothing (vlc).
Very annoying.
There is a zoom function in GoPro Studio, but I don't see anywhere an option to zoom to 1:1 pixels. Blargh. While I'm not interested in shooting 4k, I would like to pixel peep my test footage to see what kind of detail can be pulled out of that tiny sensor.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
GoPro battery life!
So far I've done several tests with the gopro, and the battery life with just the camera running is good for what I need. I ran two tests today (with the lcd screen automatically switching off after 1 minute), and the batteries ran out at the 1hr 45min mark. One of the tests had the battery freshly charged, and the other had the battery charged over 12 hours ago. I'm _kinda_ convinced there's not over-excessive battery drain now. But I'll keep an eye on it. Probably the very first charge and its super miserable performance just didn't hold very well.
That said, I find it surprising that the lcd permanently switched on lasts about an hour and a half, a 15 minute difference from the lcd off.
A quick google indicates that for newbies, a tank of oxygen will last about an hour for the n00b depths I'll probably be diving at, so this bodes really well for what I need it for. In a good situation, I can turn on the recording before I dive, and it will probably still be running after the dive. So, if I am going for a few dives in that day, I probably need to bring a few batteries.
During these tests though, the camera runs really hot; the last test I ran, the button besides the lens was uncomfortably warm. Hopefully, the camera will run cooler underwater.
Can't wait to use it for timelapse and other stuff! Sooo exciting!
That said, I find it surprising that the lcd permanently switched on lasts about an hour and a half, a 15 minute difference from the lcd off.
A quick google indicates that for newbies, a tank of oxygen will last about an hour for the n00b depths I'll probably be diving at, so this bodes really well for what I need it for. In a good situation, I can turn on the recording before I dive, and it will probably still be running after the dive. So, if I am going for a few dives in that day, I probably need to bring a few batteries.
During these tests though, the camera runs really hot; the last test I ran, the button besides the lens was uncomfortably warm. Hopefully, the camera will run cooler underwater.
Can't wait to use it for timelapse and other stuff! Sooo exciting!
Flying by the Torrens River
Thankfully, I had the sd card on board, and engaged the camera to get some shots of the fire fighters in action. While the wind was really strong today, the X4 was able to slowly fight against it, though I had to engage Expert Mode at times - basically the high performance mode - so as to not have the quadcopter blow away!
Was really tempted to fly the quad up and get a closeup of the fire fighter, but with the negative press going on about how people are flying their quads irresponsibly and ruining it for the rest of us, I decided to stay safe and stay above the green.
Times like these I wish I had a bigger quad with a gimbal and a gopro, it would have been far more interesting and less dizzing to watch!
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Got myself a GoPro!
As the tides of the warp would have it, there was a sale this week and I decided to get the Hero 4 Silver.
It was a rather difficult decision to make, as the top of the line model, the Black could record a step faster than the silver could. But in the end, the decision to get the Silver fell down to these reasons:
- LCD on the back! I never understood how people could have shot so much amazing footage without the lcd. I suppose some of them must have bought the add-on lcd screen.
- Protune.
- Nightlapse - appears to be simply a timelapse mode... with a dragged shutter. Ah marketing.
- 240fps with the WVGA resolution, 120fps at 720P!
The base model OTOH doesn't seem very appeal though - apart from price. The waterproof case is apparently permanently attached to the camera, and the battery is non-removable. What. Nope.
Having shot some test footage today, I was quite surprised at how good it was. Being used to crappy cell phone and digital camera footage, this is truly a breath of fresh air. Even indoors in low light, it does a really good job.
Focus is an issue though. It's probably focused at infinity (?) and subjects a few inches from the lens will need a diopter to focus right. Something to look into when I get to the actual diving part and doing sealife portraits :P
Now I'm not trusting the battery life of the camera just yet. Last night, after fully charging the camera, I put it away as I didn't have a high speed memory card for it. This morning, I bought the memory card, a 32GB Samsung Pro, and then went out to shoot some test footage, and the battery life was horrendously poor.
I basically shot 20 second clips, in every single video resolution/fps available. This was using the GoPro app, and thus having wifi enabled on the gopro. Barely 20 minutes passed before the battery was blinking red. I was like... (o.0)
Prior to that, I think I'd used the camera for maybe 10minutes, after putting in the sd card. Could it be that the camera somehow drains the battery overnight? I am certain the wifi function is turned off.
In anycase, after charging the gopro back up, I decided to record some 1080P footage at 60fps with the lcd screen switched on to see how long it'd last. And lo and behold, it actually ran for over one and a half hours, before the battery gave up the ghost! Pretty impressive. This gives me confidence that I can use the camera underwater with the lcd on, for I really doubt I have more than an hour and half of footage to video per tank of air.
As of this post, the gopro is already fully charged, and I'll wait till tomorrow am before I run the recording test again. This is to check out what's going on with the battery - does it drain even while the camera's inactive?
We will see!
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