conrad taggart

Nice work - looks great

They HK do this one, but may be over the top / not convenient for your application **LINK** Conrad

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 22/11/2018 16:34:47: Posted by conrad taggart on 22/11/2018 15:54:03: Posted by Geoff Sleath on 22/11/2018 10:40:47: I use some heated fingerless gloves I bought on eBay. I've tried 2. The first were very cheap and worked OK but weren't very well made so I bought the second, slightly more expensive ones which are much better. The heated pads are contained in a fairly substantial fabric case with an elastic wrist and finger loop so they are held on the back of the hand. They come with a pair of knitted fingerless gloves which are intended for women, I think, because they are quite small. The doesn't bother me because I have small hands. However, the design means the heated pads could be used with any pair of gloves. I think paying a little more is better and, in any case, they're not very expensive <£20 IIRC but it's over a year since I got mine. I power mine from a Turnigy 10AH battery so-called power pack which has 2 USB outputs. It's much more than sufficient for a winter day's use and fits easily in a pocket. I think there are lots of similar packs available. I never used to feel the cold much (many years of mid-winter motor cycling in all weathers) but since I injured my spine, my right hand particularly feels the cold a lot. These gloves help a lot and I strongly recommend them. One thing to be aware of is to keep the connecting wires from hanging loose to avoid any mishaps with spinning propellers or generally catching on things. I put the wires down my sleeves which is a bit awkward to do but works well. I usually do it at home before setting out. I'm also an advocate these days of only going flying if the temperature is in double figures but if it's very dry and still it can be comfortable at much lower temperatures I find. Geoff Geoff would you have a link or the make / supplier of the gloves - sound like a good solution ? Thanks Conrad Looking at my eBay purchase history it seems I bought them on 23 Dec 2017 and they were £11.67. The seller was called SavannahSolutions but they don't have a presence now. This is what they look like: I just did an eBay search for heated fingerless gloves and there were myriad suppliers. I've had a quick look and there are several where the gloves are similar but none with the same heating element. Most are less than a fiver so it's worth a punt regardless. They seem to be supplied for laptop use (outside? or in unheated Chinese not-sweatshops? ) Geoff Thanks Geoff - will have a look around and do a bit more research on them. Think your last point may well be on the mark ! Conrad

Posted by Cuban8 on 22/11/2018 11:20:07: I used to fly in more or less any conditions years ago, but no longer enjoy the dampness of our winters. The cold in itself is not so much of a problem, and can be guarded against with modern clothing. Heated gloves sound good and I might give them a try for general winter use, not only just flying. Wind chill is the 'killer'. I know I'm 'teaching my granny to suck eggs' but you've really got to get a good and breathable wind proof outer barrier over your layers of inner insulation. I adopt a double approach in that I have a quality woollen pullover which has a sewn in (breathable) wind proof membrane (it was bought for me years ago as a present and I think it's actually golfing apparel) and with extra layers and a light wind proof outer, my core never gets cold. Thermal long johns take care of the legs. Feet and hands are the problem. Heated gloves for the hands sound fine - but I've never really cured the cold feet problem - made worse by the fact that we do tend to stand about, either flying or chatting and the poor old feet just refrigerate. Heated socks, perhaps. I've seen people flying in huge ski boots, but what a mess trying to clean them up, if the field's muddy. Edited By Cuban8 on 22/11/2018 11:23:46   The best cure for cold feet is probably these. I used them when I was winter grayling fishing in thew middle of the river Dove with water just under my armpits and it was so cold I had to dip the rod in the river to de-ice the rod rings and the line that was stuck to them so I could cast .... **LINK**   Well worth giving them a go. Just pulled mine out of the sock draw they were black with a navy blue ring around the top, but I am sure the ones above are just a more modern and fashionable version. Conrad   Edited By conrad taggart on 22/11/2018 17:34:03

Stephen - good to know its sorted. It is really painful. If you think think this is bad try sorting out an S6R or S8R receiver and doing the flashing and related set-up. The hardware works great but the implementation of the software leaves a lot to be desired. I think your main problem here was that you were not starting with the radio turned off before holding the two horizontal trims to the centre then powering up ... hence the advice by Mike and info contained within my post relating to your screen message. I have invested in an sd card holder (few pounds) so I can do it all directly on the pc - as I said it saves a lot of messing and is much, much quicker when it comes to copying things across then using a USB cable. I went from loving my x9d plus radio, to hating it, then back to loving it ! I am sure the pattern will be repeated soon.

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 22/11/2018 10:40:47: I use some heated fingerless gloves I bought on eBay. I've tried 2. The first were very cheap and worked OK but weren't very well made so I bought the second, slightly more expensive ones which are much better. The heated pads are contained in a fairly substantial fabric case with an elastic wrist and finger loop so they are held on the back of the hand. They come with a pair of knitted fingerless gloves which are intended for women, I think, because they are quite small. The doesn't bother me because I have small hands. However, the design means the heated pads could be used with any pair of gloves. I think paying a little more is better and, in any case, they're not very expensive <£20 IIRC but it's over a year since I got mine. I power mine from a Turnigy 10AH battery so-called power pack which has 2 USB outputs. It's much more than sufficient for a winter day's use and fits easily in a pocket. I think there are lots of similar packs available. I never used to feel the cold much (many years of mid-winter motor cycling in all weathers) but since I injured my spine, my right hand particularly feels the cold a lot. These gloves help a lot and I strongly recommend them. One thing to be aware of is to keep the connecting wires from hanging loose to avoid any mishaps with spinning propellers or generally catching on things. I put the wires down my sleeves which is a bit awkward to do but works well. I usually do it at home before setting out. I'm also an advocate these days of only going flying if the temperature is in double figures but if it's very dry and still it can be comfortable at much lower temperatures I find. Geoff Geoff would you have a link or the make / supplier of the gloves - sound like a good solution ? Thanks Conrad

Stephen have you been through the last link - it is MAC related - point C) within the post has the exact same screen message as the one you posted above ... "No DFU capable USB device found" . Well worth trying / confirming before doing a whole factory restore

Stephen read of all this, particularly the last point, then come back to the top if the last solution does not work / isn't relevant. Are you trying do this with a link between your Taranis and computer using a USB cable ? If so I think it is probably a driver problem as indicated by Chris. Why not put connect the sd card to your computer directly, via the relevant slot if it has one or use a cheap adapter which goes into one of the free USB connections. Simply download the relevant updates for the sd card (corresponding to the dates / release number you used for the radio flash) or use your old files you saved to your C drive from your SD card, before all this started and copy them across to the SD card. Once finished pop the SD card back into your radio. If you use your original / saved files you will probably get the SD mismatch error again, but that is simply fixed by following the Painless 360 video on You Tube, which I linked to above. Another benefit of the direct connection is that is a lot faster than then using the USB cable /radio route. This is a good clear tutorial of the overall update process here: https://oscarliang.com/flash-opentx-firmware-taranis/ With all the other useful links / advice here. https://forum.alofthobbies.com/index.php?threads/upgrade-new-taranis-plus.243/ I would familiarise myself with all of these before attempting further updates. Here are some problems that sound similar to your one, particularly the last one, given your screen message a few posts up. Are you sure you had your radio turned off when you plugged it into your computer's USB - see C) in the last link below https://forum.alofthobbies.com/index.php?threads/cannot-upgrade-firmware.567/ https://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4241 Let us know how you get on ?   Conrad     Edited By conrad taggart on 22/11/2018 15:22:35 Edited By conrad taggart on 22/11/2018 15:29:53

Posted by Stephen Belshaw on 21/11/2018 14:46:38: I'm now realising just what a steep learning curve my Taranis and OpenTx really is. Initially I got on fine with programming a model in to it and generally finding my way around, all done on the Tx rather than the OpenTx Companion software which is the latest 2.2.2 version. The "BootLoader", whatever that is, apparently needs updating and this I have tried to do, the Tx shows I'm running 2.2.2 but BootLoader is an older 2.1 version. I went through what I thought were the required steps but on startup I now get the "SD Card Error" warning, Googling throws up a myriad of potential solutions but also further opens up the rabbit hole for me to disappear down. I've tried everything I can and still cannot get rid of the error message. My latest attempt at a fix was to delete everything on the SD card and install the latest SD card files from OpenTx. I'm doing this on a Macbook, if that makes any difference. Stephen Don't worry it is a fairly common occurrence and easy to sort out. Have a look at the video below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt1F5isxItk&t=91s Painless 360 also does a whole series on the Taranis radio which is worth following - see his so called channels. Conrad

Geoff I don't believe Flight Test spend huge budgets doing their PR stuff, certainly not relative to what the BMFA could and should spend in promoting the hobby and extending it to new members. It has got to be borne in mind that Eflite are a "for profit organisation" so anything they do here is incidental to their main activity – making money. It is usually the same 3-4 people they use in their videos / articles. On the whole their videos are certainly not expensive productions. I agree their presenters do have a lot of passion but so do a lot of BMFA members. I would also argue that Painless 360 and Andrew Newton (amongst others) produce more interesting stuff on You-Tube for beginners, than the BMFA, yet they both manage to hold down full-time jobs. The BMFA also appear do little or no proactive on-line or digital marketing, which can be considered pretty amiss in this day and age, given the profile of the people they should be trying to attract into the hobby. I agree re the minutiae the BMFA get caught up in, some of which is very essential or even mandatory, but perhaps it is time for an in-depth review of a lot of the other activity, particularly those bits that are decaying faster than others or not attracting new members. Then the extra resource could be redirected at those areas that are growing or at least have the potential to attract new members. By the way, some people have written to me and told me to expect to be shouted down (apparently this happens all the time when someone questions the BMFA on here or how progressive the forum is - Geoff I don't mean you here so please don't take it the wrong way). The only reason I mention it, is that they told me so called "fellow" members of the BMFA- hold on - wait for it - gets six votes- not 1 or even 2 , which would be bad enough, when it comes to voting on important matters! Please don't tell me this is true - if it is I have come across one of the most patently undemocratic organisations ever in my life.  Edited By conrad taggart on 21/11/2018 01:24:15 Edited By conrad taggart on 21/11/2018 01:27:31

Posted by kevin b on 20/11/2018 19:57:40: Posted by Alan Gorham_ on 20/11/2018 16:56:07: Just for accuracy Conrad, the BMFA lease the National Centre so they've already made the saving you suggested. Also, if you look at their Facebook page it is full of attempts to promote the hobby (education & marketing in your terms?). I'm not really certain what your point is, you just seem to be looking for an argument. Here, here. Good then, I don't know why people have made a big thing of using it to justify the price hike. A facebook page is not what I am talking about in terms of marketing - you need great and interesting content and you need to reach out to people / prospects on facebook - not just build a page and hope that your target market comes to it. Having had a look at it - there is little or nothing there to promote the hobby to a "new" audience - it is mainly the existing website turned into a facebook page. Have a look at the Flitetest pages here and on on You-Tube and some of the events and educational activity they organise. It is fresher, has far more variety and is way more engaging to would-be new members. Plus the whole thing is only ran by a few guys as a sideline to their business. These guys have a lot less resource than the BMFA, but they understand marketing and the need to attract new people / customers. https://www.flitetest.com/articles https://www.flitetest.com/podcasts#/types=podcasts https://www.ftstem.com/ https://www.flitetest.com/show Sadly the BMFA do little or no email marketing or proactive facebook advertising. This is different to just having a reactive facebook page. The BMFA don't appear to do any "retargeting" using Goggle keywords and do very few if any podcasts to reach out to new people. In a digital age they appear to prioritise physical assets over digital ones. It is no wonder, in despite of all the good work the BMFA do, that their membership numbers are dwindling, while interest in all things RC is probably at a recent high. If the BMFA don't change then the membership numbers will continue to dwindle and the 12% and similar increases will become even more common.

Posted by Callsign Tarnish on 20/11/2018 11:20:33: Posted by conrad taggart on 20/11/2018 00:31:01: Why should anybody be grateful for a 12% rise in anything - would you be grateful for a 12% rise in your coffee? Actually the price of my morning coffee did go up earlier this year. Nothing bad happened. There were no protests outside or people at the till demanding to know the breakdown of why it had increased. That was the new price and there were two choices, either accept it and pay up or vote with your feet. Perhaps they are as membership isn't going up and people are " leaving". With so many new drone / multi-copter flyers and the growth in related associations, arguably it shouldn't. The BMFA missed and continues to miss a huge opportunity for growth here. It's disappointing because it could be a once in a lifetime opportunity given the scale of it . The BMFA is allowing other organisations to get a firm foothold in what could be its territory and does not really appeal to new members. I would be fascinated to know what research they have done on new members - what appeals, motivations, inhibitors, etc. - and what regional tests (if any) they are conducting to attract new members and that could potentially be rolled out nationally if they proved to be successful. Having just flicked through their magazines it is mainly full of the same old stuff - think I looked at over 30 editions and I didn't see one cover which showed a single/ typical foam aeroplane (which are so popular amongst beginners) , any reviews of them or how to get into RC flying on a budget or best buys / performers in different categories, etc. If the BMFA really does continues to appeal to existing members in the main (if not exclusively) then it will die / become less relevant. It doesn't appear to have a forum, or any real presence on You-Tube (why can't it review aircraft and new products like Andrew Newton and Painless 360) ? I have been a member now for a number of months and I have not even had a single email, marketing or otherwise, that has been initiated by them. They really do appear to be stuck in the dark ages. Yet they can build a national centre with some 43 acres (which they could probably rent for a miniscule of what it cost to buy - at least the land, where the price bears no relationship to the yield (rent) - and of course any physical facility will be limited due to geography, so any educational facility (a claim they make for it) will be severely constrained. Perhaps if they put more resource into marketing and appealing to new members and providing more online and engaging content (both education & marketing) they could grow their membership and appeal to both "new" and existing members and redress the decline in their membership base. "I think some balance and perspective is needed here...." Yes i agree that Is what percentages - i.e. the 12% - is all about - they provide a direct and relative measure and hence context . We aren't debating the price of coffee ... etc. Plus the BMFA are doing this at a time when membership is being reduced, not going up. In a business context you would only expect to see significant cost increases when a business is growing not declining - those that do otherwise generally don't last very long / remain significant., This would be a great pity for us and the BMFA as they do provide a really valuable service, but frankly they need to and could do better.   Edited By conrad taggart on 20/11/2018 16:19:26

Posted by Callsign Tarnish on 19/11/2018 19:51:10: If the biggest thing to worry about in your life is ?4 then you have a pretty good life. This has been done to death already. Insurance is expensive, so was the purchase of the national flying site and I can't imagine the mag printing costs have gone down year on year. I spend that every morning on a coffee. The BMFA does a lot for us. Be grateful and move on. Please don't tell me what to do or even suppose what I worry about - this thread isn't about that. I didn't say the BMA do not do good work, I was simply making the point that a 12% rise - in anything - is relatively significant and yes costs do go up but generally relative to inflation . So you would expect 8%+ more in benefits in real terms. You would also expect any organisation to make efficiency savings or become better at what it does. Reading this thread please show me where it has been "done to death " - I can't see much evidence of it or an actual explanation or justification for a 12% rise. Why should anybody be grateful for a 12% rise in anything - would you be grateful for a 12% rise in your coffee?

Posted by Andy Meade on 19/11/2018 19:10:27: Insurance and a national body that lobbies to ensure your hobby isn't legislated out of existence. Oh, and an achievement scheme, legal help with flying fields, running national competitions etc etc. Quote I thought we got all that last year ! So what is the extra 8% + we are getting this year ?

Regardless of value for money it is up near 12% when inflation isn't running at more than a 1/3rd of that ! So what does the extra 8% get you ?

Ammo boxes and their various options shown here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnNId0mDnBo C

Perhaps it is to do with the throttle calibration not being set -up for your model. if so the instructions are: "1)  Turn on your transmitter and move throttle stick to 100% 2) Connect battery pack to transmitter. After 2 seconds the , the ESC should beep twice quickly, four times. After you hear these quick beeps, pull the throttle stick to 0% throttle position and wait for the arming sequence beeps. This only needs to be done once for each transmitter". Hope that does the trick ! C Edited By conrad taggart on 18/11/2018 20:30:05

Posted by trebor on 13/11/2018 13:27:35: Posted by john stones 1 on 12/11/2018 22:12:04: Our treasurer dragged our club out the dark ages and set up a facebook group, been a big success, plenty new members via it, m/rs, petrols, helis, some traditional stuff and loads of new fliers with foamies. I wish our club would go on Facebook, it would be so easy to arrange flying days with your mates. There are even better ways of communicating than directly on facebook. If a high proportion of your members have smart phones you could simply set up a group on Messenger or Whats app. These are both free. https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/s40/23721943 https://www.lifewire.com/facebook-instant-messenger-2654356 This way if someone says they are going to the field today and e.g. sends a what's app message everybody in the group would get it and see who else is deciding to go if others message too or they could even ask someone who is at the field what the weather is like , etc. before venturing out themselves. SImilarly, when people have gone out to the field and decided to return because of adverse weather conditions they could inform the rest of the group and save them potentially wasted trips. It should really be used by all clubs and is a really good way to engage new members and improve participation and communication throughout the club. I am going to see if I can get people to use it at the club I have joined. I am beginning to lose count of the number of times I have travelled to the field, hoping to get someone to buddy me only to find nobody there. Being a beginner I am obviously too keen ...   C   With What's app you can just send it to people if you have their phone number - it is simple as that.  They just download the app and they are ready to go.  You don't have to be a member of facebook      Edited By conrad taggart on 13/11/2018 15:22:51

Posted by john stones 1 on 12/11/2018 22:12:04: Our treasurer dragged our club out the dark ages and set up a facebook group, been a big success, plenty new members via it, m/rs, petrols, helis, some traditional stuff and loads of new fliers with foamies. It is this sort of thing that matters. Plus perhaps having a dedicated training plane at the club as mentioned by others and a wider group of trainers than the poor 1-2 souls at most clubs that have to do the training so the beginner doesn't feel like he is being a nuisance and interfering too much with people's flying time. From conversations with trainers, I understand that the reason why a lot of very competent pilots don't help beginners  is that they are scared of the either crashing or letting the beginner crash their plane and don't want the responsibility that goes with it. The club trainer plane would be a big help here, plus if the newbie is using their own plane, something like a Bixler, then it can readily and cheaply be fixed so if the right conversations take place beforehand there shouldn't be any real issues. After all, as a beginner, I am more likely to crash my plane on my own, than with someone's assistance, so I wouldn’t want someone holding back and not helping me for that reason. I am also led to believe (need to check this) if you have two DX6i radios you can fly these in a buddy box configuration regardless of mode. So 2 radios that can generally be had for circa £60 for training purposes could help the beginner  and overcome a lot of the radio and mode issues that appear to exist between would be beginners and trainers. Even if this doesn't help eliminate the problem between radios and modes then this should do the trick. **LINK**. I also understand that Taranis radios can quickly and easily be conjured to buddy box with other radios regardless of make and mode. In terms of the training plane - could the BMFA get a manufacturer / retailer to step up to the plate here? Perhaps by encouraging them to provide a plane and or parts at a discount if used as the club trainer (1 allocated per club). For example if one free WOT4 -foamie   - was made available to each club or clubs of a reasonable size, this would generate a lot of aftersales of the plane and spare parts for the company involved and get the manufacturer / retailer a lot of goodwill and positive publicity. Does anything already happen is this space? What I would really like to know is how many new people have joined your club in the last 12 months (excluding people returning)? How many of them can now fly solo or, if it is a requirement at your club, have their part A ? How many have you personally helped train ? How many have you helped mentor if not trained? PLus if you haven't help train or mentor a beginner and some have joined your club what are the reasons for it ? It is only by knowing the issues and tackling them that progress can be made. Getting people to and through the door seems to be an issue and the requirements to fly solo (Part A) appear to be more onerous than ever.   Edited By conrad taggart on 13/11/2018 11:17:27 Edited By conrad taggart on 13/11/2018 11:26:46

Posted by conrad taggart on 12/11/2018 13:42:55: Posted by Dave Hess on 12/11/2018 12:09:55: ... "So, back on topic. Foam planes are here to stay. They'll secure the future of the hobby. They should be encouraged rather than ridiculed. They're the perfect planes for newbs - wind or no wind. It doesn't matter that the newbs don't know how to trim them. In most cases they fly perfectly straight out of the box. First, we need to encourage them to get into the air and start enjoying the hobby. The rest will come later." Being a beginner of approximately 2 months I totally agree and I wish there was as much energy, thought and debate given about how to make it easier for beginners to enter the hobby and progress all the way through it as there is to arguing about the merits of foam planes.

Double post  Edited By conrad taggart on 12/11/2018 13:45:00

Posted by Peter Miller on 05/11/2018 13:31:08: It is a lovely model. I fly it free flight and just interferre with it occasionally The covering is red Solarfilm for the fuselage and orange HK covering on the wings and tail. THis is my second. the first many years ago had a Webra 40 FS, the one with the belt drive to the camshaft. This one has electric power.10 minutes flying just brings the 3S 2200 battery down to storage charge. Looks absolutely fabulous - lovely colour combination too Edited By Peter Miller on 05/11/2018 13:32:13

Posted by Peter Miller on 05/11/2018 13:31:08: It is a lovely model. I fly it free flight and just interferre with it occasionally The covering is red Solarfilm for the fuselage and orange HK covering on the wings and tail. THis is my second. the first many years ago had a Webra 40 FS, the one with the belt drive to the camshaft. This one has electric power.10 minutes flying just brings the 3S 2200 battery down to storage charge. Looks absolutely fabulous - lovely colour combination too Edited By Peter Miller on 05/11/2018 13:32:13

My Bixler does reasonably well in the wind. Plus it wouldn't be difficult to put a stabiliser in it (not the awful thing in the Apprentice) to make it behave like an even bigger plane on windy days. Others even mentioned the idea of having a more traditional club trainer for beginners which could be used on windy days. Being a beginner I think this is a great idea. If foam models did not exist there would certainly be a lot less beginners, which could hardly be a good thing. Ikura you are right about Americans being different. They are more forward and know a lot more about marketing and how to capture the general public's attention and imagination. Only by appealing to would be new flyers can you grow the hobby so I don't seem the harm in this, If something like the Ohio event was done at the Chatsworth show or part of some other big even it would certainly stand a very good chance of working. When Dave first mentioned the Flite Fest Ohio 2018 event involving hundreds of pilots I thought he was making the opposite point - i.e. suggesting that the UK may be inundated with foam planes if they are not stamped out rather than highlighting how successful they are and can be in opening up, what is a very insular and declining hobby, to new would be participants. At some point, something will replace foam and I am sure the same sort of comments being made here will be made about its replacement. However, for the moment it is here and for very good reasons. Those that hark back to the old days perhaps should bear the following in mind and if the hobby doesn’t continue to change then it will die “The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change -” ― Heraclitus I certainly would not have got started if it wasn’t for foam planes. As I said in my earlier post I have more traditional models that I prefer, but have set them aside until I am good enough , or arguably even deserve, to fly them.

Posted by Ron Gray on 09/04/2018 18:50:33: The problem with this survey is that it doesn't really show trends. A survey of all those who have bought a new Tx over the last year would give a better indication of where 'we' are going. Agree, plus if it took first time buyers or beginners into account it would give you a good indication of where things are going to be in the longer term. Suspect FRSKY would do rather well here