Kevin Wilson

After camping the w/e at Weston last year I doubt if I could get my family to a w/e fly in ever again. My ladies were not impresed with the scream of electric flying wings going right through the night. I think they reported finally getting to sleep around 3am. You are not too far for a day visit though Peter. I will add it to my list of possibles

For really small details (3" cube) Hobbyking have one in stock in the UK warehouse for £130. Ok so this is not going to be aerospace quality, but the prints look useable. Sure we would all like a sintered metal printer, but for the cost this thermo extrusion machine could be worth a punt.

I must say that Mowerman's suggestion is certainly more sensible than training eagles!

As the ministry of Justice is quoted in that report 'instances involving drones are rare' Not that we would expect the press to make too much of that fact. And as is also stated it has been common practice to throw packages over the wall. I worked with a ex Prison Officer who told me years back that they had many instances of contraband being placed in tennis balls and launched into the prison with one of those ball throwing sticks that dog walkers are frequently seen with. So what would be more suspicious, somebody standing with a transmitter with his attention fixed into the distance for many minutes, or some guy walking his dog and throwing the ball occasionally as he walks past the prison?

There is a certain convenience with the Arduino having built in USB port, 5v reg and all the I/O s being brought out. So although being a tight so and so, I am prepared to stump up the extra for a £2.99 Arduino Nano clone (allowed under their common use license). Just to clarify. I have not loaded up this code for the Nav lights, that was just the teaser that made me follow Mr Bowkers links. I am working my way through various Arduino tutorials. Both from www.Arduino.cc and from www.adafruit.com To cover Mr Privett's observation regarding driving servos; there is an Arduino library (basically a function block) that can be called to do all the fancy servo pulsing. If I remember correctly the Nano can drive 5 or so servos (probably limited by the number of PWM pins). A revalation to me that almost all the IO are universal and can be defined in code. Even to the point of pullup resistors being internal & coded. Most entertaining.

Posted by Barryorbik on 23/02/2016 09:46:30: you need to copy any to print off etc just press the left mouse button and highlight the text you want and then control C to copy it, then paste it into paint or word etc as you wish with control V. You can also print the code from within the Arduino IDE. I have found that useful to go through and try and fathom out the code on paper away from the PC. I also found on my work PC (without the Arduino IDE installed) that you can click on an Arduino sketch, windows will ask what program to open with. Choose Wordpad or Word and that will keep the line formatting. Opening with notepad doesn't pick up the line breaks and tabs. As the Arduino IDE is free (unless you are on a restricted works PC! grr!) best just to load the sketch into Arduino IDE and view/print from there.

Mr Bowker, you are a very bad man! For years I have managed to resist getting into these programable controlers on the premis that they are both too expensive and too complicated. Then you come here with a post proving neither of my arguments hold water. Nano purchased, Software installed; LED's flashing, Servos moving, reading digital and analog inputs and writing the same. I am only just scratching the surface of coding and starting on a steep learning curve. Thank you (I think) for the late nights

I have been with Sky for 15+ years and not had a problem. My experience has been the same as Cymaz, totally positive and always helpful. I can recall three failures of service, one BT external wiring, one internal wiring diagnosed by BT and a router failure which was rectified by Sky sending a new router foc and within a day or two. Most of the providers rely on BT for that final hop into the home. So can suffer many the same issues.

Very good tool. Like others I wasted a few crimps before getting the hang of it. I would suggest buying some extra connectors when you get the crimper and making a few leads before setting about a job with a critical length like shortening servo leads. I started using the technique of closing the tags round the insulation but after a bit of practice now find this unecessary. It is only with thicker insulation where mating wire and connector first can belike Martyn useful. I have put a sticker on one side to indicate which side the wire goes in from. The outer position is great for the red JST battery connectors, which is handy for small batteries; very quick and reliable. You can put the insulation in too far but you can look into the crimp and see if is close enough. After a few false starts I can now do them first time every time and much quicker than soldering.

Posted by Keith Lomax on 19/02/2016 12:39:40: Posted by Rob43 on 19/02/2016 01:44:52: David, what you maybe need is a small 12v to 240 v power inverter. Plugs in to your cigarette lighter in your car and you can use your existing charger at the feild if the need arises. A 150 w unit costs about 15 pounds on ebay or amazon. Personally, I wouldn't do this for two reasons: - they are very inefficient, as probably is the transformer that brings the voltage back down for the charger, so will draw a lot more power out of your 12v battery that if you have a direct 12v powered charger - the quality of the output signal from small inverters is very poor - they can be square wave, triangle wave or simulated sign wave. Either way they are not as smooth as a normal mains signal and can damage the electronics of your charger. We fried the charger for our caravan battery by using a cheap inverter generator. And one of the small Maplin inverters saw off our (admitedly old) domestic oven during a power cut. I am sure it was the poor output waveform that did not agree with the digital clock/control unit. So many more options for straight DC chargers and 12v PSU are not difficult or expensive for use at home.

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 12/02/2016 17:20:05: by agreeing to registration we distinguish ourselves from the rogues and hence stand a better chance of being left to get on with it without outside interference. Not sure I agree with you there BEB. As soon as there is a registration scheme it absolutely mandates that they have to maintain the register and never ever leave us alone to get on with it. I am a licensed radio Amateur, so have no problem with registration schemes. But to think that registration frees us from state interference is rather optimistic. With my unrealistically hopeful head on, it would be good if the media (that stirred this 'drone' thing up in their gutter trawl for any story) would move on to some other 'crusade' and we can get back to safely flying in compliance with the ANO as we have for decades.

I made a pair of Deans to XT60 adapters by soldering connectors directly together and covering in heatshrink. (also available on ebay for the more patient) Very handy for connecting old batteries to new models, new batteries to old models and using both to connect my Deans shod watt meter into new models. I also have a pair of Deans to JST for connecting the wattmeter to my indoor foamies. Bite the soldering bullet Rocker. As BEB says its not that difficult once you get the hang of it, and it is a very handy skill to have.

I heard an old wives tail about holding the tranny upside down. Although I doubt I would have the presence of mind to do it. I can see it helping with the reversed ailerons but the reversing of all the other controls would probably get me.

Registration only catches the registered. Take a unregistered motor vehicle. Clearly identifiable. Definitively on an established database. Imposible to trace the operator. I worked with a chap with a clear disregard for the law and a collection of unregistered vehicles. Saved him a fortune in insurance and road fund. He carried no identification and if one got crushed, well! it was cheaper than paying for insurance. An unregistered model crashes into your neghbours greenhouse. No markings so no chance of tracing the pilot. But hang on... a quick look at the database shows there is a chap next door that is registered....... Prove it wasnt you! OK, open fire on me for an unlikely scenario. But how would registration help that situation.

Swerving wildly back to the OP. It would be a shame to see the end of Hornby and Airfix. It is a different world and children do not see the joy in creating something themselves. We are in a very market led consumer society. As a majority our society seems to be very happy passive receptors of others professional (salaried) creativity. I heard a survey a few days back that modern men are unable to fix a dripping tap and such minor domestic repairs. A young man that I cycled to Paris with asked if any of the group could repair a puncture as he didn' have the first clue. So what chance a creative pastime such as model railways and airfix?

And thats how we learnt that knives are sharp and to be very careful with them.

To pick up on a couple of views here regarding information. It has been suggested that retailers need to be engaged in any change of current regulation. In the first instance would it be possible to require retailers to include an information sheet in with any flying model. This would be less onerous both to the Authorities (no database or ongoing enforcement) the retailer (no feedback process, just distribution of information) and existing flyers. I am a country BMFA member and prominently display my BMFA number in the fashion of full size CAA registration. I also have my A cert. so I am pretty much complying already with the majority of suggestions. I just feel that laws only affect the law abiding. The headline question was regarding rogue flyers, whom I am sure would neither register nor care.

Posted by Jon Harper - Laser Engines on 11/02/2016 09:08:58: (no 3 year old needs a phone btw). Absolutely Jon, most 3 year olds seem to get plonked in front of mummy (or daddies) phone... when there isn't a TV to be a surrogate parent of course. There was a recent string of posts on Facebook where a young lad was wanting to go fly but couldn't get to the field. My parents would have seen it as supporting their child to accompany and support me. Similarly I spent a few hours outside my daughters guitar lesson last night reading RCM&E. I am a father its what I do. Unfortunately I seem to be very much in the minority.

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 11/02/2016 11:04:56: With respect guys I believe you are missing the point of the question! The question is not: "Will registration stop rogue flyers?" - we all know it won't. The question is: "Would registration help to protect us, the legitimate, flyers, from further restrictions and reoutation damage by being branded alike with the irresponsible?" Most of the answers given so far are to the first question - which wasn't asked! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 11/02/2016 11:06:08 I am answering the question at the top of the page "Q: Do you think some sort of registration system would protect the hobby from rogue flyers?" To which I answered "None", which appears to broadly agree with the majority of others. I am not sure where you are getting your question from BEB, is that your interpretation of what appears at the top of the page.

I heard the poorly researched 'drone' story on Radio 4 this morning. They mentioned 'drones' being used to 'smuggle' parcels into prisons and couldn't help wondering what happened to the old method of filling a tennis ball and launching it over the wall with the ball throwing sticks that dog walkers are often seen with? Perhaps banning tennis balls is not such a good story.

Posted by Gurth Scriven 2 on 03/02/2016 00:03:51: , but why buy a Tundra when for similar money you can buy an Mpx FunCub kit and fit it out with your own choice of motor, esc and servos? Mpx funcub RR £230 Mpx Funcub kit £78 + Mpx Powerset £100 + Servos + Mpx floats £26 >£200 HK Tundra £140 + p+p <£150 I supose you could buy a Funcub kit and fit cheap gear.... but why? you just might as well get the Tundra Any cost benefit would be assuming the Tundra standard equipment to be sub-standard, which is as yet unproven either way. I expect this will come down more to personal preference than cost. Edited By Kevin Wilson on 03/02/2016 08:07:35 Edited By Kevin Wilson on 03/02/2016 08:08:36

Posted by Braddock, VC on 14/01/2016 23:45:58 I started using lead free with poor success until I bought an iron designed for lead free. Since then I have found lead free soldering a joy compared to previously, even deans plugs are a doddle. I believe that lead free solder has a higher melting point. This explains why VC had greater success with a specific iron and why I struggle with my old Weller temperature controlled iron. Of couse sparking up a good old thermal balanced 25w+ iron gets the leadfree muck flowing enough to replace it with 60/40. For electrical connections on clean surfaces (essential imho) 60/40 flux cored is all that is necessary. Soldering non electrical connections is another matter entirely and necesitates a different approach dependant on what materials you are joining.

Posted by Tony Nijhuis on 13/01/2016 22:44:57: Remember, your choice has to be the one you would stop and clear your building board for..... OK, that has prompted me. 4' - 5' electric twin BN Islander Grumman Tigercat B25 Mitchel

Posted by Dai Fledermaus on 05/01/2016 11:46:20: . If someone told me they had an XT660Z or a CBR300R, it wouldn't mean a thing to me. I must be a little bit younger, as while I am familliar with Dommie's etc, indeed I had a 'cub myself; I would also take a good stab at the XT being a Yam, while the CBR can only be a Honda. 300? was that an import model? {if anyone sees an RC plane over Peel during MGP come and say hello } It is surpprising though how a lot of youngsters would be stranded on the side of the road winging on facebook via their 'smart' phone rather than rolling up their sleeves. Starts at home I'm afraid. It seems a bike puncture needs a trip to Halfords and the 'cycle engineer' these days.

BMFA member - Yes A Certificate - Yes Fly outside a club environment - Yes Fly with an organised group - Yes I am with Matty, not everyone who flies in public space is a reckless paria.