Backyard Racing

Okay, this really isn't in the backyard but it's in the rear driveway of my parents house. I got a new truck for Christmas and some cones as well so I thought I would set up a little course for me to run on. I really like how the Slash looks when running on the road. It rolls a lot like a real car would so it looks even better than my Rustler running on the road. That's what I saw when I was in Arkansas watching these race on the track. I didn't know what it was that I liked about them but I realized now that it was the body roll that made them look so real. You can disregard some of the commentary by my wife. Some of it's good but then some of it is laughable like going to the bathroom comments.



http://youtu.be/2w-XLrBwF6s

Length: 2:15

Onboard PiP

Okay, here's another fun video. It's been months since I've last posted a video but then it has almost been months since I've done any RC-ing. So here's this one.
Since I'm in Fort Smith about once a month, I decided to look for a track and found a nice little one to run on. They have races weekly and other than during the race, the track is open for anyone (for free even). It was a ton of fun to actually race on a track. I remember people running on an indoor track at RC/RC when I was really young and wanted to try it sometime. Now about 15 years later, I finally got to.
I didn't enter the races because of some other things but the people at River Valley were really nice and very fun to talk to and race with. I won't go into detail about it since most of the banter on here is usually about the video.
This video is something I have always wanted to do and finally got around to. I had to have the right software (Norrkross Movie did it for me) and the video capability to do it. I finally got around to finding the right software in a nice little package from MacUpdate and also finally got around to getting the right "equipment" to take the other video. Here's a picture of the setup for the not onboard video.

Pretty interesting huh? It's call the hat cam, kind of like referees in the NFL I guess but less sophisticated. I got the idea from a guy on an r/c airplane forum where they do some aerial video.
The video turned out well. I had only run about 5 laps before I felt confident enough to run around without ruining the camera on the VXL so I headed out. I took it a little easy and didn't go as fast as I could run to protect the camera. That didn't stop me from accidents but I had some protection as well to save the camera. I didn't get any video of me or others racing afterwards because I ran out of battery on my hat cam but maybe next time we are out in Fort Smith. One interesting note is the $80 camera on my head takes video in HD. Amazing huh? I lose a little quality because I convert the initial video from an avi to mp4 because of some silly header file that causes me grief and then there's a little compression when I export the video and then once more, there is a little compression when it's uploaded but surprisingly, it's not that bad even online.
Anyway, the video was shortened to not take your whole life.
Enjoy!



http://youtu.be/bFYmtfQsAOo

Length: 2:49

Quick Update

Okay, so I've been slacking off a bit on the hobby stuff but I have a good reason...my master's research. Anyway, I did make two recent changes. First I changed the template but more importantly, I changed my videos over from Google Video to Vimeo and that has made quite a difference. The videos are much better quality and less compressed so you can see it almost as if it was the actual file loaded on your computer.
I also have a new camera I've been wanting to try out for months now and I may get a chance soon so when I get my good video I have been planning for months, I'll definitely post it soon. Stay tuned!

Skate Park Bashed

Well, here's another video taken fairly recently. A friend and I went out to the skate park early in the morning to have some fun before we had to leave for work. We had a blast playing around. We had some good races and then I had the silly idea of putting my VXL in the regular sport mode. Last time I did that, I broke a bearing carrier. Not bad but still, I broke something.
Anyway, I put it in sport mode and had a little too much fun jumping around. As you can see, it got up about 10 feet or maybe a little higher. It was a lot of fun. There's a shot where I lose a wheel but it wasn't the impact that caused it. The nut fell off mid air and it spun off itself. I think that one landing might have done in one of the cells of my 2S2P LiPo battery.
So, we jumped around a bit and then I saw that my Tx (transmitter) batteries were low. Generally, it's not good to drive it like that and I had bad glitching problems before but this time, everything was still great so being dumb, I took it out for a few more jumps...four to be exact. The last four you see are the ones. I was about to finish playing around but then as you will see on the last jump, I landed kind of funny. I tried to turn up the sound some over the music so you could get an idea of what happened.
The music on this one is a little more well known. Maybe you can guess that as well.
I thought my battery was gone because it got all banged up after the crash. So, I called around to see if anyone would be able to take it apart and most of the companies don't work with Li-ion or LiPo so I thought I was out of luck. I considered doing it myself but knowing that if there was even a small accidental short while I tried to unsolder and solder it back up, the whole pack would be dead and in the worst case, it would possibly explode (not likely but they can blow up in certain cases).
Luckily, I got online and posted on one of my forums I read and someone said they would fix it for really cheap. I sent it off to them and now it just needs to be tested out to make sure the remaining three cells work and then I'll have it back in an even better configuration, three cells in series. It'll only be a 3200mAh pack but since it's a 15C rating, that's 48A continuous and about 72A burst which is pretty good as I have it geared down some. I doubt it will be a problem since I'm usually in training mode to limit the amount of things I break.
The ESC (electronic speed control) will definitely need replacing and I actually have a Mamba Max on order. I'm excited to get it as it shouldn't keep coming apart like the other three VXL-3S ESCs I have had to send it for servicing.
Alright, there's the story behind the video.
Enjoy!



http://youtu.be/Y9cW2YqmRII

Length: 3:55

VXL Rustler Fun

Alright, it's been a while since I took these videos but I finally got them all put together. It's from two different takes but they're pretty good nonetheless. I tried to do a couple of different effects this time to make things a little more interesting. I also added a little music to it as well. 5 points for whoever guesses correct on who the band is.
Enjoy!



http://youtu.be/PM2sAUvXZHQ

Length: 3:10

Two-Way Stryker View

Well, I finally got around to getting this video made. I took the two videos and put them together. I really like the second view I got and it shows the propeller and the elevon moving. It's the first of this kind of view for me. I'm sure I'll be doing it some more from now on. Until I find another good location, this may be the last video for a little as it's kind of the same with the videos now. If there's something really interesting though, I'll post it. I have another cool idea which the picture before gives a little hint as to what it may be. I even got an illuminator to try and help out with the camera.
Enjoy!



http://youtu.be/6RZRZILVdS0

Length: 3:13

Stay Tuned...

Okay, this isn't much and it's not even a good picture but it's what's in store for the near future. Since the wind is an issue here in Oklahoma during the day, sometimes you have to resort to other means to fly. Enjoy!