CCW Motor Upgrade Correct...

In the meantime, I've found a DJI tutorial video that is proof that my musings about upgrading my DJI Phantom with CCW motors are correct...

Law & Order Below the Waterline

Roundabout/Rotary Specialist.

As proper citizens we always engage in getting even more proper citizens. Thus we now offer the Roundabout Specialist to be better citizens also below the waterline.

In case you noticed: the card really shows a roundabout and not a rotary. You may count this as a tiny glitch, but who cares. For the latest right-hand rotaries we lacked the necessary widest angle lens, and well-known TV channels couldn't lend us one as they desperately need them for themselves all the time.

PS: Many thanks to Michaela Heinlein for the great shot taken during a training pool lession.

Going Cycling with a Full Face Mask

Slowest biker under water wearing a full face mask.

Call me nuts. We had much fun yesterday when we did some training for an upcomming Guiness record attempt. I'm going for a win in the new category of «slowest biker under water wearing a full face mask». I'm unrivaled, I'm sure, in both dimensions: slow and full face mask.

Unfortunately, the pool won't be filled with Guiness. That would otherwise be a good reason to even dive this time without my full face mask.

However, I suppose that after the record attempt the pool fluid will be rather more like Kölsch (Cologne beer) than water. But not served in small tube-like glasses as it is custom in Cologne, but rather in a pool...

PS: Thanks go to Axel Eisel for this finish photo.

This is the End ... to SanDisk Ultra microSDs

Total loss: the final three cards
out of originally six cards
also went nuts.

Enough is enough. First, problems with filming where when filming with my GoPro HD Hero 3 Black Editions filming suddenly stops. Now a complete loss of filmed footage due to the SanDisk microSDs failing. Luckily, the footage wasn't of great importance, but this is annoying nevertheless.

So these remaining three cards out of originally six cards I've purchased from this brand finally have proven to me to be unreliable. I'm going to return them in order to get a full refund and purchase from a different brand known to be working. No more SanDisk for me.

The final result now is: six out of six SanDisk cards failed. SanDisk really has come a long way ... in direction of Earth gravity.  At least for me, as 100% of their products I purchased for use with GoPro HD Hero 3 Black Edition cams failed within some months of use.

And before someone knows better: I've purchased these cards through renowed channels, such as specialized dealers and large chain retailers. There is, for all it is worth, zero change of getting fake brand cards. And then, several independent dealers would have to get the same fakes over a period of several weeks where I purchased through different retailers. There is, for any practical reason, zero change of this going to happen, unless you are a believer in tin foil hats.

What I notice is that GoPro that once treated SanDisk as its one and only memory card supplier for their web shop isn't on the list of recommended microSD cards (as of end of August 2013). We find only three other companies here: Delkin, Lexar, and Samsung. Outch, this is a first class punch.

Spin Me Around Like A Record ... Or the Other Way

As one of the motors of my Phantom quadcopter developed a bearing damage I had to service the hardware anyway. And then I had this glorious idea to upgrade my first generation Phantom a little bit...

T14SG Switch Assignments

After all the detailed programming of your Futaba transmitter T14SG you may now wonder what switch does what? So, here's a quick reference at your convenience...

T14SG and the Phantom Failsafe

In this article, I'm going to take a closer look at the topic of failsafe. The Futaba transmitter T14SG and receiver R7008SB both come with failsafe functionality, as does the Naza-M flight controller inside the Phantom too. Now how do all these failsafes work together? As usual, no warranties given, this is just how I did it and I may be perfectly wrong...

Programming the T14SG for the Phantom

Futaba T14SG: 2.4GHz transmitter,
12+2 channels and telemetry.

In a previous article I described how I upgraded my DJI Phantom quadcopter with a Futaba R7008SB receiver. In this follow-up article, I'm now showing how to program the T14SG transmitter in order to fly the Phantom. So let's start...!

Phantom Transmitter/Receiver Upgrade Futaba T14SG/R7008SB

My DJI Phantom with Futaba R7008SB receiver and
T14SB transmitter. Telemetry now included!

The international version of my blog is still lagging behind, but I try to slowly catch up. So here we start with Pimp My Phantom...

The DJI Phantom comes ready to fly and so the box includes only a simple and inexpensive 2.4GHz transmitter to keep the box price low.

Update: Meanwhile, DJI has improved the Phantom's transmitter and receiver. While the company now markets this improvement as a frequency hopping system, measurements show that the new system only uses four discrete frequencies, so this is still a very simple system.

After having flown the Phantom with great pleasure for several ten of hours I wanted more comfort and more reliability than just what the beginner's level has to offer. I wanted more reliability of the radio link even in difficult locations with many reflections, automatic timers for monitoring the flight battery, and also a proper slide lever for controlling the camera for my future gimbal upgrade.

After touring the local electronics chain store I picked up a Futaba T14SG transmitter that also comes with a suitable R7008SB receiver. This combination features flight battery telemetry, that is, the receiver send back the battery voltage to the transmitter. Don't declare me nuts, read on for my story of upgrading my Phantom...

Pure Sight: Above & Inside Sameranger See and Fernsteinsee

Panoramic view in any aspect. ;)
Sameranger See (T/AT)

Top notch mountain lake diving: Sameranger See and Fernsteinsee. Extraordinary sight that even make tropical waters cry. Both mountain lakes are side by side in between Fernpass and the town of Nassereith, Tyrol, Austria. But sight is not only top notch below the water surface but also above; filming at this beautiful location is a real pleasure. My DJI Phantom quadcopter is a great tool for aerial filming. Enjoy the video!

Summer Ice Diving Speciality

I want to ice dive NOW!

With the present hot weather for the past few weeks that seems to last some more weeks to come I desperately want to have an ice diving specialty!

Pure Natural Diver (EAN21)

Perfectly tuned to Nature: 21% O₂.

Natural diving is Green.

No, not because of all that damn green algae in our diving waters, caused by the big bad farming and so.

Diving is Green because we're perfectly pure in what we breathe when we dive: 21% Oxygen, as made by Mother Nature. Only EAN21 makes us properly tune in to Nature. No more industrial breathing gas crap, such as EAN32. No way!

Be part of the Green Whole! Get certified as a Pure Natural Diver today!