One year ago today: May 15, 2019, feed birds, yank weeds.
Five years ago today: May 15, 2015, I never buy sheet music.
Nine years ago today: May 15, 2011, remember the MonkeyZone?
Random years ago today: May 15, 2013, always something wrong.
I got millennialized, but I got the drone. After several days of disgusting jargon and unreadable specs, I just went out and bought one on sale. I figured for $99 I was not going to put up with more mllennial bullshit. Headless mode? What’s that? Six axis gyro—as opposed to what? GPS navigation sounds great, but no instructions on how to use. These features are listed and you are not only supposed to magically know what they do, but also how they work because it is not in the manual. Where I really got taken was misleading pictures. The carton showed a controller with a built-in screen. It wasn’t, rather a holder for a smart phone. Turns out the camera has no memory card, so the phone is a necessity. No mention of that on the box. Seems I got taken on this feature—or lack of feature—once before with some GoPro camera piece of junk.
This, and many other quirks, but for the price, anything was better than wasting more time trying to get straight answers on the Internet. I got more information in the first five minutes than five days dealing with those bastards. Standing in the Wal*Mart drone section checking weights with a smart phone registered in your own name isn’t right up there with effective security measures.
I won’t return it, since that raises more flags. I’ll use it to get comfortable with the controls, and who recalls that bozo from the trailer court who got fined $1,500 for entering the airport no-fly zone? Twice. I learned a lot from his mistakes. Like turn off all your navigation lights. It saves power and no need to let the world know there is a drone about. Next, while there are no FAA agents out patrolling for unregistered drones, they are out there watching for idiots. For most work, swap out the camera for one with a gimbal and memory card. Using a cell phone to record camera scenes is just asking for trouble. What’s more, I may be able to rig up a working system using some other device than a cell phone. A lot of people are unaware that Android was originally game code.
So, once again the millie world hands us lemons, but without them ever achieving any useful ends. In another week, we will know as much about drones as they do. And I’m after knowledge, not nonsense. I must find out what all the features are, how they work, and I know from living next door to a RC airplane addict that the equipment constantly needs calibration. The registration rule says no flying the drone outdoors, but over private property is a talking point, and once more, if I ever get charged with anything, it would be a first offense. Without saying, admitting, or counseling anything, except I’m going to find those small cameras I’ve got around here and see what gives. They all have memory slots because I’ve used them all for this blog at some point. I have yet to determine the blogs true payload.
The government limit for drones is 250 grams, and this one weighs in at over 600. Besides, the government always gets it wrong when they include exceptions. They’ve just spawned a huge market for mini-drones just below the weight limit. And by the time I buy one, I’ll know exactly what to look for.without the headache of dealing with all the Internet experts. Aha, I just got a glimpse recall about a camera. Remember that little black camera I had on the motorcycle handlebars? I remember seeing it within the last month, but where? That held a 16 gig micro SD and I never throw anything like that out. Right now it is far-fetched but just before I bought this place, I was about to invest in Arduino WiFi capabilities. If I ever found the time, programming an Arduino controlled camera would be nothing for me/.
In the final indignity (because computers, if left alone, would have put an end to such problems), the drone arrives with a little package of screws. Nine with washers, eleven without, and two small unexplained pins. They are probably to secure the landing legs and blade guards, except the screws don’t fit the holes. I made some of them fit. And the manual never does mention the required registration, although some of the independent review sites mention it in the fine print. There are two plugs in the casing near the camera mount. There are a set of decals, make sure you get them right the first time. And the unit must be recalibrated every time the battery power is interrupted, although that might apply only the communication link. Check back in 48 hours.
Fensi (glass noodle).
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Here's another temp pic that stays. It's the youTube runt. Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks people who make such ads are total dooshes. So far, he is 100% unliked in my (hidden) comment section. He is currently ranging somewhere between "mole-like" and "Son of Shrek". To me he represents the eternal question about consequences. Do such people ever really suffer, or are they just getting what they once bargained for.
I got the drone out for an initial flight. Only crashed twice. I put it through some paces and see you get what you pay for, unless you get millennialized in which case you get a lot less. Look how badly they screwed the word "free". The first crash was landing. When you push the one-key landing, the drone does not necessary to straight down, even in calm weather. So it smacks into the back yard fence. I have the blade guards installed, but I’ve already lost one. Second try, I got to wobble in place, not realizing unless the drone is facing you, the left-right controls are backwards. Right into a tree branch.
In the six minutes of flight time, I made many discoveries. It’s a situation I’ve been trying to invent a snappy phrase over quite some time. It’s when they say something good, it’s only half as good, when they say it’s bad, it’s twice as bad. So it is with this weird toy. I have the philosophy don’t but anything for what it can do, rather for what you can do with it. This quadcopter is bending the rule. Anyway, here’s the so-far.
Compared to what the box says, flight time is half. Charging time is half again as long. Range is half. The controls respond like you are wearing boxing gloves. Trying to land on a given spot is like watching one of those failed SpaceX recoveries. It seems to avoid the landing pad. When the thing cracks up, it goes dormant. Twice I had to pull the battery to “reboot” the thing. I’ll get used to it but I can tell it will require a lot of practice. The off-on switch does not reset it after a clunk or bump. I put the speed control on 30% and still had a hard time getting it to behave. I need an open field to practice, maybe behind the Fubar. It seems like a handy skill, but probably gets boring unless you find a better camera setup. Of course, everybody wants virtual reality flying.
For siesta (which for me is a break, not always a nap) I threw on Paladin DVD. I’ve seen that closing scene how many times but I never notice it was written by Gene Rodenberry, the Star Trek dude. I know he was originally going to call it “Wagon Train to the Starts”, I had no idea about his connection with western scripts—but I have always said “Have Gun Will Travel” was a distinct cut above the rest. Now I see the connection.
ADDENDUM
Still, I would not want to be a burden and to me, one place is as good as any other. Let me think on it, except for a very limited range of items like music, nothing in my life has ever stayed the same very long. This house is approaching one of the few places I’ve lived in more than a couple of years. My entire life can change in a wink, so maybe putting away money for a plot is better than a plot. Again, let me think.
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