Mount St. Helens
10-13-2004, 10:53 PM
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Mount St. Helens
You know what would be really cool... if we packed an RC plane with a GPS, shielded the wings a bit with tin foil etc... and we mounted an IR and a standard video camera and went volcano hunting!!! We would need approx. 9 miles of coverage with at least 45 minutes of flight time. I bet we could capture some very cool video captures of the old beast before she blows her top. Could you imagine the thermals??? We had better have a co-pilot installed talking to the GPS etc... It sure would be a blast... no pun intended-grin
Rob
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10-14-2004, 02:02 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
I was watching CNN this afternoon and saw where they are already sending RC planes over the crater. Looked like it had about 6 ft wingspan. Great idea, but somebody beat you to it.
Nashcat
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10-14-2004, 12:16 PM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
They have been showing some vary cool vids of the lava dome glowing red at night. Local news media doing some good coverage. Hope this thing don't blow like the first time What a mess
10-14-2004, 01:28 PM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
yeah.... my friend still has his car that has little dried up lava turds all over it from the first valcano kaboomer
and he lived like 50miles away.......it was a mess
and he lived like 50miles away.......it was a mess
10-15-2004, 09:34 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
I live 30 minutes from DC. In fact I just flew into National Airport, took the Metro to the Pentigon, then walked to my Roomies car parked at the Pentigon. I was close enough to the building I could toss a baseball at it. Security is very relaxed at the Pentigon. Most of the Hum-Vee's you see are padlocked shut and placed out there as decoys. There are some armed guards walking around, mostly in areas above the parking lot. They might try to shoot the plane down with guns. By the time they figure out what's going on the plane would be over the wall. They are more concerned about what's going on with cars in the parking lot, and people on the ground. You'll be able to do a flyover. However if you do it I wouldn't suggest bragging about it.
ORIGINAL: randall1959
I've been to DC since 911.......you wouldn't even get close........
I've been to DC since 911.......you wouldn't even get close........
10-15-2004, 09:52 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
Don't be foolish! On the other hand... I would like to perform an over flight atop of Kerry's bus. The weather is NOT flight worthy... otherwise I might give it a try... not! Both Bush and Kerry are in the area today. But, I don't intend to be shot for doing something stupid like flying over their airspace!
I repeat... Do be foolish! I was talking about flying over Mount St. Helens and some how this thread went political! Tis the season though
Rob
I repeat... Do be foolish! I was talking about flying over Mount St. Helens and some how this thread went political! Tis the season though
Rob
10-15-2004, 11:13 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
Just heard on the news that they are still waiting for FAA approval before they (the scientists) can send their UAV. They had it at a news conderence last night. It looks pretty high tech. I hop that they show a clip of it airborne.
Steve H
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10-18-2004, 01:19 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
I beat them to it with a SS and a SPAD!
Check out the video from friday morning[X(]
12 meg[link=http://members.hscis.net/~janeneg/msh.wmv]video here[/link]
Check out the video from friday morning[X(]
12 meg[link=http://members.hscis.net/~janeneg/msh.wmv]video here[/link]
10-18-2004, 08:04 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
Sweet!!! Really cool driving through the clouds! Excellent setup and the devil music was alright too-grin! How far away were you? Too bad she didn't blow her top while you were capturing video.
See... You mention it... and some lucky SOB with a video equipped RC will capture it! LOL Excellent!!!
Rob
See... You mention it... and some lucky SOB with a video equipped RC will capture it! LOL Excellent!!!
Rob
10-18-2004, 11:38 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
Thanks for the good comments... Devil music??? I think maybe you are possesed and everything just sounds evil to you
I took off from 4000' about 8 miles east from the crater rim and climbed up a couple thousand feet and a mile closer to the volcano. The FAA has a NOTAM out and there is a 5 mile no fly zone around St Helens so I stayed back not wanting any trouble. I also kept to the east side because the west is crawling with media vans all looking for a story. Imagine 100 satellite trucks and reporters sitting around for 2 weeks with no story.. If I would have pulled out the ground station, put on the VR goggles and took off, I would have a flood of media asking me questions and probably a few phone calls or men with black suits knocking at my door.....heh heh
Might have been fun now that I think about it..
I took off from 4000' about 8 miles east from the crater rim and climbed up a couple thousand feet and a mile closer to the volcano. The FAA has a NOTAM out and there is a 5 mile no fly zone around St Helens so I stayed back not wanting any trouble. I also kept to the east side because the west is crawling with media vans all looking for a story. Imagine 100 satellite trucks and reporters sitting around for 2 weeks with no story.. If I would have pulled out the ground station, put on the VR goggles and took off, I would have a flood of media asking me questions and probably a few phone calls or men with black suits knocking at my door.....heh heh
Might have been fun now that I think about it..
10-18-2004, 02:08 PM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
I use a 500mw tx and recently added a high gain directional patch rx antenna that improved my range many times over. The camera is a 380 line ccd with a messed up wide angle lense. Did you notice the small red lines caused from to many lense to earth impacts?? I had loaned my spare lenses to a friend, and wish like heck I had them... With a telephoto one, I would have been able to get alot better close-up views of the crater. The camera and tx are powered from a seperate 3 cell li-po. The goggles are IGlasses LC with 180k pixels.. Not as clear as the video recorded to my 8mm analog camcorder but good enough. The video I posted is very compressed, and the raw analog video viewed on my tv is very crisp and clear.
I had loaned my spare lenses to a friend, and wish like heck I had them... With a telephoto one, I would have been able to get alot better close-up views of the crater. The camera and tx are powered from a seperate 3 cell li-po. The goggles are IGlasses LC with 180k pixels.. Not as clear as the video recorded to my 8mm analog camcorder but good enough. The video I posted is very compressed, and the raw analog video viewed on my tv is very crisp and clear.
. Who's patch, your own home brew or a commercial unit?
10-19-2004, 03:50 PM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
It's a commercial patch can't remember the mfg but it between 11 and 13db with about a 65-70° beam. I can check the sticker if you need it.. I just installed it on my RX and it increased my range many times over.
10-20-2004, 08:00 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
YDI Wireless in DC sells a variaty of antennas (www.ydiwireless.com). After glancing at a few, most of them ARE within the frequency range the Black Widow cam uses. The patch antenna Black Widow puts out is 8dbi. There are a few patch antennas YDI has that list 18 dbi gain.
10-20-2004, 11:17 AM
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RE: Mount St. Helens
I checked the number, it is 13dB gain with a 38° beam... [link=http://www.winncom.com/pdf/WRP2400-12.pdf]PDF here[/link]
Thats why I have the static on my video, the plane is within range, but the antenna was not aimed within 38° of my plane.. If you notice just before the landing shot, lots of static even though the plane was close and then after the hand catch, notice the angle my antenna was sitting at.... even 38° is to narrow for all around flying IMO. But Boy does it reach out!
I think bills antenna is circular polarized, lower gain, but wider beam... Probably works better for all around flying?? The 18 dB would be nice if you were aiming it directly at the transmitter, but for "average" flying, it would be a pain! If you check the specs on the 18db, I am sure the beamwidth will be very narrow...
Thats why I have the static on my video, the plane is within range, but the antenna was not aimed within 38° of my plane.. If you notice just before the landing shot, lots of static even though the plane was close and then after the hand catch, notice the angle my antenna was sitting at.... even 38° is to narrow for all around flying IMO. But Boy does it reach out!
I think bills antenna is circular polarized, lower gain, but wider beam... Probably works better for all around flying?? The 18 dB would be nice if you were aiming it directly at the transmitter, but for "average" flying, it would be a pain! If you check the specs on the 18db, I am sure the beamwidth will be very narrow...
