Dave

As a drone owner ( quadcopter -hobbyking custom build, taranis radio with telemetry ) I think it's certainly madness for any " hobby" drone to fly over people's heads. GPS return to home is quite limited and any number of components in a quadcopter can fail bringing the device uncontrollably to the ground. Quad copters and drone flyers are already ostracised from enough flying clubs , without hobby drones crashing into crowds.

GPS is not limited at all unless your using a cheap flight controller. The latest DJI naza flight controller with GPS is very advanced and reliable.They are what make drones so much more reliable and safe, take the new DJI Inspire 1, used in concerts flying over the crowd only danger was that idot singer Enrique Iglesias reaching up to grab the camera and nearly lost his fingers!

What kind of set up are you running, flight controller, ESC's motors?

Pretty sure most venues would have kittens at the mere notion of a remotely controlled thing flying over patrons' heads however 'safe' it might appear to be.

Agree you would never get permission nor insurance cover. However the video clips shown here of Ballyglunin taken in a remote unpopulated scene had minimal risks because it wasn't flying over people nor active roads. In such 'minimal risk' circumstances it may be more practical to seek forgiveness afterwards than seek permission beforehand!

I asked for permission to fly my one at the Wexford show and it wasn't a problem. Mind you I was very careful and didn't fly directly over the public.

Most drones are fitted with GPS, they will automatically fly back to their starting position if they run low on battery or go out of range from the transmitter. They can be programmed to stay above a minimum altitude. They are very safe in the right hands, and that's the problem it's the idiots that don't know how to use them properly will get them banned and restricted.

Amazon are currently running trials for using drones for delivery, they hope in a few years if you live close enough to a distribution depot your order will be delivered by drone in 30 mins.

Can't see them delivering 40" TV's that soon though

No, no I mean like this [video=youtube_share;t99N223fqCo]

you could also livestream it, so you can be sitting at home and checking out what's happening at an exhibition in another country in real time.

Live stream is possible, most of the high end drones have that facility.

It would be pretty awesome of you had a 360 camera on a Quadcopter and had it in the middle of the exhibition hall......

You just fly the quad copter in a 360 degree circle as they can spin on their own axis

Excellent videos, beautifully shot. The age of the drone is here. I shot some video on my toy quadcopter at the Wexford show I bought to learn how to fly them, I'm now working on building a large octacopter capable of carrying a DSLR. Now with 4k resolution go pro cameras the possibilities are endless!

I used 3mm cubes which fit just right between the rails

Thanks Bos

Have used them exclusively.

Excellent, thanks!

Has anyone used neodymium magnets for uncoupling kadees and do they work well. Last layout I did I used the Kadee magnet, but I'm interested in using the neodymium magnets.

Maybe so but my HO diesel Shunter works well on my OO gauge track

It will as the track they use is the same, 16.5mm.

That would not be a problem today as HO scale seems to be the same as 00

HO is not the same scale as OO. OO or 1:76 is 4mm to the foot and HO 1:87 is 3.5mm to the foot. Quite a noticeable difference when side by side.

Looks great TDR! What ballast are you using?

Nicely done, such a transformation.

I did ask a trader once why the sterling prices in a Euro zone and was told that it would be too time consuming to re label everything.

Pretty much everything you will need to know is here.

http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/

All locos have a DC motor, even running on DCC the motor will run on DC. So no need to run it in on DC.

Its Illegal anyway. Wonder will the VAT people ever show up again........

When did they show up? Never seen them at that show, revenue are asking hotels for a list of trade events and details of traders.

Prices should be in Euro, a number of people said it to me on the day. When I go to shows up north I have a sterling price list.

You don't need a polarity switch on an electrofrog point, you do however need to isolate both centre rails coming off the V in the point. As the point switches so does the polarity on the V so one track will have a short on it at any one time.

You only need to switch the polarity with an auxiliary switch when you modify the point so that the V is not relying on getting power from the blades touching the side of the rail, the advantage to modifying the point is better reliability. When you weather the track or when dirt builds up between the blade and the side of the rail you get a bad connection at the V and trains stall. By modifying the point the V gets powered all the time and no longer depends on the connection between the blade and the rail.

That's a little stunner! My favourite livery too.

You will sometimes hear horror stories about MDF being toxic - it does, however, like many natural woods do, have some issues to contend with.

 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/faq-mdf.htm

 

A lot of the problem is more a result of modern machinery producing finer and more easily inhalable dust.

 

It's not a huge issue for an amateur.

 

And you won't get splinters!

Yes good dust extraction is a must, but if your cutting it with a rough blade the dust particles are quite big. But on my workshop panel saw the blade is a fine cutting blade and the dust is like flour. Also sanding produces very fine dust, before I dispatch any order I hoover the baseboards thoroughly and wipe them down to ensure they are dust free when they are dispatched.

MDF has moved on Noel, it used to be very nasty stuff. I can stand on mine!

Not a very nice statement to make Walter, neither are the misinformed ones you keep throwing out about MDF.

Ply-Wood only no Paper

Why would you use paper for baseboards Walter??? Or do you mean MDF which is of course not related to MDF at all, a common misconception. All though I can't for the life of me understand why you dislike MDF so much given that you bought quite a few baseboards from me!!!

As a cabinet maker first and foremost, I would not use Sundeala, it is very unstable and needs a lot of support it was originally designed to be bonded to a more stable substrate like plywood. The problem with plywood is quality, most of the plywood that is imported into Ireland is from the far east and is full of voids and is not properly laminated. It can and does de-laminate and collapse when you try to put a screw through it. Even marine ply is not proper marine ply any more.

To use a decent plywood you would have to use Birch ply which is 5 times the cost of normal ply.

When I started to design my first commercial baseboard I tried ply and Birch ply, the Birch ply was brilliant but commercially too expensive and the end cost of the baseboard was too high.

That's why I use MDF, not the crap that you get in B&Q. I use Medite Premier MDF, it is very high quality and is incredibly stable because there is no grain it doesn't suffer from expansion and contraction the other products do.

It's how the baseboard is constructed that's important. I use 15mm for the frame which is a torsion box design with a 9mm top resulting in a very strong but light baseboard. I have been making them for 3 years now without any problems with warping or twisting that you get from ply and softwood frame.

With regard to track pins I don't have a problem getting them in, I use the Peco ones that are more like needles than pins! Sure the odd one bends but on the whole they are fine.

Here's a few pics of some recent baseboards.

That's only down the road from where I live.