Wednesday, December 31, 2014

A year in review: my best flights and used FPV equipment shown

I started this as a "Best of" video project but once talking it became also an review of my equipment used this year. You'll see what I found great, and what not and a small oulook to next things. I really enjoyed FPVing this year - and a big part of the fun was getting in touch with my audience. It's great to get so much feedback, don't hesitate to ask questions. Look in my videos descriptions cause I post many links and infos there, visit my Hangar and explore the details of my models (I try to keep this up to date).

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

DRQ250 Miniquad Racing, Stunts and Flythroughs in Parks and on construction yard


Over the last few month I did a lot of flying with the DRQ250 (Droneframes) miniquad. Right behind our company was a super nice setup mini racing course (lots of excavators and construction yard stuff).
- Tried to improve my "fly-through-even-tiny-gaps" style.
- Had a 4times bonus at the bridge ;-)
- really tight playground obstacle, some trees, fences
and could try to improve the
- "loop-over-treeline" trick that I find so breathtaking (first saw it done from Boris B.).

Thanks for your support this year, I really love all the nice feedback I get from you guys. I try to give back as much as I can in answering newbie questions - lately I've done that also on my facebook page (check it out!) - so I can answer the most common questions to more than just one guy at a time.

All the best to all of you,
happy Xmas, or whatever you celebrate these days,
Seasons Greetings - RCSchim

Friday, December 12, 2014

Quadcopters chasing each other up to Ruins (Türkensturz), unnecessary Crash - 60FPS!!!

Hover82 did chase my orange TBS Discovery here all the way up to those lovely ruins which we then inspected. There were some hikers and bikers to greet. Great if you can do such flights in teams.
The second part was also at ruins which we wanted to explore - but see how this endeavour was ending short after takeoff... (and why!)

Please try to watch this in 1080p60FPS!!! So smooth you shouldnt miss! If you can't change to 720p60 or 1080p60 then either upgrade Internet Explorer or try Google Chrome.
60FPS Really makes a difference!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Review of Gopro Alternatives (Mobius, Amkov5000, Hawkeye - RCSchim)


►SUBSCRIBE               If you just wanna see the Video Samples go to 12:42

►Amkov "SJ5000" (Clone of the Clone)
Price: 91$
Bitrate: 17.723kbits
72grams

+ fully gopro compatible (button layout, housing)
+ changeable battery (almost like Gopro but not compatible)
+ good preview speed in android app (to Galaxy S4)
- worst picture in test! Also the video is not smooth in playback
- only little to setup in app, but app needed to change important stuff!
- cheap plastic feeling (looks better than it feels)

►Hawkeye (from http://www.Securitycamera2000.com) 
Price: 75$
Bitrate: 21.834kbits
Battery runtime (1080p30) 1h:12mins (but maybe I have a charge problem here - cant get passed 80% full)
65grams

+ very sharp, crisp picture
+ few different modes (like Gopro2) but selectable
+/- only medium FOV 100° (also the 720p modes are same fov)
- Gopro3 housing partly useable (only shutter button accessible, on/off and mode means: open housing)
- fixed battery
- No app support, no Wifi, no Preview

►Mobius Wideangle
Bitrate: 18.212kbits
40grams!

+ lightweight and small, low airdrag if used on plane
+ simple setup, customizeable with usb software, easy to use on the field
+ good, sharp and wideangle picture
- light handling could be better
- battery not changeable
- not compatible with Gopro3 accessories

►Gopro3+ 1080p30 wide
Bitrate: 20.112kbits
not really a gopro review here - there are tons of it already online (just for comparison)

All excep gopro mp4 are a little slower to "search" in Mediaplayer (MOV?)
Gopro feels less "shakey", of course best light handling (smooth transition)

Sunday, November 30, 2014

A Trip you never forget (Review of Eyefly's Mini Quad)

Eyefly Trip MiniQuad
Radio: Taranis on 2.4 with D4RII RX
Video: ImmersionRC 5.8, CWL Antennas SPW to Goggles int.RX



I was asked if I wanna try a new mini quad. Who would say no to this? :-)
This thing comes from http://eyefly.info and the complete bundle is 199€.
They even sell their own motors (german quality instead of cheap chinese ones). It's a small shop and Nic (the owner) reinvests the income of this hobby project back into the shop. They also made a custom box for the small receiver with their logo on it (3D printed).

For the flightcontrol they recommended "Flyduino NanoWii" which is based on MultiWii. I wanted to go with KK2 which I knew, but now I'm glad I took the NanoWii (KK2 would have been to big to install on this small quad).
PID-Settings:
Roll: P=3.3 I=0.03 D=23
Pitch: P=3.3 I=0.03 D=23
Yaw: P=6.8 I=0.045 D=0
Alt: P=6.4 I=0.025 D=24
Level: P=9.0 I=0.01 D=100

Total weight: 440gr with 1600mah and Mobius
Packing size: 20x20x8cm! (if props and antennas are unmounted).

Motors and ESCs are from their set (2300kv, 1806) running on 3S.

Batteries: I use the same as on the DRQ250 (SLS 1600 and 1800mah 3cell) and get a bit more flighttime out of them. 7-9min maybe - gotta test more.

Props: I tried the "Maytech Carbon" 5x3 they also sell and they are awesome. I'm normally not into balancing props (too lazy) but here it really made a difference! (Prop on a screwdriver, sand off some material from the prop half that moves down). Was maybe 15mins of work.

As you see in the vid the roll and loop rate is insane. Power is plenty - hover at 1/3. I'm not used to have so much "way" on my throttle stick left until full throttle ;-)

The downsides? Well maybe just the size - it's not easy to find space to fit additional stuff on it. The mobius is a tight fit between the front props - but no props in view!
My video transmitter mounting is not optimal now. If I fly back to me the battery and copter block the antenna - signal gets a bit bad.

Friday, November 14, 2014

DRQ250 uncut & commented - Mini Quadcopter in a park on late summer morning


For this flight I had my little quad with me on a lovely trip in the mountain region between lower austria and styria. This is in Schwarzau. It's a little wildlife park/nature conservation, and this was in the morning with great light.
The flight turned out so well that I thought back than: "I could try uploading this uncut".

Thanks for watching, leave a comment and tell me what you thought about it (uncut?) and if you would have preferred music instead of just motor sound and commentary. I tried some songs but most of them get blocked these days...

Friday, October 31, 2014

Region Semmering-Rax - Abgehoben

Dies ist ein Beitrag für den Kurzfilm-Wettbewerb in unserer Heimat-Region (Semmering-Rax). Hier habe ich versucht die schönsten Szenen "meiner" Region in 3 Minuten unter zu bringen. Das UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe - die "Semmering-Bahn" war die erste normalspurige Gebirgsbahn Europas und gibt ein wunderbares Motiv ab.

This is my contribution to a local short film contest. It's about our region here and the theme is the historic railway track in the "Semmering" region. It features shots from the last 2-3 years.
If you're really interested in the locations I can later do a video index - or just ask me in the comments.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Which one is better? ImmersionRC Duo5800 vs Black Pearl Video Diversity receiver comparison

In this comparison video I wanted to find out if the Black Pearl (all in one - Display with diversityRX) is compareable to the dedicated ImmersionRC Duo5800 receiver. On paper they both have 90dbi sensitivity. See in the second part how they look in comparison. For my test setup I seperated video TX and RX with a few thick walls at home.
Also I measured all my antennas with the ImmersionRC RF Powermeter. You see the values at 2:24.
The normal ones were affected by alignment (horz vs vert) and the SPW ones were "immune" to different alignment - as expected. The directional antennas had great antenna-gain in the cone and somewhat less optimal outside of it.
Btw. you can also measure the mW of your video TX. You plug a 30dB attenuator in between and set it in the powermeter. Great to measure the advertised milliwats vs the real output!
Sorry for this not being super scientific but it gives you an idea of the image quality.
EQUIPMENT as seen in the video:
Circular-Wireless.com Antennas
5.8 SPW Antenna    5.8 Helical Antenna
...more in my "Hangar"
►FACEBOOK
►BLOG: http://RCSCHIM.blogspot.com
►in case you wanna buy RCSchim a beer Thanks!!! ;-)

Friday, October 17, 2014

Scary and fast Quadcopter DIVE (video cut off), Proximity Flights (Trincopter, KK2, Powerquad)

I have this "Powerquad" (aka TrinCopter) that is heavy but overpowered and fitted with 5000mah 4cell. I know now that it uses around 29amps at hover and 60amps on full throttle! That means you don't fly long with it - but fast. Long enough to reach out for some mountains ;-)  (7+mins)
I wanted to dive down the "Mittagsstein" again. I already visited this, best quality video there so far would be the 2nd part of this -> VIDEO
Again I've been very nervous while flying close to those rocks so far up there and rushed down, a bit too far on the wrong side of the mountain and got behind some trees and got terrible video (and that with 120km downhill diving!).
After this I switched KK2 flightcontrol to Naza Lite + GPS - so I would have return home on emergencies. It may now be harder to get decent diving with Naza - but more security (and maybe lower pulse for me).

The other flights were a bit further in the woodlands - nice proximity there. And also the Ruins of Klamm (visited them often) were great to fly at. Last Vid shows my attempt to fly up to a very high mountain to film the huge terrestrial TV antennas up there (hiked up before and did some measurements = OK). But it was too high, I was too chicken - gave up around 80% of the distance. Liked how the cheap Gopro3 lookalike "Hawkeye" cam performed here (it was a hazy day!).

Friday, October 10, 2014

DIY Goggles - The Facebox - great and cheap FPV Goggles (alternative to Fatshark Dominator HD)

From the comments on my Fatshark Dominator HD review I see that this is a hot topic. So many questions about alternatives to the expensive and hard to get DomHDs.
One really good one is also the cheapes one with extra large picture, good quality and good comfort. I saw these first on a FPV meet (Poolnoodle Challenge) and was amazed by the clear and huge display. Pricing is around 100$, buildtime maybe 1-2h - but really easy!
If you have some questions, comments - don't hesitate! Good luck with the build and have fun!
Check out my blog post here for more details and all the pictures (which are also in the video at the end).
Short shopping-list:
1. Frame (styrofoam) from UK http://goo.gl/pikyzS
2. 5" TFT display from Dealextreme http://goo.gl/Vd419Y
3. better fresnel lens (optional) http://goo.gl/TlJlzp

Video Index:
0:11 Intro
3:10 Impressions, take a look thru the goggles!
4:35 horizontal Interalced "issue"
5:25 Lag?
5:44 Fatshark DomHD vs DIY Goggles
8:20 Difference between DomHD and DIY Goggles
9:25 Price, Buildtips
10:07 Strap mount Tip!
12:00 Bluescreen?
15:27 Answer: Monitor or Goggles for beginners?
19:09 Buildpics (Pics also available on picasa)

►►Update: just before publishing this vid I did a 2nd testflight with the MiniQuad. The picture is really big, great to fly BUT: the blackscreen issue can be tricky/scary. So not sure yet if I'd trust this goggles for an expensive, bigger, unstabilized platform. So if you have some other safety features (second monitor for emergencies) it's ok.
Hover recommended routing it throug a DVR - this might eliminate the black/bluescreen. Or optimal: search for a similar size display without bluescreen.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Flight over riverbed, under bridge, beautiful fields of gold - Black Snapper

Mit dem Black Snapper einem trockenen Flußlauf folgen - mit Gimbal und Gopro3 - hat mir sehr gut gefallen dort! Zum Abschluß dann noch ein paar mal unter den Autobahnbrücken durch. Danach bei tollem Abendlicht die Felder entlang gleiten und dann noch Radfahrer ein Stück begleiten (in Filmreifer Kamerafahrt - hab ich zumindest probiert).
Und das alles passt super zu dem Musikstück von Kevin McLeod hier! Diesmal wurde zuerst die Musik auf die Zeitleiste gelegt und dann die Videoszenen dazu arrangiert - so ist's viel einfacher!

Flying with my Black Snapper (Brushless Gimbal, Gopro3) far along a dry (almost) riverbed and finally under 2 highway-bridges. And smoothly floating over evening fields with great sunlight, following bicycles in cinema-like cam-movement (at least I tried ;-)
Perfectly fitting to McLeods orchestral sound here! I'm really happy if I find royalty free music that fits so well to my video footage.
In fact here I first moved the sound on the timeline and composed video scenes to it - so much easier this way. ENJOY!

Friday, September 26, 2014

Black Snapper - smooth flight in the mountains and low over a river

I still have many nice flights recorded before I lost this quad in a crash. First I wanted to throw all these wonderful flights into one best of - but there is so much eyecandy I couldn't cut it so short to fit all in one vid.
So there's more like this to come in the next weeks and month (and this will helps us through the cold and unflyable time.

If you plan to get a decent, foldable copter check this out. They made a 2014 version with some improvments (longer arms, ZenmuseH3 ready, more space)
If you're uncertain about motor setup: I just finished a repaired snapper for a friend and went with the Tiger 4006er and 12x5 Aeronaut props - very quiet, smooth and 11,5mins on 4cell 5000mah - only 3046mah used!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

FPV Cam review: Runcam Sky and PZ0420H - setup tips, image comparison, DVR footage



I got these two cams and first I thought with this pricetag it wouldn't be useable on a miniquad because image and lighthandling must be "cheap". But 3 flights with the mini in difficult lighting convinced me. So definitivly a recommendation!
I would prefer the silver one - not really sure about the plastic. The pz0420h has infrared filter as accessory - maybe that and black as preference for anyone?
Weight about the same, air drag with silver is less, image quality should be a bit better with silver.
SKY (silver one with 650TVL)
PZ0420H (black plastic, 600TVL)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Fatshark Dominator HD Review

Update: beim Video unten kann man jetzt deutsche Untertitel einschalten!


I was one of the lucky FPVers that got his hands one the first few Dominator HD goggles that were shipped - so I hurried to review it you. First tests were a bit dissapointing. I compared them against RCV922 and AttitudeSD.
RCV922 has 46° fov and funny: it's sharp without diopter for me (I'm short sighted). AttiSD require diopters for me.
Initially I didn't use diopter glasses and thought the DomHD are no way as sharp as the 5 year old rcv922 ;-)
After putting on the diopter lenses now (the ones from AttiSD fit) - the picture is really good!
Most notably you get blown away by the color quality. Also you get less barrel distortion. These optics sure were hard to design! - See more at: http://flitetest.com/articles/fatshark-dominator-hd-review-rcschim?preview=1#sthash.wOZUWrKD.dpuf



FOV - screensize
For me it was always the most important factor to really get immersed with FPV - big screen! The RCV922 were great regarding this - but you couldnt read OSD info in the edges...
AttiSD were better for OSD - but not so good immersive feeling.
DomHD now delivers both - quite sharp on the edges and huge screen. On the last FPV meet I tried many different models (AIO, Skyzone, Cinemizer). Most of them have around 30° fov - way to little for my taste!

Wearing comfort:
I always preferred the foam from rcv922 over the rubber eyecaps. So old ones are nicer to wear for me.
With AttiSD and now DomHD I get ugly eyerings with fpv sessions ;-)

IPD adjustment:
is fine for me - almost sharp in all corners - much better than with RCV922 for sure.

DVR:
Super option! I tend to fly just with 5.8 nexawave RX without groundstation. Just makes no sense flying miniquads with huge groundstation. Keep it portable here! So DVR is a good safety option if you crash. One wish: please make the DVR autorecord after powerup. May be energy waste and SD card wast - but also use cycle recording!
And: if you crash and panic and tear away your goggles you may be dumb enough to just unplug power and not stop DVR rec first. In that case the DVR recording is lost.
So we have to get used to always stop REC after crashing ;-)
Other than that: rec quality is really good, 720x480 30fps with 8mbit

Verdict:
First I was a bit dissapointed - but now I don't wanna use the other goggles ;-)
Diopters were needed - that was one dissapointment - and I couldnt believe the high price (650€ in germany!) - but now I learned here from Fatshark that the LCDs are making it so expensive.
Funny: altough my shop stated rx module and headtracker is OPTIONAL I got at least a headtracker module preinstalled (now with multicopters I don't really need it - but maybe I can apply it to Zenmuse tilt on my Phantom2). - See more at: http://flitetest.com/articles/fatshark-dominator-hd-review-rcschim?preview=1#sthash.wOZUWrKD.dpuf

Sunday, August 31, 2014

MiniQuad Poolnoodle Challenge - huge FPV Meet and Crash

Letzte Woche besuchten uns ca. 15-20 FPVler aus Wien und Umgebung (jaja, bis Melk). Das Thema war MiniQuad Poolnudel-Rennen. Das Rennen war nicht so ernst gemeint - es war eigentlich schon schwierig genug überhaupt eine Runde zu "überleben". Aber die meisten Crashes waren mit einem Proptausch wieder repariert.
Mehr als 4 Piloten gleichzeitig auf 5.8 hatte nicht gut funktioniert - zuviele Störungen in den Nachbarkanal. Vielleicht hilfts hier wenn die "Frequenznachbarn" unterschiedlich polarisierte Antennen verwenden (LHCP vs RHCP)...

Wie schon im Video erwähnt geht mein Dank an die Kollegen vom Gloggnitzer Flugplatz. Brav daß Ihr uns für diesen Sonntag das Feld überlassen habt!


Had a lot of FPVers from vienna on my local flightfield and altough windy it was a blast! So much fun with just a few poolnoodles (wood sticks into grass and gaffer tape) - try it out. The noodles are just soft enough to have good crash dampening!

Things learned from the meeting:
- more than 4 pilots on 5.8 are not practical - too much interference if you use every available channel - better to keep one free ch inbetween. It may help if some pilots use left- and the other right polarized antennas...
- bring lots of spare props to such an event ;-)
- even high winds can't stop the miniquad fun
- it's a good idea to define the directions on such a course
- groundcam (in my case Gopro2 with Rode ext. mic) is great to capture the chaos and fun

Monday, August 25, 2014

MiniQuad Treffen in Gloggnitz - Poolnudel Challenge

Lieben Gruß an die Flieger-Kollegen vom Gloggnitzer Flugplatz - unsere Gäste (hauptsächlich aus Wien und Umgebung) waren sehr begeistert vom schönen Platz.
Auch wenn keine Fahrwerksflieger dabei waren, hat es dennoch geholfen, dass wiedermal so schön kurz gemäht war (siehe Bilder unten).

Super Action am Gloggnitz Flugplatz gestern! So viele MiniQuads hab ich noch nie in der Luft gesehen - bzw. am Boden herumkugelnd nachdem Sie gegen eine Poolnudel gecrasht waren Video folgt - sind einige Crashes dabei! Das war übrigens meiner:
Aus MiniQuad Meet and Crash - Poolnoodle Challenge

und hier das ganze Album:
MiniQuad Meet and Crash - Poolnoodle Challenge


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Best dynamic proximity flight I had with my TrinCopter till now!!!

Dies waren 2 Sessions: die erste eigentlich nur als Test des Copters - die Flüge waren dann aber so toll, dass ich sie hier zeigen wollte (Tree-Surfen,...). Die 2te Session ergab den meinen bisher coolsten durchgängigen proxy Flug. 3-4min schon beim Fliegen sehr genial. Alles hatte hier perfekt gepasst. Natürlich hatte ich hier vorher die "Route" ein wenig überlegt, aber ich hätte nie das Timing so genau planen können, dass dann am Ende auch der Zug noch im richtigen Moment aus dem Tunnel auftaucht ;-)

This vide has two parts. One relaxing, tree surfing session on the Eichberg (actually one of my first flights with this new setup that worked amazingly well). 2nd session also up there but I had the best 3-4mins of continuos flying ever! Even the timing of that train exiting the tunnel just in front of me was perfect. The vid then ends with some very low proximity dives over the treetops.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Multicopter diving with fatal YAW problem and live commented FPV training

Nach einer recht gefährlichen Situation beim Sturzfliegen bei der Rax hab ich mir einen Vormittag Zeit genommen, den TrinCopter am Flugfeld ordentlich zu testen. Die Übersteuerung um die Hochaches (YAW) ist nun weg. Bin nicht sicher woran es lag (hab YAW Gains erhöht und die Schwimmnudel Landekufen abgenommen).
Das Training hat dann so viel Spaß gemacht dass eine ganze Episode draus wurde. Hoffe es ist nicht zu langweilig, am Ende gibts auch 2 nette Dives!
Und endlich funktionierte auch die Kommentarkamera gut (mit Windschutz).

After the shocking flight (intro) up to the Rax I had to figure out how to get rid of the yaw overshooting here. I'm not sure how I cured it (increased the YAW gains and removed the pool noodle landing gear).
The trainingsession on the flightfield was so much fun that I made an episode out of it. Liked how the commentcam with new microphone worked well this time.
Fell confident now to continue with fast DIVING with this ship - gonna search (and or revisit) some great places for Copter Wingsuite-Style vids.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Let's fly FPV with Girlfriend (RCSchim Coop FPV, Sheeps)

Nach unserem Treffen mit den Polizisten beim letzten gemeinsamen Fliegen haben wir uns hier ein ruhiges Plätzchen auf dem Eichberg gesucht. Hier stört es niemand (Die Bauern sind sehr freundlich und die Tiere interessierts kaum).
Auch mit dem gut sichtbaren, orange Tape ist es schwierig sich gegenseitig in der Luft zu finden. Der kurze Trip zu den Schafen war spannend.

After the encounter with the cops on the last "Let's fly" we chose a quiet scenery up on that hill (Eichberg) where no one would be disturbed (the farmers are really nice up there and the cows or sheeps don't mind).
Even with my high visibility orange tape it's hard finding each other in the air. The 2nd flight here was over the valley to the sheeps - nice little trip ;-)

Friday, July 18, 2014

Awesome Copter Dives in beautiful Styrian Mountains (RCSchim commented FPV)

Da ich einen Tag frei hatte, konnte ich endlich mal zu diesem Platz fahren (hab den schon lange auf meiner Liste). Die 1 Stunde Fahrzeit hat sich bezahlt gemacht. Großartige Landschaft, geniale Felsentürme!
Der TrinCopter (mehr Infos unten!) ist nun endlich soweit eingestellt, dass ich die Dive-Serie vom letzten Jahr vortführen kann. Mein einem Discovery ginge es auch, aber nicht so schnell. Ausserdem hab ich noch immer keine passende Manual-Mode Einstellung bei der Naza gefunden - KK2 ist hier einfacher - und "fühlt" sich gut an.
Nachteil: mit dem Tincopter hab ich kein Failsafe - RTH - also ist man noch nervöser beim Fliegen! Hier sollte also Video und Steuerung (ezUHF) perfekt funktionieren.
Da ich am Nachmittag dann noch Zeit für den Videoschnitt hatte, kam dieses Video ausnahmsweise sofort dran (normalerweise dauerts of Wochen/Monate).
Schade um die Audiokommentar - sorry wegen der Qualität - hab ein neues Mic aber die Platzierung war nicht gut! Dennoch wollte ich Euch einen Eindruck von der Anspannung vermitteln...
Man müsste echt mal einen Pulsmesser verwenden!

Had a day off and could visit this awesome location (1h drive) that I had in mind now for some time.
The "TrinCopter" is stable enough to continue the dives-series I started last year (also with KK2 and quite powerful motors). Discovery could do similar - but not so fast and manual mode on Naza still feels weird - KK2 manual mode is more comfortable to me.
Downside: no failsafe coming home on this one - so you have to have good video and radio (EzUHF) to make sure no glitch stopps your flight! More info on the TrinCopter in my Hangar (link below).
Normaly it takes some time (weeks to month) to publish an FPV flight (because editing takes time). But I was so happy with the quality of this footage that I had to make this vid asap (had the afternoon for this).
Sorry about the voice comments being so bad quality - the new mic is great - but my placement wasnt. Should do better next time...
But I wanted to rec the emotions and highpulse you're in while flying at such a site...

Saturday, July 12, 2014

MiniQuad - Compilation of many great flights, stunts, flythroughs,...

Der MiniQuad ist zwar ein "Spaßgerät" - aber auch irgendwie ein Fluch: ich hab mittlerweile so viel Material - die Flüge kann man nicht alle in normaler Länge zeigen - ein Best-Of mit den Stunts ist aber vielleicht ohnehin besser - hoffe es gefällt euch!
Als Soundtrack gibts hier eine der besten Bands aus Österreich: Bilderbuch - Plansch!

This miniQuad is such a fun machine - but also a "curse". I creates so much footage that I was overwhelmed while cutting this - so I could really take just the best scenes ;-)
Hope you like it - also one of the best austrian bands as soundtrack here: Bilderbuch - Plansch!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Videotipp: Feuerwerks-Video

Nach langem wiedermal eine Videoempfehlung. Momentan (ausgelöst durch die 4th-July Euphorie der Amis wurde das Video grad viral...):
Da sieht man wieder, das David Windestal recht hat, "das Material muß Dir wichtiger sein, als das Fluggerät!". Noch nie sah man ein Feuerwerk (nochdazu ein schönes) so nahe - kein Wunder dass dies jetzt die ganze Welt bestaunt.
Meine Versuche vor 1,5 Jahre unser Neujahrsfeuerwerk in Gloggnitz zu filmen wirken da schon etwas unbeholfen (ich hatte aber auch nicht so ein schönes, "dichtes" Feuerwerk hier...)

After some time I have an videotipp here for you. There's a huge hype (because of 4th July) with this fireworks vid, but that's no wonder if you watch it. Never before you saw such a detailed, close up shot of a huge fireworks. Great vid!  
My attempt to film something similar looks compareably small (1,5years back on new years eve in gloggnitz - no big fireworks here - had to search for the explosions...

Friday, July 4, 2014

FPV flying together with Girlfriend until the Cops came...

Das war meine erste FPV Session mit meiner Freundinn. I konnte sie überzeugen, dass das Fliegen mit Quad recht einfach ist (eigentlich einfacher als auf Sicht zu fliegen). Ausserdem ist das der alte F450 mit Ersatzteilen zusammengebaut - kein großer Verlust wenn was passiert.
Es hat ihr anscheinend Spaß gemacht, der erste Flug noch vorsichtig, beim 2ten sind wir schon gemeinsam übers Feld geflogen und der 3te wurde dann von der Polizei gestoppt ;-)
(bei 0:51 hört man jemand in der Ferne schimpfen, der muß die Polizei gerufen haben obwohl wir NICHT über sein Grundstück geflogen sind).
Nach einer kurzen Demo der Technik kamen wir mit einer "Verwarnung" davon - witzig dass die Polizisten meinten "es ist schön es auch mal mit normalen Leuten zu tun zu haben"
This was my first coop FPV session with my Girlfriend. I could convince her that flying FPV with a quad is really easy and I also built a cheap quad out of spare parts (so a crash wouldn't be a high loss). She really enjoyed flying around on that field. The first flight alone was slow and cautious, then on the 2nd one we already flew together...and the 3rd was...stopped by the cops ;-)
(at 0:51 you hear someone in the distance shout something - that friendly guy must have called the cops even if we didn't fly over his property...).
After a short intro on my copters the police let us go with a warning and funny enough they said: "it's good to meet some normal people from time to time"

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

FIND IT!!! - Loc8tor vs Marco Polo - Tracking Device Review

After my "Auronzo Debacle" (where I totally lost my biggest and most expensive Quad (Black Snapper) of course I did some research which tracking solution could prevent total losses in the future.
Friends of mine use GPS Trackers where you have to install a prepaid cellphone SIM Card and in case of a crash you SMS your GPS tracker and he sends his coordinates back. This sounds really well thought out BUT: if you fly in areas where you have no cellphone coverage - you won't hear from your device!

So a tracking device based on wireless signals is better. Here I found two promising devices:
Marco Polo Pet Tracker    and      Loc8tor

------Comparison:
Marco Polo:
+ 2 miles range! (in my tests easily 840m)
+ RC stripped down versions of tags relativly small and lightweight (12 or 24gr)
+ rechargeable batteries (1 month standby in larger tag!)
- bigger (both tag and handheld device)
- a bit more expensive (around 200$)

Loc8tor:
+ cheap (100$)
+ easy to use
+ small tags (5gr, 1,5cm)
+ small handheld
+/- tags "always on"   (waste energy, 2-5month livetime, but can't forget to turn on)
- batteries not chargeable (buy replacements and set a reminder!)
- range (157m max distance)

So it's hard to tell you which device is better. If you really do a lot longrange the Marco Polo will be better - because in case of a crash you will have to search a larger area. Loc8tor would be lost here if you have no downlink video and can´t estimate the crash location.
Loc8tor on the other hand is optimal let's say for the mini quads in the park. Even crashing a mini in higher grass can mean really long searches! - Loc8tor pays off here quick.

I keep both and will also use both and we'll see which one is better (altough I hope I would never activly have to use them - just as an insurance).

Important Update in Marco Polo:
You have to hold the locating device "like a can of water" (so that the LCD screen is facing the sky). This way the antennas have optimal reception and you get a solid pointer.
Also my tests here with the % value weren't conclusive. Up on the hill I had clear LOS, down on the half distance I was near to the ground, a tree blocked LOS so the value was the same altough the distance was much shorter...

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

MiniQuad - fast proximity fun / stunts at work

Dieses schnelle MiniQuad Rennen hab ich natürlich an einem Wochenende gefilmt Boss! Ich denk mir oft, wenn ich wo unterwegs bin "...das wäre doch ein toller Ort für einen Stunt oder ein Video".
Diese Brücke bei der Wehr ist schon lange Thema bei uns in der Arbeit (Kollegen fliegen auch RC) und mit dem MiniQuad war's relativ leicht (aber die Kabel hätte ich fast übersehen!).
Der nette Park ist ebenfalls am Firmengelände und wurde schon in diesem Tricopter Video gezeigt

This is a fast paced race around my workplace (of course I did this on a weekend boss!). I often walk around (especially here because I have to every day) and see places and say to myself: this would make a good stunt / flight video ;-)
The highspeed flight under the bridge was a topic here with my colleagues (who also fly RC) ever since. Now with the quad not so much of a problem - but after diving there fullspeed I realized in the last moment there were some nasty cables...
The park is also on our company grounds - see here for an old tricopter video here: Tricopter Parkracer 

Sunday, June 15, 2014

ImmersionRC 12km Longrange Zephyr II flight, Hover82

Ein FPV-Freund fragte mich nach einem guten Platz für einen Reichweiten Rekordversuch - also zeigte ich ihm diesen Hügel - toller Startplatz um über unbebautem Gebiet von erhöhtem Startpunkt aus weit zu fliegen. Er benutzt super Ausrüstung (z.B. den Ruby Autopilot, IBCrazys Pepperbox Antenne und vor allem das EzUHF JR Modul in der Taranis). Es gab keine Störung während des ganzen Fluges, Video und Steuerung waren immer stabil obwohl es sehr hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit hatte (nachher Regen). EzUHF auf Low Power, das kleine Taranis Modul steht also dem großen Bruder in nichts nach!
Die Kinder waren auch begeistert von der Technik und davon dass sie am Monitor mitschaun durften. Man muß halt ein wenig aufpassen, daß sie keine Kabel rausreissen...

My friend asked me for a good location to do a longrange flight - so we started up this hill. He flew only over unpopulated area, uses RUBY autopilot, a great videolink (incl IBCracy Pepperbox antenna!) and a very stable EzUHF JR Module in the new Taranis. The whole flight was without a glitch, only on LOW POWER mode of EzUHF and it was really high humidity (short after the flight it rained). So this 12km show the littel and cheap JR module doesn't stand behind it's bigger brother (the EzUHF Box)!
The kids also loved my public viewing screen and we had to keep them from crowding us in and maybe tear out a cable or so ;-)

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

FPV MniQuad speeding through woods & parks (close calls inclusive)

Schön langsam macht der kleine MiniQuad echt Spaß! Unglaublich wo der überall durchpasst! Es wirkt so als ob man mit einem großen Quad unterwegs wäre - nur ist halt nicht soviel "copter" rund um die Cam verbaut ;-)
Ich hab also schon einiges Material und wollte erst nur ein "Best Of" davon machen, aber so gefällts mir besser. Ein Danke an Hermann der mich da im Wald gefilmt hat!


What's your favourit "wow" monent in this video? Or did you find none? Tell me!

The mini's are such a hype now - and why? Just because you can have so much fun! Fly almost anywhere - you wouldn't believe how tight the gaps (between trees, obstacles) can be - and the mini still fits through. The flying is so intense - because the FPV image on the goggles is no defferent than while flying with a bigger quad - but when it comes to fly fast through a window - the big quad would fail ;-)

So I have really a lot of material collected in the last few weeks. Hard to judge what to include - but those 3 flights here were the first really amazing ones (I hope so!).

Thanks to Hermann for filming me in the woods (just behind our flightfield)!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

FPV Trip: MinQuad in Italy (Vigo di Fassa, Grödener Pass, Haderburg Salturn and Heinfels)

Hier kommt der 3te Teil meiner "MiniQuad in Italien" Serie. Diesmal starteten wir in Vigo Di Fassa, fuhren übers Sella Joch, Grödener Joch kamen an Heinfels (schon Österreich) vorbei über Lienz gings dann wieder heim...

Den Tag zuvor fiel mir die "Haderburg" in Salturn auf. Sehr schön exponiert, etwas windig aber lustig dann oben auf der Burg die Turisten zu filmen. Der Herr hat schon etwas gebraucht, bis er meinen MiniQuad in der Luft gefunden hat

Alle Flüge waren super, optimaler Reisebegleiter, nur die HoryzonV3 war nicht vibrationsfrei montiert - dadurch leider schlechtere Quali. Aktuell verwend ich nur mehr eine auf Gelpad gebettete Mobius Wideangle - super Jellofreie Videos folgen - versprochen!



This is the 3rd video from our Trip around Italy - this time in the north through the Dolomites.
We started this day in "Vigo di Fassa" (stayed at Latemar Spitze there - very nice!), drove up in the best looking mountains we've seen so far - the Sella Joch and "Grödener Pass" (Passo Gardena).

Salturn was actually from the day before - I instantly liked the idea to fly up to that really nice and exposed Castle "Haderburg". You would walk 30-40mins up to that ruins (like the older couple that you see on the vid - it was so funny that the man took so long to see my tiny quad!!!).

The Castle "Heinfels" is already in Austria right after the border and we found it on our way heading to Lienz. The Castle is owned by the Chocolate-Factory Loacker - we also visited this delicious factory sale there!

All flights were great except for the Jello I had here because the HoryzonV3 wasn't mounted good enough. I now fly with mobius and much better vibration dampening - no Jello anymore.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

DVR Review, Mobuis wideangle on MiniQuad (and some nice Sample flights)

Hobbyking DVR für meine Groundstation:
Nachdem ich zuletzt bei meinem alten DVR vergessen hab auf REC zu drücken, und ich mit dem Ding auch sonst nicht mehr so ganz glücklich war, hab ich bei HK einen einfachen, kleinen SD card DVR gefunden. Einfach zu verkabeln, 50$, autorec nach dem Einschalten und stabiles Alu-Gehäuse. Leicht zwischen verscheidenen Bodenstationen wechselbar, soll einfach immer aufzeichnen, damit man bei Problemen dann einen Videohinweis hat...

Und am MiniQuad war ich mit der HoryzonV3 nicht zufrieden. Die Mobius wird von allen gelobt - zu recht wie ich herausgefunden hab.
Für schnelles, bodennahes Fliegen ist die Wideangle Version zu empfehlen - aber das ist Geschmackssache...
Auch hier hab ich poweron Rec eingestellt. 1080p30 HDR on und Datenrate hoch (18mbit). evtl. noch etwas Schärfe runter...

Hobbyking DVR for my Groundstation:
After my "Auronzo Debakle" where I lost the big Quad and had no video from my downlink (which would have been awesome to review, better to find the exact crashsite...) I searched for a foolproof DVR for my groundstations (5.8 and 2.4). Since I dont want to buy two I made it easily transferable from one GS to the other.
Hobbyking had this easy, cheap SD Card rec only thing - and it looks good.

Mobius wideangle on my MiniQuad:
First flights with the quad were really great, but the Horyzon V3 didn't satisfy me. Jello due to vibrations and bad mounting, washed out colors, dark...
The mobius has so many new fans now - and that's now wonder. Very good quality for the price - nice and small, easy to mount. Convenient to setup (little PC proggy and programmable buttons...).

Sunday, May 18, 2014

FPV Trip: MiniQuad in Carinthia (Velden, Landskron, Weissensee)

Als wir in Richtung Italien unterwegs waren (Südtirol, Venedig - siehe letztes Video) machten wir am Wörthersee halt. Ich glaub man sieht wieviel Spaß so ein kleiner FPV Copter machen kann. Der ist bis auf das hohe Motorengeräusch relativ unauffällig und somit kann man fast überall damit fliegen.
Besucht haben wir: Velden, Landskron (dort den Affenberg) und dann noch den Weissensee - sein Ostufer ist im April noch sehr verlassen!



On our trip to Italy we drove through Carinthia and stayed at the nice "Wörthersee". This was actually before the Venice video from last week. As you can tell this little copter is so much fun and lets you fly on many spots because it's just a toy quad that doesn't draw a lot of attention on it...

Locations: all in Carinthia first Velden (great lakeside town), then Landskron near Villach - visit the Affenberg there! - and finally the Weissensee - on the east side - very quiet!

Friday, May 9, 2014

FPV Trip: Mini Quadcopter in Venice (DRQ250, KK2 with HoryzonV3)

Dieser kleine Quad ist ein optimaler Begleiter, wenn man spazierend Sightseeing macht und bei guten Plätzen dann schnell mal eine Runde drehen möchte. Man könnte den Rahmen zwar klappen, aber um Platz zu sparen genügt es schon, die Props abzumontieren (geht schneller).
Somit hatte ich Fatshark, Taranis, 3 Akkus und den Copter in einem normalen Rucksack. In 5min ist das Ding Einsatzbereit - somit muß man in einem Urlaub auch nicht allzuviel Zeit für's FPV "abzweigen".
Dieses erste Video von der Serie ist gleich das Highlight in Venedig - super Stadt!
Nachher gibts dann noch andere tolle Locations rund um die Südtiroler Dolomiten bis nach Kärnten.

Ein Dank noch an all meine treuen Zuseher - mittlerweile sind's über 9000 Abonennten! Am meisten gefällt mir an dem Hobby, dass man seine "Arbeit" ausstellt und dann von der ganzen Welt Kommentar dazu bekommt. Bitte um Verständnis, dass ich deswegen meist in englisch unterwegs bin...
lg, RCSchim



This little Quad is the ideal companion if you do some sightseeing or travelling along. You don't need to fold the arms (which is a bit uncomfortable) but if you remove the props - it's small enough to fit easily in your backpack (next to a radio and Fatshark Goggles on 5.8).

So we had it with us on our trip around Italy and because it is deployed so fast I was able to do many flights (without "stealing" all of our vacation time for my FPV hobby :-)

I start with this highlight in Venice and later I'll show you some other cool places and finally I will show you some crazy stunts in my local parks and woods - this copter is so small you wouldn't believe the tight spaces you can dive through...

Thanks for watching and for all the support - recently I just saw my subscriber count passing 9k! Thanks alot - keep sharing my vids - it's so awesome to get comments from all over the world!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Albatros L39 (Black Horse) - largest Jet on our field!!!

Franz hat uns voller Stolz seinen wirklich tollen neuen Flieger gezeigt. Damit ist er einer der ersten in Österreich, die so ein Prachtstück ihr eigen nennen dürfen.
Daß die Positionslichter verkehrtherum eingebaut sind, nervt ihn zwar ein wenig, aber den meisten würd's wahrscheinlich nicht auffallen. Die etwas mißglückte Landung find ich nicht so tragisch - kratzt maximal ein wenig am Pilotenego ;-)



Franz showed us proudly his really great new Jet. He is one of the first in Austria to call such a big bird his own.
The fact that the position lights are installed on the wrong sides is most probably not noticeable for normal viewers. The somewhat unsuccessful landing is just scratching a little on the pilots ego ;-)

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Eagle attacks quadcopter in the Dolomites (Cadore,Italy - Black Snapper Down...)

On our roadtrip through the fantastic mountains of the dolomites in north italy (alto adige / south tyrol) I had 2 FPV flights. First was great, perfect conditions - breathtaking scenery - second flight was even better - until I passed an eagles nest (without noticing) and got attacked by two of these majestic birds...
Before I realized what happend the copter was down on a very remote steep rock. No locator, no video (forgot groundstation rec) no chance to find or recover my most valuable flying machine :-(

If you want/can support me please leave a donation here so I can refund my RC budget to get another decent Gimbal Copter. DONATE
If you are a hiker / climber and you are in the region - here are the GPS coordinates to my treasure: 46.585884,12.385441 (Auronzo / Italy)
If somebody really finds this thing it surely would have an awesome video to show!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Extreme 3D RC Heli Pilot Michal Palus (Goblin 770, Raptor e820)

Wir hatten gestern wohl einen der besten Heli Piloten bei uns am Platz zu besuch. Michal Palus zeigt uns ein paar beeindruckende Flüge! Es war ein Goblin 770 und ein Raptor e820.
Damit er seine 4500mah 14S Packs laden kann, muß er diese auf ein 3000 Watt Netzteil hängen (das aber nur für 9min).



We had Michal Palus (one of the best RC Heli pilots I saw so far!) as our guest on the local field in Gloggnitz. Amazing what he did with his two machines! He uses 4500mah 56v (14cell) batteries which have to be loaded with an 3000 watts loader (but only for 9mins loading time)!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Alpine Longrange FPV with Black Snapper (Rax, Mittagsstein)

Dies waren 2 tolle Flüge mit dem Black Snapper und endlich mit ezUHF auf der Taranis. Endlich keine Reichweiten-Ängste am Quadcopter mehr! Man sieht mir die Erleichterung nach der Rückkehr des Copters an - die meiste Zeit flog ich hier ja über Gebiet, welches eine Suchaktion bei Crash recht schwer gemacht hätte...

These were 2 amazing flights with my Black Snapper - (Brushless Gimbal Quadcopter - see link below). No range issues flying with Taranis + ezUHF Module.
You see my relief after I got the quad back safe after flying over this remote location where in most parts on a crash you couldn't access it anymore.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

TBS Discovery - 2nd Part - Obertauern Skiresort

Während unseres Skiurlaubs in Obertauern gab's zum Glück auch ein paar Gelegenheiten zum Fliegen (direkt vor unserem schönen Hotel - dem Römerhof). Dass man hier von der Piste direkt in den Skikeller fahren kann ist schon genial!
Schön wäre es noch gewesen, den Quad auch mit auf einen Berg zu nehmen - aber da geht einfach zu viel Zeit drauf - welche man bei gutem Wetter lieber auf den "Brettln" verbringt.

During our vacation for skiing in "Obertauern" we had some time to start the copter (right next to our nice hotel - the "Römerhof"). You could there literally drive into the basement of the hotel from the ski run!
Would have been nice to even take the quad ontop one of thoes great mountains - but this just takes up too much time that you'd rather spend on the ski's if you have sunshine...

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

TBS Discovery FPV bei Dachstein, Schladming, Strechau und Radstadt

Am Weg nach Obertauern (Skigebiet) nahmen wir uns Zeit für ein paar Zwischenstops. Schloß Strechau liegt so schön - hier bin ich schon ein paar male vorbeigefahren endlich konnte ich es mir mal von der Nähe aus ansehen!
Ramsau und Schladming von dem Ausblick - super - und dann auch noch aus der Luft...
Letzendlich tolles Wetter auch bei Radstadt ca. 30min vor Obertauern.

Die Flüge von Obertauern selbst und ein paar (nicht zu viele!) Eindrück vom Skifahren dort gibts im nächsten Video - sonst wäre es zu lange geworden...

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Taranis Radio and FPV Monitor with 5.8 diversity RX

I was really happy when I found out that finally there's an really easy way to have a Longrange Radio! The ImmersionRC ezUHF JR Module. After a short search I came to the FrSky Taranis as the "carrier" for this UHF module. The Taranis is out know for at least 6month - and it works well it seems.
Lots of nice features (like telemetry, voiceout, open softer,...).
-
Second great device is a Diversity 5.8ghz TFT Monitor. Bright, with sunshade and two high quality RX built in a really small device!



Video is long - so here a short index:
0:58 Taranis & ezUHF Module
2:47 "Unboxing" Taranis Radio
9:13 Taranis Receiver X8r
10:26 ezUHF Receiver
14:32 Tip for battery charging mod
17:49 Tip: bypass for internal charger!!!
20:14 TFT Monitor 5.8ghz
23:26 Tip: long hold + for zoom in!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

FPV Eyecandy - Golden Hour @ Peterskirche (Ternitz-Dunkelstein)

An diesem Samstag Nachmittag (21. Dez) hatte ich wirklich Glück - genau zur Richtigen Zeit an dem herrlichen Ort zu sein. Die Kriche hab ich natürlich schon oft beim Vorbeifahren am Hügel gesehen und gedacht - da müsste es auch eine nette Aussicht geben. Als ich dann dort flog war ich überrascht wie genial der Platz ist! Der 2te Teil ist relaxtes Fliegen am Eichberg mit der minimal Discovery Ausrüstung (Fatshark Empf. in Brille).



On this saturday winter evening (21. Dec)) I was really happy to be at this awesome place at the right moment. I oftern saw this little Church on the hill while driving past it and thought it could give a nice view - but I was surprised how great it looks up there! The 2nd part is a week later on the Eichberg. Just some smooth flying around with the disco in the easy setup (Fatshark RX only)...

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

DJI Phantom V2 in depth Review

Ich hatte die Gelegenheit mich etwas mit dem neuen Phantom V2 von DJI zu befassen. Dies ist nicht das "Vision" Modell mit eigener Kamera, sondern die aktuelle Version des Phantom mit Zenmuse Gopro Gimmbal.
Es ist ein wirklich einfacher aber mächtiger Einstiegskopter bei dem sogut wie nichts eingestellt oder gebastelt werden muß. Trotzdem bekommt man tolle Aufnahmen in hoher Qualität, da Vibrationen und Wackler durch das Gimbal und die Aufhängung eliminiert werden.
Wir haben den hier gekauft: www.Globe-Flight.de

Gewicht: 1239gr
Flugzeit: 15min mindestens (sehr viel Rest >30% und es waren einige kurze Flüge über 2 Tage verteilt!)
Black Snapper infos
Phantom V2 on Globe-Flight.de




I had the chance to play around with the new Phantom V2 (not the Vision) and found that it's a great plug and play gimbal copter. You won't find anything easier on the market that would produce better quality videos!

We bought this nice Copter here: www.Globe-Flight.de

Weight: 1239gr (inkl. Zenmuse and Gopro3)
Flighttime: ~ 15mins (in 4 flights!) with more than 30% left! This battery is really nice!
Very easy to set up, you can fly after a few minutes of preparation (some screws, some glances at the nice tutorial videos on the DJI website...).
No computer-setup needed - however many possibilities in the Naza Assistant (I saw they now even have it for Mac).
Black Snapper infos
Phantom V2 on Globe-Flight.de

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Multiplex Easystar 2 - most simlpe FPV plane - Setup Tips, many flights, chase of other planes

Letztes Jahr hatte ich ein paar FPV Treffen. Wenn dann Freunde mit ihren Easystars und Co Formation geflogen sind, konnte ich mit dem Quad nicht lange mithalten - zu langsam und zu kurze Flugzeit. Deswegen hab ich jetzt einen möglichst einfachen Flieger ausgesucht und einen Spaß-Flieger draus gemacht.
Beim Treffen soll es so schnell wie möglich gehen: Flieger zusammenstecken, Akku rein, Brille auf und los!
Jetzt hab ich die Horyzon V3 und komme mit einem 2200mah 3S Akku aus. Flugzeit mindestens 10min.
- die Cam wird vom Hauptakku versorgt - ist also sehr leicht
- Horyzon V3 beginnt gleich nach dem Einschalten selbst mit der Aufzeichnung auf MicroSD!
- die Bildqualität ist recht gut für diese Größe
- minimaler Luftwiderstand durch Kamera
Nachteil des Fliegers: wenn Wind geht, wird das Video einfach nicht so schön - hier gleich ein Quad besser aus.

Last year I had a few FPV meetings. All the time I did regret to just have the Quad with me. With a Quad you just can't keep up with the speed and flighttimes of simple planes.
So now I prepared my Easystar 2 to be the most simple FPV plane you can imagine. No fancy stuff (like OSD, GPS....) just attach the wings, throw in a battery (one flight battery 2200mah 3cell for plane and FPV stuff) and fly. Flighttimes greater than 10mins with 2200mah is pretty good!
Horyzon V3 even starts the recording for you if it gets power! The small cam has only little air drag, little additional weight to the plane - so the flight characteristics of the plane stay almost the same.
As I show in the video the Plane has some downsides vs Quad also: if you have some wind, you will see it on the video. I flew in high winds- no problem - it just doesnt look good!