another pointless blog

Transmission Cooler

steve — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:46:47 +0000

Just arrived in the mail, an “oversized” transmission fluid cooler and an 8″ fan. This is step one of getting our 2002 Honda Odyssey ready for towing. Also planning on installing a transmission temperature gauge. If you hadn’t guessed, the 2002 5 speed auto in the Odysseys had heat related failure issues.

DIY Campfire Water Heater

steve — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:16:42 +0000

My DIY Campfire Water Heater

How it’s made

It is made out of a 5 gallon bucket, 10 feet of 1/4″ I.D. copper tube, and a couple of threaded connectors for the bucket side. 5 feet of the copper tube is coiled, the bottom of the coil is the “cold side” and is connected to the bottom of the bucket while the top of the coil is connected about mid way up the bucket. It is important to keep the coil vertical. Cover the coil in hot coals and flame.

How it works

The bucket starts out with cold water, with the copper coil set into the fire. As the water in the coil heats, the hot water will want to rise, eventually reaching the bucket where it bubbles back in. As the hot water bubbles back into the bucket, cold water is drawn in from the bottom of the bucket to replace it. Once the system gets going, the water is actually boiling inside the copper and being forcefully expelled out of the hot tube, and sometimes the system backfires and spits some out the bottom.

Overall, it took nearly 2 hours to get that bucket near boiling temperature (sorry no thermometer handy, but it was really cold water), so a larger coil and bigger diameter may help with that… but I have nothing but time when camping so 2 hours is nothing. Plus if you use a black bucket, or insulate the bucket, once you get a bucket of hot water going it would be relatively easy to maintain. Also, it sounds like a giant coffee percolator.

I will try to get better (daytime) pictures and video of this in action, probably after making a few changes. I need to make it more portable, by adding some type of connections on the bucket, as well as a flex section before the bucket to allow for more freedom of movement. If anyone else has any ideas send me a message I’d love to hear them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKjm9hXaQww

*Warning: if you try this, do not ever put a lid on the bucket, this would create a sealed system and could be dangerous.

Posted via WordPress for iPhone

Photography Website Launch

steve — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 05:54:38 +0000

Got Cheryl going on a #WP site for her photog business. Hassle free for me to manage, and easy for her to post content: http://bit.ly/ladrw7

June 11, 2011 22:48 via TweetDeck ReplyRetweetFavorite

@mrsteveplant

Steve Plant

Flying the E-Flite Blade mCP-X In My Back Yard

steve — Thu, 19 May 2011 07:59:45 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifE7FPNxuVI

FPV Easystar Setup

steve — Tue, 03 May 2011 07:53:52 +0000

Testing my antennas for FPV with the Easystar, flying line-of-sight for most of the video, the FPV portion wasn’t recorded. I have tested this system with my custom antennas out to 2 KM before turning back. RC system is FrSky 2.4ghz, video system is a hobbyking 900mHz w/ “goof-proof patch” on VRX and IBCrazy’s “inverted vee” on the VTX. I don’t have any video goggles yet so I use a 7″ LCD mounted on a tripod to see the video feed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyd9fcjR750

Short Cross-Country Solo

steve — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 07:32:22 +0000

After completing the short cross country flight with an instructor, I set out on my solo to CFN7 (Sundre). This is my first solo to another airport, previously I have only been to the practice area and in the circuit at CYBW (Springbank).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-qqlp51C0k

More Solo Circuit Training

steve — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:20:52 +0000

After my first solo I had another flight with my instructor, and a few days later I spent an entire booking in the circuit solo. It was really fun, and I recorded video from the cockpit for this one as well. Unfortunately the audio got screwed up on this one because I am just using a cheap keychain camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu3h7l1gO1Q

First Solo Flight

steve — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:17:33 +0000

My first solo flight during my private pilots license training, at 12 hours in the Cessna 172. One circuit at CYBW (Springbank).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJRDg2ft7AY

CYBW Circuit Flight GPS Recording

steve — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:08:18 +0000

During a training flight at CYBW, I used MotionX GPS on the iPhone to record, and then export the data into Google Earth format, which I used to take the following screenshots. The track is offset to the East a bit but I didn’t bother correcting for it.

Multiplex Easystar in Kimberley, B.C. Onboard Video

steve — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 07:50:46 +0000

On-Board video with a bonus crash at the end…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pCvCRs5a_Q