Got Lucky - Right Place at the Right Time

[Patriot]

An experiment with cropping, enlarging, cropping again then posting to Photobucket with fetch link in CPF. Last nights images used. So, yes, I did hit the same bush! Cropped to about 750 x 560 initially, then enlarged to 1400 x ???? (linked proportionately), then cropped again to approx 760 x 560. Used a ruller on the screen to crop as evenly as I could. there MUST be an easier way!

Bob, have you tried using MS Paint yet? It's probably not the ideal but you can easily pull open a rectangle that's 800 x 600 because the pixel size is displayed for you as you drag it open. No measuring with a ruler on screen.

Here are two different photos that I cropped in paint and uploaded to Photobucket from their original pixel size of 4288x2848. It two about 3-4 minutes to do both of them.

 

[BVH]

I think the last time I used MS Paint was in Windows 3.1! Will I find it within Win my XP Professional?

Nice choice of pics! Aviation is another one of my loves!

 

[get-lit]

I've checked into that heli light before, it's the same ellipsoidal/lens design as the MegaRay. I've been interested in this design because it produces better flood and the shape is easy to handle, it's the best option for stage lighting and probably for all-around use, but the parabolic reflector still can't be beat for the most intense beam of light. Here's a German article I just came across with some interesting points made when translated.

 

[BVH]

Here's a mod I did yesterday after waiting a few days for parts to arrive.

Original Vest power cord ties all 3 packs in parallel using Anderson 45 Amp Power Pole connectors soldered to a simple PCB. I had 4 ea. Blue Lipo 6S/1P/3.0 Amp packs for a marine searchlight project that's been on the shelf for a while. To tie all 4 together in to 3 Anderson connectors, I was using an Anderson 8-place multiplace bulkhead connector with short and messy looking pigtails.

So I shopped on Mouser and found the Anderson PCB mount contacts.

The PCB end of the contact was way too big so I filed it down to about .090" to match the holes I drilled in the MR PCB.

The contacts I used were somewhat different from those the MR used so the + one just barely fits on the +PCB pad as you can see. But this is the only way I could maintain alignment with the other 3 OEM Andersons.

I pushed the new contacts into place and soldered them up and away I went.

Finished assembly

All 4 neatly plugged in

 

[Phil Ament]

Hmmm. More extremely innovative and high quality work from BVH, which is just what I have come to expect from him. Nice work there Bob, as always!


Phil :wave:

 

[Patriot]

I think the last time I used MS Paint was in Windows 3.1! Will I find it within Win my XP Professional?

Nice choice of pics! Aviation is another one of my loves!

I believe so. It should be in Start > All Programs > Accessories > Paint. Alternately you could open the picture in windows, right click on the picture and select "Open With" and then Paint should be one of those options.

Thanks! These were taken last year on an Alaskan cruise ship MS Vaandam. We had a passenger with a serious medical emergency and the ship's doctor called out the Coast Guard so they could fly this passenger into Juneau via JayHawk. The crew had to remove the light string and some other gear from the bow so that the helo could fly in and hover over it. The fire crew was sent to the front of the ship in case there was any mishap but it all went smoothly. Though the sea was calm in the fiord the ship was underway about 5-6 knots forward speed. I could see from the JayHawk's tail sticking out past the port-side bridge extension that the pilot was seriously busy on the cyclic as he hovered about 15 feet while flying sideways. He was likely dealing with a lot of rotor effect amplified by the bowl shape of the bow enclosure. The main rotor couldn't have been more than a few meters from the ships bridge. I experienced a much less dynamic scenario as a student in an R44 as we descended into the Salt River with 6ft embankments. The instructor with his hand hovering millimeters from the cyclic explained what would happen when we entered this three sided box shape but I was still surprised at the amount of turbulence there was and how much it moved the aircraft around. It was the sweatiest palm moment I've ever had as a student. Anyhow, the professionalism and efficiency of the helo crew was incredible. To cap off the entire event, it occurred during our departure from Glacier Bay so this all happened in a rather spectacular setting. That very evening, the ship's doctor was the guest at our dinner table so you can imagine we all picked his brain. It was a shame that a person had become so ill but to my knowledge the passenger lived thanks to the professionalism of many people, namely the Coast Guard aircrew who risked their lives.

 

[Patriot]

I've checked into that heli light before, it's the same ellipsoidal/lens design as the MegaRay.

EDIT: A very fitting picture for this thread then!

 

[Phil Ament]

You may be correct but the aperture is only about 2" I was always under the impression that this was a piece of FLIR equipment. These Jayhawks are outfitted with so many varying pieces of sensors and avionics that it's difficult to research.

This particular light is called a "Trakkabeam" and I don't know if I am allowed to do this here but I can post a link to a photo of one if you like. As a matter of fact I think that they might be made right here in Australia and their head office is also located here in Melbourne too, and very close to where I live. I am pretty sure that this particular light is actually their A800 Model. I also have a link to it's technical specifications as well! :naughty:


Phil :wave:

 

[Patriot]

Awesome Phil! I searched and found it by that name. Thanks for the information!

 

[LuxLuthor]

MS Paint isn't in the XP versions I have installed. It's on the CD. Or you can just download the 400KB file: http://www.sheeptech.com/download/mspaint.exe

Save and put it in your C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder. Make a shortcut and drag it to your Accessories or Desktop.

You can also start it by going to Start > Run > Type "mspaint" > OK

 

[Phil Ament]

Awesome Phil! I searched and found it by that name. Thanks for the information!

No problems whatsoever Patriot, anytime, and I am glad that I could be of some assistance, plus any friends of Bob's is also a friend of mine. By the way, we make all the top quality items here, for example me! :naughty:



Phil Ament :wave:

 

[get-lit]

Hey Patriot, you're in my home town. Grew up in East Mesa, went tubing down the river ever since I can remember.

 

[Walterk]

Great lights, congratulations. And thx for the beamshots!

You can leave the pictures as they are, and place links to pictures with the original size? I am sure most of us would open them in another tab.

How I do it in Photoshop:
Crop the original to the cut-out you want to frame the details you want to share.
Then 'save for web', where you can see and adjust image size (pixels and percentage) with preview.
If you want pictures to be aligned or same size, try out how the layers work.

 

[Patriot]

MS Paint isn't in the XP versions I have installed.

Funny that MS didn't add it to XP. It's back in Windows7 again.

 

[BVH]

Great lights, congratulations. And thx for the beamshots!

You can leave the pictures as they are, and place links to pictures with the original size? I am sure most of us would open them in another tab.

How I do it in Photoshop:
Crop the original to the cut-out you want to frame the details you want to share.
Then 'save for web', where you can see and adjust image size (pixels and percentage) with preview.
If you want pictures to be aligned or same size, try out how the layers work.

Thank you sir! I will investigate tonight.

Forgot to mention in the pics of the battery connectors post and in the interest of safety, that I will be splicing in (with double ended Anderson pigtails) 6 or 8 Amp in-line fuses, one for each pack. With all that unprotected energy on my back, I will feel better! Maybe I should wrap some of my fire blanket material around me, too.


With Photobucket, the max reso I can save is 1024 x 785. What/who do others use for hosting photos, ect and what are typical costs?

 

[Patriot]

Forgot to mention in the pics of the battery connectors post and in the interest of safety, that I will be splicing in (with double ended Anderson pigtails) 6 or 8 Amp in-line fuses, one for each pack. With all that unprotected energy on my back, I will feel better! Maybe I should wrap some of my fire blanket material around me, too.

You know that I'm the last person that falls into the safety police category but if you were to lose you footing and fall onto gravel with your weight on top, these packs will vent. I've put out several li-po fires from people crashing their RC aircraft at my local field. Some didn't hit very hard but they sure did blast fire out of them. On one occasion a blundered landing caused a kart wheel and the pack got G-forced out of it's holder harness and slid a few feet on some rocks. Didn't think much of it until it turned into a flame thrower.

I'm not scared of LiPo in the literal sense but LiCo cylindrical cells almost seem like toys in comparison. (not to minimize the seriousness of either)

I use the LP-Guard fire sack from Hobby King. They're 18-22cm and $2.00 each and will fit 3 x 2000mah packs. You might require the next size up. Li

 

[matthewcyho]

Bob , What a nice light .

 

[LuxLuthor]

With Photobucket, the max reso I can save is 1024 x 785. What/who do others use for hosting photos, ect and what are typical costs?

Must be a limit on the free account.

 

[BVH]

Yeah, I saw that and upgraded.

 

[Patriot]

Hey Patriot, you're in my home town. Grew up in East Mesa, went tubing down the river ever since I can remember.

That's great Get-lit! Mesa is a big city today. You must have seen a lot of growth while growing up there. I've probably done the river thing several dozen times over the years. Neat to hear that you've experienced some of the state as well. Take care buddy and keep of the great work over in your Nightsword thread!