Here’s a pic of the multi rotors I currently have.

They have all flown and building each provided valuable lessons.

This means I’ll be pretty much flying 3 different platforms.
a. The workhorse – a 1.7kg-2kg AUW quad using DT750 motors on 4S.
b. Long flyer – the 4S/5S endurance Tricopter above with 15 inch props and 360kv motors.
c. The fun machine – 3S quad with 9 inch props and 1130kv motors.

The University of Sydney has a Carillon with many, many tonnes of bronze bells installed in the clock tower of the main quadrangle.

This video is Part 1, the clock tower from in the air, videoed using my quadcopter.

I’ll put together more footage of the Carillon in action soon.

In the meantime, audio samples are here: http://sydney.edu.au/visitors_community/places/carillon/samples.shtml

And more information from the University of Sydney web site.

http://sydney.edu.au/visitors_community/places/carillon/about.shtml

Carillons are the world’s largest musical instruments. They consist of a series of fixed bells which sound when struck by clappers. A set of bells must contain at least 25 chromatically tuned bells (two octaves) to qualify as a carillon.

The development of the carillon, as distinct from single bells or peals of swinging bells, dates back to the 13th and 14th Centuries. The earliest carillons were played mechanically. The first true carillon to be played manually was built in Flanders about 1480.

The University of Sydney War Memorial Carillon, located in the clock tower of the Quadrangle on the Camperdown Campus, was dedicated on Anzac Day, 25 April 1928.

It commemorates the 197 undergraduates, graduates and staff who died in World War I.

The Carillon and the Great Hall Organ are the Ceremonial Voices of the University.

Originally, the Carillon consisted of 62 bells giving 49 notes, the top octave bells being in duplicate. The instrument was played at a keyboard of manual and pedal levers. For a short time, a pneumatic keyboard was also used.

In 1973, the top bells were returned to the original founders for recasting and, at the same time, five additional small bells were cast. The rebuilt carillon now has 54 bells and a range of four and a half octaves. The lowest note (called the bourdon) is G on the bottom line of the bass stave (A flat in terms of pitch). This bell weighs approximately four and a half tonnes. The 23 lower bells were cast by the Taylor bellfoundry, of Loughborough, England. The upper 33 treble bells were cast by the Whitechapel bellfoundry of London.

The National Carillon in Canberra, dedicated in 1970, is a sister carillon to the University of Sydney War Memorial Carillon.

Here’s a a test to see how long my Tricopter can hover.

Got to 37 minutes and 42 seconds.

Most people only fly such vehicles for around 10 mins at a time, so it was a good effort.

The remote vehicle was flown manually, with stick movements required every few seconds, so it was a bit of a marathon flight… even more difficult in a confined space.

Here’s a first test, flying an Infrared optimised camera from my quadcopter using a low cost Infrared lens from a security camera.

It was windy, so footage is a bit wobbly but even still, there might be potential to use this as a remote sensing technique during our archaeological excavation in Greece later in the year.

The following is what’s possible from satellites if you’ve got big bucks.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJoYaKDn4Cg

I’m start to the hang of this unmanned aerial vehicle caper, with my fourth build being a Tricopter.

It felt great to fly, quite gentle and majestic.

I’m working on these vehicles for aerial imaging (photography & film/video), plus remote sensing, so a slow hovering vehicle is great for these.

Sort of reminds you of a stick insect, but works great.

It’s easy to fly too .

This is the second quadcopter I made, a spider design.

Using wide bell 750kv motors and 12 x 4.5 inch props, it had more grunt than I could handle at the time.

I moved the electrics to a more docile X-config quad (my third home-build) that I’m currently flying.

Will probably turn this frame into a hexacopter spider.

Already have the 6 x Keda motors and 6 x 18A Hobbywing ESC’s.

Just need time to do it.

This is MkII of my DIY wooden frame.

Tuning seems pretty stable now, meaning that this was my first day I got to fly using all 4 batteries (individually for each flight), without any mishaps.

A major milestone!

I’ve probably now clocked up 2 hrs of flight time, so still a raw newbie.

PS: the beeping in the background is a lost model tracker. It wasn’t set up right and kept going off every few minutes.

Lots of people ask if I’m an archaeologist because I’m actively involved in organising a number of excavations in Greece.

Being called an antiquarian is more suitable, studying the past (through a lot of field work), but without a formal degree.

Here’s how Wikipedia describes an antiquarian.

An antiquarian or antiquary (from the Latin antiquarius, meaning pertaining to ancient times) is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts. The essence of antiquarianism is a focus on the empirical evidence of the past, and is perhaps best encapsulated in the motto adopted by the 18th-century antiquary, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, “We speak from facts not theory”.

The main thing I’ve been wanting to do for a while is buy/build a quadcopter, so my GoPro sports cameras can pretty much go anywhere.

In the end I built my own. Using the remote controlled plane was just a step along the way, as the quadcopter is like a cross between a steadycam and boom crane, capable of some amazing camera angles.

Just need to learn how to fly it now, below is a video that shows what I’m talking about.

Here’s footage from my third practice session.

Only a little imagination is needed to understand the potential for some of these camera angles.

You have to remember, I’m still working out how to fly properly… using an experimental, home built machine.

Results should get smoother as experience grows.

More info is here.