mikeexplorer

I use pictures to document the maintenance on the quads. AT times it comes in handy to explain how to do something, like what I posted.

Train project is coming along. Wiring and track layout is complete. I started writing the code. I am programming the routines that will be needed for the main programs such as the input debounce (eliminate chatter) Control of the track power segments (to stop and run trains) and the touch panel screens.

Right now I am working on the routine to handle the remote switches on the layout. I only can work on this when I have time. Our plant did shut down for a little over a week due to the virus, but I worked several of the days to do an upgrade on two of the lines so I really didn't have many extra days off.

Your going to have a blast with the drone when you get it. Look up videos on Youtube, they will be very helpful.

Mike

Sure I can help. First if you can find this part number 1402-027 go with them, they are the Koyo brand and are the best to use. The replacement part number 1402-809 are ok to use as well. I would avoid using the cheap Allballs brand and they do not hold up.

There are no seals with this model, the bearing is a double radial single bearing. What I do is remove the knuckle and remove the bushings. The bearing has a C-clip holding it in place so that has to be removed. (usually covered in grime) First thing I do is take the new bearings and put them in the freezer. While they are chilling down. I heat up the hub with a torch. This will make it easier to remove the old ones. I do have a 12 ton press in my shed but I have used a hammer and an old socket to pound the old ones out from the back side. Hopefully the old ones are not too shot that they fall apart then it will leave the race inside and that is an issue to remove.

I clean the inside of the hub with scotchbrite to make it smooth and clean. I then heat the hub up again and grab the now cold bearing. 90% of the time it will just drop right into place. I kept the race from an old bearing to use if I need to tap the bearing in place. Make sure it clears where the C-clip goes. I then douse the hub in water to cool it off quickly. Put the clip back on and its done.

Mike

I had to work a few days even with the shutdown, to help install upgrades on two lines. Not so bad since its quiet inside and I can concentrate on my work.

Did get the drone out a few times. This video of the famous Starucca Viaduct, known as the "Bridge of Stone" build in 1847-1848 and is still in use today.

21 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Very cool.  Nice job on looming all the wires together.  
Clean work, @mikeexplorer, my friend has something along those lines and he built a shelf that runs along the entire first floor of his office building that the train runs on. Its about 8 feet in the air and goes through walls etc.   

I have an around the wall layout in my living room. Once I complete my programming project, I am going to transfer this to the wall layout. I also did a wall layout for my now deceased uncle in his bar.

https://www.nepaview.com/the-wall-mount-counstruction.html

https://www.nepaview.com/a-second-wall-mount.html

Mike

Ive only started my "Vacation" from work. I have been mainly hiking to different places to fly the drone since this time of year there is no leaves on the trees yet and no growth so this is a prime time to look for abandoned things. My other project when I have time (or a lousy day outside) is a model railway layout controlled by a PLC. I built this to learn how to do programming. I built a first generation unit using an older PLC, but soon ran into problems with limited points and memory space. Decided to go for it and I bought a more modern unit with a lot more points and memory. Had a good chunk of time so far to complete the layout and soon will be ready for programming.

I own an Alterra and its older generation model the 366. Ive been happy with both machines.

Mike

23 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

I ordered a diode kit on Amazon and man i have to say it was worth it. $20 bucks for 80 various assorted diodes.   

Good deal, are you into hobby electronics?

16 minutes ago, Frank Angerano said:

And ..... Does the fan spin? If so great and you  would go to the temperature switch on the radiator like @mikeexplorer mentioned.  See if one of the wires has 12+ with the key on.  If not then you have to trace the 12+ from the temperature sensor to the fuse block, there is also an in-line fuseable link in the harness on the 12+ power wire going to the temperature switch.  
Also check your ground on the fan motor.   

That is not a fusible link, it is a diode to prevent backfeeding into the electrical systems. I have seen a few cases where the diode broke since they stick it inside the wiring harness. Any generic silicon diode rated for 10 amps will do as a replacement, polarity is important.

Mike

20 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

@mikeexplorer i was looking at the drone you recommend and it looks great. I figured it would be a good time to buy and learn.   Unfortunately it wont ship here until April 24th to May 1st 😢.  

That sucks, could use the time to learn and fly.

Our place will be shutting down next week for 2 weeks. They are going to pay us normal rate. Since I am maintenance, Im sure they will bring us in to do work while the lines are down. Hopefully get a few extra days off during this time. Ive just been walking and flying the drone, good time of year for this since the leaves are still not on the trees.

Mike

20 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Yep seen that.  They has an outside booth set up in tye back but I guess maybe people weren't showing up?

No, orders to close down, they are seeking a waiver since the state trails remained opened.

Lost Trails closed for now so that blew my riding and drone flying plans for now

18 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Holy crap I'm sorry I even responded to this topic !!!!!!!  Just kidding! @mikeexplorer thanks and good info. For $500 bucks im in on that deal! Going to make a move soon on a drone.  
As far as the height and how high up ?, you guys wait and see, i have more to come! 
I go 1000 feet down under ground just as much as i go up!  Pics to come. 

So two people have tested positive on my job and we are still going forward with work. Zero supervision and we are still building! Nuts!!!! But we are moving on. 
 

Nothing we all say or do will change the direction of all of this bullshit! We watch the big guns take care of this and we will judge/vote accordingly! 
 

End of story! 

 

 

The drone is capable of flying up to 400 feet high, actually limited to that because of airspace regulations. You can set limits for the drone. Most of my videos I keep it under 150 - 200 feet. Distance will vary depending on how many other wifi signals are around. Urban areas I can usually get about 1,300 feet away from where I am standing. Yesterday I went to a more rural area and I went over 2,300 feet away before loss of signal.

This is the what I bought

https://www.amazon.com/Parrot-Bebop-Pro-3D-Modeling-Solution/dp/B07514PH61/ref=sr_1_3?crid=FW7Q0SY22D4F&dchild=1&keywords=parrot+bebop+2+power&qid=1585128975&sprefix=parrot+bebop+2%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-3

Mike

8 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Great shot there.  I find  drones extremely interesting.  Looking at the rails or any other aerial  view is very cool.  I had my friend fly his drone over my property to see how the deer were making there way to and from food plots, water etc. i wound up seeing so much more including old logging trails, fence lines.  
I may look into getting one maybe a beginner  drone.  
 

Hows everyone doing ?????

The drone I have would be considered a good beginner drone. You can buy the complete kit for under $500. This would include the drone, extra batteries, extra propellers, and the sky controller, and a padded backpack.  You can use the drone with your phone only, but the range will be more limited. I also found a refurbished one on ebay for $235, it did not include the controller, but did include one charger and battery plus a spare set of propellers. I bought it as a spare.  The only add-on I am considering is the FPV goggles, sometimes its hard to see the video feed in bright sunlight, this is why during the video I took, I made some weird turns and stopped at times to look at what the drone was seeing. 

There are of course cheaper drones out there then this one, but this drone has the essential features. Mainly since it has an onboard GPS it has the ability to "return to home" automatically if it loses signal with the controller. Cheaper drones don't have this feature, and that is why a lot of people lose them.

If you do crash the drone, the controller will know the last known position of the drone, the drone will also continue to transmit the video feed and emit a beeping sound.

This drone has all I need, I mainly bought it to explore abandoned railroads and to get photos and videos of areas I cannot physically get to, or to take aerial shots of things, such as these gravity slope buildings. The GPS data is recorded during the flight (as shown with the overlay) and when you take pictures, the GPS data is embedded in the picture.

These photos are taken across the river from where I was, I was following an old railroad grade. The field in the third picture used to be mining operation that was reclaimed.

I have a Parrot Bebop 2. Picked it up a few months ago. Its considered older now that they came out with the newer models but that means I got this one at a discount. It has all the features I need. I used a free program to overlay the flight data from the drone.

You must mean "milepoint" that I noted in the video. This railroad line was originally a Delaware & Hudson line and connected to Albany when it was known as the "Penn Division" Where I was standing it would be 183.5 miles to Albany. Railroads use the mile posts to note everything on their right of way.

Back in the 1980's the line was abandoned from Carbondale to Ninevah, NY (its connection) so it is now known as the "Carbondale Line" its end of line. So nowadays the actual milepoint where I was standing would be 12.5

Since the train was returning from Carbondale, the cars would be empty, they would have had sand in them used for fraking natural gas in our area. Part of the video you can see a track coming off the line (a switch) that spur services our place, we manufacture plastic sheet, those cars would be filled with plastic pellets.  I cut that part out from the video, but after the train left, I turned the drone and flew towards our plant. You can see the cars parked on the track and the stair step pipe you see blows the plastic pellets from the cars uphill to our facility to fill the silos. I meant to get closer but the battery was running low so I brought it back.

Mike

I am still working, but they are talking about a shut down next week. Last week took the drone out to do some flying.

It looks like only the ATV specific mounts are being discontinued, probably for the older models. I have the 2 inch receiver mount for mine so I can move it to different quads as needed. I only had to use this Tigertail a few times but it works great. 

Mike

Working this weekend but might try to get to Lost Trails Thursday if weather is ok. Going to use the drone to do some exploring.

Mike

A lot of ski areas shut down early due to this. We had a trip planned for early April which will probably not happen now. Looks like the quad will be coming out early.

PA closed schools and such as well.

Mike

Yeah, Lost trails is local to me, hopefully it will be on a weekend i am not working

Mike

Agreed, It probably got wet and that is why its not working. CDI's or any other electrical part does not need a flow of power to keep it good, pure bunk.

I don't know about other model ATV's but Arctic Cat usually encases the CDI in epoxy so its impossible to repair them, too bad, because most of the parts inside would be cheap to replace such as diodes and capacitors. Once a CDI box gets to about 20 years old, it is common for the capacitors inside to fail, then you have no spark.

Electrolytic capacitors typically only have a life of about 20 years before the plates break down inside (kinda like a battery)

Mike

The flywheel magnet problem was common on years 2005-2007 models. He did not post the year of his machine. My first quad was a 2007 Arctic Cat and I did not have the problem. Guess I lucked out.  It is something he needs to check as it can cause his symptoms.

Mike

Its important to be heard, no doubt the "greenies" will be sending emails as well.

Thank you, it is important to be heard and get more legal ATV miles.

Mike

PA Residents, please take a moment to send an email supporting this to [email protected]

https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/41590987/proposed-changes-on-the-way-for-riding-atvs-on-state-forest-trails?fbclid=IwAR1EXkgtnRenBzFAKG5h1IOs7xDrNg6iedYSALckbjx2F5ZPjwdDFFij6Jc#.Xic-MeQ7aXY.facebook