A dream I had last night.... hmmmmm...

[ka1iic]

I've always wanted to buy one of those 'toy' RC helicopters I see in the stores around Christmas time...

And now for the dream;

In this dream I did buy one of these toys, added to it a small... err perhaps a 100mw FM transmitters and a cheap MP3 player ($8 bucks)... sent it into the sky and played toonage for the masses...

Now with a buddy or two with like controllers said object flew several miles here and there and back again...  toonage for more of the masses...

Of course I would never use more than the legal limit if I did do this and I suspect I never would but... how high can U fly ;-)

Ideas often come of dreams I guess...

never mind... yeah just another brain fart... excuse please... ;-)

[ff]

Great idea Vince!  Most of the chip-based FMers and MP3 players run on zippo voltage, so a heavy battery pack is not needed.  And since on FM antenna height means more than watts you would also have a good coverage area with low power.  Of course, your radio station might get shot down by a government drone...

[ka1iic]

As I was taught many years ago... it is very hard to zero in on a moving target even today when using drones ;-)

[Tom S]

The only problem I could see would be the helicopter not giving enough thrust to lift the extra weight.  The xmitter would have to be pretty small.

Of course, if you got a larger helicopter then that would help some.

[Token]

The issue would be time of flight.  Several helos and quadrotors could carry a small transmitter, say even 1 Watt if you are careful to keep weight down with the design and build, and an MP3 player.  But few can stay in the air for more than 10 minutes with such loads.  Example the Blade 350 QX quadrotor (wife just got me one a week ago) will lift a camera and 2 axis stabilization mount.  But, without the camera it stays aloft for about 12 minutes.  With the camera more like 7.  I could (and have) double up the battery, but the flight time does not double because of the increased weight.

Google or YouTube “FPV quadrotor” to see people flying these things extended distances with camera and telemetry gear on board.  With such gear you could fly it miles yourself, no need for multiple control points.


T!

[Tom S]

I think you'd get better results with a tethered helium balloon, but even that may not be feasible with the helium shortage.  An untethered balloon would have quite the footprint at about 80,000 feet, but limited flight time of about 30 minutes to an hour or so.

[ka1iic]

Oh no! laser drones!!!

Curses foiled again!!!!


http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/06/16/marines-laser-weapon-targeting-enemy-drones-revealed/?intcmp=sem_outloud

[clobdell]

Helium shortage ? Use hydrogen like the Germans. #hindenberg

[Tom S]

[Pigmeat]

I never knew they could fly? Yet another reason to avoid Florida.