Asylum-ET™

Here are all the parts after un-boxing them. Pay no mind to the pile of bullet connectors. I bought them after reading a review saying the kit did not come with bullet connectors. I later decided the connectors are a waste of time and money so I opted for soldering directly but more on that later. There were a total of 4 extra washers one of which was crushed a bit.

Here we have the black board KK Multicopter flight controller version 5.5. “NOTE: Not the same as the Flycam blackboard but should work with Naviboard with minor modification.”

Side view of one arm with motor mount installed.

This is a top view of the assembled frame. Take note of the scratches on the center piece. That is a result of folding the legs in. The sharp edge of the washers gouged the surface a bit. Washers have a sharp side and an smooth side. Make sure all your washers are placed so that the sharp side is facing in towards the surface you are threading the bolt into except for the 8 bolts that hold the legs to the center. Those you will want to have the smooth side facing toward the surface so when you fold/unfold the legs you do not gouge yours like you see pictured here.

Wiring the power center. Hopefully I did this right. Not having directions can be such a wonderful help.

Well there it is, turns out I soldered the wires on to the tabs for the + copter configuration and as you see the power distribution board is mounted for the X copter configuration. The default firmware on the flight controller was for X configuration so I just rotated and mounted it without re-soldering anything. The wires are just long enough that it wasn’t a problem.

After installing the flight control board. The red legs are the back and the black legs are the front. For the X copter configuration notice “roll” on the FCB is facing forward.

Ready to try it out.

It was snowing out so I decided to try it out in the basement. I’ll admit that was not the hottest idea but with some tweaking we will be in business. Looks like I flew this thing through a mud storm.

And here is a little video showing a balancing rig I threw together out of some 2×4 scraps, a few coffee containers, 2 flybars and some foam.

Now that everything is assembled I still have a few spare parts left from the Titan 450 I previously destroyed. I plan to make an auto-stabilized gimbal system with the gryo and servos. If I have figured everything correctly I have 2 unused channels on my TX/RX. I am not yet sure how the gyro works or if I’ll need more than the one. With the 2 extra channels I could do a few things and will likely be something that I change depending on my purposes for the flight. One configuration may be to use one channel as a trigger for the camera shutter and the other to control a belt driven zoom or if possible use VR(A) to control a servos position. The position would be 3 state, L C R which would allow a 3-way toggle to be switched on the quadcopter that would switch our ch6 control from controlling one of the 3-axis servos interrupting the gyro on that axis. That is just a thought though.

Not long ago I purchased a set of Numark V7 software controllers.

My daughter on my V7s.

They are a rather nice looking and sturdy piece of equipment. I however noticed some rather serious issues right off that could be show stoppers literally. The main issue and focus of this post being that they cause windows to crash and the other is what they refer to as USB dropouts. I had contacted both Serato and Numark in regard to the issues that I have encountered. Numark never responded and Serato had very little to offer after having taken far to much time to respond.

I made sure to buy a computer that exceeded the requirements to run the V7′s and still was experiencing problems. The most anyone had to offer was “buy a mac”. As if Mac is really an answer to anything but anyway. At Serato they have an optimization guide that can be rather tedious to have to do everything on it every time you have a show and then possibly even undo after the show for normal computer use. This prompted me to write a script that handles everything all with a simple click of the mouse.

Windows computer optimization script
Use of this script is not overly complicated but will require you to follow these directions explicitly. With that being said, a computer savvy character may be required to install this script for you.

1. Download devcon.exe, the Device Console comand-line utility from Microsoft. http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/1/f/11f7dd10-272d-4cd2-896f-9ce67f3e0240/devcon.exe
   Run devcon.exe and extract the files onto your desktop in a folder named devcon. Open the devcon folder on your desktop and locate the appropraite folder for your system. I386 for 32 bit installs and Ia64 for 64 bit installs. Copy the devcon.exe from that folder into your /WINDOWS/system32 folder. Delete the devcon folder that is left on your desktop. For additional help or information with devcon please see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272
2. Press and hold your windows key while pressing the R key to open the run dialog. Type cmd in the text box and press the enter key or click Ok. In the newly opened command window type “devcon status @PCI\*” (without the double quotes) and hit enter. You will see a list like this one below that shows device id, device name and device status for each device.

   PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1673&SUBSYS_01F91028&REV_02\4&1E93A591&0&00E5
   Name: Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller #2
   Driver is running.
   PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4311&SUBSYS_00071028&REV_01\4&AB208E&0&00E1
   Name: Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card
   Driver is running.

   Look for the name of your wireless card (and any other devices you may want to disable) in the list that was created. You will then want to look for the id of your device which directly follows PCI\ in the devices id. You will notice in my example that my wireless card and lan card both start the same so if you were to use VEN_14E4 as the devices id you will disable both devices with this script so to be sure the devices are disabled seperately or only one is disabled we look just past the ampersand [&] and use DEV_4311 as the device id for the wireless card.

3. Next you will create a file and name it “media-optimizer.bat” without the quotes. Open the file for editing and past the below code into it. Once pasted look for “DEV_4311″ and change both instamces to the id for your device found in step 2. Press ctrl + S to save the file.

   @ECHO Off
Color 0A
IF "%1" == "" GOTO END
IF "%1" == "enable" GOTO ENABLE
IF "%1" == "disable" GOTO DISABLE
ECHO *************************************************
ECHO ** Media performance optimization script **
ECHO ** © 2011 Brian Shaw (http://asylum-et.com/) **
ECHO ** YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL CHANGES **
ECHO ** MADE TO YOUR COMPUTER BY THIS CODE. **
ECHO *************************************************
:ENABLE
ECHO ** Restoring normal system settings.
ECHO ** Removing Power Management Scheme.
POWERCFG /SETACTIVE "Always On"
POWERCFG /DELETE Media
ECHO ** Turning On Wireless ^& Internal Networking
devcon enable *DEV_4311
devcon enable *DEV_1673
REM set %1==%DIRCMD%
ECHO ** Turning On Automatic Updates
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v AUOptions /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
sc config wuauserv start= auto
net start wuauserv
ECHO ** Enabling your Screen Saver
REG ADD "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop" /v ScreenSaveActive /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f
GOTO END
ISABLE
ECHO ** Optimizing the system for media performance.
ECHO ** Creating Media Power Management Scheme.
POWERCFG /CREATE Media
ECHO ** Disable monitor timeout.
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /monitor-timeout-ac 0
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /monitor-timeout-dc 0
ECHO ** Disable disk timeout.
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /disk-timeout-ac 0
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /disk-timeout-dc 0
ECHO ** Disable standby timeout.
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /standby-timeout-ac 0
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /standby-timeout-dc 0
ECHO ** Disable hibernate timeout.
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /hibernate-timeout-ac 0
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /hibernate-timeout-dc 0
ECHO ** Disable CPU Throttle timeout.
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /processor-throttle-ac ADAPTIVE
POWERCFG /CHANGE Media /processor-throttle-dc ADAPTIVE
POWERCFG /SETACTIVE Media
ECHO ** Turning Off Wireless ^& Internal Networking
devcon disable *DEV_4311
devcon disable *DEV_1673
REM set %1==%DIRCMD%
ECHO ** Turning Off Automatic Updates
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v AUOptions /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
sc config wuauserv start= disabled
net stop wuauserv
ECHO ** Disabling your Screen Saver
REG ADD "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop" /v ScreenSaveActive /t REG_SZ /d 0 /f
GOTO END
:END
pause


4. Finally you will create 2 shortcuts. One will be named disable-media-optimizer and the other enable-media-optimizer.
   Right click on your desktop and select new > shortcut from the menu. Browse to the location that you saved media-optimizer.bat andselect it. Press Ok. Before clicking Next you will want to edit the location by adding disable to it. It will look something like this when you are done “D:\media-optimizer.bat disable”. You will repeat this step but use enable in the name and location in place of disable.

Click on the shortcut disable-media-optimizer after a fresh reboot and then fire up your Serato or other media software that doesn’t play nice with your computer. When done just click the other shortcut to restore your system to normal settings.

NOTE: If you do a tiny little bit of googling you will find that you can customize this script much more than I have described here. I also have not yet added anything for graphic acceleration or processor Scheduling.

Electrolyzer parts

A few years ago I started working with silver and gold. After that I decided to start making jewelry. I then needed a torch so I bought an Oxy/Acetylene torch. With that comes tanks, regulators and the hazard of storing explosive gases. Not liking the idea of that I started searching for an alternative.

Protective sleeves

I found that it is rather simple and inexpensive to make a gas mixture called oxyhydrogen. Oxyhydrogen is a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) gases, it is typically a 2:1 molar ratio. It is the very same proportions as water. The gas has been termed “HHO” or “Hydroxy Gas” by green companies.

Outer gasket

The gas is produced from the electrolysis of water. There are two types of electrolyzers that can be used to create this gas. One is a wet cell and the other is a dry cell. I opted for the dry cell as it’s design is far more efficient. One of the things that makes it more efficient is that there is no current loss from the edges of the plates being submerged in electrolyte as is with the wet cell system.

Stainless steel plates

I used stainless steel plates in hopes that they will last a good and long time before needing to be replaced as stainless steel is sort of expensive right now. Nickel also works rather well but is also rather costly. I have heard that you should scarify the surface of the plates but I did not and everything seems to work well so far. I actually think scratching the surface of the plates would cause them to become worn quicker.

Assembled electrolyzer

Now that the electrolyzer is assembled I anchored it into a wooden box that I built out of scrap wood to make transporting and storage much easier. The beauty of this system is that I do not have to worry about storing or transporting dangerous gases although caution still must be observed and on some levels even more so than typical industrial gases.

Secondary bubbler

This here is the secondary bubbler/flashback arrestor. It is used as a safety precaution to stop flashbacks from damaging the primary bubbler and also to help clean the gas that we create.

Fully assembled Oxyhydrogen generator

This is the fully assembled Oxyhydrogen generator in a simple half box. I will probably add locking casters to the bottom on the back and then a handle on the top back to allow me to pull it around.

This video is my HHO generator in a box to make it more portable. Sorry the video is sideways, the orientation sensor in my camera is off for some reason or I may have been holding the camera sideways. I am unsure, was to psyched that it is working to pay much attention to how I was filming it.

This shows the hydroxy gas being created. I ran a test to find out what the LPM “Liters Per Minute” is before I try this with my torch as the torch needs to have about 1 LPM to create enough back pressure so there is no flashback and possible explosion.

I found that with the 12v 19 Amp power supply that it only outputs 1 liter every 1 1/2 minutes. I had anticipated this and am happy with these results. Now I can use a decent power supply that is 12v 45 Amp. This should create more than enough gas to suffice.

Shortly after this I had a 1 liter bottle full of gas and nothing to do with it. I decided to put it on a stick in the ground and take a 5 foot long stick with toilet paper on the end as an ignition device and launch the bottle like a rocket.

Let me tell you what. That was loud as heck. The bottle launched over 100 feet or more into the air. After looking at the rocks under the base of the stick I used to launch it from I noticed a nice little crater about 1 foot in diameter.

Bottom line is experimenting can be a lot of fun and even beneficial but this is serious. You should not play with this type of thing if you do not know what you are doing. I cannot stress that enough. Please be safe when experimenting.

Auto-tune has been around for some time now but over recent years it has been abused and misused. It was first introduced to the mainstream with Cher’s Believe soundtrack’s overuse which made it evident that there may be some funny business going on.

It is used to fix minor pitch errors in a performance or recording but instead so-called artists such as Lil’ Wayne, T-Pain and even the Black Eyed Peas have abused it to further their careers without the need for any real effort or talent yet despite their lack of effort the album prices have not declined.

Instead of learning and practicing the good ole fashioned way they now just use an application that magically tunes their vocal track to a specific formulated tune that is studied and proven to be pleasing to the human ear.

Before long with the continued use of this auto-tune you will find that all the have nots will start to disappear because they all sound the same and the only ones that are actually attracted to this drivel are barely hitting puberty. Anyone beyond that age that still finds themselves bobbing their heads to it may notice that their heads are bobbing to the beat and not the whiny sounds purported coming out of the alleged artists face.

There are a growing number of real artists taking a stand against this garbage. A few names such as Jay Z with his album The Blueprint 3 “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”, Martina McBride, Loretta Lynn, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Allison Moorer, Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless. Then you have Christina Aguilera who made a public appearance in Los Angeles on August 10, 2009 wearing a T-shirt that read, “Auto Tune is for Pussies” Got to love it

Seriously, any idiot with a microphone and auto-tune can come up with a hit.

Metacafé T Pain Obama Auto-Tune

Oops! I think I just said Obama is an idiot. Here are some more to show how pathetic it has all become.

YouTube Buy U a Drank

My man Jay Z agrees that auto-tune must die.

YouTube "D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)" Official Video FINAL CUT

And a video that is the artists rendition of what HIP-HOP has become. WARNING!!! EXPLICIT LYRICS!!!

YouTube Fu^& S*** Stack

This is an extremely disturbing video of an incident at UCLA. I am unsure what brought the initial actions on but after being handcuffed, a student had been tasered and then the officers repeatedly demand he get up and walk. When in his incapacitated state he does not get up they then repeatedly taser him.

Tasers are considered to be an effective “less than lethal” tool for use to temporarily disable or stop a suspect/attacker. Note it is not a “non-lethal” weapon. Death can happen as a result of a tasers use. In this incident and many like it the tasers are not being used for their purpose but rather are being used as a means to force compliance more like a cattle prod. Damn it! We are not cattle. This is inhumane treatment and if this type of behavior continues I fear there will be a revolutionary war in mine and my children’s time that is not even necessary.

The students did not seem overly pleased as the officers refused to give them any information or badge numbers. Scary business.

This video has already been removed from a number of websites that had it shown including the source. You should watch it before this one is gone as well.

Google UCLA Student abused

It would seem that their intent is to cause civil unrest as I have also watched police force their way into an elderly womans home without a warrant, listened to a live broadcast as they attempted to force their way into one of my clients homes again without a warrant, watched them taser a handcuffed child who was sitting in a cruiser, pepper sprayed a man and put a bag over his head causing him to die and so much more. When is the abuse of our people going to stop? If we cannot trust the police to protect and serve us then who can we rely on? US! Which means no one else but YOU!

Here are a few more videos that you should find disturbing.

YouTube Unarmed and presumably non violent Columbia, MO man tasered

YouTube Rutland, VT officer uses pepper ball gun on handcuffed and caged detainee after being called a racist.
They put a bag over his head after this which by now they know full well what could happen as they killed a man this way already with a pillow case.

YouTube Suspect Dies After Deputies Use Taser Gun
Not sure if this guy was armed or not. I will assume so. I am not showing this video to show police abuse but rather to show that a taser is not “non-lethal” and should not be used as such. A taser should only be used if there is an eminent threat to life.