lol, I agree with ambroseeliao, You should build a Close calls vids and memories vids. It would be kickass, if your macbook upgrade 1TB hard drive and it will be very plenty for the raw vids to allow you more editing and bigger vids such close calls history from past to present.
GT i-drive 2.0 Build
- Thread starter GCinDC
- Start date
ambroseliao
100 kW
External HDs are DIRT cheap these days. Here's a 1.5TB external HD for $70 with a $10 gift card from the seller and free shipping!
http://dealnews.com/WD-1.5-TB-USB-External-Hard-Drive-10-gift-card-for-70-free-shipping/407804.html
Ambrose
http://dealnews.com/WD-1.5-TB-USB-External-Hard-Drive-10-gift-card-for-70-free-shipping/407804.html
Ambrose
GCinDC
100 MW
wow, that is cheap! i've got stacks of them already. including a brand new 2T drive on the nightstand... lol
if i plug in the External, iMovie tries to synchronize all of them and takes forever...
i used to keep EVERYTHING, but now i'm finding i prefer to pick the good parts out and dump the rest!
it was driving me nuts having several days of raw footage and not having time to edit it! i told myself no more shooting till i cleared that.
i also wiped out the vids of my first attempts to solder bullets. they were so boring. useful perhaps to prep someone for interrogation. :lol:
if i plug in the External, iMovie tries to synchronize all of them and takes forever...
i used to keep EVERYTHING, but now i'm finding i prefer to pick the good parts out and dump the rest!
it was driving me nuts having several days of raw footage and not having time to edit it! i told myself no more shooting till i cleared that.
i also wiped out the vids of my first attempts to solder bullets. they were so boring. useful perhaps to prep someone for interrogation. :lol:
GCinDC
100 MW
Since I've built the new pack, it was about time I finally fixed my BM6 problem.
What problem? The problem that every time I plug them in, they beep.
And that every once in a while, once cell will read 1.3V and another 5.xV...
I can't tell you how many times I hooked them up, the fiddled with them till they stopped beeping, then took off, only to have them start beeping. And when more than one get going, OMFG... :x
Well, since I was balance charging each night, and rarely using more than 1/2 the pack (5Ah), I was okay going w/o them. I learned where the cliff was, and learned to avoid going over it. Or so I'd hoped. Maybe one cell did die. Would I know?
Now that I'm going to do some bulk charging, I need information. Time to fix it.
So what was the problem? The BM6? The db25 they were attached to? Or the pack side harness?
A couple months ago, I got fed up and built a whole new BM6 harness, db25 on one side and 4 jst-xh's on the other for the BM6's. Imagine my joy when I tried it out and some of the BM6's beeped right away...
So it had to be the BM6s or the pack-side harness. All the BM6s seemed fine one in some connectors, but there were two that were definitely dodgy. So somewhere inside the pack-side harness, there must be a leak...
[youtube]hb6VQihXwmo[/youtube]
So what was it? It had to be a leak or something on the pack side. So I recreated the harness. Four 2 to 1 JST-XH Y cables (off to the side). And one db25 to 4 JST-XH (w/ extensions - for some reason I thought I should it'd be easiest to solder the solid wire to the db25. Didn't. Just made more work for myself.. )
IMAGINE HOW I FELT WHEN I PLUGGED IT ALL IN AND A BM6 BEEPED! I did some more testing.
IT WAS THE JST-XH THAT THE BM6'S WERE PLUGGED INTO!
Once I figured that out, I decided that I had to bypass the JST-XH's entirely, at least on the BM6 side. At top, a jst-xh-FREE DB25-4 BM6! Decided to use some 20awg silicon wire from HK, since I want to be able to move it around easily. (Below it the last one, and at bottom, the very first one I'd created.)
I'd already gone looking for a container to prevent accidental bumping or deterioration of the connections.
Hooked up and NO BEEPS!!!
Now it's so quiet all the time, how am I going to remember to unplug it???
What problem? The problem that every time I plug them in, they beep.
And that every once in a while, once cell will read 1.3V and another 5.xV...
I can't tell you how many times I hooked them up, the fiddled with them till they stopped beeping, then took off, only to have them start beeping. And when more than one get going, OMFG... :x
Well, since I was balance charging each night, and rarely using more than 1/2 the pack (5Ah), I was okay going w/o them. I learned where the cliff was, and learned to avoid going over it. Or so I'd hoped. Maybe one cell did die. Would I know?
Now that I'm going to do some bulk charging, I need information. Time to fix it.
So what was the problem? The BM6? The db25 they were attached to? Or the pack side harness?
A couple months ago, I got fed up and built a whole new BM6 harness, db25 on one side and 4 jst-xh's on the other for the BM6's. Imagine my joy when I tried it out and some of the BM6's beeped right away...
So it had to be the BM6s or the pack-side harness. All the BM6s seemed fine one in some connectors, but there were two that were definitely dodgy. So somewhere inside the pack-side harness, there must be a leak...
[youtube]hb6VQihXwmo[/youtube]
So what was it? It had to be a leak or something on the pack side. So I recreated the harness. Four 2 to 1 JST-XH Y cables (off to the side). And one db25 to 4 JST-XH (w/ extensions - for some reason I thought I should it'd be easiest to solder the solid wire to the db25. Didn't. Just made more work for myself..
) IMAGINE HOW I FELT WHEN I PLUGGED IT ALL IN AND A BM6 BEEPED! I did some more testing.
IT WAS THE JST-XH THAT THE BM6'S WERE PLUGGED INTO!
Once I figured that out, I decided that I had to bypass the JST-XH's entirely, at least on the BM6 side. At top, a jst-xh-FREE DB25-4 BM6! Decided to use some 20awg silicon wire from HK, since I want to be able to move it around easily. (Below it the last one, and at bottom, the very first one I'd created.)
I'd already gone looking for a container to prevent accidental bumping or deterioration of the connections.
Hooked up and NO BEEPS!!!
Now it's so quiet all the time, how am I going to remember to unplug it???
GCinDC
100 MW
I was so busy that I was too late to supervise the ginger bread house decoration. The kids did it all themselves of halloween candy! :lol:
bandaro
10 kW
i like the creations that come out of your house, both from the garage And the kitchen. If the kids made that i cant wait to see what the missus can bake.
i think a hot knife will be needed to cut that cake though, taking the chocolate of first is for the weak... but back tot he bike, i find oven timers are a great reminder, set and forget, but it does not need to be unplugged immediately does it? wont harm anything if you forget?
i think a hot knife will be needed to cut that cake though, taking the chocolate of first is for the weak... but back tot he bike, i find oven timers are a great reminder, set and forget, but it does not need to be unplugged immediately does it? wont harm anything if you forget?
GCinDC
100 MW
hehe. she's good. very creative, healthy, etc. problem is that the kids want everything perfectly clean, cubed, not touching, oh yeah, and only pasta.. :lol:bandaro said:
the problem is that, left in, they can drain the pack! daily operation shouldn't be a problem. certainly not during charging @ work. but overnight? if the cells drop, and the charger is left in, will it kick in?
I'm actually not sure if I can trust the charger to stay plugged in. That damn laptop charger light stays on whether it's plugged in or not, so I'm afraid it'll drain the pack, left unattended.
No, the problem will be the rare time I don't ride it for a couple days but forgot to unplug it. lots of folks seem to have done it.
ditto. frozen face, despite the balaclava. eyes dry. time to start wearing the ski goggles! THOSE kept my face warm last year. And the full face, though I gotta say, I'm really missing the visibility with that headgear.dbaker said:Cold commute this morningGot the gloves right but even with a balaclava my cheeks were burning. Won't be long before we put on the snow tires
GCinDC
100 MW
Charging under the desk...
BTW, how would I hear the BM6 if it started beeping inside the case, you ask? On the road, I wouldn't.
Wny delicately drilled holes, of course! (wouldn't be mine if some part of it weren't half-assed... :lol: of course i ALSO forgot to put the large shrink tube on between the db25 cover and the bm6 box... )
For a while, I considered velcroing the BM6 box on the handlebars, or main tube, where I could see them. But this would also mean:
- much longer wires, and times 24, that's a LOT of wire!
- the bm6 box needs to stay with the battery for charging, so no sense in mounting it to the bike.
Next will be proper pack mounts for the balance and power plugs. (new balance harness not yet installed, btw, since old one is fine...)
Or... a whole new battery case? Amazon says it will arrive on wednesday.... Check back to see.
BTW, how would I hear the BM6 if it started beeping inside the case, you ask? On the road, I wouldn't.
Wny delicately drilled holes, of course! (wouldn't be mine if some part of it weren't half-assed... :lol: of course i ALSO forgot to put the large shrink tube on between the db25 cover and the bm6 box...
) For a while, I considered velcroing the BM6 box on the handlebars, or main tube, where I could see them. But this would also mean:
- much longer wires, and times 24, that's a LOT of wire!
- the bm6 box needs to stay with the battery for charging, so no sense in mounting it to the bike.
Next will be proper pack mounts for the balance and power plugs. (new balance harness not yet installed, btw, since old one is fine...)
Or... a whole new battery case? Amazon says it will arrive on wednesday.... Check back to see.
johnrobholmes
10 MW
That is what I have been doing to monitor my bulk charging lately (since I smoked my two BMS units). Just plug them in and keep an eye on the cells! My packs are not in good enough condition, I end up getting almost .1v difference at the top of the charge. Once that surface charge is knocked off they settle to about .02v difference.
GCinDC
100 MW
One week and no melted andersons! WooHoo!
Bullets are working great! Since the plugs still dangle, it's easier to bulk charge - just removing the pack leads (not the 8x plug) and connecting them to the charger. Can't say I notice any performance increase from 10AWG or the new pack, but I've still got too much wire there and need to trim it. I'm also only charging to 4.06, .1V/cell lower than I'd wish... Very convenient tho, bulk charging
I've been holding off on finishing the pack because I've had a different case in mind, a 'fanny' or now more PC, "lumbar" pack :lol: :
It just arrived. My old pack fits with room to spare! Unbelievable. I can fit my charger too.
I've got some testing to do with it, but my logic in using it:
- why bother mounting and unmounting a pack this winter to bring inside to charge?
- why not just unplug leads and WALK inside (home or office), unclip the belt, set down using handles and then plug in?
- the added weight on the torso would be irritating over longer trips, but probably not over short ones
- by standing while riding, i'll get some much needed thigh exercise!
- no more worries about leaving the lipo pack out in the cold
- time saved not having to the pack in
- a case with a vent directed away from my body could be created if i feared combustion...
- the bike should certainly handle better, esp in the woods, though the balance will be more to the rear now
So we'll see. Anyone know if lipos usually get warm to the touch before they ignite?
And in other news, new waterproof pants arrived Just In Time yesterday:
My 02 outfit is shredded, fit for a birds nest. Waste of money for me. I had some J&G breathable cycling pants which woulda been fine if they weren't tiny. And after two years of ebiking, I'm not! So after a visit to REI and lamenting the $100 price tags for waterproof pants in the cycling area, these at $34 were a no brainer! And I'm very pleased. Size Large. Plenty big enough, and well long enough so they're perfect when riding, unlike others that may tend to ride up. (Listening dbaker? this is for you!) They've got velcro at the ankle but they could tighten more. Use a band if nec. I'll expect to use these for a long time.
Also got a winter jacket. Zipper on the old one's shell and liner was completely destroyed and I've been freezing! Tried on the high tech crap, but who can afford a sexy puff down liner AND a shell? Felt nice, so I know what I'm missing, but this is what I got on sale for $159:
I did check at Target for one cheaper. Believe me, clothes is not where I spend my money. My last jacket lasted 6 years, so I got my money's worth. And after this morning's soak, I'm happy to report it's totally waterproof! Nice and warm too. Ready for Winter!
I wore some booties too, and they keep the water out of the inside of my shoes, but they're far from waterproof. Might give them a treatment of sorts. It was raining cats and dogs!
But with the full face and ski goggles, I only got a couple rain drops to the nose that hurt like shit! @ 38mph, rain hurts!
Last but not least, this new show is doing a piece on ebikes and wants to interview me. I've got mixed feelings, to be sure...
We'll see!
Bullets are working great! Since the plugs still dangle, it's easier to bulk charge - just removing the pack leads (not the 8x plug) and connecting them to the charger. Can't say I notice any performance increase from 10AWG or the new pack, but I've still got too much wire there and need to trim it. I'm also only charging to 4.06, .1V/cell lower than I'd wish... Very convenient tho, bulk charging
I've been holding off on finishing the pack because I've had a different case in mind, a 'fanny' or now more PC, "lumbar" pack :lol: :
It just arrived. My old pack fits with room to spare! Unbelievable. I can fit my charger too.
I've got some testing to do with it, but my logic in using it:
- why bother mounting and unmounting a pack this winter to bring inside to charge?
- why not just unplug leads and WALK inside (home or office), unclip the belt, set down using handles and then plug in?
- the added weight on the torso would be irritating over longer trips, but probably not over short ones
- by standing while riding, i'll get some much needed thigh exercise!
- no more worries about leaving the lipo pack out in the cold
- time saved not having to the pack in
- a case with a vent directed away from my body could be created if i feared combustion...
- the bike should certainly handle better, esp in the woods, though the balance will be more to the rear now
So we'll see. Anyone know if lipos usually get warm to the touch before they ignite?
And in other news, new waterproof pants arrived Just In Time yesterday:
My 02 outfit is shredded, fit for a birds nest. Waste of money for me. I had some J&G breathable cycling pants which woulda been fine if they weren't tiny. And after two years of ebiking, I'm not! So after a visit to REI and lamenting the $100 price tags for waterproof pants in the cycling area, these at $34 were a no brainer! And I'm very pleased. Size Large. Plenty big enough, and well long enough so they're perfect when riding, unlike others that may tend to ride up. (Listening dbaker? this is for you!) They've got velcro at the ankle but they could tighten more. Use a band if nec. I'll expect to use these for a long time.
Also got a winter jacket. Zipper on the old one's shell and liner was completely destroyed and I've been freezing! Tried on the high tech crap, but who can afford a sexy puff down liner AND a shell? Felt nice, so I know what I'm missing, but this is what I got on sale for $159:
I did check at Target for one cheaper.
Believe me, clothes is not where I spend my money. My last jacket lasted 6 years, so I got my money's worth. And after this morning's soak, I'm happy to report it's totally waterproof! Nice and warm too. Ready for Winter!I wore some booties too, and they keep the water out of the inside of my shoes, but they're far from waterproof. Might give them a treatment of sorts. It was raining cats and dogs!
But with the full face and ski goggles, I only got a couple rain drops to the nose that hurt like shit! @ 38mph, rain hurts!
Last but not least, this new show is doing a piece on ebikes and wants to interview me. I've got mixed feelings, to be sure...
We'll see!
GCinDC
100 MW
Some are closer than others, as close as 0.005V according to the BM6 (and they all seem a bit different). One cell is 0.05V different than its siblings.dbaker said:
hang behind? I've not ridden w/ the lumbar pack yet. heavy duty straps will settle on my hips, and considering the weight, it'll hang some. i'll try it out and get some pics up.
i thought i'd go invisible for the winter... i'll just be a dark blur to most folks... until i get my dealextreme light that is. it's been almost a month since i ordered that! :x
but seriously, i could wear a bright jersey over the jacket, but i needed one for all occasions, and what doesn't go w/ black? and no, i didn't see yellow. If you don't mind dropping $425 for a shell, try this.
The Shoe Covers (booties), not 'waterproof'. Musta got them w/ the pants...
GCinDC
100 MW
Some quick snaps of the old lipos in the Mountainsmith Lumbar Pack!
GCinDC
100 MW
pack still bike-mounted. (worried about balance/CG for curb jumps w/ lumbar pack, but gonna try it anyway).
fired up the gopro yesterday. commuted straight to client's. guard sees my FF helment, calls me a ninja (1:34). lol. that's followed by frisky outbound commute, punching the lights on CT ave. good fun.
[youtube]UICatb0pz5s[/youtube]
fired up the gopro yesterday. commuted straight to client's. guard sees my FF helment, calls me a ninja (1:34). lol. that's followed by frisky outbound commute, punching the lights on CT ave. good fun.
[youtube]UICatb0pz5s[/youtube]
grindz145
1 MW
That's a slick setup. Leave the bike outside and charge the pack at your desk at work. Perfect. I'm so used to having a giant pack it's actually quite a reminder of how less can really be more.
Lenk42602
10 kW
Has the law of averages ever caught up with you regarding all the lane splitting in DC traffic?
:|
Len
:|
Len
GCinDC
100 MW
glad i got all those bullets!
GCinDC
100 MW
cleaned up all my wires:
- removed old on/off switch taped near throttle
- replaced frayed rear shift cable (shown destroyed in my good, bad ugly vid)
- attached speed switch next to throttle
- zip tied everything fast
- tighted up my brakes
no test ride yet, but runs nicely w/ no load! such a relief to see meaningful data on the CA. w/ the old 846 controller, the CA read 95A at a standstill, 0mph at 40mph, and god only knows how many ah... tough to get reliable long term stats w/ crap like that. i cycled it after charging to keep that stat tho!
