Discussions

Hello to all!

I don't belong to many forums but I've known it to be customary to introduce yourself upon joining.  I didn't find an introduction thread so I figured I'd post here.

I changed my screen name to help avoid doxing.  There are just too many creeps out there to justify putting my full name out with my location for me to feel comfortable with.  If I ever meet up with any of you or ever participate in the BST, I'll introduce myself fully and be happy to provide any information.  Until then, I'm just "Fixxer" in Central Kansas; where the winds push my little craft around mercilessly.  

I am an Electronics Tech by trade.  Started as an ET in the United States Navy on submarine duty and eventually finishing my education and moving into the civilian electronics industry.  I work under a Merchant license these days and spend my work life in the merchant fleet keeping the lights on and the ship pointing the right direction, in the right place.  

My R/C background goes back to when I completed my first nitro aircraft when I was 13.  That was before simulators existed but I managed to keep it from being completely demolished.  By building it, I was able to rebuild it.  My mantra is that all the information is out there for the taking; you just have to make the effort to find and apply it.  Anything I know is free for the asking.  

I have a nice dedicated shop facility built next to our home for my hobbies equipped with welding, woodworking, machining, engine work. some heavy equipment and; of course, an electronics rework station and   I an avid motorcyclist, target shooter and re-loader as well.  Basically, I just like to learn, experiment and do everything I can without outsourcing.  I find the quality is better and I enjoy the experience.

I dabble with multicopters because they're a challenge and fun as well as easy to find areas to fly them.  My Wife got me an AR drone as a gift a few years ago and I got the R/C bug again.  Most of my crashing is done on the sims but I've rebuilt my share of air frames too.  Mostly because I get cocky on the sticks and decide that I can push em'.  Right now it's mostly micro's to pester the pets with and a 200mm 3D with Spektrum RX/TX.

I'm getting into the UAV/heavylift mindset and want to build and tweek it using all these awesome open source flight controller and ground station firmwares/softwares that are free for the taking and sharing. I have a lot of ideas that it could be useful for and think it would be a great avenue to explore.

It's good to be onboard.