johnsmachines

machines which I have made, am making, or intend to make, and some other stuff. If you find this site interesting, please leave a comment. I read every comment and respond to most. n.b. There is a list of my first 800 posts in my post of 17 June 2021, titled "800 Posts"

Tag: Drone

January 7, 2024

Some Interesting Geelong Bridges 1 The Aqueduct

Depending on the reactions to this post, I have several more Geelong bridges in mind, including one which was designed and built by an engineer who became Australia’s most renowned general, another named after the Geelong person who build the world’s first commercial refrigerator, and another which was designed by, arguably, the most famous British engineer of the nineteenth century.

My interest in bridges is long standing, and received a recent boost when I purchased a drone with an excellent camera. It is 5 years old, but in pristine condition. It was so unmarked that I suspected that it had never been flown. 

It is a Mavic 2 Pro. I got it for less than 1/3 of its new price. It is now considered older technology, having less flight time than the newer ones, less obstacle avoidance, and possibly slightly noisier. What it does have, unlike the newer ones, is a camera which was designed by Hasselblad. I am still learning how to fly it, how to use the camera settings which are almost as extensive as my Nikon SLR, and how to shoot and edit videos.

The video about the aqueduct is the second one I have shot with the Mavic 2P. It is far from perfect, but is significantly better than the first one. I will reshoot the first one and post it later.

The video lasts 7-8 minutes. There is no narration, because I have not yet worked out how that is done. So read the captions.

The subject is not for everyone. But let me know whether it and the proposed successors would be of any interest.

You can click on the arrow in the pic, or go to YouTube to see it as full screen.
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January 19, 2021

Battery Point, Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia.

I originally examined the Armstrong 80pd RML cannons at Port Fairy a year ago. Then spent 2020 making a 1:10 scale model. Now, I am completing a second model. Here is a photo of the current status of the 2nd model. And no. There will not be a third.

The components are almost all made, but I estimate that there are many hours required to finish and fit them.

But this post is about my recent 2021 holiday in Port Fairy.

I spent some hours checking and getting more measurements……….

Assisted by my very curious grand daughter “what are you doing Pop?”
Who then decided to take over.

My son in law brought his drone to Port Fairy. It is a Mavic 2 Pro with a Hasselbad camera. I was sooo jealous.

And here is his footage of Battery Point. If you look carefully you can see me, my daughter, and Steve controlling the drone. This was a day after the photos above were taken, and my grand daughter was not in the video. Click on the arrow to see the 2″ video.

My daughter was interviewing me again. Amazed at the details being so similar on the real thing compared to the model. My SIL says that the Port Fairy cannons are 10:1 scale examples of my models. Unfortunately the wind noise was too excessive to post her video.
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