47 replies to this topic

[ahofer]

Great idea! love it.

Inspired by some posts in this topic, I built a rig for my Revs that uses a small accelerometer chip to control the color of some programmable LEDs based (mostly) on the kite's orientation. I got to test it in flight last weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and my wife took a few short video clips. It's hard to see much besides the lights themselves, so you can't tell how much the camera is panning. The software is still pretty primitive and I have some ideas for more interesting things it can do.



The whole rig weighs about 77 grams (under 3 oz) including an AAA lithium battery which gave me over an hour of light. Hopefully longer with some software tweaks. It's fully removable from the kite. In the video, it's attached to my full-sail 1.5 B. The balance is pretty good and the kite handled surprisingly well. I plan to take it back down next month for the "Kites with Lights" event at Jockey's Ridge. In the meantime I'll find out how it handles with less than OBX wind.

[Love2fly]

Hi Andrew-

Awesome....

I'd like to see it up close and personal .

What's up with the Kites with Lights event? Where's Jockey's Ridge?

I love night flying... with lights, of course!!!!!

[SkyPuppet]

Inspired by some posts in this topic, I built a rig for my Revs that uses a small accelerometer chip to control the color of some programmable LEDs based (mostly) on the kite's orientation. I got to test it in flight last weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and my wife took a few short video clips. It's hard to see much besides the lights themselves, so you can't tell how much the camera is panning. The software is still pretty primitive and I have some ideas for more interesting things it can do.

The whole rig weighs about 77 grams (under 3 oz) including an AAA lithium battery which gave me over an hour of light. Hopefully longer with some software tweaks. It's fully removable from the kite. In the video, it's attached to my full-sail 1.5 B. The balance is pretty good and the kite handled surprisingly well. I plan to take it back down next month for the "Kites with Lights" event at Jockey's Ridge. In the meantime I'll find out how it handles with less than OBX wind.

Awesome setup Khal!

[Wayne]

Hi Andrew-

Awesome....

I'd like to see it up close and personal .

What's up with the Kites with Lights event? Where's Jockey's Ridge?

I love night flying... with lights, of course!!!!!

Laura,

Jockey's Ridge is the large sand dune at Nag's Head on the outer banks of NC.

[Love2fly]

Laura,

Jockey's Ridge is the large sand dune at Nag's Head on the outer banks of NC.

Hi Wayne...

Thanks....

Wish it were closer.

We should try to plan some sort of night fly in Belmar or Liberty.

[Khal]

Hi Andrew-

Awesome....

I'd like to see it up close and personal .

What's up with the Kites with Lights event? Where's Jockey's Ridge?

I love night flying... with lights, of course!!!!!

Laura,

Jockey's Ridge is the large sand dune at Nag's Head on the outer banks of NC.

Hi Laura,
Thanks. I'm not Andrew, I'm Brian. We met at MASKC in Ocean City. I seem to recall you and Wayne doing some night flying on the beach there. Lots of fun.

Wayne's got the right place. Here's some info about Jockey's Ridge from another thread. It's one of the premier flying spots in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Here's some info (with pictures) about the Kites with Lights Event there. Haven't been to one yet.

My first night flying was at WIKF (no S) in Wildwood, NJ last spring. They had music blasting, spotlights, tons of kites. It was great. Even my 4 year old loved it.

[Love2fly]

Hi Laura,
Thanks. I'm not Andrew, I'm Brian. We met at MASKC in Ocean City. I seem to recall you and Wayne doing some night flying on the beach there. Lots of fun.

Wayne's got the right place. Here's some info about Jockey's Ridge from another thread. It's one of the premier flying spots in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Here's some info (with pictures) about the Kites with Lights Event there. Haven't been to one yet.

My first night flying was at WIKF (no S) in Wildwood, NJ last spring. They had music blasting, spotlights, tons of kites. It was great. Even my 4 year old loved it.

Hello Brian....

Sorry... I didn't go back a page on the thread .

I was in Wildwood in the spring (Memorial Weekend). The night flys are always a lot of fun.

I really want to get down to Jockey's Ridge and a few other places in the area. Maybe next year!

Good luck with your lights. I'm interested in seeing the lighter version.....

See you in the spring.... WW or MIKE??

[Khal]

Hello Brian....

Sorry... I didn't go back a page on the thread .

No worries.

I was in Wildwood in the spring (Memorial Weekend). The night flys are always a lot of fun.

I really want to get down to Jockey's Ridge and a few other places in the area. Maybe next year!

I'll have to find out whose ear to bend at KHK about getting the Rev Riders invited down to one of the festivals next year.

Good luck with your lights. I'm interested in seeing the lighter version.....

See you in the spring.... WW or MIKE??

Thanks. I'll be working on it. WW/ECSKC is looking doubtful at this point, but I'll likely be at MIKE/MASKC. Hope to see you there!