And the answer is...

 

No.  I have to give it to the HoverAir people: they are not covering my batteries as a warranty item, but they did get back to me right away.  As a consolation (and for being "a loyal customer"), they are offering me 10% off any battery purchase.  Not much of a consolation, so the decision: get a couple new batteries, or put that money into a newer model, or write it all off and don't worry about having a drone in the photo/video equipment. 

Not like I have a shortage of gear, but the X1 is my only "flying conveyance."  Interestingly enough, you can kinda simulate drone footage with a 360 camera on a long selfie stick.

 

Jumping through hoops...

 

"Murphy is training you for an audition on America's Got Talent?"  No, but thanks for asking.  For the record: Murph is more trainable than I am.   That may be because he is young and active, and I am neither of those.

The hoops I am talking about are of the dealing with Customer Service kind.  When I got my HoverAir X1 out yesterday to get some video of the roof, the batteries were swollen.  Not a good situation with these small LiPo (lithium) batteries.

I sent an email to Zero Zero Robotics (the maker of the HoverAir X1 camera drone) to ask if the situation with swollen batteries was considered a manufacturing defect.  They were very prompt in getting back to me, and asking for a lot of information.  I understand they need to check into things to make sure I'm not trying to beat them out of something.  Without the batteries, the X1 is just a very light paperweight.

What they asked for: the original order number, how it was purchased, where it was purchased (directly from them), the serial numbers of each battery and the device, photos of the batteries from different angles (showing the swelling); and asking if the X1 had ever been wet or used around water, how often it has been used (per month), what charge state the batteries were in when stored, if the batteries had ever been left uncharged for any long periods, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting as I write this.

With Joan's help, I was able to get them the order information, the PayPal receipt, etc, etc, etc.  So, we'll see if this is considered a defect or if I am long out of warranty.

 

And the calls are coming in...

 

Calls, texts, and e-mails coming in regarding damage in our community from last night's storm.  Most of what I am getting is in regards to trees down or damaged.  The landscape company that we are contracted with is going to have their hands full for a while.

At 8:00 this morning, I was told the landscape company is in the community, assessing and dealing with the tree damage.  Good to hear they are right on it.

Joan and I were out this morning, picking up in our yard.  Joan had some plants that were toppled, and a lot of stuff that got moved around in the wind.

I'm told you don't forget your first haboob.  This was ugly, but lower on the scale compared to a tropical storm or hurricane.  No, I don't miss that part of living on the Gulf Coast.

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A drive around the community this morning to assess some of the damage...

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After nearly a week of not having any HOA things to deal with, it was back to that stuff again.  We have a board meeting Thursday afternoon/evening.  There are a lot of vendor bids that have to be decided during that meeting... the budget is due October 1st.  So, to go along with the damaged/destroyed trees (about 40 trees had to be removed due to this storm), which will get homeowners riled, there will be a dues increase - no way around that: the price of everything has increased.  City water (and we use plenty of that) has nearly doubled for commercial users (as our HOA is classified).  Some tough decisions are going to have to be made.

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When I was done with going through the last of the budget items, I turned my attention to getting the HoverAir X1 "flying camera" charged up so I could run it up and check the roof.  I am too old to go up on a ladder to check it out.

The X1 hasn't been used in months, so of course, it needed software and firmware updates.  And to add to the fun: the two batteries I have for it are swelling... that is not good.  They, of course, are not charging normally, so I have no idea how long either will last.  But, on the bright side, when I switched the X1 to manual mode (so I could fly it in a straight line above the roof), it tried to fly away!  I managed to grab it just before it got away.

I took it into the house, turned everything off, then back on, and... it told me I needed another software update.  With that done, I fired it up in the house - just in case it tried to fly away again.  It was acting normal.  Well, except no battery read-out.  I took it outside and fired it up again...

 I ran it up to above the height of the roof, turned on the video camera, and started a slow pass over the house.  I got to the far end of the house and it started to come down on its own - low battery, and it was going to land on the roof if I didn't make one last attempt to get it to move just a bit further.  It missed the roof and came down when I could get it to land in my hand.

I swapped batteries and sent it up for another pass...

 All good.  I sent it to the far side of the house and started one last pass.  It made it 2/3 of the way, then I got a "vertical collision error"... which is bullshit because I was above the height of the roof and nothing in the way to hit.  And then it landed.  On the roof.  I assumed, because I couldn't see it or hear it.  I walked out to the street and... yep, there it is on the roof.

Well, that's not good.  You know that thing I said earlier about "being too old to climb up on the roof"?  Yeah, I'm going to have to climb up a ladder and hope I can find something long enough to pull the drone down to me.  I let Joan know what my plan was and she graciously offered to help.  Good thing, because even at full extension on the ladder, there wasn't enough length to get much of a lean.  Joan got the soft bristled brush I use to clean the van and it was just long enough (at full extension) to lightly brush the drone towards me.  On the bright side, those gray tiles on the roof are damn hot when it is pushing 100º (yeah, cooler than normal today)... my hands got a bit toasty with my death grip on the roof tiles.

I handed the brush and the drone down to Joan.  Then, breathed a sigh of relief.  These batteries are not to be trusted.  This drone is old technology (they've come out with two newer models since I got this); I don't want to spend money on replacing batteries, but... well, you know. 

We folded up the ladder, put things away, and got back into the air conditioning. 

On the really bright side the videos are captured on my phone and there is no sign of any issues on the roof.  Also good: the predicted afternoon storm didn't happen.

 

Nice Haboobs...

 

The weather weasels were calling for "monsoon thunderstorms this evening."  Close.  It's coming faster and harder than they were predicting.

Anticipating a storm, Joan prepped our yard: the 3 big patio umbrellas are off their stands and put into our shed.  She put down a bunch of plants that were on raised plant holders.  Patio furniture is covered and tied down.  Covers over other stuff is strapped down.  In the grand scheme of things, this isn't like hurricane prep, but it looks like it isn't going to be pretty.

The view from our house has changed: we can't see the Estrella Mountains anymore, and the top half of South Mountain is getting swallowed up by the dust storm (aka: a haboob).

Local TV news is covering it live:

 Sky Harbor International Airport is under a "Ground Stop": nothing going out or coming in.  Visibility at the airport is below minimums for operations.  I feel for pilots in this mess, not to mention what the massive amount of blowing dirt and sand will do to jet engines that are running.

Joan is "reporting" from our patio door: "The antennas at the top of South Mountain have disappeared in the blowing dirt."

The reporters on TV have gone from "The dust storm is coming fast!" to "We have zero visibility!" to "Now it is pounding rain!" in about 15 minutes.  Wind gusts are above 60 mph (68mph gusts and zero visibility right now at the airport).  All that is coming our way.  

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It hit.  With gusto.  We had the pop-up kiosk over the hot tub (protects it from the pounding sun) tied down and weighted.  When the big gust front hit, it shredded the cover over the top of it.  We watched from the door for a bit, but when what was left of the cover had turned into "a sail," I took scissors, ran out into that nasty crap, and cut away what was left of the cover.  The wind was blowing like stink and the rain was pounding.  I took a moment to grab a few things that were blowing around the yard and toss them into the shed.

Joan had put two inflatables on top of the short patio table, under the cover, to keep rain from pooling on the cover.  The wind blew those out from under the cover, and they were swirling around the yard, knocking over plants like a drunk sailor.  (for those keeping track: that is two sailing references in this update)  I grabbed one in each hand and started heading towards the shed - the wind had other ideas and blew one out of my hand.  I am guessing it is somewhere on the way towards Flagstaff.

As expected, some plants blew over.  The patio furniture under the cover (couch, two arm chairs, a coffee table, and two end tables) blew "in formation" about 6 feet away from the house.  The wind was swirling all around our yard, coming off South Mountain.

No idea what the gusts peaked at, but I had to brace myself a couple times while out in it.

The local news just turned things back to the network - they have had live coverage for the past 3 hours, showing the storm from different places around the Valley.  And now reporting street flooding in some areas.

 

At 7:00, there is still wind, rain, lightning, and thunder out there, but I think we are past the worst of it.  For now.  

 

Look what showed up today...

 

 Not a surprise, I knew this was coming.  It's another product from Aeroband, the company that makes the digital guitar I recently reviewed.  Here's a look at the exterior of the box...

 This is the Aeroband PocketDrum 2 Max.  We've all seen "air guitar" - this kit allows the player to make drum sounds, without physical drums.  Yep, "air drums" - but, you actually get the drum sounds.  The kit comes with 2 drumsticks, bass drum and hi-hat pedals, and a small controller (what would be the "brain" on a set of e-drums).

In the next few weeks, I will be doing a review on these.  Of course, I did get them out of the box, turned them on, and plugged in my Bose headphones.  Yes, they sound like drums.  No, it isn't like actually playing drums, because you are moving the drumsticks in front of you "in space."  Like a physical set of drums, the hi-hat is to your left, the snare drum is between your legs, the mounted toms are in front of you and at a 45º angle, the floor tom is to your right, and the ride and crash cymbals are up and to the right and left.

The lady from their marketing told me that these can be "quirky... don't expect them to play like real drums."  Having researched them, I knew what to expect.  Mostly.

These arrived with some charge on them.  Each part of the kit is rechargeable; according to the instructions (yes, actual written instructions), once fully charged, these will last "up to 16 hours."  There are 8 different "drum kits" (all drums do not sound the same) that you can shift through.  In the short testing I did today, the volume level of each drum is not controllable... the hi-hat is much quieter than the bass drum, and so it goes with each of the drums.

I will play with this as time permits over the next couple weeks.  The "action" isn't anything like playing real drums, since you are just moving the sticks through the air... no "bounce back" as when a real drumstick hits a real drum.

As with the guitar, these are mine to keep.  I'll take them next time I get together with Mark and the guys to see what everybody thinks.  That will be a couple weeks from now, since Mark and Cindy are on vacation for a while.

If nothing else, I can see a use for the foot pedals (foot switches, actually) as a bit of rhythm when playing guitar.

 

X Marks the Spot...

 

Well... Xmax.

It's been a couple weeks since I got out for a ride.  I've been keeping a battery tender on the CTX and the Burgman.  Joan started her Xmax a couple weeks ago.  I was up early this morning, with a plan of getting her bike out for a ride.  The local weather weasels tried to convince me otherwise.

They were showing video of hard-pounding rain about 10 miles east of us.  I pulled up weather radar and it looked reasonably clear.  I took Murphy out in the yard; we watched while I cleaned the filters in the hot tub and topped it up.  I came back in and checked weather again... yeah, I'm going for a ride.

The Xmax popped right off when I started it and the alternator was showing a good charge.  I had a Hydroflask with ice water and didn't bother to put a camera on the bike or put in Airpods to listen to some tunes - I was just needing a ride.  The spot that Xmax was "marking" was deep inside my chest: being home most of this summer has meant less riding than we've done since we first got those PCX scoots in 2013.  I miss the riding.

It was 90º when I left around 7:00 am, but there was overcast to the east so the sun wasn't pounding.  The riding was good, once I got away from the morning drive-time traffic on Dobbins.  Other than a couple South Mountain Park trucks, I only saw 3 other vehicles on that whole drive up and down the mountain... one of them was a convertible Camaro driving well over the center line.  I saw him coming slowing at me from a distance; an older guy at the wheel who didn't look like he was enjoying the twisty roads.

I, on the other hand, was downright joyful to be out there this morning.  That ride really "hit the spot."  :-)

 

Yabut...

 

"You've had a lot of music related posts, Jim - don't you think it's about time to get back to the important stuff?" 

You are absolutely right.  Without any further ado...

 Yep, that's our Murphy.  He is settling into being an "only child" again, after a couple weeks of way more time than usual with his "cousins" (Steph and Dan's cats).

This morning, Murph was resting next to Joan's leg, asleep, but with one eye half-open...

 

Yep, that's a bit creepy.  The boy keeps us on our toes.