When UAVFutures published their guide on building a $99 Pro FPV Racing Quadcopter I was intrigued. Could it really be done for that price? Could I build it better? Would the result at the end be substantially better than my first quadcopter? There was only one way to find out; Build it! Continue reading Building the $99 Pro FPV Racing Quadcopter
Category: Products
Why you shouldn’t buy a Flysky X6B Receiver from Hobbyking!
FlySky users know there’s not a huge number of receiver options with battery telemetry, so when the FlySky X6B started coming available it was only the 2nd such device, the Turnigy branded iA6C being the other. Unlike the Hobbyking exclusive Turnigy iA6C the FlySky X6B is widely available. In this post I’ll cover the reality checks needed if you’re buying your FlySky X6B from Hobbyking. Continue reading Why you shouldn’t buy a Flysky X6B Receiver from Hobbyking!
Problems Updating EMAX Nano ESCs
When I ordered all the bits for my first Quadcopter build I didn’t do much due-diligence. That’s how I ended up spending tens of hours trying to update the BLHeli firmware on the EMAX Nano ESCs. This post takes you on my journey of frustration and enlightenment. Continue reading Problems Updating EMAX Nano ESCs
The FlySky FSi6S Transmitter
In my previous posts I’d skipped over the need to buy a new Transmitter as part of my drone build. After much deliberation and anguish I ordered a FlySky FSi6S from Banggood based on a killer price. Continue reading The FlySky FSi6S Transmitter
Sony HDR-AS20 – My new Action Cam
After much deliberation over a couple of days I bit the bullet and grabbed a Clearance Sony HDR-AS20 from JBHiFi. This new camera should be a nice partner to the GoPro Hero3 Black I’ve had since 2013.
Why buy a Sony HDR-AS20?
The tip-over point for me was being able to buy a great camera with good optics and some image stabilisation at a low price (AUD149) which has a similar array of accessories to the GoPro but isn’t a GoPro.
The HDR-AS20 isn’t a new camera and certainly isn’t a super high-spec unit either. Instead it’s a case of getting a better camera than a GoPro clone at a GoPro Clone price.
Some of the accessories are also a bit more flexible or innovative compared to GoPro as well. There’s a housing that converts it to being a lot like a mini-camcorder (AKA-LU1 for AUD99) and the remote features a Live View screen for around the some price and the GoPro equivalent.
Like my GoPro Hero3 most of the housings and accessories are compatible with the later (more advanced) models, which means in a couple of years I may take the leap to 4K recording with either camera family and not ‘lose’ out on the investment. I do feel that 1080P is going to be good enough for quite some time though as the storage and recording media demands of 4K exceed my budget.
Unpacking my HDR-AS20
Included in the basic kit are the obvious things like USB Cable, Battery, Mounts and a few stickers. I was surprised at the inclusion of a AUD15 Voucher for Accessories from Sony Australia and an adapter to convert to the popular GoPro style mounts.
The HDR-AS20 is simple to use – like a GoPro – just preset the finer configurations then cycle between modes as needed. It seemed to have no issues with my 80Mb/s Sandisk Ultra 64Gb card and should record around 5.5 hours of video on it. I’m not convinced that the iOS Apps are as good as they should be be, they aren’t as “comprehensive” as the GoPro App. However the video “preview” via the Sony App is far superior to the GoPro with minimal lag and better clarity.
The standard housing is rated for 5m depths so will do the trick for snorkelling, pools and playing about on the water – this is not as good as the basic GoPro housings but enough for most of my potential use.
The lens optics and stability of image seem better than my Hero3 Black. Although with fewer modes to deal with the wide-angle distortion at recording time it may mean post-processing video will require a few more tweaks.
My HDR-AS20 Haul
I did pick up a few additional accessories at the same time, the Skeleton Housing for in-car use and a Hand-Grip/Tripod which I hope will be handy.
Thanks to the included voucher I’ll probably end up ordering the AKA-LU1 this week. I’m hoping when combined with some additional Wasabi Power batteries that will be “enough”. The Live Remote will have to wait until the right deal comes along!
HelloFresh – Going Vegetarian!
The HelloFresh Veggie Box Option
I’m a omnivore, no debate, no argument, as far as I’m concerned meats are on the menu! So then why am I writing about the HelloFresh Veggie Box? After all didn’t you just see me write about a box containing all the good meaty things?
Well sometimes the magic that is HelloFresh doesn’t offer a mix of recipes to taste and as a customer you may either “Pause” that weeks delivery OR you can switch the order. For our second week with HelloFresh we switched the order to the Veggie Box.
What’s in the Box?
On first glance the box is almost bursting with vegetables. The packaging is good enough to have prevented any major damage. On the freshness and quality front I’d say the produce was good.
The Menu:
Keen Bean Enchiladas
Roasted Stuffed Eggplant
Toasted Waldorf Jumble with Quinoa
HelloFresh – Italian Spaghetti & Meatballs
In a previous post I talked about my initial impressions of the HelloFresh delivery that arrived this week. It’s our first time using such a service so the quality of the produce and the quality of the menu/recipes are equally important in determining if we’ll continue.
The HelloFresh Italian Spaghetti & Meatballs
Included in “the box” are recipe cards for the ingredients, they’re also available online at their website in PDF format. This is our third meal from “the box” after the North African Lamb Tagine and Pepper Crusted Steak with Warm Potato Salad posted previously.
The recipe was straight forward as previous experience has led us to expect. The pre-prepared mince joined an array of ingredients that did need some preparation.
Putting it together
When it comes down to it preparing this dish is quite simple, there’s a few steps but with only two saucepans at play it’s hardly a challenge.
The instructions are very clear and provide incremental timings which deliver a good result. I probably could have halved the size of the meatballs (I divided the mince as directed) and added a bit more Golden, Brown, Delicious to them but for the initial few boxes from HelloFresh we’ve trying o be sticklers for the recipes!
Hitting the Plates & How it Tastes
I found it a little hard plating, pasta just doesn’t seem to want to cooperate or be photogenic so there’s only the single photo.
In summary it was an interesting diversion from a regular bolognese and reasonable value at the $11.50 cost. It wouldn’t be hard to reproduce this recipe for about half that price, but you’d be having to make about 6 portions to do it!
HelloFresh – Pepper Crusted Steak with Warm Potato Salad
In a previous post I talked about my initial impressions of the HelloFresh delivery that arrived this week. It’s our first time using such a service so the quality of the produce and the quality of the menu/recipes are equally important in determining if we’ll continue.
The HelloFresh Pepper Crusted Steak with Warm Potato Salad
Included in “the box” are recipe cards for the ingredients, they’re also available online at their website in PDF format. This is our second meal from “the box” after the North African Lamb Tagine posted previously.
The recipe is simple enough and in some ways hardly imaginative but was also the first meal where we needed to supply some of our own “pantry items”.
Putting it together
Pepper Crusted Steak with Warm Potato Salad brings a few more parallel cooking functioning into play. While the oven roasts the quartered chat potatoes a pot simmers away ready to blanch the sugar snap peas just before serving. Meanwhile the steaks (a rather thin piece of rump) gets a single side coating of crushed peppercorns before hitting the pan.
The instructions are very clear and provide incremental timings which deliver a good result. To my taste the steak could have been a bit less “done” although this is more a function of thinner cuts then perhaps first anticipated by the HelloFresh crew.
It’s not rocket science and once the ingredients are brought together it starts looking like the sample picture on the menu!
Hitting the Plates & How it Tastes
Laying out on the plate the meal looks good with the vibrant colours of the salad contrasting the peppery char of the steak.
The warm potato salad is really the highlight of this meal, the steak itself was fine, but we all know what a piece of peppered steak is like don’t we? The salad had crunch from the sugar snap peas, a little bite from the shallots and the aromatic dill carrying though the buttery smoothness of the roasted potato.
Some other reviews claimed there’s too much pepper on the steak but that’s something under the control of the chef so I don’t know why they ended up with more than they liked when they put it on in the first place!
In summary it was a good, filling meal that met with the expectation raised from the AUD11.50 per plate cost. A minor downside was that the cuts of rump steak were not the best I’ve seen.
HelloFresh – North African Lamb Tagine
In a previous post I talked about my initial impressions of the HelloFresh delivery that arrived this week. It’s our first time using such a service so the quality of the produce and the quality of the menu/recipes are equally important in determining if we’ll continue.
The HelloFresh North African Lamb Tagine
Included in “the box” are recipe cards for the ingredients, they’re also available online at their website in PDF format. Our first meal was “the lamb”, chosen for no other reason than the expiry date of the lamb itself was closest.
The recipe looked simple enough and the ingredients far from exotic, but still there’s a comprehensive level of inclusion, things that we’d probably not buy if shopping for this meal ourselves. The small amount of mint to garnish for example, or the slivered almonds, these are things that cannot be bought in such small quantities normally and end up lurking in the panty until cleared out long beyond their sell-by date.
Putting it together
The North African Lamb Tagine is listed by HelloFresh as being one of their more difficult recipes for the week. I suspect this is partially because there’s a few separate cooking activities going on, and because there’s a few more ingredients to bring together with reasonable timings.
It’s still a 1-pan meal though which is a good thing (I’m not counting the use of a bowl for prepping the Couscous)
The instructions are very clear and provide incremental timings for most steps allowing even the most naive kitchen user can get a good result.
It’s not rocket science and once the ingredients are brought together it starts looking like the sample picture on the menu!
Hitting the Plates & How it Tastes
Nestled on the bed of couscous, sprinkled with the garnishes of toasted almonds and chopped mint I’m very impressed with how similar to the sample photos this looks.
While I don’t always go-to-town on presentation when cooking I’m very aware that we eat with our eyes first and putting in some effort does make a massive difference.
At first bit the combination of textures is good, theres still some firmness to the carrot while the lamb is tender. The crunch of the almonds breaks up what could have been a very stew-like meal. Mixing through with the couscous changes the texture again.
The seasoning could have more kick, but reading other reviews online indicate that the Hellofresh team have to be everything to all people and in this case have chosen a good middle ground.
In summary it was a great tasting, filling meal that met with the expectation raised from the AUD11.50 per plate cost.
HelloFresh – Is it “Everything but the Chef”?
HelloFresh?
Several weeks ago a little card arrived in our mailbox offering a 50% discount on the HelloFresh food delivery service. While the website promised “everything but the chef” we were still skeptical, would, or could, a home delivery produce service really live up to expectations?
I’m the kind of person that will agonise over the choice of every individual piece of produce I buy, secondly we both know what we like and dislike (or have a physical reaction with) so obviously we were needing to concede some control to the HelloFresh team.
“The Box” Arrives
We were really looking forward to the arrival of “the box” on Tuesday and during the afternoon it mysteriously arrived at our doorstep. This was the easiest and least stressful grocery shopping I’ve ever done!
We quickly opened it and explored the contents. As you can see from the pictures below pretty much everything is labelled, packed and portioned for HelloFresh customers to match the included recipe cards.
Overall I’d say we’re happy with the quality of the produce, nothings been rotten, cosmetically challenged or not fitting with the claims of freshness. Looking through he HelloFresh social media presence indicates that from time-time quality can drop the ball. I’d expect this is largely due to inattention of the packing team and not a deliberate outcome.
The Recipes!
We signed up for the 3 meal, 2 people deal. So while we may have thought on unpacking the box that “there’s not a huge amount of food here” a lot of the questions would be answered by cooking up the included recipes and seeing how they delivered.
So over the coming posts I’ll go into each recipe from this box…
When listed they don’t sound like culinary adventures, but I’ll throw it back to a bigger question, how often do you cook something different through the week? In many ways I’m hoping the box provides inspiration to bring more variety into my kitchen and breaks some of the “it’s easy to throw this together” habits of old. We shall see!