Category Archives: VIDEOS

Drone Crash – Holy Stone HS720-4K Broken Arms

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Holy Stone HS720-4K – Replacement Arms

Holy Stone Drone Crash Broken Arms In just a split second my Holy Stone HS720-4K drone came crashing to the ground. Luckily, only 2 arms broke clean. I think I can fix it. The Holy Stone HS720-4K that I received as a gift is now broken. I crashed my drone by pressing the RTH(return home) button and the quadcopter drone caught the outer fringe of a pine tree limb and came crashing to the ground. Of course, you would think it would auto-correct and recover, but that is not the case in this case. I wonder if drones have auto-correct / auto-recover in some of the more expensive models from DJI, Autel Robotics, SHIYANLI, or YANSHU.

This SHIYANLI drone is $18,000. This drone is designed for work. Agricultural spraying and the like. I bet it has some serious programming to help with flying and NOT crashing.

Some of the more popular brands of drones have less costly versions that are not meant for commercial applications. Then they also have the big $$$ drones for photography and also drones for inspections.  Peforming inspections with drones has become more popular in the last few years as the camera technology has improved on the drones. 4K is now a standard item on most drones.

Holy Stone Quadcopter Drone with Broken Arms

The Holy Stone HS720-4K is more of an amateur drone that does have a pretty decent camera. That is along with ease of use setting up and flying. Besides all that it is a somewhat simple process of downloading the videos and photos. This is the part that I like, because saving the better videos and photos to use in social media and YouTube is what the camera is for. I use Android, but iPhone has to be even easier right? I wouldn’t know.

Flying a Quadcopter drone is much different than flying a helicopter or airplane from RC days gone by. The quadcopter drone is very responsive to the controls. It’s almost like playing a video game, except that you don’t get a new life or regenerate once you’ve crashed. I mean, unless it doesn’t break. Once that happens, you’re down and out until it get’s fixed, or you buy a new drone.

Quadcopter Drone Holy Stone in flightAll in all, I am very happy with the Holy Stone HS720-4K. I don’t have any use for it in my job, but could see where it might come into play at some point. I believe, in order to use a drone commercially, you must be licensed by the FAA. I am not sure about that. Either way, the quadcopter drone is much more forgiving than when I tried to fly an RC airplane many years ago. The camera is also a plus. I still haven’t been able to get the 4K, but I think I know why and hopefully will be able to blog about it soon.

Entry Level Drone – Video Capturing Quadcopter Drone

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Drone Holy Stone in flightThe HS720 by Holy Stone is a great starter drone. This drone is very well built and seems on the heavier side as opposed to the other ones I have seen. Not nearly as expensive as a “Professional” rated drone like the DJI Mavic 2 Pro or the Yuneec H520 Multicamera Drone. This drone has many of the features a professional drone has, but may not be as precise. One of the features that is very forgiving to the pilot is the RTH or Return to Home function. This is the function that lets the pilot relax and by pressing 1 button the drone will return to where it took off. The HS720 also has an automatic RTH function when it gets low on power. There are many settings that can be customized within the flight application on your smartphone.

Holy Stone Search Page

So after connecting to the drone’s WiFi signal, the camera is then visible through the smartphone app. The phone is placed on the remote or transmitter and can be piloted by viewing the camera. Old schoolers, like me, will still look at the drone to see where it is flying. After going through the instructions and initially setting up the drone, 2 buttons put the drone in the air. Then it is a question of “where to we go now?” I like to go above all the trees and look around. The camera is also movable up and down from the remote, and side to side by turning the drone. Once you get used to flying it, it’s just like riding a bike. Except with around 50 more functions and settings.

Drone remote with Smartphone attachedThe HS720 drone also has “follow me” and “point of interest” functions.

The “follow me” function basically follows the remote around. Seemed like it wanted to stay around 20 feet behind me, but may get confused after a couple of flights. I believe learning how to calibrate the drone is a must. I think that when it gets bumped around a bit, it needs to be recalibrated.

The “point of interest” is a little different. This function is also called “orbit”. Find a point of interest and place the drone 15 feet or so out from the point of interest, and the drone will orbit around this point. Now this is a customizable distance. So the camera then focuses on this point of interest and just keeps going around and around until you turn off the function. Then it just hovers where you turned off the function waiting for your command.

Arial View Drone CameraDefinitely need some space to fly a drone. Buildings and trees around is not a good mix, especially for new pilots. What happens is the drone gets turned around and then you get confused and start making it go this way and that way and bump into something. It will just crash at that point.

Either way, this is a good entry level drone. The kit that I got had 1 battery and some extra blades, and a nice case. There are some other kits that have 2 and 3 batteries. The battery is said to last 26 minutes. This is plenty of time, but if you have a task ahead, you may want to get extra batteries.

They are saying the camera is 4K and there is a setting for 4K (3840 x 2160). I was only able to get 1280 x 720 resolution. Still decent resolution. The instructions say the video is stored on the TF card and in order to view the phone has to be connected to the drone’s wifi. I haven’t tried, but maybe if I plug in my phone to the computer in order to download the video while the drone is turned on and my phone is connected to its WiFi it will be available. I’ll have to put that on my list.

GoPro Hero 4 Time Lapse Video – Night Sky Moonrise

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GoPro Hero 4 Night Lapse

GoPro Hero 4 Night Lapse

I was testing the Night Lapse function of my new GoPro Hero 4 and I was really impressed with my first time lapse of the night sky. The moon ended up rising out of the east halfway through the night. Many shooting stars were visible, as well as a few constellations. There was something that left a trail, either through the clouds or on its own. It may have been a jet, but it is undetermined. I can see some possibilities with this setting and will continue to experiment. The GoPro Hero 3+ only had a Time Lapse setting. I am still going to now test the GoPro Hero 3+ at night. With the Night Lapse setting, the shutter speed has many different settings. This video was with a 5 second shutter speed and shot at 30 second intervals.

I uploaded a video on Facebook and I didn’t think it did the night lapse justice. So I thought YouTube might be a bit better. You should be able to see the constellation Orion a few inches under the moon. Just above and to the right of the moon, Taurus. Then I think Venus is rising just as daylight approaches. There may be more constellations visible. Press the bottom right button to view fullscreen.

 

Top 20 Best Selling Power Banks on Amazon.com

This link is to a list of the best selling power banks on Amazon.com. Make sure and look at the mAh value as the higher the mAh the longer it will last.

You can use the 30PIN POWER CABLE WITH WATERPROOF BACK DOOR HOUSING FOR GOPRO HERO3+&HERO4 in conjunction with a power bank. Using a power bank will drastically increase the situations that you can extend your battery time. Getting the GoPro 30 pin connector with waterproof back door will extend your ability to leave the gopro oustide or even submerge the gopro under water.

Creating Time Lapse Video with GoPro Studio

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Wow! I stumbled on the GoPro Studio recently and it is definitely better for processing the Time Lapse images from my GoPro camera than Windows Movie Maker is. Even though it still wants to crash, at least it doesn’t crash until after I have created and exported the finished video. Movie Maker won’t even let me get through a session of creating shorts to eventually put together. More on that later, right now I am going to “Walk Through” creating a finished Time Lapse video in GoPro Studio.

GoPro Studio Convert ScreenThis is free software provided by GoPro. So after you have downloaded it here – DOWNLOAD GOPRO STUDIO PAGE – and opened it up, this is where we will start.

To summarize what we are doing, we are going to import the images that the GoPro created into the GoPro Studio. Then convert these imports into mini-videos. Then these mini-videos will be put together, along with title, and possibly effects, to create one video of the entire time lapse project.

Converting The Time Lapse images into Mini-videos

1 – At the bottom, towards the center, there is a SAVE TO: and path. This is where the conversions are going. Put them where you want them, or notate where the default path is.

Customize Advanced Settings

2 – Advanced Settings

2 – Now just to the left of this is ADVANCED SETTINGS – click this window. This is going to determine the conversion, so check the list and make sure this is what you want. The frame rate is where you are going to set how “fast” the time lapse is going to go. I set mine for .07 seconds per frame, which equates to about 15 frames per second. Then I save as AVI (as I am PC) and I check REMEMBER SETTINGS. If you are going to do different things to different sets of images, then leave the REMEMBER SETTINGS box unchecked and then add to conversion list one at a time.

3 – Now would be a good time to go ahead and save your project. This will insure that you can continue where you leave off.

4 – Import all the images into the GoPro Studio for converting into video files. Each “set” of images will be converted to a separate file. If you have created more than 1,000 images on your GoPro, then they will be in individual folders. Start with the first folder and select all (or choose the first one, then while pressing the SHIFT key, choose the last one). You can select the files by pressing the “IMPORT NEW FILES +” button on the left side, or by dragging them into the left column under that same button.

5 – Continue adding files to the left column until you have them all stacked up in there. If you want, just go ahead and press “ADD SELECTED TO CONVERSION LIST” one at a time as you import.

6 – If you want each file to have custom settings: Click your image set, change advanced settings, add a custom file name if desired, then click the ADD SELECTED TO CONVERSION LIST, each time.

6 – Otherwise select the first set, then scroll down and while holding the SHIFT key, select the last set. Now press the “ADD THE SELECTED TO CONVERSION LIST”.

7 – OK, at this point nothing has happened. You can remove clips from the conversion list, or start over. You can select each set and then click “CONVERSION DETAILS” to make sure that each one is the way you want it.

8 – Press the button labeled “CONVERT ALL” at the bottom right side, now take a break, if there are a few sets of images this may take a while. I did 9,000 images in 10 sets and it took around 2 hours to convert to AVI.

Now to Create a Go Pro Time Lapse Video

1 – Once all the conversions are complete the button on the bottom right will now say “PROCEED TO STEP 2”. Click it.

Choose the Blank Template Option

2 – Blank Template

2 – A pop-up window will appear with selections of templates. Start with a blank template. This will allow you to customize to your liking and the other templates can be accessed later when there is nothing loaded up. Now the editing window should be up.

3 – So all of the mini-video files should be loaded up on the left. Choose one at a time, or all (by clicking on the first one, hold SHIFT, and click the last one. Now drag and drop them to the timeline at the bottom center of the screen. Next to the video camera icon it says DRAG VIDEO HERE.

GoPro Studio EDIT Screen4 – A title screen can be made by pressing on the TITLE button at the top on the left.  On the right hand side towards the top is the TITLE PROPERTIES. Customize the title.

5 – now back on the left there is a Title along with the other videos that are now in the timeline. If you want this in the beginning as an opening drag the title to the beginning of the timeline and wait until the line (cursor) is in front of the first frame. If you want the title over your video then drag it to a place under the time line where it says DRAG TITLE HERE. You will have to move it to where you want it then adjust the length of time.

6 – Now you are ready to EXPORT – at the very top next to STEP 2 EDIT is STEP 3 EXPORT – Click it.

GoPro Studio Export Settings7 – I usually will leave it on the first setting YOUTUBE, but you can choose whatever you want. It will tell you the size of the frame and also how much memory it takes.

8 – Then click EXPORT and it will bring up a window for you to name the file and choose the directory.

GoPro Studio Exporting Video

Here we go!

A power bank may be useful in creating time lapse videos with your GoPro

Top 20 Best Selling Power Banks on Amazon.com

This link is to a list of the best selling power banks on Amazon.com. Make sure and look at the mAh value as the higher the mAh the longer it will last.

You can use the 30PIN POWER CABLE WITH WATERPROOF BACK DOOR HOUSING FOR GOPRO HERO3+&HERO4 in conjunction with a power bank. Using a power bank will drastically increase the situations that you can extend your battery time. Getting the GoPro 30 pin connector with waterproof back door will extend your ability to leave the gopro oustide or even submerge the gopro under water.

Go Pro Time Lapse – How to Process in Windows Movie Maker

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1 - 4 : Add your Go Pro Time Lapse files to Windows Movie Maker.

1 – 4 : Add your Go Pro Time Lapse files to Windows Movie Maker.

1 – Once you have Windows Movie Maker open, find where all your Go Pro images are that you are wanting to process into a time lapse movie.

2 – Get your photos or images into the Movie Maker editor. Click ADD PHOTOS, or click in the square to the right of the preview where it says “Click here to browse for videos and photos”, or simply drag and drop your images into the movie maker editor. I always choose all that I want to do at one time, click the first one, then Hold <shift> and click the last one, then by clicking on the first one again to drag into the editor. I always try to click on the first one when dragging to make sure and keep them in order. I have had them get out of order before, and I believe that was the cause. The other two methods I do think this same practice applies.

———This would be a good time to make sure your Time Lapse images are in order. Just hover over the Time Lapse images and see what the file names are. If they are from your Go Pro, the Time Lapse images should be in consecutive order with their respective file names. If they are not, you can “cut and paste” just don’t do it quick.

Let the Time Lapse images load before you go any further.

Once the images are added – Let them load before moving any further.

3 – I only take 200 images at a time and make a movie with them. At 720 medium, the images are 4MB each and that is 800MB of data.

4 – If there are labels on your images, refer to this post to remove. There are two methods.

Change the duration of each image.

Change the duration of each image. This will create a FPS.

5 – Once the photos are in Windows Movie Maker, don’t click on anything, as all the images are selected currently. Also, wait for the images at the top to load. There are usually a few images that are blank, once all the images load, then these will show their thumbnails. Now choose the EDIT tab, (the edit tab will show up after you have photos or videos in the editor), change the duration of each image to your preference. This may depend on your time lapse project, I use .07 often, but have sped up or slowed down depending on what I am making a Time Lapse Movie of. Start with .07 and then you can play with it once you go through this walk-through. Then I usually scroll through the images to make sure that they are all loaded and processed before moving on.

6 – If you did click and now only have one image selected, simply go up to the first image and select it, then scroll down to the last image and hold down the shift key while selecting it. Now you should have all the images selected.

Save the Time Lapse Movie

Save the Time Lapse Movie – Short Time Lapse Movie

7 – Now save the movie in a folder of your choosing. Top left drop down arrow, select Save Movie —-> then (I usually choose) Recommended for this project (you can try some different settings, and I believe there are some custom settings somewhere. Now your browse window should pop up, navigate to the folder and name the file. In this scenario, I make sure that I am in the correct folder then I name the files with numbers, 1,2,3. This will come in handy in a few steps. Also choose MP4 or Windows Media File. I use Windows Media File, but you may want the MP4 setting. Movie Maker will read either.

Save it again if you get an error message

If you get an error message like this one or one that says there is not enough memory – try saving it again

——If you get an error message – try to just save it again the same way. I don’t know why, but this is what it does. I stumbled across this one day, after I had tried everything. Then I scaled down to 200 images and it seemed to cooperate after that.

Start a New Windows Movie Maker Project

Start a new Windows Movie Maker project.

8 – Now that this phase is complete, it is time to move on to the next set of 200 images. Again, upper left drop down, choose New Project. It will ask if you want to save, I usually don’t when I am in between like this, but you can if you want.

Put all the Time Lapse shorts into one project

Put all the Time Lapse shorts together into one WIndows Movie Maker project

9 – Repeat the process 1-8 until you have all of your Go Pro Time Lapse images processed. Continue saving your Time Lapse movies in consecutive numbers so you can retrieve later.

Make a Go Pro Time Lapse movie

Add title, music, captions, credits, etc.

10 – Now, choose New Project again to clear the editing board. Now Add Files or refer to step 2 and pull in your newly created mini-movie Time Lapse movies. Hover your mouse over them and make sure they are in order.

11 – Add a title, add captions, add music, add credits, etc. then go through step 8 again, except this time, name the Go Pro Time Lapse movie something that represents the video instead of a number. This is the file you would upload to YouTube or Facebook.

Your Go Pro Time Lapse Movie is finished - Save it.

Your Go Pro Time Lapse movie is finished. Save it.

Good Luck and comment with any suggestions or experiences you have had with processing Go Pro Time Lapse images in Windows Movie Maker.

 

This post was more about the sensitivity of Windows Movie Maker with the large amount of files, than a how to create a time lapse. Pay special attention to the details as I have figured out how to get past some of the more challenging ones.

A power bank may be useful in creating time lapse videos with your GoPro

Top 20 Best Selling Power Banks on Amazon.com

This link is to a list of the best selling power banks on Amazon.com. Make sure and look at the mAh value as the higher the mAh the longer it will last.

You can use the 30PIN POWER CABLE WITH WATERPROOF BACK DOOR HOUSING FOR GOPRO HERO3+&HERO4 in conjunction with a power bank. Using a power bank will drastically increase the situations that you can extend your battery time. Getting the GoPro 30 pin connector with waterproof back door will extend your ability to leave the gopro oustide or even submerge the gopro under water.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds – Halloween Treat

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Cut off the top of the Pumpkin

Cut around the stem of the pumpkin so there is a lid to return.

Carving a pumpkin? Let’s cook and eat those seeds that you take out of the pumpkin.

1 – Cut the top of the pumpkin where the stem is. Usually this is where you want to cut it so you can use it as a top and put it back on to make it look whole again. I guess you could cut a hole in the back or something, but you would not have a nice handle to use. Get a vase or something and trace a circle out with a pen.

2 – Now start emptying the pumpkin. You may have to use a tool to dislodge the pumpkin guts from the side of the pumpkin. Put this into a bowl or onto something that you can wash or throw away. Get all the seeds and guts out.

Separate the pumpkin guts from the seeds

Separate the pumpkin guts from the seeds

3 – Now it is time to separate the pumpkin guts from the seeds. This is the step before washing so just get as much as you can.

4 – Wash the seeds and now try to get as much pumpkin as possible away from the seeds. A strainer will help so the water can run and not fill up. Put the clean seeds onto a tray or some paper towels so they can dry overnight.

5 – Now that the seeds are dry, put them into a bowl. This is for one pumpkin worth of seeds.

Add Olive oil and Salt

Add Olive oil and Salt

6 – Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl and stir around. You want to get the olive oil all over the seeds. You may want to start out with one and see what you have. Then add some more.

7 – Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt to the bowl and stir around again.

8 – Once you are satisfied that there is olive oil and salt on all the seeds, place the seeds onto a cookie sheet covered with tin foil. It does not matter if the seeds are touching, but it is best to spread them out.

Spread out the Pumpkin Seeds on a tray

Spread out the Pumpkin Seeds on a tray

9 – Set the oven on BAKE to 225 degrees. Once it hits 225 degrees, put the tray in the oven.

10 – After 20 minutes, open the oven and pull the tray where you can reach it. Turn the seeds until you have moved and turned all the seeds. Put back in the oven.

11 – After another 20 minutes, pull the seeds back out and check. Check to see that the seed looks consistent without alot of oil on it. If it does, they may be done. Try one and see if it is crunchy. If it is not, or there is oil still apparent, put the pumpkin seeds back in the oven.

12 – After 10 minutes or so, they should be done or real close. This is where trial and error will take effect. If there are a lot of seeds, it may take a little longer, or if there are fewer seeds, a little less time.

13 – Now turn the oven off and put the pumpkin seeds back in the oven and let the oven cool down with the seeds in for another 15 minutes.

14 – After 15 minutes, take out the pan of pumpkin seeds and set out to cool.

Finished roasted pumpkin seeds

Finished roasted pumpkin seeds

Don’t eat all these seeds at one time as it would be like eating sunflower seeds with the shell still on them. I am sure that a few won’t bother you too much, but beware of stomach pains. Also, I would not recommend putting these into trick or treat bags on Halloween night, as you might get some unwelcome responses. Good Luck and Happy Halloween!

 

WANT TO JUST WATCH THE VIDEO?

How To Cook Bacon in the Oven

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Cooking Bacon in the OvenCooking bacon in the oven is a good way to make your bacon look good, as well as taste good. Cooking bacon in the oven will limit the burn you normally get when you fry bacon. You will still get the grease and such, but you won’t get burned. OUCH!! I know when I cook bacon in a skillet and the burner is a little too hot, and then it just never seems to stop splattering on me. Now there is  a way to avoid that. I am pretty sure that it takes about the same amount of time to cook bacon in the oven as it does to cook bacon in a skillet or frying pan.

Set the oven on 400 degrees

Set the oven to BAKE at 400 degrees

1. Set oven on BAKE to 400 degrees. 2. While you are waiting for the oven to heat up, take a cookie sheet or a flat pan with sides on it, place some foil over it. Make sure the foil wraps over the sides, because there will be grease that will fill up the pan. It won’t fill up all the way, but it will run over a totally flat pan. I always put 2 layers of foil to make sure no grease gets on to the pan.

Lay out the bacon strips to put into the oven

Lay out the bacon strips on the prepared tray

3. Open the bacon and start separating the strips. Touching each other is ok, but you do not want to stack them. They will try to stick together when they start cooking. 4. Once the oven hits 400 degrees, put the pan of bacon into the oven.

PUT THE BACON IN THE OVEN

10 minutes in the oven turn the bacon over

Turn the bacon after it has been cooking in the oven for 10 minutes

5. After about 10 minutes, it is time to flip the bacon. The best way is with tongs, but a fork may also do the trick. Just work your way through each piece of bacon and turn them on the other side. Put the tray of bacon back in the oven.

Check the bacon in the oven

After 20 minutes, check the bacon in the oven to see if it is finished or needs more time

6. After about 20 minutes in, it is time to check the bacon. If the strips are real thin, the bacon might be done already. Otherwise, just make sure they are not burnt and put the bacon back in the oven for a little while longer. 7. 25 minutes should be plenty. If the bacon is extra thick, then it might have to stay in a little while longer. 8. While the bacon is cooking in the oven, get another flat pan, plate, cookie sheet, or something that will take some heat. Even a paper plate will do at this point. Stack a few paper towels up to put the finished bacon on when you take it out of the oven.

TAKE THE BACON OUT OF THE OVEN

Take the bacon out of the oven

Take the bacon out of the oven and place on the paper towels.

9. While the pan is still in the oven, pull out the rack (then you don’t have to have the sizzling pan of bacon out on the counter) of bacon. Use the tongs or fork to remove the bacon one by one and place on the paper towels. At this point stacking may not be so much of a problem. The bacon needs to drain off the grease. It might be a good idea to cover the bacon and let it sit for a few minutes. It will get good and crispy this way.

Cooked bacon in the oven

After the bacon has a chance to sit for a few minutes, it is ready to eat

10. After 10 – 15 minutes you should have bacon that is show quality. This can now be used for many different occasions like breakfast, bacon cheeseburger, crumbled for Mac and Cheese, salad, or just eat it.

Congealed bacon grease

Once the grease congeals it is time to throw the foil away.

11. Leave the pan of grease in the oven over night. Once the grease congeals, just fold up the foil and throw it in the garbage. 12. If you wanted to, you could probably put more bacon in the same pan and cook another batch in the oven. You could pour off the grease and start again. You could remove one layer of foil, discard, then add another.

Folding the foil from cooking bacon in the oven

All Finished!

NOW WE’RE TALKING!

Chicken Nachos – How to Make and Cook

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Chicken NachosHomemade Chicken Nachos are a good treat. Very simple to make, but with a little more effort than cheese chips. With a little preparation and some hungry mouths awaiting, Chicken Nachos are sure to please. The idea came after we were at Chili’s restaurant and the chicken nachos were not available anymore. That is when we decided that we would make them ourselves. Now since then, they have put them back on the menu as “Classic Chicken Nachos”. They are so-so, now that we can make them ourselves and don’t have to go out.

This can be customized many different ways to please anybody. Hold the bean, hold the jalepeno, add many other things.

How to Make and Cook Chicken Nachos

  1. Get some boneless/skinless chicken breast from the market.
  2. Cut the fat and skin off and cut them in small bite-sized pieces.
  3. Add a shot of olive oil and some taco seasoning. (Taco Bell brand is good). We used two packets with 2 pounds of chicken.
  4. Fry up the chicken in a skillet. Once it is finished, it is time to prepare the nachos.
  5. Cover a cookie sheet or flat pan with tin foil
  6. Turn on the oven to broil.
  7. Spread out chips on the pan. Use large tortilla chips. The Tostito’s Restaurant style are good. make sure and get a good bag and the chips have not been smashed. Place them onto the pan so they are barely touching. Original flavor or unflavored is best. Since we are adding the flavor, it is best to leave it plain. Salted is good, but you could also use unsalted. Trial and error is a good way to get it just the way you like it.
  8. Canned Refried beans are now spread over each chip. Not too much, but personal preference should prevail.
  9. Now take the chicken and add one piece to each nacho on top of the bean dip.
  10. Now add cheese to each individual nacho. Make sure and cover them.
  11. Now add one Jalepeno slice to each nacho. (Again, personal preference)
  12. Make sure and move the oven rack up near the top. 2 steps down is probably good.
  13. Put them in the oven and hold on tight. It only takes a minute or two. After about 45 seconds a spot check is warranted. Once it passes a minute, personal preference takes over. Make sure not to burn them. A little crisp is good, but burnt is bad.

Here is a video Chicken Nachos: How to Make and Cook

Cheese Chips – Real Simple Snack Favorite

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Cheese Chips Cheese chips are a real simple and easy to make. They are the favorite of many and can be customized to fit many tastes. Since they don’t take a long time to cook, different trays can be made for different tastes. With a little sour cream, it is a warm alternative to just chips. These may be called Nachos and Cheese, but the cheese is usually melted and runny. This cheese is not runny.

 

How to Make Cheese Chips

  1. Turn on the oven to broil.
  2. Cover a cookie sheet or flat pan with tin foil
  3. Spread out chips to cover the bottom of the pan. Original flavor or unflavored is best. Since the cheese is adding the flavor (and whatever else you decide to put in it) it is best to leave it plain. Salted is good, but you could also use unsalted. Trial and error is a good way to get it just the way you like it.
  4. Spread cheese all over the chips. Cheddar is the best. This does not have to be prepackaged, but it is easier.
  5. Make sure there is cheese on all the chips you can see. If you have more chips piled up, then add more cheese so it will fall down onto the chips below.
  6. OPTION: Add more chips and more cheese. Depending on how many people are eating and personal preference.
  7. Make sure and move the oven rack up near the top. 2 steps down is probably good.
  8. Put them in the oven and hold on tight. It only takes a minute or two. After about 45 seconds a spot check is warranted. Once it passes a minute, personal preference takes over. Make sure not to burn them. A little crisp is good, but burnt is bad.

That’s it, it’s as easy as that.
Check out this video on How to Make Cheese Chips.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer – Drinking Cup with 2 liter bottle

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Looking for Automatic Chicken Waterer Parts List?

Adding the Drinking Cup to the Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer – Adding the Drinking Cup

Updating a previously documented project – The Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer. The new version is a little different, but much the same as the last one in 2012. This time we have some new ideas.

It is time to add the drinking cup to the reservoir.

 

In the first video and post at http://www.tagnaples.com/automatic-chicken-waterer-building-it/ we went in depth on building the reservoir, supply, and delivery of the automatic chicken waterer. Now we are putting on the drinking cup using a 2 liter bottle as a reusable item in the system. This way we can replace the drinking cup after it has been used for a while, with a new one. We can still recycle the 2 liter bottle even after we have re-used it.

The Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer concept can be utilized for many different applications with a little imagination.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer – Drinking Cup Parts List

Picking up where we left off from the finished reservoir –

1 – Fitting to go from the reservoir to the drinking cup – This was a 90 degree elbow 3/4″ male pipe thread to 3/4″ female pipe thread.
2 – Fitting to hold the top of the 2 liter bottle. – This is a reducer fitting 3/4″ male pipe thread to 1″ slip.
3 – Liquid Nails adhesive – or whichever adhesive you may use to glue the top of the 2 liter bottle into the 1″ slip fitting.
4 – A 2 liter bottle.

Drinking Cup for the Chickens

Now, as you can see, the float can be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the top of the water. This needs to be tested for optimum performance. Time in the field will help you see where yours needs to be. The 2 liter bottle can be cut tall or short, depending on your specific circumstances.

MAKE SURE TO PUT IT WHERE THE CHICKENS CANNOT GET ON TOP OF THE RESERVOIR BUCKET!!!!!!!

Next up will be more ideas for the drinking cup and bowl.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer – First post to get started