John Leeman

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Evaluating Your Drone Needs
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
February 2018
The ultimate guide to buying, building, and accessorizing your drone.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Drone Delivery — Part 2
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
January 2018
Modeled on the slick promotional videos that show multi-rotors dropping packages from the sky to patrons, we continue our experiment with DIY drone deliveries.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Drone Delivery — Part 1
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
December 2017
Modeled on the slick promotional videos that show multi-rotors dropping packages from the sky to patrons, we experiment with DIY drone deliveries.

Build a Drone Crash Beacon
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
November 2017
Build a DIY crash beacon to help you locate your downed drone.

The Lynxmotion Quadrino Nano Flight Controller
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
October 2017
The Lynxmotion Quadrino Nano Flight Controller hits many of the check boxes for most hobbyists in a tiny package. Let's take it for a test drive ... er ... fly!

Scanse Sweep 3D Scanner Review
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
September 2017
Taking the Scanse Sweep 3D Scanner for a test drive

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Taking the Earth’s Temperature with Aerial Infrared Mapping
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
August 2017
Knowing the temperature of the earth’s surface can tell us a lot of things. So, we’ll build an infrared/color sensor package and install it on a multi-rotor to collect our own ground temperature surveys.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — ESC Basics
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
July 2017
Electronic speed controllers (ESCs) can make or break the performance of your quad.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Brushless Motor Basics
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
June 2017
Get an introduction to the fundamental workings of a brushless DC motor and learn how to select the right motor for your next project.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Photogrammetry with OpenDroneMap — Part 2
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
May 2017
Make your own maps using a quadcopter, a camera, and OpenDroneMap open source software

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Photogrammetry with OpenDroneMap — Part 1
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
April 2017
Make your own maps using a quadcopter, a camera, and some open source software

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Hacking the Cheerson CX-10
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
March 2017
See how to take an old computer joystick and integrate it into the remote control of the Cheerson CX-10 quadcopter. It’s like having a flight simulator, but with something real flying around the room!

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Fat Shark Teleporter V5 Review
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
February 2017
As multi-rotor pilots, we can now have a first person view (FPV) experience with inexpensive/all-in-on equipment that literally puts us in the pilot’s seat and immerses us in the experience of flying.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Adding Telemetry to the ELEV-8
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
January 2017
As multi-rotor pilots, we often have to operate by look and feel. So how about adding a telemetry kit to get real time aircraft data such as the altitude, air speed, and attitude sent back to our tablet in the field.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Understanding and Balancing Propellers
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
December 2016
Find out everything you need to know about propellers (but were afraid to ask) for your multi-rotors and how to balance them to have the best flight experience.

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — FlyFi: Weather Data Telemetry
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
November 2016
Multi-rotors can let us collect our own atmospheric data, and learn about the lower atmosphere and Wi-Fi in one project!

The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist — Training for Flight
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
November 2016
We’ll go through the steps to train our flight controller to our hardware and (finally) take our quadcopter on its official maiden voyage! — Note to readers - This article in the November 2016 print issue was included by mistake and is a reprint of the August column. The correct article (Weather Data Telemetry) is available online at [url=http://www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/November2016_MultiRotorHobbyist-Training-for-Flight1]http://www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/article/November2016_MultiRotorHobbyist-Training-for-Flight1[/url]

Build Your Own Drone — Part 6: Review of Parallax’s ELEV8 v3
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
October 2016
As an alternative to a scratch build, I’m going to assemble and fly the ELEV-8 v3 quadcopter kit from Parallax.

Build Your Own Drone — GPS Guided Flights
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
September 2016
It’s time to take the next step on our drone building journey: GPS and telemetry.

Build Your Own Drone Getting Started — Part 4: Training for Flight
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
August 2016
We're ready to train our quadcopter flight controller to the hardware and go on its maiden flight.

Build Your Own Drone: Getting Started — Part 3 - Electronics and Flight Controller
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
July 2016
We’ll add the muscles and the brains to our skeleton drone airframe, and get tantalizingly close to a test flight.

Build Your Own Drone: Getting Started — Part 2
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
June 2016
Building an Airframe

Build Your Own Drone: Getting Started — Part 1
Column: The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
May 2016
A new series on getting started in the drone hobby – whether you build your own or buy one.