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FPV drone racing


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firstly: I don't fly drones and never have.

secondly: I once commented on the forum that 'they are all motor'

Well....I was riding my Monster on a trail in Everett and heard a buzz of a drone flying overhead. I would say that the flight resembled the one in this video. I was amazed at the amount of space used, the speeds attained, the short turning radius and other drone specific maneuvers that the drone pilot (unseen) could perform.

http://racingfpv.com/ 

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3 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said:

I would say that the flight resembled the one in this video. I was amazed at the amount of space used, the speeds attained, the short turning radius and other drone specific maneuvers that the drone pilot (unseen) could perform.

Whilst generally I feel that drones shouldn’t even be seen as flying machines as no skill or even common sense is needed to operate many off them - something sadly seen all too often. Yesterday for example sitting in the sun in the garden with my daughter and studying the planes going into Heathrow with 15x50 binoculars we saw a drone as little more than a dot in the sky, easily 2000 ft high in the London Control Zone - just another pathetic dangerous prat without the brains to tie his shoelaces - but that is still enough skill to plant a drone where it can kill, presumably to get a video of his house (it WILL ALWAYS BE HE!)

In reality they are, and should be seen as, airborne cameras, used as such and with responsibility they have a real use and value and can add literally another dimension to a good photographer’s tool kit.

However, FPV (First Person View) racing is something else completely. At a model air show last year I honestly thought there was going to be a dog agility show and wondered how dangerous the dogs were as it was heavily netted off. That was until the quadcopters came out and wizzed through hoops, tunnels and over/under jumps faster than my eyes could follow them. I suspect I’m 40 years too old but, if younger THAT is something I would love to do. Certainly you could see why they had added safety netting!

Having said that the videos in the link @Bob Eisenman gives above shows, amoungst some brilliant footage, one flying at very high speed and below head height  right past an apartment block and past a parked car (32 seconds onwards below.) so even the, you would hope, responsible people running that site have the same a poor idea of risk that is why drones are starting to be so heavily regulated.

In the U.K. some fairly eye watering fines are about to be put in place for anyone exceeding 400ft agl or flying within 50 Metres of people/buildings and sadly model aircraft are getting dragged into that as well. 

 

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1 hour ago, Keith said:

eye watering fines are about to be put in place for anyone exceeding 400ft agl

I looked around the internet for drone flying info last week:

for fun use:

1- drone must be registerd

2- drone must stay under 400 feet

3- a 5 mile zone around airports is off limits without approval from the airport

 

some Massachusetts laws including an app link for finding flyable places:

https://www.mymassachusettsdefenselawyer.com/massachusetts-drone-laws/

A photo opp for photographing 'basking sharks' off the local coast is , as you said, entirely different:

 

 

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17 hours ago, Keith said:

Certainly you could see why they had added safety netting!

The surprise of this racing drone's flight was hard to describe. Hard to see (small), relatively quiet, uniquely acrobatic, tightly controlled with maximum use of space and obstructions (trees) to demonstrate ability and confidence. 

The drone pilots use of space was 5 ish miles from Boston's Logan airport.

GPS 42.41065108,-71.06836

https://earth.app.goo.gl/?apn=com.google.earth&ibi=com.google.b612&isi=293622097&ius=googleearth&link=https%3a%2f%2fearth.google.com%2fweb%2f%4042.41065108,-71.06836746,0.42935148a,1002.46640226d,35y,316.78179572h,0t,0r

Drone fieldDrone field

 

The field used was about the size of a football field plus the use of some space in the adjacent parking lot. Vertical use of space was perhaps less than 200 feet. The drones lowest altitude and flight path was about eye level including roll manuvers. Use of vertical space was a kind of 'hammerhead' move by the pilot (ascent..depletion of velocity, roll 180, descent, pull out to level flight).

https://goo.gl/images/rcRsUL

Over the weekend (different day than the drone sighting) I had ridden my Monster from my apartment to the passenger terminal at Logan,

Ride to Logan airport

 

passing through Winthrop and past 'Bob's bait shack'.

Bob's bait shackBob's bait shack

The striped bass are in season and some devoted anglers dotted the coastline at various fishing hot spots along my route.

At the bridge between Winthrop an Boston you can see the northern end of runway 4R

https://earth.app.goo.gl/?apn=com.google.earth&ibi=com.google.b612&isi=293622097&ius=googleearth&link=https%3a%2f%2fearth.google.com%2fweb%2f%4042.382717,-70.99439194,8.28187752a,0d,60y,205.61528598h,81.95903803t,0r%2fdata%3dCgAiGgoWS0tHTVh0WGlmZEJNUERueGk0cW9ndxAC

A huge passenger jet (747_400?) had landed. My EUC travel time from that point to the Logan terminal passenger entrance where I turned around and headed back was coincident with the amount of time required for the large jet to taxi-hold-taxi, etc. on to the terminal (turning 180 degrees in two separate 90 degree turns). It's a REALLY BIG passenger jet. Hundreds of passengers. 

https://goo.gl/images/DTRs7N

 

 

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On 7/16/2018 at 2:32 PM, Keith said:

Whilst generally I feel that drones shouldn’t even be seen as flying machines

I was looking on Google Earth for the 'rc club' field in Ticonderoga, NY that I once 'borrowed' for an afternoon back in the 80's. The familiar rc frequencies (channels) in use post was not seen in GE but the location looks about the same (rural farm land). A Google search for traces of an rc club in Ticonderoga we're not found either, perhaps a sign of a fading older membership as the model industry looks to new and younger markets and moves a bit away from the classic (well loved) wwi and wwii model types.

My Google search found an Android app called 

'RCmodel aircraft fields'

The installed app , which has no pin for a field near Ticonderoga, NY , has pins for RC fields world wide. I found a pin identifying an RC airfield I'd noticed located south of the General Electrics turbine factory in Lynn, Massachusetts on a bit of salt Marsh a few miles from where I live.

Saugus RC airfield

 

 

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1 hour ago, Bob Eisenman said:

perhaps a sign of a fading older membership as the model industry looks to new and younger markets and moves a bit away from the classic (well loved) wwi and wwii model types.

Over 820 clubs and 30,000+ members of the British Model Flying Association just in the U.K.:https://bmfa.org/Clubs/Find-a-Club

Average age though is probably 60 or higher. 10 years or so ago my club had 10-15 teenagers at any one time, currently we have 1. Drones seem to be a big part of the problem (and FPV  racing is about the only drone activity that might change that.)

You really needed to join a club if you got interested in ‘planes or helicopters as you would be unlikely (in the U.K. at least) to find a suitable safe field and the help you needed otherwise. (Every now and again you would get a Right Idiot Trying Aviation {RITA} who would invariably buy a Spitfire, refuse all help, try to fly wherever he liked without any regard to frequency controls and smash it into 1000 bits within 10 seconds of take off - never to be seen again. That’s unfortunately the RITA’s who now successfully fly drones over Heathrow airport and the like!

Those that joined a club got to see a full range of models and flying styles, free and freely given help and it was quite easy to get “hooked” on it as a hobby. Now a drone will get bought and flown for a few days or weeks until it gets boring and that is the end of it - it rarely leads on to other model aircraft because those bought as Christmas presents, for example, are so boring to fly it puts the child off of other model aircraft.

I went for a ride on my EUC around several of our local parks the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) last year and saw 5 or 6 people flying drones. I’ve never seen another one in any of those parks since (just occasionally in flight lanes and over heavily built up areas!)

Edited by Keith
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3 hours ago, Keith said:

Every now and again you would get a Right Idiot Trying Aviation {RITA} who would invariably buy a Spitfire, refuse all help, try to fly wherever he liked without any regard to frequency

I flew a few of my gliders with a transmitter and 2 servos for a few years , mostly by myself. Deciding to buy a 3 channel transmitter so I could use an electric motor throttle I went to a small dealer in 'Tewksbury' Massachusetts after locating him in 'the yellow pages'. A discussion of my interests and stuff I used to fly ensued. After describing my transmitter he replied 'GROUND', meaning that it was a transmitter for trucks and racing cars and not an approved aviation channel.

??

https://flic.kr/p/29go55n

 

 

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4 hours ago, Keith said:

You really needed to join a club if you got interested in ‘planes or helicopters

My interest in RC model planes has a strange start. Born in NY State I grew up with a dominant maternal family point of view and family socialization. My favorite aunt lived in a town called Cortland. When I was around 5 or 6 years old I remember visiting her at her house where she , a widow, made a living baby sitting for large numbers of kids in a day care kind of enviornment. 

In the basement were many model planes of various shapes, sizes and colors. They belonged to one of her boys who crashed and died (I'm told) doing aerobatics in a full sized one seat plane he built himself (1950s). My aunt was devastated for years. I always remember the sight of these rc planes. My mother never spoke positively of the cousin who flew and crashed but that is another story.

After this aunt passed away I turned up some genealogy information  connecting this cousins flying with some kind of enrollment in the armed services as a pilot or a pilot candidate.

So that is how (decided later) I became interested in rc model flying.

With a 2 cannel transmitter (servos included) from 'Eric Fuch's' hobby shop

http://www.labelscar.com/massachusetts/northshore-mall

"The original McDonald’s, which had its’ own seating area, across from what was Casual Corner, Almy’s, Filene’s, Fanfares Shoes, Eric Fuchs Hobbies, i Natural, and the Naturalizer…"

, a $20 balsa 'Gentle Lady' glider kit and some 'heat shrink plastic' to cover the wings I was ready to go for about $100, which seemed like alot of money at the time.

I remember flying once into a tree on the Topsfield Fair grounds when I mis-judged distance in a big circle turn, the hardly damaged Gentle Lady (battered and abused?) fell to the earth , was patched up and went on to fly on other days. I got the glider up using a 'zip line'. Those first seconds on the zip line are truly thrilling...a little down elevator on the way up,  level off and then nose down a bit to gain speed and disengage the towline 'O' ring from a hook on the bottom of the fuselage beneath the balance point of the wing.

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Talking of RITA’s, you might think the following story Is, at the very least, an exaggeration. However honestly it is a completely true story!

When I was in my 20’s a local common allowed model flying and a friendly group of us met and flew regularly; always meeting in the same place as far from houses as possible. Unfortunately, being a public field, it was prone to the odd (sometimes VERY odd) RITA. - Right Idiot Trying Aviation.

One day, on arrival, we could hear a model engine in the next field, we walked over in time to see a large: 6-7 foot wingspan 20cc (1.2cu. In.) engined Spitfire start to take off, tip on its nose and stop.

The Spitfire was beautifully built but this was ruined by the electronics: receiver, battery, servos all being epoxied to the outside of the fuselage. Obviously the owner hadn’t been the builder!

“Why is the radio stuck to the outside?” we innocently asked.

“There is no room inside” was the somewhat puzzling reply from the RITA.

“How can there possibly not be enough room in a plane of THAT size?” we all asked.

“Because the fuel tank I made for it takes up all the room” The RITA told us proudly. We estimated that it had to be at least 2 gallons! 2 pints would have been way too much!

Whilst my very ascetic friend took the pee continuously, after all attempts at constructive advice had been met with requests that we go forth and multiply, the RITA tried several attempted take offs with the plane nosing over each time. Finally a little boy suggested he must need more weight on the tail so the RITA tied a monkey wrench to the tailplane. 

The next take off accelerated continuously, the Spitfire firmly stuck to the ground, now my ascetic friend stopped laughing: “alright mate, a joke is a joke, close the throttle before you kill somebody!” 

At this point, with my friend trying to get at the transmitter and the RITA literally frozen on the controls it actually got off the ground more or less in ground effect and accelerated even more - heading at increasing speed for a bus full of people at the traffic lights 1/2 a mile away.

Just as we thought our days flying on the common were about to be over for ever, the lights changed, the plane exploded into bits and the bus pulled away.  We heard, even at that distance, a noise like machine gun fire and realised the bits had hit the bus, thankfully the driver didn’t seem to notice.

The passengers, and our flying field, had been saved by the Spitfire hitting a perimeter fence the local council had just, that day, started to erect for a horse show the following weekend. It was astonishing it didn’t catch fire.

Like all RITA’s we never, ever saw him again. He had probably spent the now days equivalent of around $2000+ for the plane and equipment.

Edited by Keith
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While not on the subject of fpv drone...I find this crash video exceptional.... especially when the pilot stumbles out of the cockpit alive.....dwarfed in size by the burning chopper.

 

Edited by Bob Eisenman
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@Keith 

If you have a smartphone with the motion detection electronics appropriate for 360 VR then YouTube makes it easy to switch from a 2D display to immersive VR. Touch the VR icon in the lower right corner of the display to switch to a VR stream of the YouTube movie.

360 VR YouTube

(various aerobatics flight teams)

Russian Swift's plus Knights

https://youtu.be/vYtwL_JjkZA

SU_27 Russian Knights

https://youtu.be/SaCPmh1RoKg

 

USAF Thunderbirds

https://youtu.be/yPJt9AJ461I

 

US Navy Blue Angels

https://youtu.be/H6SsB3JYqQg

 

British Red Arrows

https://youtu.be/HMUqpogi9Ws

https://youtu.be/1e-aw3aJpBc

 

Swiss Air Force (watch the stick and throttle)

https://youtu.be/1e-aw3aJpBc

 

 

Merge VR headset, Moto G6 Play Android phone, Bluetooth stereo headphones

 

VR Goggles with phone inserted into holder 

360 VR goggles with phone inserted into holder

 

Edited by Bob Eisenman
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/16/2018 at 10:10 AM, Bob Eisenman said:

I don't fly drones and never have

Until last night!

On 7/16/2018 at 2:32 PM, Keith said:

In reality they are, and should be seen as, airborne cameras, 

But piloting skill determines the quality of the attempted video or picture to some degree.

This is really fun....... when not bumping into objects and losing flight orientation.

WIFI control operation (as opposed to the regular dual stick controller) seems to require 2.4 GHz.....Android Oreo (8) runs at 5 GHz and has no obvious way to set WIFI to 2.4 GHz. IP address assigment by DHCP seems to 'hang' with 5 GHz WiFI.

This is me with the Cheerson CX-17 Cricket after a few test flights. I bought the drone in Cambridge/Boston (MicroCenter) and carried it back on the Monster to where I live. Monster is seen at 00:52 by the drones camera (video is actively transmitted and stored by WIFI to phone memory storage) but the drone video is a bit out of synch with the stationary camera at that point.

 

The drone weighs well under 250 grams .... so.... in the US....for hobby use:

1_ drone registration is NOT required

2_ uav (unmanned aerial vehicle) 'FAA Part 107' competency certificate is NOT required

Edited by Bob Eisenman
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Hahaha. Funny to discover this. I just started drone flying a couple of weeks ago and am completely hooked!

I agree with @Keith, most people don't fly drones, they fly a gopro with 4 propellers. Just position it in the air, go to the bathroom, come back 5 minutes later and it will still be buzzing at exactly the same location. There is zero skill involved in flying a DJI drone.

Now FPV, THAT's a different beast!

 

For anyone that wants to get into drone flying extremely cheaply, check the Eachine 013 on aliexpress or Banggood. It will cost you 60 euro for a mini quadcopter, perfect for flying inside, including the remote control and fpv goggles! 

184fe48d-dbcd-4690-826b-32d735ed0fca.jpg

 

I started with a Blade Inductrix. Pretty fun to fly but it has some design flaws, which I have solved in the mean time. I upgraded the motors, I installed a new battery connector (the weak spot, after about 30 connect/disconnects it increases resistance so much that your flight time goes down to 1 minute) and put bigger batteries on it. It's one hell of a machine now for indoor flying. And it supports rate mode! (which no other indoor drone does).

bld8580.jpg

 

For outdoor I bought the Eachine X220 to start with. Pretty good kit and you can easily upgrade some of its weak spots once you get to the point they start to bother you. Most people will say that the best race drones are hand-built, but it seems that these days are slowly coming to an end, as you can find more and more pre-built drones with very good components off the shelf. The second one I bought is one of those. It's a Hawk 5 210mm quadcopter. That thing goes 100mph! 

 

New-Arrival-Eachine-Wizard-X220-FPV-Raci

3_1_9.jpg

 

 

 

Also have a DJI Mavic Air, but tbh I got bored with flying that after the 3rd time of using it. It's like driving a Tesla Model S on autopilot instead of racing a Lotus Exige.

 

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5 minutes ago, ir_fuel said:

Now FPV, THAT's a different beast!

 

For anyone that wants to get into drone flying extremely cheaply, check the Eachine 013

I saw some YouTube on Eachine 013 and liked it. As a wearer of glasses I'm not sure mine would fit but i messaged someone about the drones to say it got great reviews. EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR FPV FOR $70!

I decided to buy something local from the fun guys at MicroCenter and skip the online purchase delivery wait with an equally small flying device.

The app for CX 17 supports VR mode for use with VR Google's (which fog  up for me with my glasses when used) for an fpv type of experience. I can't say that the daylight optics display on CX 17 is as clear as the Eachine 013.

CX 17 seems to be a good flier, gets a good outside use review but was a little squirrelly to two stick hover when the electronics needed trimming (available with the app which I haven't used yet as a virtual controller).

The cx 17 app does some other in flight things described on YouTube videos. 

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3 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said:

I saw some YouTube on Eachine 013 and liked it. As a wearer of glasses I'm not sure mine would fit but i messaged someone about the drones to say it got great reviews. EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR FPV FOR $70!

I decided to buy something local from the fun guys at MicroCenter and skip the online purchase delivery wait with an equally small flying device.

The app for CX 17 supports VR mode for use with VR Google's (which fog  up for me with my glasses when used) for an fpv type of experience. I can't say that the daylight optics display on CX 17 is as clear as the Eachine 013.

CX 17 seems to be a good flier, gets a good outside use review but was a little squirrelly to two stick hover when the electronics needed trimming (available with the app which I haven't used yet as a virtual controller).

The cx 17 app does some other in flight things described on YouTube videos. 

Once you start flying decently you don't want to use an app. You want to use a controller with real sticks. You need that tactile feedback to know how your sticks are positioned.

Also quite a few goggles have inserts for people who wear glasses so they can use the goggles without glasses (unless your eyes are -8 or sth like that).

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1 hour ago, ir_fuel said:

Once you start flying decently you don't want to use an app. You want to use a controller with real sticks

The cx 17 dual sticks controller has a 'phone holder'. The app is used in two independent ways on a smart phone:

1_ as a phone only controller with access to other app functions (start photo, movie, etc)

2_ as the dual stick integrated drone camera display feed console with access to other functions (photo, movie, etc)

The apps phone display replaces a dedicated stick integrated drone video  feed display. The cx17 dual stick condole is 'plain vanilla' no trims.

I'm not really familiar with flying with either app display type. The 'take a video / photo buttons' require that the app be installed and wifi paired to the cx17 drone.

Edited by Bob Eisenman
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I tried a little FPV flying with the CX17 app and a set of goggles which accept the cell phone app split screen. It freaked me out a little when flying fpv, even out of doors. A bigger unobstructed flying site would help.

So....I went back to flying LOS (Line of sight) in a selfie video attempt. I learned that the flat surface of the CX17 camera should have been placed (flown) to get reflected light rather than light where the sun's rays are parallel to the lenses flat face.

Perhaps fpv on a better mini drone like a 'tiny whoop' class drone plus video transmitter and video capture would be a better fpv flying experience.

SSU sunset 8-1-2018

 

Edited by Bob Eisenman
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On 7/27/2018 at 6:49 AM, ir_fuel said:

Blade Inductrix

Yeah...that is a good deal for under $200. I like the 'non-fpv' video display too.

I watched someone's YouTube and the presenter gave some ideas.

His best pick was the E010s with the EV800D fpv Goggles (has an SD card slot). Buying a transmitter from his choices puts the price well above $200

New drones:

https://youtu.be/33GfHIvUAoc

Basic e013 drone rtf ($68.99 with goggles)

https://m.banggood.com/Eachine-E013-Micro-FPV-Racing-Quadcopter-With-5_8G-1000TVL-40CH-Camera-VR006-VR-006-3-Inch-Goggles-p-1182628.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Mod1

Change vtx frequency

Mod2

Cut hole in top to thread interior antenna outside and up

 

Better batteries ($19.99 for 5 batteries+charger)

https://m.banggood.com/5X-Eachine-E011-3_7V-260MAH-30C-Battery-Charger-Set-RC-Quadcopter-Spare-Parts-p-1148468.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Better frame for e013 ($4.83 + needs mods)

https://m.banggood.com/Eachine-E010S-E010C-E010-Micro-FPV-RC-Quadcopter-Spare-Parts-Frame-Kit-p-1126510.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Better drone:  e10c ( $38.93 includes controller)

https://m.banggood.com/Eachine-E010C-Micro-FPV-Raicng-Quadcopter-With-800TVL-40CH-25MW-CMO-Camera-45C-Battery-p-1110786.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Antenna protector for e10c ($2.99)

https://m.banggood.com/Camera-Protective-Cover-For-Eachine-E010-E010C-E010S-TX01-TX02-TX03-Blade-Inductrix-Tiny-Whoop-p-1146983.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Better sticks for e10c controller ($3.29)

https://m.banggood.com/FQ777-124-Pocket-Drone-Spare-Parts-Two-RC-Sticks-p-1000313.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Best long term drone investment: e010s ($45.99 from China or $59.09 from US)

https://m.banggood.com/Eachine-E010S-65mm-Micro-FPV-Raicng-Quadcopter-with-800TVL-Came-Based-On-F3-Brush-Flight-Controller-p-1119427.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Transmitter for e010s and other drones ($110)

https://m.banggood.com/FrSky-ACCST-Taranis-Q-X7-2_4GHz-16CH-Transmitter-White-Black-p-1112717.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Camera guard: e010s ($2.99)

https://m.banggood.com/Camera-Protective-Cover-For-Eachine-E010-E010C-E010S-TX01-TX02-TX03-Blade-Inductrix-Tiny-Whoop-p-1146983.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Ev800d fpv Goggles for use with e010s ($99.99)

https://m.banggood.com/Eachine-EV800D-5_8G-40CH-Diversity-FPV-Goggles-5-Inch-800480-Video-Headset-HD-DVR-Build-in-Battery-p-1180354.html?p=EB070918823112015072&utm_campaign=DroneRacer101&utm_content=chendongling

 

Or

Ev100 'fatshark’ style fpv goggles

https://m.banggood.com/Eachine-EV100-720540-5_8G-72CH-FPV-Goggles-With-Dual-Antennas-Fan-7_4V-1000mAh-Battery-p-1182469.html?p=EB070918823112015072

 

Edited by Bob Eisenman
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