Registering for PBS – Betalingservice – with Nordea Bank in Denmark

To a non-Danish speaker registering to pay electronics payments from Nordea Bank here in Denmark is a mission, especially when the invoice labels from BetalingsService don’t match the website forms for Privat (Personal banking) accounts at Nordea.

Here’s the correct one-to-one for completing Tilmeld BetalingsService for Privat accounts at Nordea.

  1. Sign in using NemID to Nordea Netbank
  2. Open Betalinger & overførsler > Tilmeld BetalingsService from the left menu
  3. Set the Hæves på dropdown to your preferred account for withdrawal
  4. Set the Kreditor BS nr. field to the PBS nr. mentioned in the bottom-left cut-out of the Betalingservice template; do not use the Kreditornummer og beløbsmodtager
  5. Set the Deb.gr.nr. field to the Deb.gr.nr. mentioned in the bottom-left cut-out of the BetalingService invoice
  6. Set the Kundenummer field to the Lejemålsnummer mentioned in several places on the BetalingService invoice
  7. Hit Send and confirm your acceptance by entering your NemID password

[1.0] 3D Robotics Distributor List

As of today there are 32 published 3D Robotics distributors on the list. This is just the beginning. They are filtered by Region, Country (where they do most of their shipping to) and Range (what they stock).

View Distributors by Map now integrates with Google Maps Javascript API 3 to display location markers from our Distributors database. There’s a Detect Location action to show local distributors to you region and a Full Screen map toggle.

In the next update I’ll be adding 3DR distributors from sources like DroneSpeak and filtering the Parts for each.

Opening a foreign startup in Denmark

Here are some questions that after several years of exposure to Denmark and Europe that I need answers for to a) effectively start a small business based in Denmark, and b) turn a profit. I will update this as I am able to answer each question.

  • What association/resources are available in Denmark to help with questions about starting and operating a small business in Denmark?
  • When opening new business accounts with your local bank what accounts are typically needed (e.g. income, expenses, VAT input, VAT output, etc.)?
  • What reporting is required to SKAT and how often?
  • What is the standard software platform to connect to webshops to expedite business reporting (e.g. MYOB, Xero, etc.)?
  • How is VAT refunded between EU countries?
  • How can moms and/or customs duty be prepaid on purchases from outside the EU?

Update: In October 2015 I left Denmark. Without being able to distribute VAT collected from EU customers I never commenced business operations in Denmark. I will be registering a new business in Germany in March 2017 with the ability to collect and effectively distribute VAT from EU customers.

Here’s what I’ve learnt…

What association/resources are available in Denmark to help with questions about starting and operating a small business in Denmark?

  • Virk Startvækst – Danish start-up resources intended to reduce administrative burdens for businesses.
  • Company registration in Denmark – A small set of videos produced by Virk.dk explaining company registration in English
  • Tax in Denmark – An introduction to the Danish tax system in English produced by SKAT

When opening new business accounts with your local bank what accounts are typically needed

The bank just needs to know your CVR number and will set you up with a simple cheque account. Additional accounts can be linked to your business account opened at any time for income, expenses, VAT collection, etc.

What reporting is required to SKAT and how often?

No idea, find a local accountant who can assist in these matters.

What is the standard software platform to connect to webshops in Denmark?

E-conomic (nice little monopoly there)

How is VAT refunded between EU countries?

You need to register for MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop) via SKAT’s website. It’s aimed at large companies who are able to integrate their e-commerce site into their MOSS platform. Good luck.

How can moms and/or customs duty be prepaid on purchases from outside the EU?

No idea, find a local accountant who can assist in these matters.

KPH-Projects Cheatsheet

What is KPH-Projects?

KPH-Projects is a small business incubator serving Copenhagen, Denmark, the office is located in Vesterbro which is 2km South of København H (Central Station) and accessible by bike, bus (Enghave St.) or train (Sydhavn St. or Dybbølsbro St.).

Residents – be they individuals, small groups through to established organisations – are encouraged to focus on social, cultural and environmental initiatives but it’s a revolving door for laptop nomads, interns/volunteers, start ups and short-term projects.

KPH-Projects Website

KPH-Projects website (kph-projects.dk)

Mailing address

[Insert Name]
c/o KPH-Projects
Enghavevej 80 c. 3 sal.
2450 København Sv

Book a meeting room

Meeting rooms are suited to private meetings and can be booked on an hourly basis via the online booking platform.

Use the online form (http://kph-projects.dk/book-et-lokale/)

Book the T-space

The T-space is the open space near the cafe on the 3rd floor which is an informal space for meetings and laptop nomads with facilities for conferences including projector, whiteboard and PA system.

Send an e-mail to Maria (maria@kph-projects.dk)

Join the public KPH-Projects group on Facebook

KPH-Projects Page

Join the internal KPH-Projects group for active members on Facebook

KPH-Projects Current Group

Facilities on 3rd floor

  • Free internet access via multiple WiFi hotspots
  • Free printing and scanning (printer found in Flex space, scanner is in the 8-4 room)
  • Cafe is open from 10am-3pm weekdays (very cheap and has MobilePay)
  • Full kitchen with stove, oven, microwave and fridges

Prices (accurate as at 01/01/2015)

3rd floor – for start-ups, team projects and small organisations, preferably under 30 y/o’s.

  • Fixed desk – 800,- per month
  • Flex space –  500,- per month
  • Boot space – 350,- per month (limited to short term projects and under 30 y/o)
  • Interns – 200,- per month (includes volunteers)

4th floor – for small business and established organisations, 3rd floor graduates move here after a year on 3rd floor

Speak to the KPH-Projects staff for 4th floor pricing.

Adding Media Keyboard support to Surface Pro 3

The Surface Pro 3’s Type Cover hits the mark for most uses but the lack of native multimedia keys (Next Track, Previous Track) is a sore point that needed addressing. Read on.

Since we can’t bind key combinations in Windows 8 we’ll use the excellent/free AutoHotkey to bind our multimedia key combinations (e.g. CTRL+RIGHT fires the Next Track action).

  1. Download and install AutoHotkey from their home page
  2. Open AutoHotkey
  3. On the first start it will prompt you to generate a first sample AutoHotkey script
  4. Copy and paste the following script into the sample script
    ;next song
    ^Right:: ;the ^ means CTRL
    Send {Media_Next}
    return
    ;previous song
    ^Left::
    Send {Media_Prev}
    return
  5. Save the AutoHotkey script file
  6. Close and re-open AutoHotkey to enable the new multimedia key combinations

Adding Retractable Landing Legs to Predator 650

I bit the bullet and purchased the 600-class Quick Release Universal Retractable Gear Set to upgrade from the Crab Leg Landing Gear Set on my Predator 650 build.

Upgrading to a servo-driven landing leg set means the legs can be toggled to raise/lower from a spare channel on the receiver, I envision using this for aerial photography where footage is currently obstructed by the crab legs.

I chose the 600-class retractable gear set as I wanted only a single channel sacrificed on the receiver and didn’t want to run two 450-class sets – which is designed for smaller frames – in parallel.

To mount the retractable gear set to the frame I purchased 4 x Shock absorbing CNC aluminum tube clamp (10mm) which will fit the 10mm rails on the underbelly of the Predator 650 frame. A perk of this particular landing gear set is below the servo bar is ideal space to mount a camera gimbal, this be be done without modification.

I’ll update this post when the item arrives 🙂

[5 days later…]

Retractable landing legs arrived and they’re big! I’m thinking the 450-class set would have been fine, but I have not installed them yet so am still confident I made the right choice. Also the 4 additional tube clamps were unnecessary as the frame includes its own set.

The bulkhead that houses the servo’s has holes punched into it to suit a larger frame, they’re too far apart to be usable with the Predator 650 so I’ve drilled my own holes in line with the underbelly rails of the 650-frame.

Additionally since there’s so much space on either side of the bulkhead I’ll move my battery from the underbelly of the frame –  was strapped behind the 4-in-1 ESC and FPV camera – up onto the bar and install a 2nd 4500mAh 4S battery to balance the weight out.

Connecting external LED’s to Arducopter

Before I shelled out for the dedicated Aircraft Navigation Lamp Set (install guide here) from HobbyKing I wanted to add some basic LED lighting to the motor arms of my X525 build, I still use these LED’s as one displays the Motor Arm status, the other the GPS Lock, that and the dedicated navigation lights don’t talk to Arducopter.

Update: The voltage of the LED strip has to be 5V. Too low, your strip will burn. Too high and it might not turn on (thanks Wei).

Here’s what you need and how to install it.

What you need

Connecting the LED’s to the APM board

If you went out and bought the 3 LED strip’s mentioned above you can connect the LED servo cable’s directly to the APM board’s analog input’s after a quick change of one of the leads to the JR connector.

We can connect these particular LED strip’s directly to the APM board as the LED’s draw less than the maximum permissible current of the AVR chip on the APM of 40mA per input, the LED strips we’re looking at draw 33mA per input.

Update: The current limit is 40mA per pin or 200mA total. Any higher and you risk damage to the APM (thanks Wei).

By moving the positive lead (red cable) over one spot to occupy the signal line APM can power the LED lights on/off when it chooses, left unchanged the LED strip will be connected to the +5V rail and be always on; which looks cool but is useless.

  1. Using a small sharp knife lift up the tab on the positive lead (aka red cable) of the JR connector that holds the pin in place
  2. Pull on the positive lead while the tab is lifted to remove it from the JR connector
  3. Re-insert the positive lead into the space typically used for the signal line (the next available space) of the JR connector
  4. Make sure the tab is down and the positive lead is secured by giving it a pull

 

 

Buzzer_ConnectionDiagram
We’re not looking at adding buzzer support today but here you can see where the analog input’s go on the APM 1.6 board.

If you’re using the current release of APM then you’re on AC 3.1.5 (Arducopter 3.1.5) and the following will apply, read further for the AC 3.2 changes which will apply when AC 3.2 is officially released.

AC 3.1.5 (today)

  • A4: AUX led
  • A6: GPS – will flash with no GPS lock, solid with GPS lock
  • A7 through A11: Motor LED’s (always on)

AC 3.2 (future)

  • A4 : Motor LED
  • A6 : GPS – will flash with no GPS lock, solid with GPS lock
  • A7: Arming LED
  • A8 through A11: Motor LED’s (always on)

Note: Need to confirm A8 through A11 for AC 3.2 and above as this is not currently documented on External LEDs from Arducopter Wiki.

Connect your LiPo battery and power up your APM board, lights on, enjoy night flying! When you’re ready consider upgrading to the Aircraft Navigation Lamp Set (install guide here) mentioned earlier as you can then add real-world lighting sequences to your build.

Connecting aircraft navigation lamp set to Arducopter

I got around to connecting the Hobbyking Aircraft Navigation Lamp Set to my APM 1.6 clone board today, here’s a run through of the wiring guide for connecting each LED to the distribution box as well as placement for an X-frame quadcopter. There’s also a guide for controlling the lighting modes with the Turnigy 9XR transmitter and a dummy list of available lighting modes.

What’s included

Included with the Aircraft Navigation Lamp Set is the following:

  • 5 x white LED’s with 2-pin micro moxel connectors
  • 2 x red LED’s with 2-pin micro moxel connectors
  • 1 x green LED with 2-pin micro moxel connector
  • 8 x plastic LED grips for mounting the LED to frames
  • 1 x distribution Unit with micro molex connectors for the LED’s
  • 1 x servo cable with 3-pin micro molex connector for powering and controlling the LED’s

The total draw of the LED lights and distribution unit is less than 100 mAh and is self-powered from the receiver channel it is controlled from.

Available lighting modes

You can choose from the following lighting modes:

  1. Coloured arms always on, strobes and beacon flashing, landing lights fade in/out
  2. Coloured arms, strobes and beacon flashing, landing lights fade in/out
  3. Coloured arms flash twice on each arm
  4. Coloured arms flash twice on each arm at higher frequency
  5. Coloured arms and strobes always on, beacon light is flashing, landing lights fade in/out
  6. All lights flashing at high frequency
  7. All lights flashing at slow frequency
  8. All lights on
  9. All lights off

Guide to connecting LED’s to assigned connectors

navigationlightset-apm16
See the list below for details on connecting LED to assigned connectors.
  1. Strobe light on front-right arm
  2. Landing light on rear-right arm
  3. Beacon light on front of main frame
  4. Strobe light on front-left arm
  5. Red light on front-left arm
  6. Landing light on rear-left arm
  7. Beacon light on rear of main frame
  8. Green light on front-right arm

Controlling the lighting modes with the Turnigy 9XR transmitter

Ensure you’ve connected the supplied servo cable from the AUX connector on the distribution unit to an available channel on your receiver (I chose channel 8) before proceeding.

  1. Power on the Turnigy 9XR
  2. Hold the Menu button for a second to open the Menu screen
  3. Switch to the Mixer screen on tab 5/11 by pressing the right arrow button
  4. Using the down button only highlight ‘100%’ on the available channel on your receiver that you connected the distribution unit to (I chose channel 8 so went down to CH8)
  5. Hold down the Menu button to display the Edit Mix screen for this channel
  6. Ensure the Source is set to FULL
  7. Press the down button only to highlight the Switch option
  8. Using the left and right buttons only change the value to TRN
  9. Press the Exit button only to return to the previous screen
  10. Press the Exit button repeatedly until you are on the initial status screen

You’re done! Connect the LiPo battery to your quadcopter and flick the TRN switch on the far-right of the Turnigy 9XR controller to switch through the lighting modes.

Hobbyking Predator 650 kit parts

Notice: This parts list is ongoing, if you know the dimensions of a missing part or think this can be better drop a comment below 🙂

Screws

  • 44 x M2 x 6mm
  • 46 x M3 x 6mm (button heads)
  • 40 x M3 x 6mm (flat heads)
  • 12 x M3 x 10mm

Arms

  • 2 x […]
  • 2 x […]
  • # x M2.5 x 22mm

Undercarriage

  • 1 x 23*25*248mm carbon tube
  • 6 x  25mm aluminium blocks
  • 6 x M2.5 x 40mm
  • 6 x M2.5 nuts

Hook and Rod

  • 2 x 10mm tubes for undercarriage (rail mounting system for battery, gimbal, etc.)
  • 4 x […]

Photos

[…]

Build log

[…]

Build Tips

[…]

  • Build the motor arms first and mount them to the rear section prior to attaching the rear landing legs to the frame.
  • Do not lose a single screw. A single screw. There are no spares available from the supplier at this time.