Jump to content
Please be aware of scammers when using the Sale/Wanted forum areas

dave windymiller

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    421

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by dave windymiller

  1. dave windymiller
    Did a bit of experimenting with the funfighter. Reduced power range check was a good 50 big steps away and was consistent with many tries until the aerial was pointed directly at the plane. It reduced by some 40-50% The 2 aerials in the plane at the orientation when it lost signal was with one aerial pointing back towards me. When the plane was rotated a bit, the range check improved! Had several flights with the plane with the tx aerial "correct" and it was solid all day.
  2. dave windymiller
    Apologies if someone has already linked to this but this circuit has worked very well for me for years! https://www.learningelectronics.net/VA3AVR/gadgets/glow.htm
  3. dave windymiller
    Whilst flying my funfighter FW190 a reasonable distance away (approx 150-200m and quite low at some 15m high), the engine appeared to stop so I tried to bank for a deadstick landing. It then became clear that the plane wasn’t responding as I pushed the sticks further over. Just as I realised this, the engine sprang back to life and the model did a sudden flip and hit the deck at full power (luckily very little damage!). What had happened was the plane had gone into failsafe with the engine going to idle but it did it so quietly I thought it had stopped. It then came out of failsafe and with the sticks being lent on, the control surfaces suddenly moved and combined with sudden and unexpected full power, brought down the plane. As I looked at the transmitter for some reason for what had just happened I noticed my transmitter aerial was not how I normally orientate it but pointing towards the model. We did some ground range checks and found the orientation of the aerial did cause failsafe to cut in at a similar distance! The radios instructions make it clear that the aerial should not point towards the model as this is the weakest transmission direction. Whether I knocked the aerial or forgot to orientate it I don’t know but a simple error brought the model down! I was using the Futaba SG14 FASST transmitter and Futaba receiver. This worried me as this could have been my jet losing control, all for an aerial pointing in the wrong direction! I have now glued one of the joints in my aerial so it can now only rotate 90 degrees and never point straight forward (towards the model) whilst holding the transmitter. This will ensure I cannot accidentally have the aerial in the worst direction for range. I will also seriously consider having a failsafe set to kill an IC engine rather than idle – The engine suddenly coming back to life was why I lost control. A dead engine wouldn’t have been so much of a problem!
  4. dave windymiller
    Finally competed the ME163. Finished in 2k red with black added until it looked right (to me) with a 2k Lacquer to protect the decals. These decals were very fragile and the off coloured clear bits show (ah well) . The big mistake is i didnt scan the decals in first. Anyone out there with the decals in jpg form? The control surfaces have surface detail added by using tape, priming then removing the tape to form an edge The maiden was to be Saturday but it didnt happen as my os 25FP didnt run too well with a carb mount screw missing (oops - slight oversight). Next time hopefully!
  5. dave windymiller
    Jetsmunt VT80 is a cracking engine too!
  6. dave windymiller
    Recording height doesnt have to be expensive! I found this very informative when flying my jet to the point of investing in real time telemetry for it!
  7. dave windymiller
    My other life is this. Imported from New Zealand in 1984 as this colour Kawasaki H2 750 triple two stroke wasnt available in the UK. Many a happy rally with like minded hooligans' who never grew up either! It now sports expansion pipes as after 35+ years, one needs a change.
  8. dave windymiller
    Used lead solder that has a flux in the center as its easiest ! Alternatively, if you cant get lead solder or you want to embrace the latest ecological thinking, use lead free solder but again fluxed.
  9. dave windymiller
    It is possible to "downgrade" (or "repair" as i thought of it) an SG14 to v4. I did it to mine after upgrading to V5 and found all my frsky receivers didnt work any more!! http://www.ripmax.com/Futaba_Upgrade.aspx?UGID=T14SG
  10. dave windymiller

    dave windymiller commented on dave windymiller's gallery image in Member Albums

    Triple H2 triple! "Rainbow chaser"
  11. dave windymiller

    dave windymiller commented on dave windymiller's gallery image in Member Albums

    Ex work colleague Phil Baimbridge. 1700cc triple. scratch built engine/chassis! Scary!
  12. dave windymiller

    dave windymiller commented on dave windymiller's gallery image in Member Albums

    Over 50 years old! Given to me as a wreck. Refurbished for next nats chuck n duck
  13. dave windymiller

    dave windymiller commented on dave windymiller's gallery image in Member Albums

    My first rc model - Snipe Feb 1970 aeromodeller free plan. Pepped up with an enya 09. I had this model over 40 years until a radio failure last year (hit the off switch as i launched it), saw it disappear into the wilderness never to be seen again. Home built 27mhz receiver on board. Since built a replica, still working on the new receiver!
  14. dave windymiller
    We used to run model diesel engines in the shed until the eyes stung too much. Tried it with a pulse jet but my dad had other ideas on the issue . I guess he could hear it despite the noise abatement. CO poisoning? That was for wimps. Pater Noster lifts! Had my arm broke on one of them at Perry Barr College in 82. It was decided that it was my turn for the trip down from ground floor into the dark. As you journey into the gloom, the emergency stop would be pushed so you spent hours trapped. I resisted the push of several "friends" by holding on the handles until one came off the wall breaking my wrist on the other one.
  15. dave windymiller
    You can get quite a good matt finish with aerokote by spraying on a very fine misting layer as a final coat!
  16. dave windymiller
    20210219_203421.jpg
  17. dave windymiller
    20210219_204119.jpg
  18. dave windymiller
    20210219_204111.jpg
  19. dave windymiller
    20210219_203725.jpg
  20. dave windymiller
    20210219_203505.jpg
  21. dave windymiller
    This program draws a red plane on screen one and a yellow plane on screen 2 /* STM32F103C8T6 & two ST7789 240x240 displays #01 GND -> GND #02 VCC -> VCC 3.3v                            (5V is brighter but use at own risk!!!) #03 SCL -> display1 PA5/SCK               display2 PB3/SCK #04 SDA -> display1 PA7/MOSI             display2 PB5/MOSI #05 RES -> display1 PA0                       display2 PA2 #06 DC -> display1 PA1                         display2 PA3 #07 BLK -> NC */ #define TFT_RST1 PA0 // dc and rst pins for display1 #define TFT_DC1 PA1 #define TFT_RST2 PA2 // dc and rst pins for display2 #define TFT_DC2 PA3 #define SCR_WD 240 #define SCR_HT 240 #include #include Arduino_ST7789 tft = Arduino_ST7789(TFT_DC1, TFT_RST1); void setup(void) { // draw RED plane ON SCREEN1 tft.init(SCR_WD, SCR_HT); tft.fillScreen(BLACK); tft.fillRoundRect(110, 210, 22, 2, 0, RED); tft.fillRoundRect(120, 205, 2, 22, 0, RED); tft.fillRoundRect(115, 222, 12, 2, 0, RED); // remap SPI1 to new pins Arduino_ST7789 tft = Arduino_ST7789(TFT_DC2, TFT_RST2); afio_remap(AFIO_REMAP_SPI1); gpio_set_mode (GPIOB, 3, GPIO_AF_OUTPUT_PP); gpio_set_mode (GPIOB, 5, GPIO_AF_OUTPUT_PP); // draw YELLOW plane ON SCREEN2 tft.init(SCR_WD, SCR_HT); tft.fillScreen(BLACK); tft.fillRoundRect(110, 210, 22, 2, 0, YELLOW); tft.fillRoundRect(120, 205, 2, 22, 0, YELLOW); tft.fillRoundRect(115, 222, 12, 2, 0, YELLOW); } void loop() { } The above code needs the following library to work Arduino_ST7789_STM.h I can send the files for the twin cockpit displays on request. I think ive taken this as far as i can so thats all folks. Cheers Dave Edited By dave windymiller on 22/01/2021 22:00:34
  22. dave windymiller
    This thread has certainly been an education for me! I recently took delivery of two “Blue pill” STM32F103C8T6 processors. At first I couldn’t get them to work which turned out to be an error on the board with R3 being 100kohms and not 10kohms (well done Google for the answer). All that high tech and a stupid fault stops them working!!! Got them from Banggood whose site photos shows the correct size resistor! Anyhow, new resistors inserted and away they went.  One web site suggest just shorting the resistor out with solder (didnt try that). You need an ftdi board (search ebay) to program it but you can also upload a bootloader which then allows you to program it via its own usb port just like an arduino. These two sites gave the info i used:- https://www.electronics-lab.com/project/programming-stm32-based-boards-arduino-ide/ https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/akarsh98/using-a-stm32-like-an-arduino-tutorial-stm32f103c8-1073cb These boards totally outperform arduinos and have much larger memory. They also have two SPI bus connections who’s pins can be relocated too. As such, it is possible to have 2 displays from one chip. This was done using sp1 only but redefining its pins after one screen was drawn. It features a larger bitmap of the weather too. This approach takes a noticeable time to swap from one display to another so probably best to have a static display on screen 1 then an animated one on the second screen rather than keep swapping back & forth? Alternatively you could in theory use spi2 at the same time as spi1 but ive not sussed that yet!! Next post a simple example.   Edited By dave windymiller on 22/01/2021 22:10:41
  23. dave windymiller

    dave windymiller posted a gallery image in Member Albums

  24. dave windymiller
    Whilst playing I also came across code snippets from a clock program that useful for drawing tick marks on a curve which could be easily adapted.     // Draw 12 lines for(int i = 0; i<360; i+= 30) {             // (360/30 = 12! sx = cos((i-90)*0.0174532925);         // 0.01745.... is 1 degree in radians sy = sin((i-90)*0.0174532925);            // -90 starts drawing at 12oclock. 0 = 3 oclock ! x0 = sx*114+120;                               // 120 is x and y centre of 240 screen yy0 = sy*114+120;                             // 114 is outer radius from centre of tick x1 = sx*100+120;                           // 100 is inner radius from centre of start of tick yy1 = sy*100+120;                              // 100 – 114 (=14!) is length of tick tft.drawLine(x0, yy0, x1, yy1, GREEN)       // colour is declared earlier in program     Similar simpler version for dots:- // Draw 60 dots for(int i = 0; i<360; i+= 6) { sx = cos((i-90)*0.0174532925); sy = sin((i-90)*0.0174532925); x0 = sx*102+120; yy0 = sy*102+120; // Draw minute markers tft.drawPixel(x0, yy0, WHITE); // Draw main quadrant dots if(i==0 || i==180) tft.fillCircle(x0, yy0, 2, WHITE); if(i==90 || i==270) tft.fillCircle(x0, yy0, 2, WHITE);   There are various number to play with here to create the right screen ! Hopefully some of this will be of help/interest to someone! Cheers Dave   Edited By dave windymiller on 14/01/2021 16:30:26
  25. dave windymiller
    Thanks to Steve J’s comments ive been playing with a ESP32 processor and managed to adapt the two screens ive done thus far onto it. These processors are a bit of a faf to get set up within the arduino IDE program but once sorted, almost as easy as the arduinos. Different librarys are needed and some instructions needed altering to get them to work. It takes longer to compile being a 32 bit dual core processors but the compile also appears to compress the programs/memory requirements at the same time! Once compiled and running, it quickly became clear that these chips are in a different league performance wise. I also played with the size of the bitmap image and it happily copes with the weather now occupying a full 240x240 and still has memory room for graphics on top. I have an stm32 on order to play with and this looks to be a similar size to the arduino but similarly a lot more powerful!
×
×
  • Create New...