Romeo Whisky
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Agreed Erfolg - a wattmeter is a MUST-HAVE for electric flyers. I never fly anything without checking it on a bench rig first, and I keep detailed setup data sheets for all my models.Edited By Romeo Whisky on 30/10/2009 11:31:13
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Thanks to everyone. As you may have gathered, I was half-expecting to be subjected to ridicule and derision (as I have been some time ago on a certain well-known US site) so all these sensible and considerate responses are really appreciated. I have always treated ALL my types of batteries with great respect, and my own-design system for both avoiding shorts and denoting charged or discharged pack is actually still the best I have come across. (I'll post photos in an album for any who are interested - I still haven't worked out how to post photos in a thread). I am very disappointed in the withdrawal of the Hi-Model LiFePO4s, as they are same weight as an 8-cell GP1300 NiMh and same size and capacity as a 2000mAh LiPo, and could fly virtually all my models, allowing me to switch seemlessly between them and NiMh without reprogramming the ESC or propping down. The A123 packs (eg. from Puffin) look great but they are big and will only fit into one of my models. So I am looking forward to the extra power and punch and duration of LiPos - (I have flown borrowed LiPos so I know the benefits). And I'm also looking forward to the reduced cost, as prices have dropped steeply for some makes, and the LiFePO4s were expensive! Can anyone give me a bit more definitive info about keeping them in cold conditions? My new Sigma II Charger has a Storage Charge mode, but I try to fly as often as weather permits through the winter so would like to store them charged up for that quick sortie, and I still don't fancy keeping them in the house.
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Thanks guys. I don't want to worry anyone but I heard recently of a car burning outside a model shop and afterwards the firemen gave the owner a charred corner of LiPo bag and said they didn't know what it was but it was found near the seat of the fire! I have bought a couple of these but wish they had a gusset rather than being completely flat, and even the big one will really only hold two packs comfortably. Can they actually self-combust even if not short-circuited? And what about puffing up? I've heard of some who say "discard them" and others who keep on charging and flying them with no probelms. Some of my LiFePO4s were slightly puffed when I bought them and they've been fine all year. I have lined a steel cash-box and an old steel electric drill box with fablon, and built a charging workbench topped with floor tiles in the garage, and I've got some balance-plug extension leads for the packs to get them further from the chargers. Charging in a pyrex dish? - still thinking about that one. But I am steadily gearing up for LiPo day. Two aspects still concern me though: one is smoke damage (which can be considerable even in a minor fire) and the other is transporting in the car. I have always used small wooden blocks to insulate the leads (round for charged, square for discharged). As for i/c Myron, my observations are that electric flyers spend their time at the field actually flying, while i/c flyers spend it tinkering with engines! Depends which you want to do! (Each to his own I guess, but I'm no mechanic).
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I keep my LiFePO4s warm by transporting them in an insulated Thermos "Cool Bag" in separate canvas "pencil cases" along with a bunch of freshly-charged (and therefore warm NiMh packs (remember them?).Edited By Romeo Whisky on 29/10/2009 12:32:07
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This might come as a shock to some, but even though I have been flying nothing but electric models for 7 years, I still don't own a LiPo battery pack! I know, I know - just an old Luddite! I've got NiCds, NiMH and a load of Hi-Model square-section LiFePO4 2000mAh packs which have been great! But sadly these last have now been discontinued and are getting tired so I can fight the trend to LiPo no more. After reading forums for years I just cannot rid myself of the fears of burning down my house, incinerating my car, trashing all my chargers and bonfiring my entire stock of batteries when stored or transported together! I am also concerned about expensive LiPos dying on me en masse over the winter months in the garage. So please guys - don't ell me I'm a Luddite or paranoid. Please don't tell me you treat them with contempt and have got away with it so far, or charge them unattended at 5C in a barn full of dry straw with never a problem. Please tell me what PRACTICAL solutions there for totally safe ... Charging Storage Transporting that I can have complete confidence in without costing the earth. A pal has just spent a fortune on a Graupner charging box but I can't afford one of those, and he needs a crane to lift it.
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BECS and regulator info ( beginners )
Romeo Whisky replied to Tim Mackey's topic in General Electric Flight Chat
Thanks Timbo - much appreciated. So it doesn't sound as though I'm gaining much, but not losing anything. it's all helpful in learning about new things. UBECs are new territory to me. There are some related points which perhaps you could clear up for me:- 1. Some servos (eg. SD200) only refer to 4.8V as their operating voltage. Are all servos OK with 6V or will some fry? 2. I have ESCs with BECs rated from 1.5A upwards, and they all mention how many STANDARD servos they will drive depending on input voltage, but as I only use minis and micros I have no idea how much less (or more?) power they consume. 3. Spektrum RXs are said to need 3.8V minimum so why is 6V better than 5V input - is it just a matter of headroom? 4. Never bought an OPTO ESC but earlier on in this thread you mention that OPTO EScs and UBECs are really incompatible. Not sure of difference between an OPTO and a standard ESC with the red wire cut. Friends also seem to think they're virtually the same animal. 5. When you cut the red wire on a standard (BEC) ESC, what is the internal effect of this? Since a linear BEC generates heat, will the ESC run cooler with a UBEC fitted? Some of these queries might seems obvious to you, but believe me, when a bunch of model flyers with different experiences start talking about these things you get as many opinions as there are people, and some definitive info is worth a great many guesses and opinions! -
Whats the Best and Worst plane you have ever flown?
Romeo Whisky replied to Solid Snake's topic in All Things Model Flying
Worst was Wattage Mini-Max - my first and last purchase of a depron model! Best is more difficult as I have had lots of "bests" as I've climbed the learning curve over the past 7 years. As I presume the purpose of this thread is as a "lesson" for others (worst) or ideas for next model (best), I'll cheat and tell you my best models of past 7 years that are still available. I only fly electric by the way:- Multiplex EasyStar (cut my teeth on this) Multiplex Mini-Mag huge fun full house and a powerful motor Multiplex Gemini (Are you noticing a trend here? Multiplex make beautifully engineered models). GWS Formosa - (everyone should have one) Seagull Extra 300 EP - my most-flown model this year - not available now, but replaced by Edge 540 EP which is similar -
BECS and regulator info ( beginners )
Romeo Whisky replied to Tim Mackey's topic in General Electric Flight Chat
I have just fitted a 3A UBEC into a model, and to be honest, although it works OK I'm not really sure what I've achieved - ie. is there really any benefit? The model is an Overlander 1.2m Tucano, with a big 1500Kv inrunner, 10x5 prop, Mtroniks Genesis 60A ESC with 3A BEC (presumably linear) and all powered from a 2200mAh 8-cell NiMh. (Model needs a ton of weight up front to balance). I have "cut" the red lead from the ESC and fitted the UBEC as per instructions. Servos are 2 HS81 (ailerons) and 2 SD200 (R/E). My reason for fitting the UBEC is that this set up takes a lot out of the battery pack, and I've also noticed the ESC gets hot and I'm afraid of thermal cut-out (although it has a massive heatsink). Having just changed the RX to a Spektrum AR6200 I wanted to be sure of avoiding brown-outs, and although I had previously fitted a separate 4-cell RX pack I felt very uncertain of the reliability of this with Spektrum hi-voltage requirement compared to 35MHz and of course it is heavy and space up front for it is a problem too. Will the UBEC give me a more reliable power source for the RX and servos when close to or at LVC - that's really the main issue? Edited By Romeo Whisky on 29/10/2009 08:28:26 -
What's all this about "painted the boxes" David? You young whipper-snappers today!!! They came in polythene bags mate! With a header-sheet folded and stapled to the top with the picture on the front, data on the back and you had to unstaple it carefully and open it up as the instructions and explosion diagrams were all inside. And all the single-engined model aircraft were 2 bob (10p). Boxes were only for the big-'uns like the Lancaster (7/6d - that's about 35p today) and Sunderland (12/6d - or 65p in "new" money). I remember the Sunderland coming out, and it was their biggest and most expensive at the time (I had to have one of course so had to save up my pocket money). I saw one the other day in a toy shop and you'd need a second mortgage to buy one today!
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I really enjoyed the programme, as a lifelong love of aeroplanes was sparked by an Airfix Spitfire which my mother bought me to keep me amused when I was ill in bed aged about 10. As JM said, it was the included data about the real aircraft that was so genuinely educational and gave added value out of all proportion to the cost. In my case it also triggered a thirst for WW2 historical information (Dads didn't seem willing to talk about it much but it was very recent history to "baby-boom" youngsters in the 1950s). It also kept me firmly focused on prop-power - jets never had the same appeal for me and always seemed somehow sterile by comparison to the warbirds of WW2. The other thing that made me laugh was the mention of shooting them up with an air rifle! (Guilty m'Lord - hung them from the washing line!). In the end I had hundreds, and that's how I thinned out the ones my mother damaged (accidentally-on-purpose?) while dusting! The other point of note for me was the Airfix "Spares Dept". As I began to realise what a pathetic job I had made of painting the early ones I decided to repaint them and wrote to Airfix asking if they would sell me new decals for them all. They sent me free of charge a big envelope with decals from just about every model they made at that time, and in doing so won my total loyalty and my pocket-money for years to come!
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Don't know this one Howard, but if you want a good first electric model, you cannot do better than a Multiplex EsayStar (hand launch) or EasyCub (Piper Cub-style high winger), both made of strong elapor foam which is hard to break and easily repairable if you do. The thing you need most in a first trainer is the ability to self-right when you take your hands off the sticks, and stable enough to allow you thinking-time when you suddenly lose orientation.
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Landing for the first time isn't as amazing with a small electric model, just cut the power and it lands itself Try that hands off with a Formosa from 150ft Peter!!
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Of course in the UK technically (Sale of Goods Act) you have no contract with the manufacturer or wholesale distributor when you buy from a Model Shop. In law the only redress is from the retailer who sold the item. So on this basis you should not be sending them back to Horizon at all, but to the place where you bought them, on the basis that either they're not fit for purpose, or do not conform to their stated specification. However the only obligation on the part of the retailer is to refund your money, although you may accept an offer to repair or replace it.
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My alter ego - Baldrick has a cunning plan .... My theory is that for the next few days no-one will post anything. So NOW is the time to order stuff because Royal Mail will have so little stuff to shift on the non-strike days that it'll arrive even quicker than before. BRC are posting me some stuff today!
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Timbo:- Point 1 I accept that the receiver still works as a receiver, and clearly one should take every precaution to ensure a brown-out does not occur - but virtually all electric flyers of models under 2Kg probably rely on a BEC, and cannot afford the extra weight of a 5-cell RX pack so this should not be an issue, and to be fair it has not been an issue on any of my models so far. Point 2. The binding process instructions are briefer for the AR500 than for other Spektrum RXs and indeed does indicate that only the throttle is "failsafed". Other Spektrum RXs actually tell you to rebind again once the model is set up to record all the failsafe settings. Is that misleading as well? Point 3. I quote from the AR500 User Guide:- "Should an interruption of power occur (brownout) the system will reconnect immediately when power is restored (QuickConnect)". If they state "immediately" - then immediately it should be - (and it is on all except the one unit which failed their test). Point 4. I agree it may be better than some other companies, but that does not change the fact that if I pay for something that does not meet its stated specification, I should not have to incur additional costs in order to have the fault rectified.
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YES - I bought this one from Aldi a few months ago when they first had it. Really depends what you want it for. It is absolutely useless for filming flying model aircraft because it has no viewfinder. I've tried rigging various types of gun-sight to it but for this purpose it is useless. (And you cannot see the screen in bright daylight). For filming the grand-children in the garden it is great for the price. Another issue that might be relevant is that being HD, its file format is not recognised by Windows Media Centre so you have to use the software that comes with it to view and convert the films on the PC. It works and converts OK, but it does take extra time, and you cannot download the files using a SD card -reader on your PC - you must download from the camcorder itself. Just a bit fiddly and time-consuming. All that said - it is cracking good value fpr money and looks suspiciously similar spec and design to some "better-branded" ones costing twice the price.
