Geoff S

I've downloaded and installed the latest OpenTXCompanion ver 2.2on359. I've set the radio type to Taranis (mine is an early transmitter) and tried to rewrite the firmware to ver2.2. What happens is that after I've selected the new firmware and asked it to burn it to my transmitter the down load appears to work OK but then I get a message "New firmware is not compatible with the one currently installed" The firmware that is installed is opentx-taranis ver 2.17. I've backed that up on my PC and burnt it from Companion successfully (apparently, at least I get no errors). Is the earlier standard Taranis not compatible with any later firmware updates? If so, it could be the reason I can't get my S6R receiver to work as it demands ver 2.2 firmware according to the data sheet. What am I doing wrong? Any advice gratefully received. Geoff

Posted by Phil 9 on 10/11/2016 13:32:47: Posted by Keith Evans 3 on 10/11/2016 10:22:57: How about this for a conspiracy theory . Both Brexit and the U.S. elections had their voting systems hacked into , by a third party , in order to destabilise the western world . ! ! ! did trump not claim it was all rigged before he won? No. He was going to claim it was rigged only if he lost Geoff

I would say that if you get the timer beeps that your speaker and earphone connection is OK then the fault lies in the speech signal. Have you tried downloading a new sound file? I think OpenTX 2.2 needs a new speech file so if you've updated your Taranis recently that might be the problem. Geoff

Matty, I've already reflashed the firmware. I have 2 Taranises (sp?) and I've been using the 'disposable' one I repaired. I suppose I could try the 'serious' one but I'm not very hopeful. I was thinking of having another session today now I've cooled down a bit I just don't want to update to OpenTx v2.2 or whatever as it means sorting out yet another voice file. Having continually to update software is getting too much like being at work Geoff

Yes, that's an easy thing to try and quite likely, too. Let us know how you get on. Geoff

Then replacing the speaker is unlikely to help. I can only suggest you open the case and have a look for broken wires or dry joints around the area where the wires to the loudspeaker join the PC board. I can't remember what it looks like as I haven't had mine open for a while but it sounds like a poor connection somewhere rather than a component failure. Just a guess, of course. Geoff

Does she speak to you through headphones? If she doesn't the fault isn't the speaker. It's elswhere. Geoff

Posted by kc on 09/11/2016 19:11:11: I think the opinion polls do have an effect on elections. I reckon that if you read that 'your' party is ahead then there is less incentive to vote, while if 'yours' is behind then you might even go out in the rain to vote just to help. Best to make publishing opinion polls about elections illegal I suggest. I believe opinion polls in the closing phase of an election are illegal or prohibited in some countries but I'm not sure where. That would seem a good thing to me but possibly unenforceable in this internet age. It does seem to wrong to discuss any sort of exit poll until the election is finished. That's easy here but in a country like the USA which covers several time zones (4 inc Alaska?) more problematic. It seems that as Clinton did win the popular the polls weren't so far out. The winner takes all system in each state for the electoral college distorts the vote. It did yesterday and it did when Bush beat Gore in 2000 and Gore led the popular vote by about 500,000 votes. Geoff

I can get mine to bind (International firmware) but it doesn't do anything useful. The RF continually swamps the transmitter and gives the 'Telemetry Lost' /'telemetry regained' messages on and off continuously even when they are over a metre apart. I've given up. I just got totally frustrated after struggling for hours and getting nowhere. It's not in the bin ... yet - but it's close. Geoff

The polls didn't get it so far wrong. The final result was within the margin of error and most were saying it was really too close to call though Clinton was about 2% in the lead. In this case I think, instead of the Sun, it was the FBI what won it! Their announcement just 9 days before the election swayed a number of people and their subsequent statement that there was no problem with the emails came too late. Trump waged a vicious and vindictive campaign light on policy and heavy on accusations. Lets hope he calms down now or we're in for a rough ride. It's been a funny year. At least we dodged the PM Boris bullet Geoff

As I said earlier this is a technical hobby and you must expect to do some work to understand it. You're not buying a simple consumer item designed for ignorant users (I don't use the term 'ignorant' perjoratively. We're all ignorant about lots of things). You're buying something to be used by an 'expert' in an intelligent way. A level of understanding is required and you get that knowledge by reading either in books/magazines or here, on the internet. All activities have their shorthand and jargon and the things you're complaining about are the ones related to our hobby I started playing with and riding motorcycles back in 1956 when every rider had to be a mechanic - an 'expert'. No-one left home without a toolkit. Cars of the time could be repaired by the user quite easily, but most took them to a garage. Most motor cyclists I knew did 90% of their own repairs/maintenance (sometimes at the side of the road!) and were proud that they knew how. That's aeromodelling now, even with ARTF and RTF models and that's what makes it interesting. Geoff

I agree about planking, Peter. I've never planked an aeroplane but the bow and stern sections of my barge are planked and the stern particularly is quite tortuous. The main hull is a simple flat sided box for maximum load and the ability to take the ground when the tide goes out in the east coast rivers. I really wish you'd stop publishing such attractive designs. I've got a long enough building queue as it is. Geoff

Do you expect servos to give details of maximum torque (in imperial and metric units?) as well as the maximum applied voltage on the body or glow engines to tell you that the 40 means 0.4 cu ins or 6.5 cc? I'm afraid this is a technical hobby and you have to do a little work for yourself. There's lots of information on line about just about all aspects of the hobby as well as fora like this one. As Allan says, there isn't room for everything to be written on the battery without cluttering it all up with tiny print so there's a recognised shorthand. The big number (2200 in your case) is the battery capacity in mAh, 3S is the number of 3.7v cells in series (ie 11.1v nominal but about 12.6 fully charged so a voltage isn't all that useful) and the other number 35C is the output current rating expressed as value compared to the capacity (C) so 35 x2.2 amps = 77 amps. Whether the units are expressed in mA or Amps is a convention. I use either. It's like a 40 size glow engine isn't called a 0.4 engine - or 6.5 cc come to that. Interestingly one thing car batteries don't tell you is their capacity although they do give a figure for the maximum current draw. I certainly agree with Allan about motor data. Whilst the power rating is useful what I really want to know is the safe current - much more useful if you want to keep the smoke inside. The power rating has more to do with the physical characteristics ie how strong it is. Geoff

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 08/11/2016 16:10:19: Geoff, on the item details page you will see a small flag on the top right, clicking on this flag should give you a selection of flags representing the various warehouses carrying stock of that item. I selected the Union flag and it changed from US to UK pricing for the LiPo I was looking at. Then when you go to checkout it offers the UK posting options. For the UK mail options you need to select either the UK, Netherlands or International warehouse for each item - I think! Intuitive? Only if you designed the software! Edited By Bob Cotsford on 08/11/2016 16:11:23 Thanks, Bob, I tried that and it worked but, as you write, it's not exactly intuitive. It would still be better if you could select a warehouse globally rather than for individual items. It would save the hit and miss as you try to find something in the UK. The postage seems expensive, too - minimum £6.51 - but I guess it encourages multi-purchases to make the postage less per item. Don't really see the advantage of being able to order from more than one warehouse. I'm waiting to see what happens as I don't have any vital 'needs' right now. Geoff

I think you've hit the nail smack on the head, Erfolg. Most of my HK buys have been LiPos and I've just tried a trial buy which exhibits the same problem I had a few days ago when I experimented. Until you've gone through part of the checkout process you've no idea which warehouse each item is. In most cases for me that seems to have been Russia where there's no postage option at all! If HK don't get this sorted out in a the next week (2 weeks tops) they're toast! We're coming to what is probably the peak buying season for bigger items like radios or models. If they miss that, then it's serious and the few UK model shops still extant will be dancing for joy. This is a pity because I've had consistent good service from them over the past few years. Geoff

Is there really any difference from high to low wing once you've mastered the basics? I built my own 4 channel 40 sized trainer after failing miserably to fly a Precedent Electrafly I'd built with my existing 2 channel 27 Mhz radio I'd been using for model yacht racing. I used the trainer for a while with help from club members and then built a Precedent Fun Fly which I used to pass my 'A'. I don't remember it's being any harder to fly. I'm no ace pilot and I was well into my 50s, so not young either. I'm also dubious about the learn on 3 channel rather than 4. There's no significant difference. In fact I think 4 channel is a lot easier with a control for each of yaw, roll and pitch. From my own experience I'd recommend a Fun Fly though it's not strictly a low wing model, electric or glow. I also don't think there's much difference to flying electric or glow. There are differences, of course, and pros and cons to both but not to flying. An electric model isn't necessarily lighter than glow, either. My electric DB Tiggie (as in my new icon) weighs the same as a glow powered one. Geoff

Me too, Percy. I also only charge at the 1C rate. I also keep an eye on the internal resistance though not in a formal way (ie I don't write it down or record it) but I know once the cell resistance get up to 10 milli-ohms it's getting very much past its best. Geoff

It's funny that the two models have that I'm prepared to fly in windy conditions have very low wing loadings - my foamie Riot and a plan built Limbo Dancer fun fly. With the latter model I've had more damage after landing when it got blown away! I think it might be psychological in that I don't have a lot of time/money invested in either so I'm more relaxed. Even though I'd hate to total the Limbo it wouldn't take long to make another. Geoff

Posted by IanN on 07/11/2016 14:42:06: Last year the decision was to just stick to the winner. But that doesn't mean that's the way it has to be this year. If there are a very clear two (or maybe three?) "winners" then why not go for those. Plenty of precedent for that in past MBs Just a thought, let's see how the voting ends up Or even Precedent if the Fun Fly wins Actually that would be a very easy build for a first timer. I built one of the earlier foam wing ones in a week to replace one I crashed (I was retired so it was full time in the workshop). The new one with a built up wing would take longer but probably be even better than the original. Plus there's already an electric/glow option. I passed my 'A' with mine as a second model so it's fairly docile. I found mine overpowered with an Irvine Q40 and it flew for most of its life with a Super Tigre 34 which was plenty. I voted for the Skywriter but the Fun Fly was my second choice whether I'll actually participate is moot right now. Geoff

Posted by Colin Carpenter on 06/11/2016 13:13:36: Been out this morning with a bog standard Riot in 15 mph + gusts. It flew ok. Clubmates Riot fitted with a Lemon Rx stabiliser flew on rails ! Just the cold fingers that may upset some folks but as I've been rc modelling throughout the winter since 1969 I'm ok Jack !!!!😁 Colin I agree. My Riot is the model I'll turn to in draughty conditions and it puts paid to the allegations that foamies are no use in a wind. MY main problem is the wind chill. My right hand particularly feels the cold and seizes up, which is what might be called a 'bad thing' for a mode 2 flier. I've alleviated that problem a bit by buying some electrically heated fingerless gloves. They're powered from a USB port and I use a Turnigy 10AH pack primarily intended as a portable energy source to recharge things like phones and tablets. I found them on eBay and they're only available in a small size but as I have small hands anyway they're OK. Just Google 'heated fingerless typing gloves' Geoff

I'm always suspicious if they can't be bothered to get them out of storage and photograph them properly. I'm not exactly sure what he is selling. I like the 'Vic' Reeves sixth scale Spitfire parts. If they're all there then I wouldn't think £50 was out of the way. Not sure if there's a drawing, though. Funny that the seller didn't actually read the name on the packs. Geoff

It looks a very attractive shape Peter and quite different from the Ballerina I (and others!) built earlier this year and which is now one of my favourite models. Have you had the wing ribs laser cut? It looks like the edges have that slightly burnt look. It's very narrow at 40mm but if there's enough depth it should be possible to fit a 4S 4000 mAH LiPo. But 40mm shoulder width might make Destiny's accommodation a trifle cramped. It's also possible that an electrically powered version wouldn't need the bump on top of the cowl which may or may not improve its appearance. Nice to see your soldered up fuel tank. My father made me several toys using the same technique. I remember a small lorry. There were few toys around during and just after the war so mine were all either second hand or home made. I've also soldered up vintage motor cycle petrol tanks to repair leaks. It's not difficult if you have a beefy enough iron and make sure the tin/brass etc is hot enough to melt the solder. Mine, which is at least as old as yours, is also a Henley but is 125 watts. Geoff

Posted by Peter Christy on 05/11/2016 10:34:33: I do try and support local businesses - this is a high unemployment area - but I wonder why I bother, when companies like Model Fixings provide a better, cheaper service without me having to leave the comfort of my own home! -- Pete I regularly buy from them as well but for me it IS a local business (I passed the end of Carmen Close only a week ago) so I don't have that dilemma. Geoff

That makes a change, John. It's usually we electric fans who have to do the converting from glow. Now it's glow fan converting from electric. All grist to the mill I'm very tempted by the Skywriter but there's the 3-Way, the Mew Gull and the DB Cirrus Moth as well !! Geoff

Very good, Martin. A bonus for me was that Chris Hoy (sorry SIR Chris Hoy) was on the programme too and what a very genuine bloke he is and not at all like the aggressive personality he adopts on the track. A lot a familiar faces of the aeromodelling feature at Cosford, too. Including a young lad who had his leg strapped up after a football injury who was at our Ashbourne scale day on Sunday last. Sorry didn't catch his name but Tim Hooper said he'd just passed his 'B'. Geoff