nigel fatbloke

September????? ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! That means it's THAT time of year. Again. Into the hibernation bunker , for what seems like an eternity. Just picked up the "comic" ,but not read it yet ,as due to a bit of a health crisis ongoing around here with "'er indoors", not a great deal is getting done. That article will be handy when I get to other projects I have lined up for my other drones ,and possibly some fixed-wing jobs. At least the F550 can't hide it's position from me now. Just need to get out in the dark and generate some U.F.O. sightings, now !

Sorted! A few LED strips, and a small 3S ,and job done. Only needed to extend a little on the wires on the strips, and plug to the balance socket with a nifty HobbyKing 6-way 2 pin JST flylead , zip-tie the wiring and now no orientation woes. Green on starboard, 2 whites to front- none of this red leading malarkey - ,red to port, and 2 reds as tail-lamp. Too easy! Pic to follow , I expect. Edited By nigel fatbloke on 15/08/2017 09:47:37 Edited By nigel fatbloke on 15/08/2017 09:47:56

It's these , from HK. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/catalogsearch/result/?q=9070000055-0 I had intended to strap on a small 3S , as the weight is of no consequence ,and thought the balance connector would give the power required ,just using that in lieu of any on/off or phase switching. The complication arises from the presence of the controller board, which needs to be connected and powered from a spare channel , which I don't have. I've tried a Y-lead to various places , even motor outputs on the Naza , to no avail . I don't know if there are any channels on the Naza unit suitable to piggyback with a Y-lead , I even tried the same dodge with the S-Bus connection from the DT 16 Rx-zilch there, too . I did try plugging the balance plug on the lights to a 3S, and removed the pins from the servo plug connector from the controller board and manually made a parallell connection to that balance plug and they worked.At one point I had a big short and flash , presumably I let something slip and caused the short , but it was a wake-up call not to mess with Li-Po's! Another way ,would be to get some "bare" L.E.D.'s suitable for the voltage in use, either the spare 3S or the F550's 4S flight pack , and plug 'em straight into the balance connector thereof. But I've tried similar stunts with a pair of circular L.E.D.'S on a Quanum CX 20 wiring them both into parallell at the balance connector ,to find only one works , not both . Semiconductors ,eh? Don't ya just love 'em. Might have unwittingly created some sort of bridge rectifier mutant contraption , if anyone knows how to , or if, you can get these things to work either in series, or more likely in a parallell configuration I'd love to know how. I reckon the series thing would be a non-starter , but the wiring would be a lot tidier ,but the voltages would be wrong I suspect. I need a beer to oil my alleged brain , methinks ! Cue Homer Simpson voiceover....."Thinking juice......expand my mind!"   Edited By nigel fatbloke on 04/08/2017 10:59:47

Yep, there's a balance connector, but also a 3 pin servo-type plug to go into a spare Rx channel , which , given the radio I have installed ,is not available. I have tried just connecting the balance connector to a Li-Po , with no result- however....I've tried them on a Volantex Ranger EX , I have , connecting to channel 7 on the Hitec Rx ,and the balance connector on the Li-Po , and they work , switched just as a basic on/off , there's about 3 flash modes on the lights ,but always on will be good enough .   That channel 7 I use for control of 2 Banggod strobes ,which are good , really bright they are , an' all ! I ended up using the DJI radio as 1- I'm familiar with 'em because I have a few Phantoms of various marks, 2- it's an easy set-up , and 3- and this sucks, really ,I could'nt get a couple of low-cost little plastic doo-dads to make a sprung return to center throttle on my spare, new and un-used Hitec Eclipse. The dji Tx has the convenient thumbwjeel for a gimbal's control , which is nice , but I don't really see me having a camera on the F550 , I have other drones as noted for that caper . So why do I have a 550/ Dunno ,really. Seemed like a good idea at the time M'Lud.................. In the meantime. I'll see if I can get everything wired to the + and - on the balance plug and see if they will come on. I don't know if I be coming or going at the best of times. Allegedly. Edited By nigel fatbloke on 03/08/2017 10:54:44 Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 03/08/2017 11:37:31

I have a DJI F 550 , which is fine , as far as it goes. But when it does go far ,orientation becomes an issue . I have a set of Turnigy 6x .LE.D. lights , they have a balance plug for power to the lights, and a Rx plug to control switching , flash patterns etc., and on/off. Thing is , I need to connect 'em to the electrickery on the Naza or some such , my radio is the DJI DT 7 Tx with DR 17 Rx , which wires up to all the black box gubbins with a single 3-core servo type cable and works by D-bus , or some other multiplexing protocol . There is no spare channel available , all 7 are occupied by flight and mode/gimbal control . Anyone have any ideas as to how I might get these lights to go on this bird? I don't even care about being able to switch 'em , either on'off , or flash modes etc. I'd be happy with always on when powered up to fly. There appears to be some spare servo type outs on the Naza , and/or GPS units . Anyone done this before? Would be nice to know if I be coming or going ! Edited By nigel fatbloke on 30/07/2017 12:20:34

Apparently... Optima SL receivers DO work with basic Aurora 9 . It's Maxima ones that need to pair with A9x. So now shopping for SL Rx. Thanks , Frank for the pointers, the Wingstabi saga grinds on , then.

Rightio... just need to verify the SL Rx's will play with an Aurora 9 . Knowing my luck ,they'll only jive with a 9x ,which I don't have , so that'll be the end of the Wingstabi.

Blast it all! Looks like the Wingstabi will go back in the box , unless a Optima SL will play with it. Will do a bit more digging around and find out if a Rx change to a SL will work ,MPX have responded and hinted that it is the way to go . The only way with Hitec , it seems. Will have to wait until after the weekend now as I have my hands more than full with a family medical crisis . Just wot I need . Thanks, Frank , for the quick response , some good nuggets of "gen" in same.

Not loving Windoze 10 64-bit . USB implementation in this seems to be quite busted. Never mind. Here's what I need to achieve, so then it be over to you, folks ! 1. How to physically connect the Wingstabi to a Hitec Optima 7? Cable from data port on Rx to "in" on Wingstabi unit? And is it then just a matter of plugging servos into the requisite channel outputs on the Wingstabi box to appropiate servos? 2.Anyone have any luck getting the MPX launcher to connect to PC via automatic or com5 mpx port as called out on the drop-down on the MPX launcher screen at top-left ? 3. Why is this kind of thing so blasted difficult? I have big issues with W 10 and USB on other pieces of kit, not just model stuff. Worst was DJI assistant for multicopters. 4. Do I need to take more beer with it ? 5. There is a connection port on the Wingstabi with some icon , looks like "MSB". Not called out in the booklet for the Winstabi , which is not tres informatif, mon ami . Any ideas? 6. Bring back XP ! Enough for now, already.   Thanks in advance for any advice or  info , sage or otherwise. Even if it's "Take more beer with it" . Happy to oblige.     Edited By nigel fatbloke on 20/07/2017 09:45:54 Edited By nigel fatbloke on 20/07/2017 09:46:29 Edited By nigel fatbloke on 20/07/2017 09:47:59

As I suspected, then . Flap slider needs moved to opposite end of travel to program for extension speed. Now got me 10 second extend/retract cycle,5 down , 5 back up . Sweet.

Denis, Yep . I got that . The issue is at the moment it only affects servo travel upon retraction, not extension. One thing to try when I get a chance is to move the flap control- left slider as I have it- to full flap and see if it switches the highlighted value on the screen to "L" position , rather than "H" ,or vice-versa , as a similar setup applies to other functions on the Aurora. I'm thinking those may be end point or sub trim or similar. If this IS how it's done , I'da thunk it oughtta been called out in the manual . I do have a servo-slow gizmo someplace, but it's weight saved , and more space inside if it's not required. I'd have to find it first. A task not undertaken lightly , and only then , with much trepidation...........

Well' 76 miles, a gallon of derv and 40 quid later, the Y-leads are in and rock solid. Pity the multi-plugs did'nt hack it. I reckon it's an alignment issue , will wire up some servos and check as the units were removed intact, despite the little voice in me head sayin' " smash 'em !!!" . Now all I have to do is get HK to send me the mising keepers for the linkages which were missing in action. Commercial ones I have don't quite look secure enough, the HK ones are single-sided , so get a more positive hold on the 90 degree bend than 't others. I like the Tundra, tho' it be a curate's egg for sure. I have a servo-slow facility on my Aurora 9 Tx , but it seems  as tho' I can get flap retract as slow as I want, deploying them is almost instant. Unless I've missed summat in the  Aurora manual ,but I'm sure I have'nt . Unless anyone knows any different , of course I'd be pleased to learn of this. Believe it or not , I've overlooked the obvious before. I claim immunity from sarcasm on age grounds. Thanx all for input on this , seemingly random but by no means isolated caper. Edited By nigel fatbloke on 14/04/2017 13:15:18

Rosco, yeah, that's JUST how mine went . Fine at first , went for a beer from the fridge, then all went to carp. Maybe it likes not ye beer ! I am thinking that alignment of various pins may be behind all this, but the conductive flux video on u-toob is pretty convincing , too.

Good suggestion, Frank . Missed that one. Only have 6 channels on the Rx to play with , so will keep flaps as a single channel on a Y-lead ,differential for aileron would be handy,tho'. Servos check out good, have removed the multi-pin connectors and restored full function. Need more Y-leads and short extensions now. Off to Webbo's tomorrow, then . The sevo's plugs need to be absolutely shoved home into the Y-lead sockets, tho' , else connexion is flakey. Did try the cleaning of the excess flux , but only from one wing -side connector, left all the fuz ones and 't other wing one alone , so that bit is inconclusive for me. The HK multi-pin connectors are off to the landfill bin, then.Pity- good idea,rubbish execution thereof.

Dug out a flap servo last night, and found that standard servo plugs are used , so will be easy to check servos in turn to spot a dud. Did find a post on YouTube suggesting that a conductive flux used in the boards construction was causing these symptoms. When cleaned off -all was well when muttley-metered, so that'll be looked into as well. Have contacted HK , but not hopeful , having already removed the covering tape and one servo might've knacked any warranty claim. Ought not to , given the widespread occurrence of this thing. If it comes to it , I'll replace the servos and use Y-leads ,but will be cheesed off to lose the convenience factor of just plugging the wings on and no wire wrestling. Have some MPX green plugs ,might be an option . We'll see. Edited By nigel fatbloke on 12/04/2017 13:08:43 Edited By nigel fatbloke on 12/04/2017 13:09:05