Tony Harrison 2

Back for the winter, Peter, so I'll be up for any Larcombe meetings when weather permits. rgds Tony

Certainly it helps, Peter, and thanks. I'm back in Devon at the weekend, will bring along the plane and the bits for it (supplied by David O of this list, whom you know via the forum) to show you when we meet at the field. rgds Tony

Hi David - if you use one of these, it's a good recommendation. Will order one. Thanks for the bits & pieces. Best, Tony

Yes please Simon, but I'll have to get back to you next week with the details. rgds Tony

Thanks again Matty. I think I have most of that info to hand, provided by an expert friend (who suggests perhaps a 12x6 prop) and I'll proceed carefully. rgds Tony

Would either the little "Smart Guard" LiPo battery checker, or my multimeter, do the job? I'd prefer not to have to buy yet another gadget. rgds Tony

Thanks Simon, handy advice. Appreciate the hint about power. I had planned to use the prop that comes with the plane, originally i/c engined - perhaps this is too heavy and a dedicated electric prop is better. Initially using a 500W motor provided by a thoroughly experienced and very knowledgeable friend, with batteries to match, 4S/3700m/amp, and a 60amp ESC. I wonder if you're from Devon: only ever heard "for a pastime" used by a couple of Devonian native friends... rgds Tony

Thanks Matty, but reading all that stuff about kilovolts reminds me of school physics lessons, and makes my head hurt! So long as I end up with a motor of adequate (or a bit more than) power for my plane, I'll be happy to leave the techy background to others. It seems like 500W will do for starters, and I could always upgrade to something with more poke subsequently if I felt it necessary. I'm still very much a beginner: I like scale models, and high-wing planes that are sort of semi-scale, and I can barely fly as yet; I wouldn't wish to move onto fast aerobatic planes in any case, not my thing. I'm in the process of moving from a very light high-wing trainer, to a different high-wing job that's bigger, a fair bit heavier with greater momentum, more solidity in the air - I've handled (under supervision) such aircraft and found them far more "solid" in the air, more confidence inspiring, less blown all over the place by the slightest gust of wind of thermal. I have the plane, plus some bits & pieces to adapt it with (it was originally i/c engined), and needed some reassurance about motor selection. Seems to be sorted now, thanks to the advice from you and others. rgds Tony

Thanks Dick. Sounds like 500W should be fine for my purposes. I know nothing about props, but initially I'd be using a 4S Lipo rated at 3700 ma/hr. rgds Tony

I've come across suggestions that as a basic guide in choosing a brushless motor, calculate around 75W per pound weight of aircraft. Does this still hold? I have in mind a fairly hefty high-wing model which should weigh all-up between five and six pounds - which suggests any motor from 450W upwards. So allowing some leeway, paerhaps a 500W? I'm still very much a beginner, have no interest in aerobatics, just want to fly safely & securely. All advice very welcome. rgds Tony

Posted by Peter Christy on 27/01/2020 10:33:33: ... If you've been using windows for any length of time, you are clearly not that worried about security... -- Pete   Er, Peter, unless I've misunderstood you, this is a bit OTT! I've used Windows for yonks and security has always been my watchword. I pay for the best, currently using Kaspersky, and (touch wood) have never experienced any virus infection or other invasion of my system. I know your tech background and clearly it fits well with your Linux expertise - but the very great majority of folk do not share this expertise and would not be at home with Linux and the highly techy steps needed to use and understand it... Linux is very much for the minority. Windows works well for vast numbers of people - the great majority of whom will never experience security issues, especially if they apply common sense and/or use quality AV software - as opposed to free stuff. You get what you pay for, in software as with everything else. Flying soon, getting out to the field? Today's little hailstorm was not encouraging, but it would be good to visit the field again. I have a Bixler ready to try out... Best, Tony Edited By Tony Harrison 2 on 27/01/2020 19:55:19

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 25/01/2020 09:41:59: I also dont seem to understand the stability problems you keep mentioning. w10 seems good at that and 7 was too. 8 was a dogs dinner mind you but not as bad as something like windows Me. i have many memories of trying to nurse that through an install! Edited By Jon - Laser Engines on 25/01/2020 09:43:10 Agree Jon. IMO life's too short to faff around using a different OS. WinXP Pro was great, so was Win7, avoided Win8 because of its bad rep, Win10 is fine too. Personalising it is easy: though I've used personal computers since the early '80s I'm not a tech geek, just averagely competent. So far as I can see, many/most people's persistent PC difficulties are self-inflicted, and for most folks I really wouldn't advise making life more difficult by using a relatively obscure and non-standard (in terms of domestic, private computing) OS. Those with greater understanding of such things use Linux and are more than happy with it (hi Pete!) but really it's overkill. rgds Tony

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 24/01/2020 11:57:10: "I had a spell using Linux a few years ago..." Over the years I've seen recommendations for Linux many times, but even among computer-tech types (such as the people who fix our computer problems when those arise, which is rarely) I've met hardly any. Since Windows works well for the great majority of people, nearly all the time, I see no point in undergoing the hassle of learning another system. Someone's reference (above) to PCs crashing through a Win10 update surprised me, never experienced anything like that. "My advice to anyone using ANY PC is to invest in an external hard disc, ideally a USB unit around 500GB to 1TB, and a USB memory stick..." Doesn't everyone do this? Surprising, though on reflection it must be quite a few times that friends have mentioned losing everything when the PC crashed - and on being questioned about backups, they admitted to not having done this*... To me it's just baffling that anyone might not back up valuable (or even not so valuable) data, preferably more than once. I've used multiple external HDs for decades, and have enjoyed watching the price come down so that e.g. the 2Tb drives I prefer are cheap as chips. *Re backups, I'd bet many people don't backup their phones. I've had iPhones for some years, despite my reservations about Apple products, because they work so well - far better than the 'orrible Blackberry. Backing these up requires iTunes (unless there's an alternative I don't know about) and I loathe iTunes! I tried it for my digital music database some years ago, and found it awful, plus Apple puts all sorts of crap on your PC that you need to beware of. So I keep iTunes quarantined on an old but still functional laptop, and backup my phone periodically. Proved handy two years ago when I committed the embarrassing faux pas of ditching my phone in the toilet, slipped out of my shirt pocket while rearranging clothing... Fished the thing out straight away but nothing I did would revive it; bought a new iPhone straight away, plugged it into iTunes, restored all my data.

Posted by Ray Wood 4 on 31/12/2019 19:33:28: Hi Cliff. Always have a soft spot for Dan Air since we first flew on one of their 727's for our honeymoon to Ibiza in 1977 My dad flew to Aden in a York in 1944 was shocked at how much the wings flexed up & down !! Regards Ray Edited By Ray Wood 4 on 31/12/2019 19:59:45 Never looked into the York, except for seeing one on display - was that at Duxford, or is there another example somewhere like Cosford or Hendon? Lovely aircraft - I hadn't realised they were around as early as 1944. It's actually the first aircraft type I ever flew in, but that was in 1953 so I remember nothing about whether the wings flexed or not, or anything else! It was an RAF 'plane, Egypt to UK via Malta (overnight stay, engine trouble my Mum tells me) and Marseilles. rgds Tony

Comments on various above, if I may: Optical drives do seem to be considered obsolescent now, and including one in a laptop requires significant extra space - but I still like the facility, if only for a considerable legacy collection of DVDs... Using an external optical drive is possible but it's another piece of gubbins to cart around. Storage space - for many years I haven't been bothered about large internal HDs, relying instead on external HDs for data backup, principally image files. A series of 2Tb externals does it for me, and such things are far cheaper than formerly. I like to have a second internal drive for image processing and cache, again doesn't need to be huge. Currys/PCWorld - agree with Jon, avoid like the plague. Staff have minimal product knowledge and they'll always want to sell you the PC on which they get the biggest commission. Look for a well established independent specialist dealer, show you've done your homework about specs, become a regular customer and get good service, favourable deals. Apple Macs? Among photographers and other visual-artist types, Macs have always been popular - and their advocates are often very strident! Mac pro laptops are lovely (my son, digital designer, uses one) but shockingly expensive: get the same spec in a PC for far less money. I always used PCs, though of course I gave Macs a whirl - I bought a G4 s/h and tried it for most of a year, grew to hate it! Truly in many ways the worst computer I've owned. With reference to what kc has just written, "free online storage" is something I've always shunned and always will! This includes "Cloud" stuff - I would never entrust my data/files to someone else's idea of online storage. Use multiple external drives for backup, and keep at least one copy of everything at another site - mine's at my mum's house, 160 miles away! rgds Tony Edited By Tony Harrison 2 on 17/01/2020 11:21:24

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 15/01/2020 20:38:01: ... To be honest though, you might just do better with a new machine. This machine here **LINK** would run rings around your old one and would last a good long while. There are cheaper alternatives, but that looks like a really nice machine I'm struck by your reference to price, Jon: at well under £300 who'd want a "cheaper alternative"? Like other tech, PCs now seem ridiculously cheap. At the risk of seeming like one of the "I remember when..." brigade, our first domestic IBM PC (replacing an Amstrad PCW...) was a Viglen, chiefly to run WordPerfect 5.1, and with - wait for it - a massive 20Mb of memory. That was a decent quality PC with a good spec for the early '90s - and it cost a grand. We continued to spend that kind of money on a new PC every few years, and my first laptops certainly cost that. I've had good laptops in the past by Toshiba, and Dell - the latter can be good value and well built, but the company is a pain to deal with. The Lenovo to which you link looks pretty decent, thanks for the tip. I'd want 16Gb RAM, and a backlit keyboard, but still. For some years my personal computers for work (entails lots of writing in Word, plus heavy lifting in Photoshop/Bridge for large quantities of big image files) have been custom built by PC Specialist in Wakefield, excellent company to deal with, recommended. rgds Tony

Posted by Simon Chaddock on 14/01/2020 11:49:41: Tony Glad you have found a solution but the DUAILAILE option in the Set up list should not make any difference with the Bixler 2 aileron set up. As both ailerons are connected by a Y lead only the 'Ail' port on the Rx is used. This port operates in exactly the same way regardless as to whether the DUALAILE option is selected or not. It sounds like something else is also going on. The MONITOR function, also in the Set up list, shows what the Tx 'thinks' it is sending. It would be interesting to see if the 'Ail' channel marker still moves without the DUALAILE option being set. If it does that suggest for some reason the Rx is just not 'reading' the Tx aileron command. Not an ideal situation. The 'Ail' position marker certainly moves normally on both my DX6i with or without the DUALAILE option. Simon, thanks for your interesting contribution. Now I'm worried, in case the problem isn't solved after all! I tried repeatedly to get aileron function: swapped leads over, changed polarities, tried a different RX - still no aileron movement at all, just faint intermittent noises. Discovered the dual-aileron option, activated that - Bingo! Ailerons worked. The receiver by the way is a new Spektrum 410. I've just finished the last details, looking forward to trying it in the air when the vile weather subsides. rgds Tony

Posted by fly boy3 on 14/01/2020 07:24:21: Hi, can you explain what the "dual wing servo mode " mentioned by the OP actually does ? Tony,I too can be dim as I am just getting started with 2.4ghz lol. Cheers FB3, I don't know what TX system you have, but mine's a basic Spektrum Dx6i, and more by luck than judgement in scanning (desperately) the manual for some hint as to why the ailerons wouldn't operate, I found a reference to an option in model-setup for dual servos. The Bixler 1.1v2 uses individual aileron servos in each wing, with the leads running to a Y-connector and thence into the RX. I activated this option and got aileron function - previously, not a peep. Good luck with your own 2.4Ghz progress. Tony

Posted by David Ovenden on 13/01/2020 21:53:12: Tony Hope you get the model sorted OK. Will you be taking it out with you to St Jean this year? David Hello David, good to hear from you - never mind the model, I hope you're sorted! But yes, nearly ready to try the Bixler: have abandoned the seemingly impossible task of aligning the provided machine screws through the fuselage/wings, and following advice here I'm going to use a DIY rubber-band retainer system. All dependent on weather too, of course, and right now it's utterly vile! Hope things are better in Gard - where I shall be bringing the Bixler in early April. Angela will be there early Feb for a brief visit, then the two of us on, er, the 8th April. Speaking of which, best to Avril! Tony

Posted by Maurice Dyer on 13/01/2020 16:36:28: Upgrading from 7 to 10 ?? You'll be sorrrryyyyyy....... I wonder why? Most people aren't. WinXP and W7 were good, W10 is better. rgds Tony

Posted by Martin_K on 13/01/2020 10:50:47: ... Epson are not retrospectively updating Windows drivers for old hardware, no utility will fix that. Fortunately the Open Source Software community will keep your older kit in operation free of charge, so not unreasonably without providing product support. To each his own! Indeed Martin, but my comment was about drivers more generally. I'm aware of Epson problems: I use a Canon these days, for my infrequent printing requirements, but I had an Epson that eventually became unusable for the reasons you mention. rgds Tony

Posted by Martin_K on 13/01/2020 10:00:32: Before upgrading Win 7 to 10 it is worth checking that device drivers are available for your peripherals. I am a long time user of Debian Linux but have an evaluation copy of MS Windows 10 in a virtual machine so as to run the Spektrum Programmer application. I was surpised to find there are no Windows 10 drivers for my printer, an Epson Stylus Photo. Investigation showed for 'old' hardware this was a common experience, and one unlikely to be fixed. IME many apparent PC problems are caused by outdated drivers: many/most people might be surprised at how quickly all sorts of important drivers become outdated. A while ago I invested £30 or so on software called Driver Easy, wwhich run regularly automatically checks for outdated drivers then downloads the appropriate update and instals. Works neatly & easily, well worth the cost. rgds Tony

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 13/01/2020 08:56:07: .... As for problems i find W10 pretty good now....t its driver support is great and its tolerant of things windows 7 was not....Within 3 minutes W10 had detected all the new hardware, downloaded all the new drivers automatically, and reactivated itself on the new system. W7 would have pooped itself at that. W10 is also slightly better for updates as you can choose to just update to the latest version instead of having to download every update in order like in W7. Agreed. W10 is very slick, and although initially you need to change a lot of privacy options manually, that's no hardship. I do not understand the urge by some to spend time looking for ways to get a free copy of important software, or fiddle the system: the cost of W10 for example is far less than a great many model aircraft, even in kit form - it often staggers me how much money some will pay for a 'plane... Admittedly I'm a professional user of such software as Windows, MS Word, Adobe CC, but IMO it makes sense to pay for the software one needs since it just makes life simpler. Tony

Thanks again to those who offered helpful advice. Here's the answer for those as dim as I am: more by luck than anything else, in scanning the TX manual I found reference to a special setting for dual wing servos, that has to be activated. Did that, and the ailerons work... Now I just have to find a way of superimposing the wing & fuselage mounting holes in line so that I can insert the retaining bolts! Ought to be amazingly straightforward but so far it's defeated me, and with these squashy foamed-plastic things one can't use too much force, or grip things too strongly... rgds Tony