Chris Walby
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Posts posted by Chris Walby
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British Army successfully tests radiowave weapon that can take down swarm of drones for less than cost of a pack of mince pies
And why the reference to mince pies....well if you place your mince pie on the wire mesh it will warm it up a treat in only a second or two.
PS Just love the Heath and Safety "No unauthorised access perimeter security fence" around the equipment!
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I prefer using lipo's either
Or
About as simple as you can get, no crappy low quality switch and I use one of my flight lipos which means I know the battery is all good if it can support powered flight then its ok for a bit of light RX work.
PS I don't like charging any RX battery in a model full stop. People have had fires and IIRC it wasn't a in model lipo RX battery that caused the problem.
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IMO I don't think they will be very pleasant bearing in mind where the center of mass is compared to where the elevator/ailerons are located, perhaps best tried 5 mistakes high!
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3 hours ago, Cliff Bastow said:
I am on my second one and I love it, flies really slow or very fast! Great fun. I built my first one and was gutted when I stacked it. Bought my second one slightly damaged from BMFA swapmeet for £20 quid with motor and esc and it flies great.
Has yours got the standard control surfaces or enlarged versions + rudder?
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Good to see another CanDoo model and interesting to see a number major departures from the standard build. Much larger elevator and ailerons + the addition of rudders although quite how it will knife edge will be interesting to see!
Here's mine
Reminds me of a flying shovel at times!
While I was making mine and intending to make a bit of a speed machine I cam across a couple of builders that had the same idea. Mine does show a tendency to tuck in at speed, but manageable as it does not fly fast, but other than that its been a lot of fun over the years.
Let me know when you head up the field and we can pay tribute to Ian with a Can Doo fly past
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1 hour ago, steve too said:
Something like a 10-20C 3000 mAh 3S then. Or buy three tagged lithium ion cells around that size and make a pack (check the discharge, some Li-Ion cell are low discharge)
PS HK have this https://hobbyking.com/turnigy-5000mah-3s-20c-lipo-pack-w-xt-90.html .
PS Turnigy High Capacity Batteries 3000mAh 3S 12C Drone LiHV Pack w/XT60 | HobbyKing
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Hi Tim,
I use a old 4S3300 for my starter (I have some 30/60cc that have good compression! but 3S saves welding up the contacts on your starter + my starter has a integral battery holder as its just easier. a 4S3300 lasts weeks and weeks of starting son only charge its two or three times a year!
As for a glow lipo I would recommend something about the same size (3S3300) as they can them be interchangeable + gives plenty of headroom on discharging the lipo.
The more expensive lipos generally have a higher C rating, but you don't need that so just go for the cheapest lipo in the options
A cautionary note for safety.
If the starter and the glow driver are supplied from lipos and don't have low voltage cut off so worth checking or you will ruin the lipo by over discharging it.
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20 hours ago, Scorpio said:
Hi I have a Spektrum AR 620 receiver .
After it seems as if the bind has worked and you turn of the Spektrum DX8e transmitter and turn it on again for a flight the light flashes as if it did not Bind.
I reluctantly flew with this situation and it flew well with no issues.
BUT I am not comfortable with the light constantly flashing. Make me nervous!! LOL any thoughts? Cheers
Rob
The bind flashing should be rapid where as the loss of signal flashing is slower. Once bound it should not need rebinding although I have found its relatively easy to accidently hold the Rx bind button down when powering up and putting the RX into bind mode on this type of RX (normally when bench testing stuff so no motors involved).
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Girl, 13, dies after being hit on head by remote-controlled model plane
A 13-year-old girl has died after being struck on the head by a remote-controlled model plane while out for a walk with her mother.Tara Lipscombe, from Dartford, Kent, was on Dartford Heath on Tuesday afternoon when the Acrowot petrol-powered plane apparently flew out of control and hit her, causing severe injuries.
She was taken unconscious to Darent Valley hospital by the Kent air ambulance, but died that evening. A postmortem examination is to take place today.
A spokeswoman for the Kent air ambulance trust said: "It took three minutes to get her to hospital. Two paramedics treated her en route."
The operator of the plane, a 55-year-old man from south London, was spoken to by police, who are investigating the incident.
My understanding was that the cause of loss of control was due to the horizontal stabiliser become detached from the fuselage. I am not being critical, just trying to give advice to prevent a reoccurrence.
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IMO with the performance of the Cougar epoxy would have been more appropriate for fixing the horizontal stabiliser to the fuselage. If the glue fails then I would expect it to be very quick and catastrophic due to the size of the control surfaces.
I thought and sure I have seen the instructions that say the loose end of the wire should be looped through ferrule to reduce the chances of it pulling through + due to the significant movement on the rudder I would have thought the wire will work its way through the soft plastic of the control horn (normally its the same arrangement as you have done at the servo end.
One of the designers was looking at my Cougar and suggested that I cross the rudder wires for a bit more rudder travel...He was right as at full deflection the snap roll was very quick!
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This is on my MSN home page so it must be true or has April come early?
Anew 'B' plate has been launched for drivers to display on their cars to inform other road users that they're terrible at one type of manoeuvre.
Similar to the red and white L plates that learners are legally required to fit to their vehicles before passing their test, and the green P plate for those who have recently gained their licence, motorists who are particularly poor at the one driving action are being urged to order one and then affix it to their vehicles.
The B stands for 'bad parking' and is aimed at motorists who find it difficult to manoeuvre into a space in the hope it encourages others to give them more time and space in car parks.
The plate, which has been launched by Scrap Car Comparison, is already being made available to drivers to display on their vehicles.
However, road safety groups have criticised their availability and said motorists should seek additional training rather than raise attention to their poor driving with a B plate.
It comes off the back of research by the comparison website that found almost half of all motorists feel they could benefit from further training or assistance when it comes to parking.
One in six drivers say they have experienced stress or worry about having to park their car and almost a third spend extra time searching for a space in a car park that has unoccupied bays either side, rather than trying to squeeze into one flanked by other vehicles.
Scrap Car Comparison says it is already offering a 'limited number of B plate stickers to interested drivers for free' via a ‘register interest’ form on its website.
'Based on interest levels, the brand will then look to make them widely available in 2025,' it said.
It believes the plates will help those with 'park-phobia' - an anxiety triggered by an inability to either park at the side of the road or in a designated bay.
The list of the top 10 manufacturers with the highest proportion of drivers admitting their parking ability is somewhat limited is below:
1. BMW: 68%
2. Audi: 64%
3. Mercedes-Benz: 63%
4. Honda: 63%
5. Toyota: 51%
6. Kia: 48%
7. Citroën: 47%
8. Ford: 47%
9. Hyundai: 46%
10. Fiat 45%
Source: Scrap Car Comparison poll of 1,391 UK drivers
Anyone spotted a B plate yet? 🤣🤣🤣-
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There are units that will discharge lipos and cut off at the required storage voltage, IIRC mine can go between 3S to 6S and 1A to 6A. Down side it still takes quite a long time and the "turbo" fan is doing its nuts so quite noisy.
PS doesn't do much to heat the shed either!
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49 minutes ago, Cuban8 said:
I guess that all has gone well with your interactions with BMFA and CAA - that's great and I haven't had any difficulty myself, although a significant number of people have run into trouble with all this stuff. Won't affect my club because I'm on top of the situation, but many won't be, and you can be pretty sure that not just a handful of flyers might technically be flying non-legally next time out.
Will it matter?.........yes of course, even though the chances of any of us being subject to an official check for compliance with those rules are very, very small indeed. Anybody know of any 'raids'?
Clubs vary in how this is all managed, from a full hands-off situation and leaving it to their members to sort out, or insisting that members provide annual current documentary evidence of OP and Flyer ID on renewal and no flying until they do.
I want to be very clear - I'm not saying anyone should fly illegally on the basis that they can't be asked with all the guff, and getting caught without the correct registrations is more or less next to zero on a day to day basis anyway - (on the other hand, drive your car without tax or insurance, ignore congestion charging or tolls, park illegally or whatever and ANPR will get you in no time as a comparison). Where there will be a serious issue is in the event of an incident involving a model and property damage or god forbid an injury to a person by an errant model and then officaldom getting involved. Not worth taking a risk.
I agree with you C8, but Joe Public seems to take a different view when complying with vehicle excise, mot and insurance.
How many untaxed cars are on the UK roads?Nearly half a million vehicles are being driven on UK roads without vehicle tax, latest Department for Transport figures reveal. The newly published data for 2023 shows an estimated 498,000 vehicles in UK active stock were unlicensed, equating to 1.2% of all vehicles and rising to 1.3% in traffic.How many cars without MOT are there in the UK?According to new data gained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request issued by Select Car Leasing to the DVSA, there could be as many as 5.2 million vehicles on our nation's roads that do not have a valid MOT certificate.16 Jul 2024I have heard that the police just switch their ANPR off as it just never stops going off!Example M25 J13 /14 carries around 200,000 vehicles per day so if the police were out in force they would catch 2000 vehicles per day to be impounded just between two junctions of the M25. The real rub is for those of us paying to be fully compliant were are subsidising those that don't. -
Probably an additional cost, but Callie have produced decals of odd scales sizes for me in the past. IIRC it was in the middle and either scale would have looked odd as it included nose art and there are plenty of photos of the full size, some rivet counter would have been whining on about it. 🤣
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Making progress as it won't be long before the Bf110 build starts in earnest and I have had a look through the other WR Tempest threads , but not found what I was after!
C of G is quoted at 80mm from LE (off the drawing), is that where people started and ended up?
What are people using for control surface throws (model with UC any difference?)?
I seem to remember Ron mention 10oz of lead, but can't find that post and could be an entirely different model! So how much did people use?
Looking through
Ron's was AUW ready to fly without UC 2.380kg
Richard's AUW ready to fly with UC 2.635kg
Mine has UC is finished but not set the C of G 2.670kg so looks like it will be carrying more weight... heavy tail wheel not helping 🤣
I need to finish the hatch, a bit more weathering and secure the cowl, but its getting close!
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22 minutes ago, Cuban8 said:
Membership systems?
Leaving club members to sort their own renewals seems to me to be fraught with all manner of potential difficulties. I know it should be straightforward but I'm not so sure.
I have previously left it with the club I first joined to renew club membership and BMFA, but having moved and joined a couple of new clubs its actually easier for me to manage my BMFA, CAA, LMA and club memberships. And as I fly at other clubs/events I have to carry all my evidence anyway so easier for me to manage and prove if asked.
I am rather surprised that there is a concern that people that fly models, clearly drive to the flying site (manage their licence, insurance & MOT), can't manage their own BMFA membership. Either the club checks its members have current BMFA membership or the club member sends a copy of their membership to the club admin.
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I have used the TP link kit once in a house with a shed at the end of the garden and s split dis board and in my current bungalow (had an extension so it has two ring circuits) and both worked ok for me, but I was not using a lot of bandwidth.
As you have bought the TP links I would try them out first before ditching them and pulling a dedicated cable.
Did you miss putting in some floor and ceiling sockets or are they just out of camera shot 🤣
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Thanks Richard and team for all of your hard work and look forward to the bits I ordered (I'll send a PM shortly).
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As the saying goes "Horses for courses" The Bixler performs well in respect that has been mentioned above, but you will have to relearn certain aspects when you fly different models. Some people learn to fly using Spektrum Safe on all of the time, then have to relearn a completely different technique when they switch Safe off to fly
The same argument revolves around light foam models to learn on as you then have to learn different/additional skills if you move to larger models with higher wing loading. Another debate is the use of the rudder in flight, its possible to become competent and pass your BMFA A without ever using it, Some instructors go to great lengths to make their trainee use the rudder in flight a long time before the A test. IMO it depends on the trainee and how they progress as to when the various elements are introduced.
I know of a trainee who has absolutely no interest in fly larger models and is happy to stick with small foamies and rarely uses a rudder, but is more than competent to fly.
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Why do you fix your vertical shelf runners on battens?
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Likely to be a steep learning curve with frequent use of glue and black bin liners. 🙃
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Well I have £60 worth of UBECs that say you are wrong as they self destructed within seconds of being powered up in parallel.
If a manufacturer advises not to connect ESC BECs together then that is good enough for me and you can do biased tests to prove that its possible to prove your point, but you really need to be doing the tests with new off the shelf ESC's with BEC's as per the OP.
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11 hours ago, Dale Bradly said:
I'd love to know the science behind this:
What would be the cause of the excessive current flow between the two BECs?
What was the cause of the current flow if the servo/RX load was insignificant?
The science behind this is V = IR as in Voltage = Current I (amps) multiplied by Resistance R (Ohms) or for this I = V/R and after that it all becomes very complicated, but here goes.
The BEC in the ESC or a UBEC if separate converts one voltage to another voltage electronically and will have a current rating in Amps and an internal resistance of the electronic components (which is low as it allow current to flow without voltage fluctuations (I = V/R). If you only ever operate one BEC/UBEC with a load of servos/RX then all is ok, unless your servos don't draw more current than the rating of the BEC/UBEC.
One of two things will happen if you draw more current than the rating of the BEC/UBEC, the BEC/UBEC voltage will decrease as the BEC/UBEC limits the current (requires more electronics/cost to do this) and your RX minimum operating voltage may be reached causing the RX to brown out. More likely the BEC/UBEC will supply more current than its rating and internal components will over heat and fail. You might clear the overload before the BEC/UBEC fails especially if you use a very high current UBEC's
If we take two ESC/ BEC's then each one will try and maintain its set voltage and if you measure these two voltages then you will find there is a difference, all be it a small difference. There will always be a difference because of the cost of the electronics/complexity and its not necessary in normal operation to have the voltage nailed at say 5.500V. There might not be much voltage difference but this is where good old resistance or lack of it plays its part.
When you connect the positives wires together then one ESC/BEC will have a voltage higher than the other one. The ESC/BEC with the lower voltage will try and reduce the voltage, but the ESC/BEC with the higher voltage will see the voltage decrease, thus it will try and drive the voltage up. This is when one ESC/BEC will try hard to drive the voltage down and the other drive the voltage up and as both devices have very low internal resistances there will be excessively high currents involved. Lots of heat and something has to give.
Older type BEC/UBEC's would typically have a higher internal resistance and thus are more tolerant of the voltage difference without chasing each other to destruction.
There was a good discussion on the forum about paralleling batteries together, especially when the battery voltages are different (due to say one fully charged and the other is lower (discharged)) and what would happen. Theory would say that there will be a very large current flow until the battery voltages are the same, but it does not quite work like that as battery internal resistance changes relative to temperature when high currents flow! Best to read that set of posts to get the full picture.
PS I have come across issues with some ESC's (one red wire disconnected) and the timing of the ESC's and RX powering up that seems to confuse one of the ESC's (throttle range needs to be recalibrated) and thus disconnect both red wires from the ESC's and use a UBEC to power the RX and servo
Hope that helps
Weston Cougar kit build
in Building from Traditional Kits and Plans
Posted
Would be worth inserting some some very dense foam or balsa block where the nuts come through the bulkhead, just in case it meets the ground harder than anticipated. Once the lipo has physical damage they can become problematic (hope that's not too sensational, but they have been known to catch fire).
PS
In general its not a good idea to insulate the ESC (device that produces a lot of heat) with foam. Held in place with a cable tie wand plenty of air flow is good.