Michael Barclay
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Everything posted by Michael Barclay
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" Don't blame the tools" "Think construction". "There is never time to do it right but always time to do it twice." lessons learned at boatbuilding college and apply equally in model making.
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power for remote container.
Michael Barclay replied to Glenn Philbrick's topic in Flying Sites and Clubs
As a boatbuilder I fitted quite a few of these and it is normal to have a dump resistor in the circuit to avoid frying the battery bank. Best contact the manufacturer and ask thier recommendation for the particular model you have installed. Edited By Michael Barclay on 28/02/2020 18:05:51 -
When my father was in his late eighties he started to get lots of calls from scammers trying to get bank details from him. I told him he had to say "Just a moment please, my son has just come in and he handles all my affairs for me. He is a policeman, you know". Did the trick.
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I had an email this morning from a solicitor in South Africa informing me of the tragic death an aunt who I have never heard of. It seems she owned three gold mines and a diamond mine and she left everything to me. Just on my way to the airport now! Edited By Michael Barclay on 24/02/2020 13:22:49
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Posted by Foxfan on 22/02/2020 22:30:26: Mike, the people are in East London and called Happiness Team.. Although their e-mail address is [email protected] I am hoping they will be good and send me working ones or my money back. Hobbyking are not much dearer, so how do we know their's are any different? And what about Banggood? A chum at the club buys all his stuff from them as they are seriously cheap and never has trouble. I'm just a bit wary of buying Chinese currently with their problems and with HK seeming to be having business problems. Half their website says "back order". My servo tester came from their English base (which I hadn't realised they had) and the Storm Rx. came from China in a very short time. I was quite impressed. I am about to send the above mob a few stills of the servos and the damage caused by removing them. martin. Thanks for the reply Martin. It's always good to kow who to watch out for. As for Hobby King I have had all of my servos from them, at least 50, and no duds. The servos I use in my foamies are the HXT 900. There are over 5600 reviews of these servos and they get 5 stars, Hobby King state that although clones can be bought on ebay they do not have the same electronics.These reviews are genuine as some products do get some poor reviews so I always read the reviews carefully. Mike.
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Posted by Martin McIntosh on 22/02/2020 20:45:21: Oh, I thought it was another well known internet seller. Now I know that they supposedly were Tower Pro, I think that you will find they are poor copies. Never buy servos on ebay as this situation is more likely than not. I got caught out the same with two types of TP, mg 16 and mg90`s. One sort ran to one end due to inferior material connecting the pot. centre and if I manually stopped the others they would not restart without Tx stick input. Indistinguishable from the real thing. Buy extention leads from HobbyKing, they are excellent quality and exactly the same ones which you can pay a fortune for in this country. It would be good to know names of all duff sellers on ebay Martin. I agree that stuff bought on Hobby King has never let me down although I make up my own extentions to be safe.If you don't want to name these people on line I would be grateful for a personal message. Thanks Mike.
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Posted by Mike T on 17/02/2020 15:34:36: They need a bit of management, to be sure (a.k.a. basic engineering). I use them (as supplied) on most electric ARTFs for all control surfaces, but usually only on throttles for i.c. That said, I once had them (again as supplied) on all the controls of a .60-sized Great Planes 'Shoestring'. Never had a problem. Once the set-up has been established, I'll file away the grub screw's 'witness mark' to leave a small flat on the pushrod, then screw it down tight with Loctite. Not cyano, not 5 min. epoxy. Loctite. I'm pretty sure the guys who have been formulating and manufacturing these engineering compounds for years know what they are about... Well I will continue to use 5 minute epoxy on the nut and protruding thread which hold the connector to the control arm. It's a rock solid method and the epoxy has to be cut away with a knife in order to remove the connector. Can't get more secure than that, and yes I started doing this when I found a connector which had worked loose in spite of Locktite which I have used for donkeys years on many other applications. I dont find it works well on these tiny threads. As for the grub screw which locks the piano wire in position you cannot beat throwing this away and replacing it with a M3 hexagon allen bolt which allows for much more torque to be applied without damage which would occur to a grub screw. Once torqued down they never move.
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Spot of 5 minute epoxy over head of nut, better than locktite, then replace screw which grips rod with hexagon head allen bolt. Edited By Michael Barclay on 16/02/2020 10:44:44
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Chinese suppliers
Michael Barclay replied to Martian's topic in R/C Retailers / Distributors / Manufacturers
Lets face facts. There are too many humans on the planet. If we don't control the population then sooner or later nature will find a way to thin us out. -
Posted by paul d on 24/01/2020 19:01:29: I honestly don't understand why chaps bother with these people, support your local shop, lets be honest all they sell is cheap Chinese carp..... It would be nice if local model shops labled goods "Made in UK". Then we would see exactly what is made in UK as opposed to being imported from the far east and rebadged at a large mark up. There does seem to be a certain snobery where Hobby King is concerned but personally I have no complaints about thier products or service.
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What a nice story. Good luck with re refurbishment.
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Cheaper or more expensive.
Michael Barclay replied to Michael Barclay's topic in All Things Model Flying
Seems to me that the EU is just a protectionist club, designed to keep competition away from inefficient EU industries, ie. French 2 hour lunch breaks, outdated French farming practices,high unemployment, etc. ( Before anyone contradicts me on that I lived in France for 15 years until recently so I know what I am talking about.) So my take on things is that we should get the benefit of cheaper imports, but I guess only time will tell. -
As most of our equipment seems to come from the far east, does the pannel think our hobby will become cheaper or more expensive as a result of Brexit?
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Thanks everyone for your interesting replies. As I expected car size and workspace has a lot to do with it. As I said in my original post I don't have a car, in fact I have not had one since 1999, reason being that living and cruising singlehanded on my yacht I did not need a car. I keep asking myself if I need one now and the answer is no as I now live on my narrowboat which in the flying season I move to a marina which is 10 minutes pleasant stroll in the country to the club field. For me having a car just to move slightly bigger planes a short distance would not make sense. Guess it's the minimalist in me, but that philosophy did allow me to retire at 45. So for the present it's 50" max for me with the aim to build light as posible for low and slow flying rather than two mistakes high. The sudden death of low flying mistakes just creates room on my boat for another build.
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Tried to log into Hobbyking this morning. Page says " We are currently undergoing some exciting site developments and will be back with you shortly." Great. Looks as though they are listening to thier customers.
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And people on this forum complain about Hobbyking. Give me Hobbyking any day of the week. Edited By Michael Barclay on 14/01/2020 21:50:30
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I have just started a Fokker D7 and decided on a wingspan of 44 inches, this being a practical size to build because of space considerations ( I live on my boat) and also I walk to the club so must carry my models. I have built bigger such as my Handley Page bomber ( see my albums) by building in sections before final assembly but its a pain really and an awkward beast to carry any distance. I was wondering how others decide on the size of a model when designing or buying a kit. Is it a practical descision, or an aesthetic one? Perhaps like me you think that above a certain size a model looses a certain appeal? What does the panel think? Mike.
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Version 2 of the Orange RX not been available for sometime but looks as though Hobby King are introducing a version 3 of their full range recievers. Price looks OK.
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Pound shop. I use tons of the stuff. Never had a problem. Many years experience working with epoxies in the marine industry shows cure problems always down to incorrect mixing, either of quantity or stiring.
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Hobbyking
Michael Barclay replied to Dai Fledermaus's topic in R/C Retailers / Distributors / Manufacturers
Face facts. The corner shop is a thing of the past. Large online retailers are here to stay. I for one wish Hobby King all the best in restructuring the business. I have had nothing but first class service from them with quality products at great prices, and I have no problem navigating the website. Why drive to a model shop to find they have no stock of what you need but can order it for you and have it in a week to ten days at a large markup on Hobby King prices.No thanks. My only issue with them is the delivery charges from the UK but I guess thats beyond Hobby Kings control. Not a big problem as I now order mostly from the EU warehouse.Have not had to wait longer than 5 days for delivery of anything. -
Got deep pockets, EXPENSIVE r/c DC3 !!!!
Michael Barclay replied to martin collins 1's topic in All Things Model Flying
Looks nice. I'll bet it sells in US. Probably to hang in hotel lobby or themed restaurant. -
I find Turnigy lipos to be very good value. Bought lots with no issues.
