Chris Marshall

Just to praise the response I recently had from Richard at T9. I needed a new rotary encoder/push switch for a Horus X10. It is a second one that I got as a buddy box. ( I knew the state of it when I got it, I just thought I could live with it) While the push switch still worked there was no "click" which I decided I could not actually live with. They were not listed on the website so I contacted Richard to see if he could help. The outcome, only a week later, is that he now stocks the necessary part, and they are listed on the website. I have replaced the broken part and my transmitter is now 100% functional again. The price is very reasonable and they are an exact replacement. There are similar looking parts available on ebay which will fit the board, but the shaft length is different, and the encoding switching is different, so they are not suitable. For anyone else with a similar problem the only caution I would give is that you need a good level of soldering skills, or know someone who does. The encoder is soldered directly into the board and is not easy to remove. Cutting the legs and then removing the stubs individually from the board is probably the best way. The holes then need careful clearing of solder to allow the fitting of the new part. I am a professional electronics engineer so it was no problem for me.It still took half an hour.

The american mag. was Model Airplane News, Nov. 2010

PM now sent, thanks

Sportstar by Simon Delaney I'm looking at building this model, originally Traplet plan 2972. Does anyone have a copy of the original article that they could scan for me please? It's not essential that I have it, as I have the plan and it looks pretty straightforward, it would just be nice to see what Simon originally said about it. It is odd as I can find what I think would be the same article in one of the American magazines, but there is only half of the article available. Edited By Chris Marshall on 27/08/2020 14:15:02 Edited By Chris Marshall on 27/08/2020 14:15:30 Edited By Chris Marshall on 27/08/2020 14:16:39

Posted by Gary Murphy 1 on 16/12/2019 18:22:37: Bit late now but TJD is my local shop (16 miles) and I was phoning thurs/fri to see if they had something in stock. No answer for 2 days, very unusual. took a chance and went to shop today. There were really busy with customers and loads of deliveries to unpack also heard a staff member talking about the amount of parcels to go out. Just really busy,good to see the business is doing well still. You are lucky. I don't have a local shop anymore. The two nearest to me both closed relatively recently. The nearest now is about 60 miles away. When I finally got in touch I had quite a long conversation with John the owner, as we sorted out the confusion. As I said above always had good service from them.

It looks like they have just been overloaded, plus I have missed a call from them. All now resolved. I have have always had good service from TJD in the past, and no doubt will continue to do so in the future. Edited By Chris Marshall on 16/12/2019 15:38:50

Posted by Brian Hammond on 16/12/2019 11:29:24: Hi Chris, any luck with your parcel from TJD? No I've heard nothing. I was actually wanting to cancel the order as I realsied I had made a mistake. It was the Acrowot kit and I wanted the deluxe version not the standard.I was hoping to catch it before it was sent to avoid the bother of having to send it back. I'm hoping it's just a temporary problem with them and they resolve it soon, otherwise it will mean claiming off the credit card. Edited By Chris Marshall on 16/12/2019 12:04:17

They have not responded to my email either. I would expect them to do that outside normal hours. I would have expected something in a week. Maybe they are just very busy,

Anyone know what the situation is with TJD? I placed an order online about a week ago and have not been able to contact them about it. The phone messaging service is now full.

Glad you got it sorted Allan. It didn't occur to me that it might be a channel order problem. It should have done as the Spektrum model I set up recently was an Opterra with AR636 receiver and I had trouble with the channel order. Binding was no problem, but the ESC did not arm. The servos moved but on the wrong sticks, so it was just a case of changing the order until it was right. Of course with a quad there are no servos so it is not so easy to determine what is going on! Edited By Chris Marshall on 01/04/2019 13:35:07

Glad to be of some small assistance. Yes mine lists H8S3D as a sub protocol, but there is also a H8-3D as a separate protocol. I assume that there is some difference, so it might be worth trying that. Nothing to lose.

Allan, yes I'm using it in serial mode. I get a solid red shortly after power up. As the JJRC67 is not listed I think it may be worth trying all of the protocols listed as used by that manufacturer. The one I memtioned, H8-3D is not available as a Bayan sub protocol, but is as a separate main protocol further down the list. Possibly others as well. As far as I know everything that is available in PPM mode is available in Serial mode, but I haven't tested that theory out! I've not tried to use it in PPM mode as I would lose the telemetry from the one model I have that is on Spektrum. (AR636 receiver)

I have one of the modules and have just had a play with it out of curiosity. Up to now I've only used it for Spektrum stuff. Looking at the Bangood page to (which you have linked already) there is a link to a list of protocols and manufacturers: Protocols Looking at this the manufacturer ( JJRC) uses more than just the four you have mentioned and are found as sub-protocols. For example H8-3D which is further on from the Bayang ones. Might be worth a try. I haven't done an exhaustive search for all those in the list though, so there may be others to try as well. I'm using an X10S but I don't think that would make any difference in this instance.   Edited By Chris Marshall on 29/03/2019 01:01:20 Edited By Chris Marshall on 29/03/2019 01:08:46

Normally first-aid kits are in a green box. This is in a Grey box- presumably because of the cable-ties? (Although they look a bit small to me)

Thanks to those who pointed me to the handbook. I guess I should have looked there in the first place. It's not that I never refresh my memory of the handbook, just that I haven't looked at that part for quite a while. Everything I was looking for seems to be there including a definitive statement of the point on which I have had conflicting statements. I think that I would withdraw the last paragraph of my first post, it is not valid, I was just looking in the wrong place.

A very interesting thread. I thought I would answer Andy’s original question from the point of view of someone working his way up. It is my plan to get my heli B ASAP and then on to club examiner, as the club I am in has none at the moment. (They are encouraging me in this pursuit- it is not for personal reasons that I am doing it.) It seems to me that there are three very different skill sets involved here, and I think this differentiation is true for all sorts of activities, and is not in any way unique to model aircraft. Those skills are piloting ability, the ability to teach piloting, and the skill to assess ability, not only of piloting but of safety and correct behaviour in a club environment. These three skills are by no means mutually exclusive, but they are completely separate, and I do not think that you cannot teach or assess without possessing the skills themselves. Nor is possessing that ability at any level sufficient in itself to allow adequate execution of the other two. Without getting bogged down in the details of specific examples I feel that there are plenty of other activities that support this view and which seem to have a working system based on it. Having said that I think that there are benefits to instructors and examiners having reached a reasonable level of competence at some time, but I don’t think there is a necessity for them to maintain it. I do not know Andy personally but all the evidence points to him being one of those rare people who can do all three to a high standard. That someone like him can apparently be summarily de-ratified without explanation or opportunity to defend himself is worrying. I think that with the system as it stands the distinction between instructing and examining is not well enough defined. I am surprised that ACEs also hold the post of ACI. There is no reason why they should not but it should not be automatic. Andy, I would support you 100% on a requirement for regular re-assessments of ACEs and AFIs. Those being separate assesments. And examiners at all levels come to think of it. I do not however, think that test demonstrations should necessarily form part of this, particularly for examiners. The abilty to instruct or to examine correctly should be checked. I would like to see more transparency in the whole process of examiners. When investigating the path to becoming an examiner there was little guidance on the BMFA website, either of how the examiner system is structured, or how one progresses through it. I have also received conflicting information from different sources. If the whole process is clearly laid out on the BMFA website it should stop accusations of secret cabals and rolled up trousers. Maybe the information is there but I haven’t managed to find it. Edited By Chris Marshall on 10/12/2014 14:57:35

Kings Lynn do this hard to know which is a copy of which, but a lot of people seem to rate DLEs

Yes please! Merry Christmas everyone.

Knowing something, though not all of what is behind your question Dave, I find I am somewhat dissapointed by a recent editorial comment in one magazine, which criticises some people IMHO in a somewhat biased and partisan way, who are to the best of my knowledge staying strictly within correct procedures. What you seem to be doing here is to research experience from other clubs and individuals in a measured and neutral manner. It is a pity that the editorial could not have waited until the matter was resolved internally. Any comment would then have been clearly seen as impartial. As it is it does not appear to be so. Edited By Chris Marshall on 21/04/2013 23:29:17

I have watched several of his videos and found them very useful, he is not afraid to tell it like it is, and I have not seen anything that I would disagree with. Unfortunately this does not go down well with those on the receiving end of criticism. In this instance I suspect that nzmaa have no defence otherwise they would not have resorted to underhand tactics, but would have been prepared to challenge him openly and show that he is wrong. I think I will send a donation to help him, particularly as his video channel is funded by donations, and I have found them useful and interesting.

bushwhackerbob, That looks very interesting, it is as quiet as the best generator I have found so far and does away with the need for a mains to low vltage converter. I suspect it would probably need a small leisure battery to stabilise the voltage, I remember from my time designing electronic vehicle instruments that a sudden change in load would produce quite a voltage spike from an alternator if there was no path to dump the current. Either that or some big surge suppressors. I will investigate further, thanks.

Paul, I have considered that, but have not yet investigated it. I think it would depend on the capability of the alternator to produce significant current with the engine idling, as I don't think it would be acceptable to sit there revving the engine for 30 mins. I think that it would almost certainly consume more fuel than a generator for the same power, but it may still be an acceptable level. The information panel in my car gives fuel consumption in mpg, but when the car is not moving it switches to giving a reading of volumetric consumption. I've never really taken much notice, but I will have a look tomorrow. I may put a clamp ammeter on the battery lead to determine the recharge rate after partially discharging it, to see how long it actually needs to run to restore charge.

Tom, which model is it please? "whisper quiet" sounds like a good baseline to start from.

That's the sort odf thing, but it's noise figure is 7dB at 1/4 power over this: **LINK** when running at ful power. I'm guessing that at full power it's probably approaching 20dB which is about four times as loud. Hence my original question of what are people's practical experiences of acceptable noise levels.

Simon, The 12V output from most generators are low power although your suggestion would clean up the power suitably it would mean only about 10% of the generator's capacity was being used. I agree that some of the cheaper generators are not suitable for electronics but those with an inverter generally are. Unfortunately again they are more expensive. BEB, I already have a leisure battery, but it ran out before I had finished flying the other day. I am considering getting a second as an alternative to a generator, as they are a lot cheaper than what it looks like I will need to pay. But they have a finite life, I don't know what it is likely to be for this sort of usage. One positive thing is that they can be kept fully charged ready to go- in fact that is the best storage condition for them. I think that the capacity of the one I have which is about 5 years old may be reduced, I'll have to measure it. I am using relatively large packs 4S 5AHr x2 per flight for my helicopter and 5S 5AHr for fixed wing. I may get a 700 size helicopter next year or convert one of my nitro machines so will be into even bigger batteries. I am still weighing up the pros and cons of each option, and as I said I was interested in the experiences of anyone who has gone the generator route. I beleive that most F3C competition pilots and possibly 3D as well are now flying electric and a generator is the only practical option for them. Their situation is slightly different in that for a weekend or three or four days competition with no access to mains power they would need a boot full of leisure batteries, but it seems to me that it would be a one off investment, as long as it is looked after and maintained properly. Phil, your club charging station sounds ideal. The club that I really need this for is a small invitation only one, with only four members, which is where I can get a lot of flights in in one day, but such a set-up as yours is unlikely in the near future. It is not noise sensitive, so maybe I restrict flying to IC there for now. Ultimately I want to move to all electric for helicopters and petrol for fixed wing. The noise snesitive site may drop out of the equation as I am not sure i will continue there for other unconnected reasons.