Transmitter Power Adapter for simulator use.

[super_nova]

Hey Guys, I figure this is the right place to ask this question. I've been using my rc simulator alot more lately with some friends. Problem is we use up the battery and then have to wait for a recharge before we can continue or actually go fly the real planes.

What I'd like to do is setup some sort of power supply so that I can just take out the battery while flying the simulator, and use the battery just for flying my planes. I've got an old 12volt wall plug that puts out DC 12v 600mah of power. If I were to chop the end of that off, put on a futaba plug, and plug it into my Futaba 7C radio, would that work? It seems like a good solution to me, but I'm no expert!

What do you guys think?

[gobigkahuna]

... only if your radio runs on 12 vdc. I know my Spektrum DX5e runs on 5 vdc, 12 vdc would likely burn it up.

[super_nova]

I'm talking about using a connector to plug it into the battery plug (instead of plugging in a battery). You can use a 3cell lipol as a transmitter battery, fully charged thats over 12volts...My 8 cell nicd is around 11volts fully charged.

So wouldn't it be the same as using a battery?

[slipstick]

Check that "12V wall plug" carefully. Unless it's a (very rare) regulated one it's likely that the voltage will be anything up to 20V without a load and only come down to 12V with the full 600mA load on it. And a Tx does not use anywhere near 600mA.

Even if you get that right it still won't work but that's because the charge socket is disconnected while the Tx is switched on. At least that's true on every Futaba Tx I know but I don't have a 7C handy to check it definitely.

If you get a correct non-damaging power supply you could rewire the simulator cable to feed power to the Tx through one of the pins. I think it's pin 6 but you need to check that properly because connecting to the wrong pin will kill your Tx. I've only done it on the older round connectors and it's Pin 1 on those.

Steve

[vintage1]

Not only that, but half of them aren't even smoothed and will have a HUGE hum component.

[AndyOne]

I used a low power 5 to 9V DC/DC converter built into the USB cable for my sim, all I need to do is to plug it into the PC, no TX battery ever needed and no wall cube either.

A.

[gobigkahuna]

This is sounding like a great idea. So if I understand what is being said, I might be able to make a power adapter to provide 5 vdc by just tapping pins 1 and 4 (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB ) of a USB cable. That's excellent! :) Any idea what the amp draw of a typical radio might be? My DX5e uses 4 alkaline AA batteries but I have no idea how much it draws. It appears (according to the same link above) that a USB 2.0 port can supply up to 500 mA.

[super_nova]

Ok guys, thanks for the info. Thats what I needed to know. Also, Slipstick, I wasn't going to use the charging socket. I was going to rewire a futaba male connector onto the power source and unplug my battery and plug in the power source instead.

The wall plug I have is an old hobbico 12volt wall cube charger with alligator clips for charging 12volt field box batteries. However, I'd rather not mess with it and risk my radio.

[rich smith]

A cheap 12v (18v no load) wall wart works fine with my Hitecs. With or without battery installed.

[super_nova]

My wall plug is showing ~10.9v on my volt meter when connected directly to the volt meter. Does that mean its a regulated one? From my viewpoint, I can either plug in the battery that gives around 11 volts fully charged, or plug in this wall plug thats giving me just under 11volts and I would think my radio would operate the same.

[vintage1]

Try it.

At that voltage it wont cause damage..