So I want to light up my HZ Champ for night flying. I've been reading around here and at wattflyers but I'm getting very lost in it all.

I get 12v. If I had 12v it would be no problem. That's what I'll do for my Super Cub eventually.

All the premade kits I've read about seem to not be available so I was thinking I might build my own.

I saw a YouTube video that used these Radio Shack 4 pin LEDs in white green and red on a Champ.

That appeals to me because I could solder them up and use them tonight. Here's where I need help.

Lets say I get 4 of these. They need 3.5v so I should be able to run them on a 1S right?

I don't understand resistors and such. If my batt is pushing 3.7v and these will take a max of 4v can I just run wire from battery to LED1 wire to LED2 wire to LED3 wire to LED4 and then from LED4 back to the battery?

At an 80mA draw should I wire them into the flight battery or plan on a separate one?

Why 4 pins? What is there besides positive and negative that I have to solder up?

I don't see weight listed in the specs and I'm really worried about that. The champ is so light even 2 glow stick bracelets overpower it (yeah I tried it).

Maybe there is a better option that's just as bright or brighter and/or lighter weight. I'm open to suggestions and willing to order online from Hobbypartz or whoever if my current idea isn't very good. I've just gotten overwhelmed with all the information out there and I'm lost.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Oh! After going to RS and seeing what those are that's not what I want after all. Those are for push buttons on stuff. They seem heavy to me.

Back to the drawing board and trying to figure out what to get from Hobby King or Hobbypartz I guess.

gorillabobs rc is the best online lighting store I could find. I have over 200 bucks in lights alone, led strips, from them on two planes. they have both 5v and 12v options, email Robert there he will tell you exactly what you need there's no better store. hk sucks compared to this guy.

Originally Posted by branflakes

gorillabobs rc is the best online lighting store I could find. I have over 200 bucks in lights alone, led strips, from them on two planes. they have both 5v and 12v options, email Robert there he will tell you exactly what you need there's no better store. hk sucks compared to this guy.

Thank you! I read several positive comments about Gorilla Bob's during my researching the past few days but I couldn't remember their name to google them.

You are da man!

3 or 5mm leds should be what you are looking for. You can run them from a 1s or a button cell cr2032. The led will have just 2 leads unless its a multicolor and then it could have 3 or more. I can't offer you much in the way of wiring advice but I can offer you some 5mm leds of assorted colors, a female plug for your 1s batteries, as well as a 3v button cell and a battery holder if you'd like to tinker with them. Shoot me a pm if you are interested.

Would you consider some LED strip and a small 3 cell lipo to run them? The Champ could carry and extra 300mah 3s Lipo no problem. A few small sections of LED strip in strategic places is all you need. Much simpler to wire.

PM me if for ?????

I like the HobbyPartz.com strip.

The LED strips are the easy way to go. Peel and stick. Wire to 12v battery.
The 5mm LED are good to but there's alot of wiring and soldering. I use a cell phone battery 3.7v to power my 5mm LED's. 25 of them. Good for 5 or 6 12min flights.

Have you considered the Micro lighting kit (bottom of linked page) from AuroraRC?
http://www.aurorarc.com/products-page

I have the Genesis kit on a 3D plane and they are very good. The videos of the larger ones are even more impressive, especially those flown by Joe Smith

http://m.youtube.com/results?q=aurora%20rc%20lights

although using the 12v led strip is more simple, there is cost to it you will lose more energy on the resistor then 1s battery

few points:
1) most of the led works on 20mA (like the 5mm & 3mm)
2) every led have voltage drop(VD)
, meaning that every led need min voltage to start working
*red,orange ~2v
*blue,gren,white ~3-3.5v

you will have to look at datasheet of the led
or check VD with multimeter with high resistor
for 5v use check resistor ~300ohm
for 12v use check resistor ~700 ohm
** those resistor have higher value then need(curent will be lower the 20mA)

________________________________
(MaxVoltage-VD)/current[20mA]= resistor needed
________________________________
example
for red led with VD=2, curent 20mA=0.02A with 1s bat the resistor will be
(4.2-2)/0.02=110ohm