I don't use a buzzer alarm for low voltage, lost plane alarm, yes I do use those.
I don't think I would here a LVC in flight, I time my flights, check the battery voltage when I'm done. Add or subtract time depending on the remaining battery voltage.
It works well, I haven't lost a plane to low battery yet!

Originally Posted by Chompwat

Thanks.

I can see that this device could be used to control the speed of flap deployment, but I don't understand how it would introduce the two stages of deployment as per my question.

You are correct. I have one of those and it only controls the speed of the activation. I had it on my DG1000 with the retractable power pod.

Originally Posted by wopachop

One thing i noticed is those buzzer alarm dealios dont tell you individual cell voltage. Its good to know them so youre aware when a battery is going bad.

Im surprised you dont want to build your own ailerons North of 49. You seem to like the building aspect of rc flying.

Yeah, it's just that I have so many things I'm I'm working on with this Cub and haven't even flown it yet... I'm kind of itchin' to get it in the air. I thought that Flyzone wing would be an easy way out since it already has the ailerons and servos in it out of the box. Maybe I'll do the aileron mod some other time... then, again... I'm thinking I'll probably pick up the new Parkzone Archer and/or the F4F Wildcat anyway when I'm back to work for the summer season (seasonal job) so I might even just leave my Cub 3-channel.



The buzzers I ordered off ebay last night have the individual cell voltages like the other non-buzzer ones I received yesterday that I posted pics of. I noticed there have been variations of the buzzer one and it has improved with each revision. Here's the features and a video of the ones I grabbed last night...

Product Feature:

Use for 1-8s Lipl/Li-ion/LiMn/Li-Fe

Voltage detection pricision: 0.01V

Unit voltage display range: 0.5V-4.5V

Total voltage display range: 0.5V-36V

1S test mode voltage range: 4-15V
Low voltage alarm mode for 2-8S

Alarm set value range: OFF-2.7V-3.8V

When the voltage is below the set value,it will buzzer with red LED light,pre-set value 3.3V.

Push key which can change the voltage settings and save.

Li-Polymer Battery Voltage Tester / Low Voltage Buzzer Alarm (1-8 Cell) (1 min 21 sec)

I want these buzzers to supplement my timer, not actually replace it... well, except for when I'm running my surface RC's outside... sometimes I'll get distracted and end up talking to my neighbor or something and then your timer goes right out the window. I have telemetry in 2 of 3 cars... I want this for the 3rd one that doesn't have it. But I also have some other uses for them besides actually using them in the planes/cars etc... a quick and dirty check of my lipos to see if they're actually charged without having to fire up my charger... sometimes I'm not around my charger (outdoors playing!). And they''ll be good to double check against the info my charger is telling me... like balance info... make sure everything is working as it should... no discrepancies.

To add to that...

I enjoyed designing and building the LED system with 7556 timer chip based strobes that I put in my Champ, but, in order to save time this time around with the Cub, I found a site that has LED systems that do exactly what I would have designed myself... I think I'll just hit him up for one of his chipped pcb's. Along with the static nav and anti-collision lights, It'll give me strobes and in the pattern I want in the wing tips and tail... I'll just have to install it.

Also, regarding the lipo alarm... since I'll be trying out several props, one of my goals being balancing performance against flight time... the alarms will help me push my flight times to the max while trying to figure out which props I'll stick with.

Originally Posted by Chap1012

Thanks GENE, I finally figured it out. I saw that pic but, it didn't register until later last night


Mike.

My directions are easier to follow after 4 or 5 beers.

Originally Posted by 2500GENE

My directions are easier to follow after 4 or 5 beers.

hahaha!

Originally Posted by 2500GENE

My directions are easier to follow after 4 or 5 beers.

Originally Posted by .quietguy

hahaha!

Ah,ha, ha, ha, you Guys have me pegged I had a bad injury in 2001 and was never the same. So, I need my drugs, beer and rock n' roll All legal mind you,,,...you don't think I'd break the law now do you?

Mike.

I just finished the battery box mod per 2500GENE's blog. Thanks GENE and others for helping me get through it.

GENE,Aside from your instructions I used the liner(s) of a cigar box (i collect a few here and there). The thickness of two pieces of real skinny plywood sandwiched together was a perfect fit for the battery back stop and velcro. Nice and strong.

Antenna: I thought I'd want to share. I put everything back together, fitted the batt and went for an initiation. Cool. Got solid red light. All flaps working. Shut down. Oh wait, I forgot to check the throttle. Power up again. Now I get a blinking red light BUT all flaps work properly. Puzzled, I powered down and wondered why it was now blinking (two tries). AH, it wasn't a fully charged battery...how freakin' smart am I Charge the battery to full. Plugged up and everything was a go...flaps, throttle...cool Unplug to check for a second test. That freakin' blinking red light again AARRGG,,,...I tried again and again. No use in re-binding, they were both talking.

One thing about this antenna that I noticed (unlike many that i have seen) is that the last 3/8" (or so) is bare. I remember when I slipped it back under the original piece of tape, I pushed it WAY back into the fuse.

IMHO, I pushed the antenna (bare end) so far back as to hit the pushrods that was causing this "on/off again" blinking red light. As soon as I pulled the antenna out, to the point were I could see the bare wire end of it, everything was good. Made several start up tests.

My Point:

I wonder if this could be a cause of "unexplained" brown outs or loss of control. Thought you'd all want to check that antenna
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OK, I think the next mod I'd like to do is the cowl and check the prop balance. Which brings me to the question. Any good home made prop balancing tool that anyone came up with? Nothing in the attachments. I haven't checked my LHS yet but there's a $20.00 one on line. Folds up.

Mike.

i ordered the dsm rtf version a couple days ago and i cant believe after all my reading this thought didnt cross my mind until now. i see you have to screw the struts into the bottom of the fuselage. does this mean the plane has wings attached the WHOLE time even when not in use? as in if i want to remove the wing i have to unscrew the struts and take off the rubber bands?

Use an eyelet screw instead of a regular screw. Then you can just twist it half a turn to take off the struts.

where can i get and what size are these eyelet screws?

i bought this plane only because i want to relax and i plan to fly every weekend for maybe an hour or so. i will have 3 stock batteries. im not going to do too much as far as mods are concerned. i really dont want the wings to be attached for days. now i see why people recommend those popsicle mods etc. i didnt undertand that until now.

maybe i could just take the rubber bands off without messing with the wear and tear of the fuse, unscrewing the struts

Mike, if you do decide to buy a balancer, just wanted to give you a friendly warning to maybe stay away from the Top-flite magnetic one. It has cheaply made plastic cones, mine were out of balance which completely defeats the concept of the precision of having a near frictionless system. After owning it for several months, I was casually mentioning it to the manager at my LHS where I bought it and, before I even finished my sentence, he told me he's aware of the problem and to bring it back, they get alot of returns on it.

I then picked up the Du-Bro one which I should have just done in the first place. And, because you can configure it in different ways, there's so much more you can do with it. You can hang oversized props off the side of a table, balance spinners and RC car/truck wheels that a magnetic one won't support. The aluminum cones are machined well. There are some good vids of it on the Du-Bro website. I haven't heard anyone say anything negative about it. I very highly recommend it.

No worries storing with the wings on.

Tomorrow I am using one of my Cubs for a test of my machine gun module. Should be loads of fun. I will try to film it. I bought this unit to put on my A-1, but it is pretty beefy 117grams. There wasn't enough clearance on the A-1. Super Cub is perfect in between the gear.

Chap -

Your thoughts on the antenna vs brownout issue are near genius: bravo