Finally the new circuit boards have arrived and I'm really pleased with them as well.

These new ESJ units are fantastic to use, no more do I have to keep ripping open the fuselage canopy or taking the wings off, now I just insert the plug and pack things away. When it comes time to charge, I just connect the charger to the lead on the plug.

- If you're flying small park models up to 10~12A current demands
- If you're flying a glider
- If you're flying a glow or gas plane

... then the ESJ's are what you want to get a hold of to make your battery and wiring systems safer, simpler and lighter.

The difference between the ESJ-RX and the ESJ-08 is only the actual power leads involved. the ESJ-RX uses a lighter gauge, more flexible wire with servo/3-pin type plugs and sockets, this suits the 4 and 5 cell NiCd/NiMH receiver packs that are normally found in gliders and glow motors

Available now at http://nqrc.com/?vp=PLD-ESJ-CHG-RX (~$20 USD)

The ESJ-08 uses 22 AWG JST plugs/sockets and is meant to be for connecting up to 5 and 6 cell Ni* or 2S and 3S lipos (anything up to 20V actually), it has a constant current of 8A rating and will cope fine with peaks of 10~12A.

There's now a discussion thread on the park-flying forum area and I've got one more ESJ-CHG-08 to give away free to those who can find the 'fault'.
( https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1038024 )

Available now at http://nqrc.com/?vp=PLD-ESJ-CHG-08 (~$20 USD)

The BAC-ESJ has arrived

Available at - http://nqrc.com/?vp=PLD-BAC-ESJ


I'm really pleased with how this one has come out. The board does feel a bit bigger than the normal BAC units (understandably) but when you consider the simplicity of being able to put this single unit in to control your power and charge it really makes things cleaner.

The new weight is 6.1g without any covering.

I have omitted covering on this unit because it makes it impossible to keep the socket flush to the outside of the airframe. I will however be dotting some insulation paint onto the power lead section to prevent accidental shorts.

New product - PLD BAC-1A; 1A class linear regulator.

First up, yet another new product churned out. This one is really a very simple device but very handy for small gliders. It's a 1A 5V output regulator that'll accept 2S or 3S lipos as an input. The BEC-1A is well decoupled to keep the electrical noise right down and keep those receivers happy.

You could use a small brushed ESC to do the same task but the BEC-1A is lighter and provides superior current output under demand because of the larger copper area meaning that the regulator doesn't overheat so quickly as does happen quite frequently with small ESCs.

Some people may also argue for a switchmode buck or boost converter, while they are certainly quite efficient and cooler running for most situations it is a lot harder to keep their noise output under control without adding bulk and weight. For two or three servo situations (9g servos etc), the simplicity and reliability of the linear regulator combined with its more than ample power capacity (most 9g servos don't draw more than 250mA stalled) make it a suitable choice.

* Very low weight - 3.6g
* Very small - 19 x 12.5 x 6.5mm
* 2S/3S lipo input
* 5V output
* LED indicator for power
* 1A linear BEC for minimum RF interference
* (2S) 250mA constant supply, 500mA for 1 minute, 1A for 10 seconds (thermally limited - better cooling gives longer duration)
* Thermal and short circuit protection
* Large copper backplane to improve heat-sinking of...Continue Reading

Well, the ole "scratch that itch" sensation has hit again and I've decided to churn out another new product.

I'm now creating an electronic switchjack to replace the existing 3.5mm mechanical contact systems. The ESJ-8CH's rely on the contacts being open to keep the power flowing. Because the switching is electronic there's no contacts to get dirty and no spring-metal to get weak, eventually causing intermittent faults or voltage sagging.

To disable it or charge, just plug the 3.5mm stereo plug into the socket. To use/arm, simply remove the plug. For even more safety a second switch can be added requiring you to remove the plug and enable the switch before the systems are powered up.

The electronic component by default can handle 8A without a problem and bursts of 20A with ease, in fact the wiring will sooner fail than the actual switch (this can be increased again to 20A and 100A respectively with appropriately selected MOSFETs).

The ESJ-8CH also allows charging of your pack via the plug, simply connect up the charger to the polarized 2-pin servo lead (or cut off and install your own).

So far I've only produced the first prototype and it's already working great, though the final version will end up being 23 x 12mm in size, most of which is used to provide a pair of 2mm holes 20mm apart for mounting.

There's also a high intensity LED on the underside of the board that'll be quite visible through most semi translucent fuselages (not that it's...Continue Reading