It's a really nice day ..
Almost a Whipit Day ...

Anyhow - a Whipit update !

A) Cleaned up the mold lines in the wing ..
1. Whipit penetrates better now
2. Flies faster now

B) I put some wing tape on the rudder as the last time I flew the rudder was way soft .
1) Rudder was much better now , turns much tighter , more authority
2) My rudder is bent like a banana , so the wing tape now has given the bend more authority
3) In turns the nose wants to drop even harder due to increased rudder authority

C) I put some wing tape on the elevator as now the elevator ( after flying today ) felt a little soft . So closing some of the gap .

D) Did always mean to take a photo and check alignment of the elevator and wing compared to the boom ...
Might be some room to play with the wing alignment .. The angle of attack on the wing , might be a little high ?
Have to check on that ...

Flying today ( 30 - Sep - 2018 )
Was a little breezy for the Whipit ..
It does penetrate better now , but it also flies faster and can lose altitude faster , especially flying down wind .

All my tuning was for naught as the mods I made turned the Whipit into another animal .

I had this one brilliant flight where the breeze dropped off to a cotton puff .. I launched , got a good transition .. I turned to the right and glided cross breeze like you would on a slope .. Turned into the breeze and flew across the breeze the other way .. Then I turned right into the breeze and flew across the breeze and amazingly I would have been lucky to have lost 1 meter of altitude during those 3 turns and cross breeze flights ...
On my 4th turn the wind picked up and in the stronger breeze the Whipit lost altitude , especially in the turns where the nose would pitch down rather hard ..
Closing the gaps in the elevator might help (?)

Time to see what sort of power servos are pulling , especially If I am going to try and run a 1s solution at the rx end .
Looking into my servo collection I have some 8 various 9g servos to play with and one good HXT500 ( the other HXT500 is faulty = good to know )

The test is relatively simple , not overly scientific .
I have a USB power supply feeding power through a power meter to a servo tester and then to the servo .
So the servo tester has a simple function that makes the servo work from one extreme to the other . ( Servo goes left all the way then right all the way constantly till you stop it ) To add load I am simply taking hold of the output shaft and gripping it as tightly as I can .. ( not scientific )

HK928BB - 0.06A to 0.08A Less load , grabbing and holding the output shaft with my fingers as tightly as I can = 0.12A
HK15178 - 0.07A to 0.08A - 0.17A
TG9e - 0.06A to 0.09A - 0.12A
TowerPro - 0.08A to 0.09A - 0.18A ( Blue TowerPro )
Unbranded - 0.08A to 0.10A - 0.15A
OSOYOU - 0.08A to 0.10A - 0.18A ( SG90 )
GSUN 9g - 0.09A to 0.12A - 0.17A
TowerPro - 0.13A to 0.15A - 0.24A ( Orange TowerPro ) This is the servo used in Rx testing
HXT500 - 0.00A to 0.00A - 0.08A ( Did not register a current without a load )

The test was by no means scientific or research valid because of the pinch test ( load ) , but never the less a bit of an eye opener and some what interesting .
The servos I used in my Rx tests...Continue Reading

My next receiver test is this 4 channel flysky AFHDS 2A ( apparently now called FS2A ) . A word of warning , these receivers need to have the pins soldered in place by the purchaser . If you look at the pictures you will see that 3 of my solder joints were questionable . Good thing about Macro Photography , great way to check really small work . Anyhow , I went back and corrected the 3 questionable solder jobs .
Once again this is more a test to see how useful this receiver might be for DLG use , as I would be very interested in running a 1s battery without a voltage booster . Some time in the future I will have to so some servo tests , to see how much current they pull . Might be nice to have lower current servos in a DLG running a 1s solution less voltage boost . ( But that's down the track )
 
 Variable Power Supply : 
 Putting the small FS2A receiver on the power supply with 2x9g servos attached , I first tried 5v @ 0.5A - There was no browning out .
 Next I tried 4v , but I increased the available amps to 1 ( 1A ) . 4v @ 1A - There was no browning out .
 From here I went to 3.5v @ 1A - There was no browning out .
 Then I went to 3.2v @ 1A - There was no browning out .
 To push my luck I dropped the voltage to 3v @ 1A - There was no browning out .
 Ooooh come on , brownout already ! So I lowered the available current to 0.5A , 3v @ 0.5A , yes the Rx is browning out .
 At 3.2v the 9g servos are really feeling the low voltage , becoming sluggish . ( Perhaps a...Continue Reading

More Voltage / Range Test and Conclusion . ( Part 3 )

I put the Rx on my Variable output power supply , I also made up a special servo plug so I could monitor voltage from the servo pins directly to my MM
Was doing this to see if the voltage to the servo was in any way regulated ..
Short answer is no .. I set the input voltage to 7v and the output to the servos was 6.96 volts .. So no direct use of 2s battery packs ...

Next I wanted to test RANGE ( kind of important for RC )
Setting my Jumper T8SG Plus to range test mode ( 100uW ) ...
The iRangeX Rm610 was powered by a 1s Lipo .. ( Not fully charged ) ( Bind was in DSMx )
I was easily able to get to my maximum test distance of 50 meters , even when I put my body between the Rx and Tx there was no signal loss .
After the range test I measured the voltage on the battery .. ( 3.85v )

In conclusion all I can say is that I was impressed enough to right after range testing buy another iRangeX RM610 ...
Yeah , I bought another for no other reason than the Rx rocks my world hard !

1) Yes the Rx can brown out - because it does not get enough current .. ( Not a voltage issue )
2) Looks to run 1s brilliantly
3) Cheap
4) small and light
5) Range tested well
6) So far has only impressed

So I have hesitated to buy the RM610 for about a year now ..
One of the reasons was reading that some people were suffering brownouts ( might have been on quads )
Funny how negative stuff sticks .
So hopefully the information provided helps to balance out the picture and give people a more realistic idea of the RM601 receiver .

Next I will be testing a 4ch Rx from BG and literally putting it through the same tests ..
See if it will run 1s ......

iRangeX RM601 receiver test Part 2 1s battery (7 min 21 sec)

Ok , so many hate video ...

This test is with a 1s Lipo ( 1000mAh ) , there is only one 9g servo attached but I am loading it with 201.8 grams ..
RM601 is bound to my Jumper T8SG Plus in DSMx mode ..

Battery off the charger , no brownouts ! , takes the 201.8 grams ok . Lets not forget these 9g servos are not low voltage .

Then I discharged the battery with my hobby charger to a static voltage of 3.99 volts
3.99v , again no brownouts , not even with the servo under load .

Battery discharged to 3.8v , no brownouts .

Battery discharged to 3.71 volts , no brownouts .

Battery discharged to 3.56 volts , @ 3.56v the battery is very close to depleted .. I gave the Rx / servo a rather good work out and no brownouts .

Static voltage : This is the voltage of the battery at rest ( doing nothing - not connected to anything )

Wow , I saw little point going bellow 3.56v as this is pretty much where batteries ( lipo ) are very close to depleted . ( If not depleted ) ..
So I am very impressed ..

Next I jam in more voltage to see if there is any voltage regulation to the servos ( 2s capability )

That will be Part 3
More voltage , a range test , and a conclusion ..

To play with I have the iRangeX RM601 7ch Receiver .
Ch1 - Throttle
Ch2 - Aileron
Ch3 - Elevator
Ch4 - Rudder

+ You have pins for PPM and Bind as well Ch5 and Ch6

Now my main goal here was to see how little voltage this receiver would work on and I think I learned a few things along the way ...

A) Current is more important than Voltage ...

I have a variable voltage power supply being used to feed power to the receiver ..
To start testing I fed some 5v @ 0.5Amp to the receiver ..

Receiver was initially set to DSMx and bound to my Jumper T8SG Plus ..
Two 9g servos were attached to the receiver ..

I got so many brown outs it was not funny ...
Tried DSM2 and the brown outs were literally twice as bad ..
I jacked the voltage to 6v and left the current to the Rx @ 0.5A
Yeah , you may have guessed , more brown outs ..

I then pushed the current to 0.9Amp and no more brown outs ... ( Bound back to DSMx )
I dropped the voltage to 5v and no brown outs ..
I dropped the voltage to 4.8v and no brown outs
I dropped the voltage to 4.6v and no brown outs
I dropped the voltage to 4.2v and no brown outs
I dropped the voltage to 4v and no brown outs
I dropped the voltage to 3.9v and no brown outs ( Sorry - did brown out @ 3.9v - 0.9A )
I dropped the voltage to 3.8v and got brown outs ( DSMx )

WOW !
a) 3.8v and the 9g servos were still working ...

So I thought , hmmmmmm , maybe if I crank the current to 1.5A ...

...Continue Reading

Some deals

Volantex V761-1 Firstar Mini 2.4G 3CH 6 Axis Gyro Micro RC Airplane RTF

WLtoys F949 3CH 2.4G Cessna 182 Micro RC Airplane RTF - Left Hand Throttle

SeaEagle 2.4G 3CH 515mm Wingspan 3-6 Axis 3D Aerobatic EPS FPV RC Airplane RTF - Mode 2 (Left Hand Throttle)

MinimumRC J3 Cub 460mm Wingspan Balsa Wood Laser Cut RC Airplane KIT - KIT+Motor

F6F 2.4G 4CH 6-Axis Gyro Easy Flying Trainer EPO Warbird RC Airplane RTF

Eachine Fury Wing 1030mm Wingspan Carbon Fiber EPO FPV Racer Flying Wing RC Airplane KIT

Eachine E33C 2.4G 6CH With 2MP Camera Headless Mode LED Night Flight RC Drone Quadcopter RTF - Black Mode 2 (Left Hand Throttle)

Eachine E70 Mini Headless Mode One Key Return 3D Flips 2.4G 4CH 6-Axis LED RC Drone Quadcopter RTF - Mode 2 (Left Hand Throttle)

XINLEHONG TOYS 9130 1:16 4WD Brushed Off-road RC Car - RTR - BLUE

XINLEHONG TOYS 9125 1:10 Brushed 4WD Off-road RC Car - RED WITH BLACK

For review : Predator 40A ESC
Sent by : Fasttech.com
Link : http://shrsl.com/127wr

Finally had the weather and the time on my side to test the Predator 40A ESC .
What attracted me to this ESC was simply that it was ready to go , everything is soldered in place - XT60 plug and bullet connectors for the motor .
To test the ESC my plan was to run it at the rated current and see what happens ( Heat - power sag ) , look for those tell tale signs that maybe everything is not right in the world .

The first prop I tried is a 10.5 x 5 and the motor pulled 30A .. The Predator 40A never got more than barely warm at all ..
So obviously I had to try a larger prop to load up the motor to put the ESC under some pressure as 30A was doing nothing to the ESC .

Danger Danger :

I swapped props and put a 11x6 Master on the motor .
When I did this I also changed the battery , putting the first one on the charger .
As I plugged in the battery and slowly cranked in power . Something strange happened .
The power sagged something terrible ..
Got to run through that check list right ?
Did I over prop the motor = Nope
Was the ESC overloading = Nope

Only thing left is the battery !
So carefully applying power I watched the power meter ..
5 amps / 10 amps and at 15 amps the battery began to collapse , or should that be the voltage was collapsing ...
10 volts , 9 volts , 8 volts , 7 volts
Bad Ju Ju folks - Looks like the battery can not sustain a discharge any longer ..
...Continue Reading

My alarm had just gone off and I was thinking about getting out of bed .. ( I was thinking about it )
The doorbell rang , so now there was no choice ...

Only the delivery drivers calls in so early in the morning and I was wondering which glider was being delivered
A rather large box was waiting for me ..
I kind off figured it was the Spectre ... http://thebuildrc.com/rc-aircraft/gl....html?___SID=U

Thebuildrc was selling the DLG on Ebay and it was an auction sale ..
With no one bidding I put in a minimum bid and won ...
So I got the Spectre for a reasonable sum of money ..

Purchase was made on the 14th and on the morning of the 20th the doorbell rang ..
I think that's a fair effort ..

The Spectre was really well packaged :
The brown box was wrapped in foam sheet ( I might want to use that for something )
Inside the box everything was carefully bubble wrapped ..
All the goodies look to be in perfect condition ..

Now in the past people have been harshing on the Ailerons , I can't see a issue .. ( Fixed ? )
I have servos , I have receivers , UBEC's and batteries ...
No idea how long it will take me to get in the air ( could be months - I hope not )

So why did I buy this DLG ?
A) Price
B) Availability - I don'y know ? Is there a DLG shortage ? I just want a PARK flyer not a competition bird for $3500
C) Apparently the Spectre can push through a stiff breeze ( Wind ) , this year and last have been very / very windy ...
D) It's ARF ( Assembly Needed )

BNF would have been better or plug and play .. Unfortunately aside from the UMX Whipit , there is nothing practical to buy ( Oz )
Yes , I will definitely give DIY a go ( Mini / Micro DLG )

Yeah ! , some one has the dollar bug !

Seriously , a long time ago you could buy something for a dollar . ( I mean a long time ago - like the 1970's )
Those times are long gone , well so I thought .

Apparently , you can still get stuff sent to you ( mind you ) for a lousy dollar ...

And so what we have here is a little chucky ..

Building one is incredibly simple , you just need a match stick or something to punch out the cut outs for the wings N things .
There is no need for glue ..
This particular chucky is a stunt chucky ..
And by that I mean it is supposedly meant to do loops when you hurl it ..
If you look at the pictures you will notice I cut a new slot for the elevator so the chucky would glide straight ..
And glide straight it does ..

Only real issue is the weight , or lack there off !
These are really meant for indoor flight as the slightest breeze has a huge effect on the chucky ..
A school hall or something would be brilliant .
If you plan on relocating the elevator , a very sharp cutting tool will make short work of cutting a new slot ..

Flight trimming was easy , just tweak the foam wings or elevator to suit . ( They are very easy to mold with your fingers )
I was really amazed at how well such a small light chucky can glide without a breeze upsetting it .

What I like ..
1) Cheap @ $1
2) Easy to build ( Kid safe )
3) easy to tune
4) relatively robust

What I don't like
1) Stunt version (?) Will need a sharp cutting implement to correct
2) Indoors only - gets upset by the slightest breeze

Feebay Link

There are inherent problems with surfing Feebay ! Every now and again they get you to bite !
And so it is with this little free flight rubber powered plane .

I saw it and thought , just what the heck do you get for like $1 USD shipped to your door ?
Seriously , $1 USD

So obviously I had to shell out a dollar - right ?

What came in the packet ?

A stick , to which everything is attached .
Plastic attachment points ..
Foam wings and tail surfaces .
A prop and rubber to power it
A small rubber band to hold the wing in place
And some double sided tape (?)

To assemble ..
Install the plastic attachment points ( Wing tail )
These slide onto the stick ( Very firmly ) you may wish to have a adult do this as children may lack the strength ..

To attach the wings :
First lay down the correct piece of double sided tape ( tricky to peel )
Then you need to carefully lay down the wings
Put on the wing retainer on top and then attach the small rubber band
Actually , it works and is some what robust .

There are two pieces of plastic that are supposed to go on the wing to help bend them up for greater stability , but I did not bother with them .

Elevator rudder ..
These are simply held in place with the double sided tape provided ..
???? Not sure how much I like that , but seems to be working for now .

To get your CG right simply slide the wing on the stick as needed ..
The foam wings N things are pliable and can be finger molded to change...Continue Reading

V911 flight board test (0 min 33 sec)

I really like the WL Toys V911 flight board .. ( This be from the V911 helicopter )
It incorporates two micro servos and is very easy to bind .

31mm L
28mm W
22mm H
and weighing some 5.7 grams .
$15 oz shipped to my door with the dreaded GST

There are just so many things these can be used for , but I had gliders in mind .
I have ordered a 1.2 meter FF glider , cost like $27 ozzi bananas ..



More waiting , but do I stuff the board into the foam glider or maybe build a DLG ?
Anyhow , got one ..
And for some reason I think I got the last one from BG , and is there a shortage at the moment .
I tried to buy one off ebay and was refunded ..

Anyways , plan is to do some gliders and gliding this spring / summer ..
I have some small servos , some receivers ..
So I will hopefully find the time to do some Rx voltage testing ..



Oh and I have to find the time to test this ESC as well ... Looks very interesting and comes ready to bolt in .

9g Servo tests to stall (6 min 51 sec)

OK , so this is the last video ...
Servo's 5 to 8 are pushed to stall ..
None of the servos were damaged .
But I did swap out my Orange Rx for a servo tester .. Since I was testing to stall .

Wonder if we should have a 9g power lifting competition ?

I was expecting maybe some smelly circuits , but no ..
The servos stalled but did not fry or suffer any damage ..

...Continue Reading

Jumper Thread @ RCG > https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...Free-Reviewing

My review posted in said thread > https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=172

For Review I have the Quelima A3s from Gearbest





The A3s came with 3 mounts , two permanent style mounts and one gator style of mount . Also there is the USB power / Data cable and instructions .


...Continue Reading