Originally Posted by dave1993

actually that has been fully defined. a 600ms pulse (ch4 i think) toggles the leds. dual rates on the v939. this can be done with radios like 9x with custom er9x firmware.

Many of us have 9X radio and no success at all...that would be great if could switch on/off the LEDs form the 9X...

Originally Posted by dave1993

actually that has been fully defined. a 600ms pulse (ch4 i think) toggles the leds. dual rates on the v939. this can be done with radios like 9x with custom er9x firmware.

OK, and HOW actually do you that?
You are referring to this post?
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=580

-mike-

Originally Posted by mikefromgermany

OK, and HOW actually do you that?
..................

-mike-

I would like to know this as well.

Me too.

Ted

If channel 4 is the yaw control channel, then what dave1993 mentioned above is consistent with what I observed a while back.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=293

Originally Posted by dave1993

actually that has been fully defined. a 600ms pulse (ch4 i think) toggles the leds. dual rates on the v939. this can be done with radios like 9x with custom er9x firmware.

Thanks for the heads up. I thought I was keeping up with the findings. Must have missed that. Any pointers to threads with more info will be much appreciated.

In the mean time, off to 9x forum I go.

Recently received my v929 from Banggood and I've had it out twice so far. The board is JR-WL-FD02R-1 REV:02 2012/07/03 and has plugs for LEDs. The TX is marked V929/V939 and has a top-right button.

I made a few modifications before taking it out. I added cable ties, tied near the middle of the landing gear, with the other end CA'd into the little hole, and another cable tie to secure the power lead to the frame. I've also hot glued the motors in place at the top, and painted the front motor holders and landing gear red to help with orientation. I also took the props off to balance them, but they weren't too out of balance at all. I can't figure out how people are balancing the props while they're on the quad; would someone care to explain this to me? Mainly because I'm curious.

First day was pretty windy and I ended up flying on the 60% setting before very long. I needed about 60% aileron to keep the thing from drifting downwind. Even with painted motor holders and landing gear on the front, orientation was quite hard to see. The canopy came off on quite a number of crashes and ended up with two cracks in it. One crash put the gyro out, and next time it wouldn't even take off, even though it spun up. A reset solved this. Props got bent a few times, but were quite easy to bend back into shape. Taking off from a slope is quite easy. I haven't compared initialising on a slope ot initialising on the flat. On most (8 out of 10?) landings, even gentle ones, the quad flipped upside down, probably partly thanks to the cable ties and partly thanks to the bouncy grass.

Before my second day of flying I made a modified 'canopy' out of four cable ties attached to the circle of the frame (halfway in between the booms) and crossed over at the top to form a dome. I can post more details and perhaps photos if anyone's interested. I also attached a ping-pong ball between the front landing gear to help with orientation. I made two holes in the ball, put a piece of thread through it, tied it to the landing gear on either side, and put hot glue over the knots and on either side of the ball.

Second day was less windy and I had far fewer crashes and much better airtime per flight. No bent props this time, but the ping-pong ball did come lose (the thread broke). I still found orientation a little hard even with the ball, as it was sometimes hard to tell what angle I was looking at the quad from, but that's probably mostly about practice. I've now used more cable ties (who needs duct tape?) to reattach the ping-pong ball. I was very pleased with the new 'canopy', though. The quad now landed right way up more than half the time, but this is probably partly thanks to my improved flying skills and the lower wind, as well as the canopy, although I suspect the canopy does play a part as it is bouncy and sticks up further. I've noticed though that the quad sometimes inexplicably starts losing altitude as though I'd throttled down, and I have to throttle up to 100% to stop from landing (if I even can prevent it). Has anyone else noticed this?

On the first day, one of the cogs got some gunk in it and caused it to stick a bit. I didn't notice this until I got home, so it probably pays to check the cogs regularly. It is very hard to see when the stock charger is indicating fully charged. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention this, but that's probably because most people aren't using the stock charger. I don't know if anyone's mentioned this, but the animation on the TX LCD is obviously fake. The speed of flickering simply corresponds to the throttle position. One more thing I've learnt: number your batteries. It's easier to lose track of them than you'd think.

I'm wondering what spares/extras I should order next. I already have a real charger on the way. I'm thinking a set of booms, a set of props (I already have two spare sets) and maybe some Tiger Lipos (I have 3 stock ones). I'm also thinking about adding LEDs. Can anyone tell me how visible these (which I assume are stock on the v949?) are during the day?

Originally Posted by farrioth

I'm also thinking about adding LEDs. Can anyone tell me how visible these (which I assume are stock on the v949?) are during the day?

Orientation can be a challenge. I painted a "white face" on my stock canopy and it helped.
After flying my v959 I saw how effective the lights can be and made a new canopy for the v929 with a white face and LEDs.
At at distance in bright sun the LEDs fade but the white face is visible.

Sounds fairly good farrioth, photos of the cable tie canopy and l/g would be appreciated as I wait for mine to arrive.

Originally Posted by farrioth

I still found orientation a little hard...

Hello farrioth, I made a canopy with an obvious front and back shape. Easy to see against a clear sky. Made it from polystyrene and painted it black...

Here is my solution to replacing the ugly beetle canopy and improving orientation. Made from the top of a McDonalds milkshake lid. I just trimmed off the bottom flange, sprayed the inside silver and used a black permanent marker pen to color the raised arches and add the "eyes" and "eye brows". Surprisingly effective and the price is right.

Ted

PS - I tried the zip tie landing gear add-on but quickly discarded them. They cause more trouble than their possible worth.

Originally Posted by G550Ted

Here is my solution to replacing the ugly beetle canopy and improving orientation. Made from the top of a McDonalds milkshake lid. I just trimmed off the bottom flange, sprayed the inside silver and used a black permanent marker pen to color the raised arches and add the "eyes" and "eye brows". Surprisingly effective and the price is right.

Ted

PS - I tried the zip tie landing gear add-on but quickly discarded them. They cause more trouble than their possible worth.

I think your shake lid canopy is perfect. I've been waiting to get by a Micky D's for weeks and pick up a few, yum-yum...

I haven't flown the v929 for a while, almost forgot how much fun it was. This is the one that started the madness.

WL Toys v929 Beetle (4 min 0 sec)

Nice flying Tex. the ole girl is flying quite well, what TX? and is it an A version?
I'd like to replace my early banged-up '29 with an "A".

Originally Posted by vpsporb

Nice flying Tex. the ole girl is flying quite well, what TX? and is it an A version?
I'd like to replace my early banged-up '29 with an "A".

The above vid is using a v911 tx on low rate, it is a v929 (8-plug board) that was manufactured before the v949 came out, so it is non-"A".