Messages

1

Scale / DGC Ka8b

« on: November 24, 2009, 22:10:01 PM »

:clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Alan.
It looks fantastic.
Well done.
And the new reg as well.
It will take a lot of courage to launch that off the side of the hill.
When do you think it will fly.

Cha

2

Radios / Ultramat 17

« on: August 03, 2009, 00:16:31 AM »

god be with the days

3

Radios / Ultramat 17

« on: August 02, 2009, 22:01:13 PM »

I wasn,t snoring honest
I was out having a bottle of wine and an Italian dish, the name of which escapes me at the moment. Recollect bottle of Chianti. Shared of course.  so only 1/2 bottle.
Anyhow meal was good.
But then again this is very good.
This is the stuff the instruction manual didn't cover   :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
This is what I need to know.
And I presume loads of other people can benefit from as well.

You don't wire houses by any chance.l
Could probably get you a nixer.

Yes I remember milk bottles.

But Merville Daries stopped using milk bottles a long tine ago.
Even in Meath our milk comes in cartons.
But we may have an age in common.
So a very good analogy.

Great
More things learned.
Safe to discharge 2100mAh cells at up to 3 Amps
Or as we that know say "1.5C"
And
Only need to recycle after every 20 or so charges.
 


Maybe Fred could capture the highlights of this and post them in a how to section.

Keith

Thanks very much

 :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Cha

4

Radios / Ultramat 17

« on: August 02, 2009, 19:17:08 PM »

:oops:  :oops:  :oops:
I knew it was too good to be true.
FOR SALE  1 SLIGHTLY COOKED 2100 NIMH RX PACK.

Well charged it at 1200mA till the machine said it was full.

Maybe I should of taken up growing vegetables

Thanks Dennis and Keith for the detailed explination.
Yes it does make sence.
Now that I know the -80% and +  #### Oh wait a minute . That is -20% leaving 80%
Yea I think I have it now.
Instructions had said, or I read somewhere else, not to let the voltage on a single AA drop below 1 or 1.1V. Think that is the same thing.

1C  :?:  :?:  :?:  thats a new one.
Well I know where that fits now.
Once the CAPACITY.
Its all simple when its explained.

Right I will reset the values for charge and discharge.

WAIT
 #-o
Should I discharge at 10% of capacity ?

Thanks again Lads[/b]

Cha[/b]

5

Radios / Ultramat 17

« on: August 02, 2009, 16:52:06 PM »

All seems very quiet on the board so I will seek more advice.
I bought an Ultramat 17 Charger.
While the instructions come in many languages they don't seem to cover what I would call the basics.
What charging current should I use to charge an RX battery pack (4 AA batteries of 2100mAh.
The basic charger I had used up till this, slow charges at 120 mA.
My understanding, and I have been wrong before, is
2100/120 =17hrs 30mins.
Sums
So I would leave it on charge for 17 hrs 30 mins.
Now I have the ability to increase the charging current :lol:
2100/1000 or 1 amp = 2.1Hrs.
2100/2000               = 1 hr

This gadget will charge at up to 5amps  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

I didnt try that. just did the sums
2100/5000=0.42Hrs   or 25mins   :?:

What would be a safe charging current.

Or have I got it all wrong.

Many thanks in advance

Cha

6

Road trips / Sunday 21st June

« on: June 24, 2009, 15:20:06 PM »

Joe thanks for the advice.
The need for more speed I had sussed.
There was not a lot of lift at times and that was fooling me into flying slowly to maximise what lift there was
Will try less bank and more rudder the next time.
Had to use a lot of rudder to recover at one stage and almost sent it spinning in the opposite direction.
Thanks again for the comments.

Dennis. Its great to be able to look at the replay of something that almost went badly wrong. It gives you time to assess where you could improve.
Thanks again for the video.
Cha

7

Road trips / Sunday 21st June

« on: June 22, 2009, 12:32:22 PM »

Now,  was I afraid or was I terrified.
Open to all constructive comments.
One thing I was doing wrong was turning when the airspeed was too low.
Hence the wing drop.
Great to see it flying and to know that while the landing was nor beautiful at least nothing was broken.
Thanks for the video Dennis.

Cha

8

Road trips / Sunday 21st June

« on: June 21, 2009, 22:18:35 PM »

Yep it was a great day.
Some fantastic flying

AND

I was'nt nervous
That was'nt nervous flying.



I was terrified.
 :oops:  :oops:  :oops:
I never spent so long scratchin for lift.

Eventually common sense took over and I stopped flying the Discus.

It was great to have it back on the ground and all the bits still connected together.

Good to eventually meet you Dennis.

Cha

9

Road trips / Sunday 21st June

« on: June 21, 2009, 12:54:38 PM »

Well having missed last weekend due to work and will miss Retroplane due holidays I think I will make the effort and head to Kilakee(or whatever it is called) this afternoon.
Wind in Drogheda is from the west about 10MPH.
There is a lot of low cloud around. I wonder if the mountains are still in cloud.
Earliest I could get there is about 3.30.
Still have some things to do before i leave.

10

Radios / Which Servo

« on: May 16, 2009, 22:10:22 PM »

Thanks for the info Alan.
I had a look at the Ultramat 17 on Sussex site and it is expensive. about €100.
Not too sure what I will do now.
At least I have more info and hence more options.
It would be a very good charger if I ever got an electric powered glider.

Yes Keith, I did learn the hard way.
When I arrived at the wreckage last Tuesday the indicator was in the last 3rd of its range, but when I moved the control sticks on the tx it flashed into the red zone and down to the last dot.

a terrible way to learn, but I will remember.

Cha

11

Radios / Which Servo

« on: May 16, 2009, 16:55:25 PM »

Hi Keith
Field chargers they are called.
Thanks for that.
So I am on the right road now.
Will have to get one of them.
Had a look at the Sussex Models site but the Ace Quick Charger is out of stock.
The CG 335 Pro seems to be able to charge TX and RX batteries at the same time ?
That looks a better option.

I know 3 hours is a lot of flying but I often set out on a spur of the moment, so the transmitter is not always fully charged.
So I start off from a weak position.

A FIELD CHARGER (now that I know about them) is what I need.
Though, it would be great to have a Lipo setup and, like Fred, not worry about discharged batteries.



. :oops:
Last Tuesday evening, spur of the moment, I flew my Stargazer. Started off with RX battery indicator showing down 2 dots on a 10 dot system.
No problem I thought as it is an 1100mAh battery.
50mins later the glider literally went mad. Developed a mind of its own. Piled into a heap of stones on the beach and cracked off its tail section.
Up till then I was a really happy chap.
I now know that I should check the battery condition under load.
Repairs now completed. waiting for wind to abate.

Thanks again for the help

Cha

12

Radios / Which Servo

« on: May 16, 2009, 11:37:15 AM »

Hi Keith
Yes the Li-Po option seems to be expensive but seems to be the ultimate solution.
A car charger would seem the cheapest solution all right.
My current (present  - so there is no misunderstanding) charger is a mains 240v one.
As I would be charging a 12V TX battery from a  12V car system is it a simple connection of the 2 systems and the current flows from car to TX battery to equalise the voltage.
Or is there electronic gizzmos needed in the circuit.
Or is there a commercial car cigarette lighter driven charger system that I have not yet seen
More questions. more questions.
It keeps going on.
Thanks for the info so far Keith.


Cha

13

Radios / Which Servo

« on: May 15, 2009, 18:31:07 PM »

Hi Fred.
Thanks for the quick reply.
Ill take your advice and go for the HS81s.
But I see they are out of stock so I have asked to be notified when they are avbl.
Lipos. Do they not explode when you try to charge them ??
I read something bad about them.
There is a Polyquest 2500 mAh 3C on the shop site but that is too big.
 Tx battery compartment is 115 X30 X30mm.
I really know yery little about these things.
I just enjoy flying the gliders
So I need to be pointed in the right direction.

Cha

14

Radios / Which Servo

« on: May 15, 2009, 14:32:29 PM »

Hi All
Need help again.

I have always used JR radio gear and for no other reason that this is what I started with.
In these recessionary times I was going to try and keep my purchases in the country.
I notice that Island Models don't stock JR gear so I was thinking of using Hitec servos.

Question

Would HS55 servos be strong enough to use on Ailerons and Flaps on a 2.6M wingspan model.
I was going to use HS81s for the rudder,elevators and spoilers.
Would they be strong enough ?

Also
My Transmitter (JR2720) has a 1500mAh Ni MN pack. It only lasts about 3 hours and then needs to be recharged.
Is there a better power pack I could use on a 35 MHz transmitter.

I have set up mixes on the Tx. would this be why the battery only lasts for the short while?

Still loads to learn.

thanks again Fred for the forum.

I would be lost without it.

Cha

15

Park Flyers / Foamies / series of unfortunate events

« on: April 20, 2009, 10:05:12 AM »

That happened to mine at one stage.
I drilled out a small section where the spud(hook) had been and epoxied a piece of plywood in to replace it.

Cha