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Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:45 am
by SecretSquirrel
thegleek wrote:
that's a lot of controls for a helicopter... any easy way to explain how it all works SecretSquirrel?


Left stick: up/down, rotate left/right
Right stick: pitch forward/back, pitch left/right

Thats the real simple version. Not all the switches and channels are used on such a small heli. Even on big setups, I usually have a switch or two unassigned. Most of the switch are not set up to directly control functions of the model, but to modify how the radio processes your inputs before sending it to the model.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:46 pm
by JohnC
SecretSquirrel wrote:
Back into helicopters...

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Yes, it's a DX8 -- for flying a micro, indoor bird.

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I sold off all my Spektrum gear some time ago. Not because I didn't like it, but I needed more channels and the Hitec Aurora 9 fit the bill. Well, now I'm buying Spektrum gear again. I've been drooling over several park fliers and while I can get them receiver ready, the micro indoor stuff is all bind-n-fly Spektrum. So, I'll just be a two radio house I suppose.

The mCPx is amazing. I certainly am not up to utilizing its capabilities for 3d flight yet, but it hovers better than my old CX2 or Blade 400 ever did.

--SS


Good stuff! I used to play with more simple model, Blade mCX2 (coax rotors) and different controller, DX5e (less channels, no LCD display)... Until I got bored of it and kind of abandoned it :-?

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 6:10 pm
by SecretSquirrel
JohnC wrote:
Good stuff! I used to play with more simple model, Blade mCX2 (coax rotors) and different controller, DX5e (less channels, no LCD display)... Until I got bored of it and kind of abandoned it :-?


That's where I started. Actually the mCX2 didn't exist the, it was just the CX2. But, I started with the DX5e and moved up from there. I definitely got bit by the bug.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:05 pm
by JohnC
B.t.w, how's mCPX - is it easy to trim properly? Is it more "responsive" than the CX2 (for some reason my mCX2 always felt "laggy", regardless of DX5e's settings)? How long do the "stock" batteries last?

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:27 pm
by SecretSquirrel
JohnC wrote:
B.t.w, how's mCPX - is it easy to trim properly? Is it more "responsive" than the CX2 (for some reason my mCX2 always felt "laggy", regardless of DX5e's settings)? How long do the "stock" batteries last?


I took it out of the box, charged the batteries and went flying. No trim needed to hover hands off. Way, way, way more responsive than the CX2, or any coax bird. This one will get away from you really quick. It is capable of full 3-D flight and is fast for it's size. If you can hover a single rotor fixed pitch heli, you can hover the mCPX, but it is not a "first helicopter" at all. I fly with a full up computer radio so I can customize sensitivity and such. Supposedly it has some built in settings for flying with a non-computer radio, but I don't know how much that changes its feel.

I did have the opportunity to crash it twice tonight. My club holds indoor flying sessions in the gym of a local church once or twice a month and I got to let it "stretch its wings", so to speak. Smacked the wall about 30 feet up the first time and tagged a set of folded up tables at a fair rate of speed the second time. It gets rave reviews from me on survivability. One broken ball link and a scuffed blade was the total damage.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:32 am
by FroBozz_Inc
I received a Traxxas Stampede VXL 4x4 for Christmas :)
It's a blast. I added a light kit for night driving last night.

Electric R/C has come a ways since the early 90's when I last had an Associated RC10T.
Brushless motors, Lipo batteries, 2.4Ghz radios, waterproof electronics, better ESC's.

Already ordered a complete stainless steel screw set as a few stock screw heads are already rusting from all the snow.
Electronics may be "waterproof" but the stock fasteners sure aren't.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:21 pm
by SecretSquirrel
FroBozz_Inc wrote:
I received a Traxxas Stampede VXL 4x4 for Christmas :)
It's a blast. I added a light kit for night driving last night.

Electric R/C has come a ways since the early 90's when I last had an Associated RC10T.
Brushless motors, Lipo batteries, 2.4Ghz radios, waterproof electronics, better ESC's.

Already ordered a complete stainless steel screw set as a few stock screw heads are already rusting from all the snow.
Electronics may be "waterproof" but the stock fasteners sure aren't.


Electric RC has come a very long way indeed. My Chistmas present: UMX Sbach 342 3D. I don't have any pictures of mine yet. 17" wingspan, fully aerobatic.

You can go from that to a 100cc equivelent electric on what is effectively the same technology. Pretty crazy stuff. On the car side, you've got 100+mph cars that would win a 1/4 mile drag against all but the top full scale supercars. My first RC car was a Porsche 925 made by someone or another. It took 8, D cell NiCad batters and ran through them in about 5 minutes. I thought it was the best thing in the world.... It might have hit 15mph :)

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:00 pm
by SuperSpy
My new plaything. :D
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Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:19 pm
by liquidsquid
Got an RC speedboat for Christmas... now to wait for the pond to melt a bit!

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:29 pm
by Buub
SuperSpy, what is that? It looks like fun!

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:22 pm
by SuperSpy
Buub wrote:
SuperSpy, what is that? It looks like fun!

It's a Traxxas QR-1.

I guess it's actually a rebrand of another quad-copter 'with Traxxas enhancements', but it sure is one heck of handful. I've gone through almost all of the included spare blades in the few dozen flights I've been able to get in so far, and replacement blades are still on backorder :(

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:38 pm
by FireGryphon
Just found this and figured I'd share: a video of a guy making his plane dance to the Blue Danube! The pilot has awesome control of that plane.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:33 pm
by SecretSquirrel
My club holds a spring youth event for a local group of underprivledged/at risk youth. This weekend was sunny, 75 deg, and beautiful. Got a couple of nice shots from the event.

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--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 8:54 am
by SecretSquirrel
Time to pull out the check book.... :cry: Yesterday I re-kitted my beautiful WildHare MX2. I was doing a knife edge pass across the field at about 30-40 feet up and "dumb thumbed" the exit. It went in nose first, a speed.

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The airframe is a complete loss. The elevator and rudder servos seem to be ok as they still rotate smoothly. The canister exhaust is trashed. I know at least one of the batter packs is toast as it had one of the main power leads ripped out. Those are just things I noted either while bagging up the bits or when taking them out of the car. The pile is on the floor in the garage. I'll probably go strip it and see what is salvagable later today.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 1:57 pm
by ludi
Suggestion: get those battery packs into a covered metal trash can ASAP, until you can fully assess their physical condition. Would be much worse if your RC crash turned into a garage fire.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 8:19 pm
by SecretSquirrel
ludi wrote:
Suggestion: get those battery packs into a covered metal trash can ASAP, until you can fully assess their physical condition. Would be much worse if your RC crash turned into a garage fire.


They are LiFe packs and not nearly as succeptible to fire as normal LiPo packs. The cells are in metal cans an not the soft foil polymer cells. My biggest concern was for fire from them shorting out due to damaged wiring. The cells themselves have no physical damage other than on had the soldered on power lead pulled off.

That said, your concern is real, for those that aren't aware. Sunday the 12th, we had a plane crash at the field and catch fire due to the battery pack.

I did the autopsy Sunday afternoon and it wasn't pretty.

I hit hard enough to destroy the main power switches.
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The port wing is a collection of balsa confetti being held in the general shape of a wing by the covering.
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The engine is a near total loss. The carb is still good, that's about it. It broke the cyclinder and crank case and bent the connecting rod too.
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The electronics seem to have survived pretty well. All the servos turn smoothly, though I haven't torn them down yet. I'll pull the gears and control boards, as well as the reciever board and look at them under a microscope at work to check from damage.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 8:29 pm
by SnowboardingTobi
:o
... that'll buff right out...

I miss going out to fly. it's been years

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 5:52 pm
by FireGryphon
Check out this video of a model Mig 29:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSpctmf7uuk


Pretty sweet!

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:29 am
by SecretSquirrel
FireGryphon wrote:
Check out this video of a model Mig 29:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSpctmf7uuk


Pretty sweet!


It's a shame it wasn't a bit more scale. But then what can you expect for a $200 airframe...

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:38 pm
by SecretSquirrel
Time to revive a dormant thread. I haven't flown much in the last couple of years. Life has interceeded. But, I have finally completed a very long running project. Some of you may remember, in 2009, way back on page 16, I picked up a partially built 33% Laser 200 airframe. Well, I finally can call it finished. I put the last coat of wax on the paint yesterday and put everything back together.

Before...

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Almost after...

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Once the weather turns sunny here, I'm going to take it out in the back yard and take a true "after" picture. Unfortunately it's been quite damp and cold here. They long term forecast for next weekend looks promising though. If its not too windy, I might get it in the air. Considering put in exactly two flights on anything last year, I need some stick time...

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:31 pm
by SecretSquirrel
Here is the after picture....

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It has flown. It now has six flights on it and except for an armadillo incident on flight three, it has done very well. It is going to be a fun plane to fly. Top speed so far is 111mph according to the GPS and it will go vertical as long as you will let it. Still have a bit of trimming work to do. Wing incidence is still off a bit and I probably need to put a small bit of down and right thrust on the engire.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 7:21 pm
by Darkmage
Nice work. That's quite the paint job you put on it.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:16 pm
by MarkG509
From Slashdot: Hundreds Apply For FAA Drone Licenses

Edit: I've tried to get into RC 'stuff' 4 times, including scratch building a plane from plans: 2 planes and 2 helicopters (plus a 2-stage model rocket once). The crashes (usually on first flight) just hurt too much :(

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:26 pm
by SecretSquirrel
Darkmage wrote:
Nice work. That's quite the paint job you put on it.


Thanks. I didn't pick the color scheme, the original builder did and I got plenty of covering to go with the half built kit when I bought it. He was originally going to use gold, instead of yellow, for a true Mardi Gras theme. But, I had concerns about orientation issues at a distance with the darker gold color, so I went with yellow instead.

I will say, I will never complain about the cost of getting a car paint job touched up now that I have done this paint job. It is a base coat/clear coat and while expensive because they are custom color matched to the covering, the price of automotive paint is crazy. Further, the talent involved in making a good, high quality paint job is substantial. Mine looks good in the pictures, but when you get up close, I made plenty of mistakes.

--SS

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 3:57 pm
by FireGryphon
Just saw this and wanted to share. Pretty neat, raising a person with r/c craft!

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 4:21 pm
by Heiwashin
That is neat, also thanks for reviving this. I thought this thread existed but couldn't find it in my short searching. Anyway so i'm hoping my phantom 3 arrives at home this weekend but i'm also a little worried. They have a huge backlog on repairs and there are lots of complaints on forums and videos of loss of control based crashes. Either way i should be able to pick it up next week at the latest, and maybe i'll post a few vids if it doesn't explode.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 7:20 pm
by Hance
Heiwashin wrote:
That is neat, also thanks for reviving this. I thought this thread existed but couldn't find it in my short searching. Anyway so i'm hoping my phantom 3 arrives at home this weekend but i'm also a little worried. They have a huge backlog on repairs and there are lots of complaints on forums and videos of loss of control based crashes. Either way i should be able to pick it up next week at the latest, and maybe i'll post a few vids if it doesn't explode.



DJI makes decent products, some of the people that buy them on the other hand are real jerks and do stupid crap with them. I'm flying more all the time and playing with computers less.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 7:58 am
by Heiwashin
It's been treating me very well. Originally there was a software problem where the app would crash the ipad but it only took 20-30 seconds to restart and i would never fly anywhere where hovering that long would be a problem. That was fixed though.

This weekend on my home time i did some flying near the local airport. It was my first time flying near an airport so i didn't know what to expect when i followed the regs and called the air tower for permission. Within a minute i was free to fly and they were really nice about it. I hate that so many drone flyers are causing problems when it's fairly easy to follow the rules.

Similarly i'm being sucked in more and more by this hobby. It's a really convenient hobby for being on the road all the time in addition to being fun. The next purchase i'll pick up around new years is going to be a set of 250mm fpv racing parts, a controller and some fpv goggles.

I'm actually looking forward to picking up the krossblade skyprowler when it releases as well. VTOL airplane, field convertible to drone. I also think the lilly is interesting but the more i think about it i wouldn't have much use for it myself.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:47 am
by Hance
I have a Blade 350QX3 AP edition that is very similar to your Phantom, they make great camera platforms. Almost everything I have flown this year has be gasoline powered though, 20 and 30 cc airplanes with about a 60 to 70 inch wingspan. Its funny how tastes change in the hobby over the years. When I first started years ago I only wanted glow powered, then I only wanted smaller electric stuff and now I only want gasoline powered stuff.

Re: Radio Control Hobbies

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:42 pm
by Heiwashin
I used to have that without the camera. I didn't like the ap combo's range. I loved how powerful it was though. I seriously considered, and am kindof still considering, just putting a long range camera and transmitter on it. The only problem is if i fly that bad boy i fly it in agility mode and i already broke one in half back when there was something like a 3-4 month backorder on bodies.

I'm still fairly new to all this stuff. I'd like to hop into heli's and planes eventually.