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Post by kavic5150 on Aug 19, 2011 7:45:05 GMT -5
Hey there fellow pilots. Just finished up some custom night paddles for my 550. I used 2032 size Li-ion rechargeable button/coin cells that I got on ebay, some lightweight gaui paddles with a little dremeling done to fit the button cell. Its the standard setup otherwise. Green LEDs on the tips and one paddle has a white LED mid span pointing up, the other has one pointing down. I used some 3 pin strip connectors from digikey so I can use the old align night blade charger, and I got a micro switch from mouser.com Pretty sure digikey has those switches in case u wanna do some one stop shopping. Test flight this morning, and 3 out of 4 leds failed, soldering that copper tape is kinda tricky and those button cells are a PITA to solder to. I buttoned everything up this morning and added some CA so everything should be kosher. I bought some Torsion night paddles a few months ago and they were ok, but I was looking for something brighter. The aforementioned night paddles are for sale over on HF, along with the torsion charger. I plan some pics/vids when I've chased out all the bugs. Attachments:
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Post by dunkonu23 on Aug 19, 2011 12:39:49 GMT -5
Looks very cool! Do you have any in-flight video?
Scott
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Post by Jerrymac on Aug 20, 2011 0:47:43 GMT -5
That looks pretty cool. Some of you guys have way more ambition than me though when it comes to RC helicopters. I like simple.
Buy kit, buy decent basic electronics, set up as near perfect as possible, then go fly. ;D
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Post by kavic5150 on Sept 15, 2011 3:33:53 GMT -5
Not yet. I will make a vid soon. I just ordered some 1/2 watt leds for the main blades. I'm gonna do a regular set with the 20ma LEDs then another set with just 1 or 2 of those 140ma 1/2 watt LEDs. I'll have them dialed back to 100ma so I dont kill the 350ma foil pack lipos I plan to use.
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Post by kavic5150 on Sept 17, 2011 17:18:47 GMT -5
Heres a link to the vid I made last nite. ;D www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqdrs7uQaLkI cut my own hollow acrylic tubes since the ones in the kit were a bit too big, and put in some 8 inch blue CCFL bulbs. They are a similar brightness to the LED light strings. EDITED by Jerry. I took the liberty of embedding your video in the post. Hope you don't mind. |
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Post by Jerrymac on Sept 18, 2011 4:58:34 GMT -5
Looks great! I like the way you have the whole helicopter lit up. ;D
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Post by dunkonu23 on Sept 18, 2011 19:02:55 GMT -5
I love it! Night flying is so cool. Maybe one day I'll do it. I really like the lighting you used. It's BRIGHT. Neighbors might call about UFO's.  Scott |
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Post by kavic5150 on Oct 3, 2011 12:54:30 GMT -5
Wow, I just watched that and realized my piloting was horrible. I was looking at the camera, hollerin at my friends driving by at aboot 1:09. Also I had zero expo which I have changed to 20 on aileron and elevator.
That does look a bit brighter than it really is. Those translucent helimax kinetic 50 tail blades really pick up the white LEDs facing them.
I have all the bits to do some really bright main blades now. Rather than the usual 20ma LEDs, I've got some 150ma max that I plan to run at 100ma to save juice. Details and a fresh vid hopefully by this weekend. :~)
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Post by dunkonu23 on Oct 3, 2011 17:50:38 GMT -5
I can't wait to see the video, sir!
Scott
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Post by kavic5150 on Oct 18, 2011 21:41:24 GMT -5
Finished my main blades, they are really bright. Got alot more altitude this evening than I'm used to. Placing LEDs on the tips is a bit trickier than doing them top or bottom, but its worth the CA headache.
I'll do a video this morning right around first light. ;D
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Post by dunkonu23 on Oct 19, 2011 4:29:21 GMT -5
Sounds great, sir. I'm looking forward to seeing your handiwork. Scott |
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Post by kavic5150 on Oct 26, 2011 18:57:36 GMT -5
Looks like that video might be delayed. I made one that morning and it was just awful. I didnt have a camera person so I just aimed my camera up at a 45 and barely managed to wander thru the frame a few times. Then later that day I had a too tight ball link pop off in flight and luckily I was able to plop down from about 5 feet with little damage. So now I have to order 2 gear sets for those DS821s and does anyone know what the part number is for those tiny brass spacers inbetween the swashplate and the linkage balls? Otherwise the DIY night blades I did turned out excellent. Using 350ma lipos from a 2s pack, and some super bright blue and green 150ma max LEDs. I'm only pushing them at 100ma to keep things cool as I'm not using any heat sinks with them. They are noticably brighter than the hobbyking LED strips on 3s. I did a vid of my similarly equipped blade 400 night flyer that turned out pretty good: Can someone embed this vid in my post? I still dunno how. |
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Post by dunkonu23 on Oct 27, 2011 4:31:04 GMT -5
Done for you. I can't watch the video here at work, but I will when I get home. Scott |
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Post by Jerrymac on Oct 27, 2011 4:36:07 GMT -5
Ha Scott, I was just in the middle of embedding his vid, but you beat me to it, lol. The B400 looks great, can't wait to see the Hurri. Nice flying too, the slow piro's were pretty smooth and stable. I don't think you can buy those small spacers between the swash plate and link balls separately, as I believe they come with the complete swash plate assembly, which sucks as it is $50. Not sure if the 'long stand' X5 balls will work, but might be worth a shot. www.allerc.com/gaui-x5-stainless-4-8mm-balls-long-standx5pcs-short-standx5pcs-p-5566.htmlTo embed a video, just click the little box that says "Tube" in the reply pane, then paste the You Tube link between the 'bracketed' words. Just make sure there are no spaces in between or it won't work. |
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