Radio Control: Electrics
THIS MONTH'S discussion covers two meet announcements, some varied Electric products and supplier info, NEAC, follow-up on the Large Pack Slow Charger, and more on the EOCB. Joe Beshar is CD of The Exclusively Electric Fly In hosted by the Old Time Eagles on May 16, 1998 at the club field in Hope NJ. This is a gathering for the promotion of all kinds of Electric-powered models. The club welcomes all participants, spectators, and vendors. Prizes and surprises are planned. Plan on charging from your car and bring your own food for the day. For more info, contact Joe at 198 Merritt Drive, Oradell NJ 07649; Tel.: (201) 261-1281, Fax: (201) 261-0223. Tim McDonough of the Knights of the Air RC club announces the second Land of Lincoln Electric Fly June 13-14 in Springfield IL. Last year's meet drew attendance from seven states, and based on my own experience with good E-meets, I'd expect to see several more states represented this year. Contact Tim at 127 S. Oaklane Rd., Springfield IL 62707; E-mail: tpm@inw.net.
Radio Control: Electronics
Greg Judy of the Dallas Electric Aircraft Fliers (DEAF) club of Dallas TX wrote to tell of the 12th Annual DEAF Electric Fly-In, scheduled for October 3-4 at the Dallas RC Club. This affair combines some serious competitive events with "fun" events-something for everyone. Scheduled activities include LMR for Seven-Cell Sailplane/OT and 30-Cell Sailplane, AULD, Speed 400 pylon race, Lightest to Make Ten Minutes, Weight Lift, Best Scale, and a lot of fun-flying. The meet offers a paved runway, pond, and food, plus a free evening buffet. You can get full info from Greg at (817) 468-0962; E-mail: the judys@flash.net, or http:/web2.airmail.net/warner1/deaf/ This issue marks the 15th anniversary of my association with and writing E-things for Model Aviation. My writing began in the September 1983 issue with the start of an intended five- or six-part Electric series, which grew to be ten parts before it was all over.
Servo Cycler
The Servo Cycler is a simple, low-cost, easily built test accessory for the serious modeler. It automatically cycles servos throughout their range of motion in a very controlled manner. This precision servo drive causes most servo or installation anomalies to stand right out and get your attention. For example, it's not uncommon for servo pots to wear near servo neutral and cause some surface jitter. Or sometimes servo-to-surface linkage may bind somewhere in the displacement range. The Cycler can highlight such problems with ease.
Radio Control: Electrics
The KRC 19th Annual Electric Fly is scheduled for September 18-20 at the Queen City Airport in Allentown PA. This is the same super location as the last two years, but with even more field improvements and a greatly improved on-site Saturday Dinner/Social. The field opens mid-Friday afternoon for early arrivals, and remains open throughout the weekend. The meet will offer all the familiar high-class activities, including an unmatched raffle, demos, many popular vendors, all kinds of low-key events, and just plain open flying. KRC is well-established as the place to see everything that Electric has to offer. You can get a multipage detailed mailer from meet manager Durell Leister, 116 Falcon Way, Plymouth Meeting PA 19462; Tel.: (610) 825-7758. The KRC Web site is www.krc.org.
Radio Control: Electrics
THIS MONTH'S TOPICS include some followup on the Large Pack Slow Charger and the Pulse Mini-Lab articles, reader input on the End Of Charge Beeper, and some observations at the '98 Burlington (NJ) meet. The Large Pack Slow Charger (July 1997 MA) offered two versions of an easy-to-build overnight charger for large motor packs. This is used, for example, to equalize cells in such packs, or to simply get fully charged and ready to go for the next day's flying. One reader asked about slow-charging more than one pack at a time. Specifically, he wants to charge three 10-cell 1,000 mAh packs. The LPSC as presented is capable of charging up to 22 cells. It does not "know" where the cells come from; whether there are individual cells, one large pack, or several packs in series. Since two packs of the reader's example total 20 cells, he could simply series-connect them and charge away! But three packs would total 30 cells in this example, and the charger would not function with this total connected. What to do?
