Radio Control: Electrics
MORE Electric meets have been announced, and I'm very happy to be able to pass along this information here. First, the Fifth Annual Boeing Hawks Electric Fly-In is scheduled for the weekend of June (27-28) at the Hawks' Kent field. This will be a low-key, fun-fly format as in years past, and for more information you can write to Bernard Cawley, 29838 48th Avenue South, Auburn, WA 98001. Next, the Polk County Soaring Eagles of Lakeland, FL have announced their Second Annual Electric Fun-Fly for August 1-2. Several competitive events are planned, and the Electric rules proposed for the 1988-89 AMA rules cycle will be used. (See the February 1987 issue of MA, page 129). More information can be had from the CD: Bill Futch, 530 West Lake Wales Rd. N., Lake Wales, FL 33853; telephone (813) 676-6740.
Radio Control: Electrics
BAD NEWS is going to open this month's column (but we will close on the brighter side). I've recently learned (by trying to buy some) that Astro has discontinued the venerable Part No. 2102 "05/075" economy can-motor that has made so many new Electric fliers quite happy. To me, this is indeed very unfortunate. While Astro continues (and expands) the high-quality and higher-cost line of its famous cobalts, it has nothing to offer the many folks who just want to give Electric a try with a minimal initial investment. (The word I get is that the Goldberg Electra/motor combination is being received on the market very well. This tends to support what I've just said here and what I said in the recent past regarding the commonplace problem of, "Which motor, which plane?") So, while there is no question that the cobalts are top performers, not everyone starts out with a Cadillac.
Radio Control: Electrics
RECEIVER POWER. Strange title, right? Usually, one would expect to see words like "motor power" in this column. Well, what I'm talking about is really more like "powering the receiver." For some reason I've been getting a lot of reader mail lately with questions about powering the receiver off the motor battery, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on this subject with everyone. Yes-I have done this in the past, and yes, there have been (or are some) products that allow this to be done. Personally, I've discontinued this practice because I did have some bad experiences with it. In my judgement, the "savings" are questionable.
Mods to DC/DC Super Charger
The simple modifications described in this article will give your Astro Model 102 charger a more consistent output and make it impervious to input voltage fluctuations, allowing you to charge battery packs while driving to the field. Several months ago in my regular monthly "RC Electrics" column, I promised information for the modification of the Astro Model 102 DC/DC Super Charger.
Radio Control: Electrics
ERRORS! There are two errors in the article "Mods to DC/DC Super Charger" in the September 1987 issue of MA. These both occur in the Circuit Board Pictorial (Figure 4 on page 83). First, the labels for two wires are interchanged. The wire connected to the (-) terminal of capacitor C2 should be labeled "Green wire to charger ckt. board," and the wire connected to the cathode (dark band) of diode D1 should be labeled "Yellow wire to terminal strip." These wires are shown correctly in the assembled circuit board photograph and in the Schematic of Figure 3, which are both on the same page (page 83).
