mrcoolpop

I cannot figure this one out. I have the AR600 rec and durning each fligh I keep getting the led hold light. I re-position the antennas as you should but it still come on after flight. Batteries are fully charged and I have no other wires around. Has anyone else seen this type of problem before?

opjose

If the light is blinking, the RX may be reacting to a voltage drop.

The RX's will blink whenever they see a drop in voltage below operating current. Even flipping off a power switch and turning it on again after 10 seconds will produce the same result.

Could your servos be drawing more than your packs can handle?

Did you turn on the plane, then turn it off and on again before flight?

Check your pack wires too...

mrcoolpop

On the voltage do you think I should change the battery?

opjose

How many servos do you have in your plane?

What size/type/brand are the servos?

What type of plane is it? Brand/Size/Model?

What is the size/capacity/voltage of your current pack?

mrcoolpop

I have 4 servo's:
1- Hitec HS645mg
1 Futaba S30004
2 Futaba S30003

Airpane is Great Planes Giant Big Stik

Battery is a Hydrimax 2000 form Tower Hobbies

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Is it a four cell or a five cell? This will make a difference in the cut-off voltage for the RX.

CGr

opjose

On my .60 sized Big Stik I use a 3200mAh 6v pack.

I can't imagine using a 2000mAh 4.8v pack on the Giant Big Stik...

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

On the 600 the hold light is sparate from the binding/brownout LED.

If the hold LED is telling you that you have holds you have an RF problem and its nothing to do with batteries.

If the bind light is flashing, then you have battery issues.

JeffinTD

I'm just a beginner too, but all but one of those servos seem to be pretty low torque and current draw... unless stalled. Could that be the issue?

Anyway, if it were mine before I flew it again I think I'd take a volt meter reading with the plane on, contol surfaces moving, maybe with a bit of load on them.

opjose

A single standard servo approaching or at stall can draw 2000mA.

That is more than many NiCD or NiMH packs people use on their planes.

Multiply that by the number of servos and you can see that voltage drop can be a big issue.

Normally on a properly set up small ( .25-.90) plane draw maxes out momentarily around 800mA during normal manouvering.

However on a plane with larger control surfaces like a Giant Big stick, max instantaneous draw can be a big issue.

That's why I go to bigger packs on larger planes.

My .60 big stick uses a fairly big pack and it doesn't hurt the plane at all.

If anything the slight added weight ( behind the wing ) makes it handle great in winds.

My AVERAGE flight time is 18 minutes on that plane in light winds with at least four flights before I start checking battery levels.

JeffinTD

Yeah, I was thinking servos of twice that torque might be a good plan, but being new to this too I didn't want to post that since I might not know what I'm talking about.

I'm working on a 12' telemaster kit currently, and I know the gear I'm putting in is overkill both in torque and battery power, but I figure it is better to have too much than not quite enough.

mrcoolpop

In my giant stik I have the DLE 30 engine. So what battery would you recomend?

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

In that situation I'd run a single A123 2300mah with a dual output and an ignition voltage drop down for the ignition side.

www.wrongwayrc.com

JeffinTD

The one I'm building is larger and heavier with more servos of higher strength. I'm going with a pair of li-fe's on a powersafe reciever, and separate battery with opto-kill on ignition.