sfaust
Posts: 1800
Joined: 9/6/2002
From: Boston,
MA, USA
Status: offline
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by JES
I can't believe all you people think that this is such a great charger!! It's poorly made and is extremely limited. The fact that you have a total of 1 amp max for all outputs combined makes this item obsolete and useless for fast charging any pack over 800 mah. The Robbe Infinity II is twice the charger, 5 amp output, will charge a second battery at 250 mah while your program charge or discharge is running. Charges Nicads, nimh, and lead acid. Stop acting like sheep. Just because a lot of people think they have to have one of these doesn't its the best product on the market. On the contrary its a piece crap some guy builds in his garage [/QUOTE]
You seem to be very short sighted on this issue based on your reply, or have knowledge we others lack. So, answer me this....
How much would it cost, and what equipment would be required to do what the Alpha does for the typical giant scale pilot? Here is the typical application that is the niche market that seems to keep the Alpha alive and well.
You're the pilot. You drive to an event about 4 hours away. The events starts Saturday morning, and ends Sunday evening. You
fly all day long, with your two favorite planes. At the end of the day, you want to charge both your planes, top off your transmitter, and cycle two packs which haven't been cycled in a while. You also want to go out to eat with the guys for dinner, or go back to the RV or Motel and get some rest. So, you don't want to spend lots of time fussing with the charger all night changing from one battery to another.
Here are the specifics on the planes. While these are my planes, they are very typical of the giant scale airplanes out there.
Plane 1 - 40% Craden Extra 330s
receiver 1 - 2700mah 5 cell NiMH pack
receiver 2 - 2700mah 5 cell NiMH pack
ignition - 2150mah NiMH 4 cell pack
smoke - 600mah NiCad 4 cell pack
Plane 2 - 35% Edge 540T
receiver 1 - 1700mah 4 cell NiCad pack
receiver 2 - 1700mah 4 cell NiCad pack
igntion - 1700mah 4 cell pack
Transmitter - JR10x, 1100mah NiCad 8 cell pack
You've just finished packing the car, van, or trailer with the planes, or dragged them back to the RV or hangar provided for storing the pilots planes. After all the socializing, putting the equipment away, its now 7 or 8pm. You can start charging, go have dinner, and check on them once more before you turn in for the night to recharge yourself for the next day of flying.
This is a typical situation at so many IMAA, IMAC, and giant scale events across the country. This is the market niche that I believe keeps Litco afloat with orders. Its about the only place I see lots of Alpha chargers floating around the hangar or pit areas charging either a single plane, or multiple planes.
What is your solution??? Remember to keep it a connect once and forget till the morning, and under $550, which is the cost of two Alphas. If you want to keep it cheaper, make it a two step process, where you move the charger from one plane to the other once between 6 or 7pm, and some reasonable time in the night. But if you do that, the cost needs to be less than $275, which is the cost of one Alpha unit.
Two Alpha 4's handle these requirements with ease, with the added benefit that it will also charge wet and gel cells for glow panel and starter batteries if so inclined. I can also do it with only a single Alpha 4, which keeps the cost under $250 if I am willing to swap the charger from one plane to the other at around 11pm. I'm lazy, so I connect everything once in the early evening, and in the morning I'm all set to go.
I have searched and searched any every charger on the market that seems to fit our needs, as I also hate to turn over my money to a company that treats is customers with such disregard. As much as I would like to find something that works as well, I have yet to find such a beast. Neither has anyone else, much to my dismay. As those that know me know, I am not the person anyone would call upon to support Litco and the Alpha. However, I can not deny the perfect match they are to the niche market they found.
So, if you can show me an alternative that meets those needs outlined above, I'll give you the sheep theory. In fact, I'll give away two fairly new Alpha chargers to anyone with a one to two box touch once and forget solution for under $550 that does everything the Alpha does.
Otherwise, you just have no inkling regarding the needs of others besides yourself, and the capabilities or reliability of the Alpha chargers, and how they fit like a glove into the niche market most call giant scale flying.
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Stephen
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