sfaust
Posts: 1788
Joined: 9/6/2002
From: Boston,
MA, USA
Status: offline
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[QUOTE]I agree with the fact that in your situation the alpha is the way to go.][/QUOTE]
That was all I was saying from the beginning. Its not HYPE to those that have a need, and I demonstrated my need, and the need of many of those I fly with at these events. Its not uncommon for a giant scale pilot to bring two big airplanes, and fly them both. In fact, its fairly normal.
[QUOTE]But the majority of us only charge 4 and at most 8 packs to fly on a weekend. You can only fly one plane at a time. Do you fly all eight every weekend? If you do I think that makes you the exception not the rule. And for the money you have spent and will spend in batteries the Alpha is probably perfect for you.][/QUOTE]
Yes, I fly 8 in a weekend. That's only two planes! I typically bring two giant scale airplanes to a meet, and fly them both during the day. At night, I connect up two Alpha chargers, and forget about them till morning.
And like I said, its not for the masses! But its a perfect fit for giant scale pilots.
[QUOTE]$40 and 5 minutes of time. Yes if your lucky enough to get one one the first try. You did, great! It was worth your time investment. If you miss then you wait 4 months or go to EBAY and pay over $300.00. 100 units each 4 month run? So how about the rest of us.][/QUOTE]
So, you spend 5 minutes trying to send the e-mail, and you miss the list. You try again next time its open. You spend 5 minutes. You again miss. You try again, another 5 minutes, and you make the list. You still only have 15 minutes invested in the effort. Eventually you will get on the list. Even if it takes 10 tries, and 1 hours worth of ones time, if it saves them 10 hours of a year or two, its still a Worthy investment.
I don't know if 100 in a 4 month run is accurate. Its just a number I heard, and I even said to take it with a grain of salt. It could be 4 times that, or much less. I really don't know, nor do I believe anyone else here does.
[QUOTE]I'm not trying to pick a fight or start a flame war with the Alpha 4 owners. So let me change the tack a little.][/QUOTE]
I never felt you were, but did feel you saying it was all hype, and there was easier and cheaper ways to accomplish the same tasks. I was just showing my example of what many giant scale pilots face, and showing the pitfalls with the alternative methods. Its not hype, but a real need.
[QUOTE]If there was no Alpha 4 how would you handle your battery maintenance needs for under $300.00? Any suggestion? [/QUOTE]
Unfortunately, there are trade-offs which need to be made. And it all depends on what things people feel are important. Some will say they need peak detect, while others say its not important.
For my exact needs, the Ultimate Charger II has some merit. The UCII has 8 ports, will cycle all 8 at a time, timed C/10, C/7.5, and C/5 rates. It can charge lead acid starter batteries, and can handle batteries as high as 3000mah. Its kind of like two dumb Alpha 4 units, in that there is no peak detect, and the timed charge is 16 hours. It does have some nice battery maintenance functions. This is a connect and forget setup, but the user needs to spend more time setting up the charge parameters. Since it will charge for 16 hours, and not peak detect, you need to dial down the charge rate to reflect the amount of charge you need to put back in. More up front time programming the charge parameters, but when you are done, you can forget it till morning.
This is the closest I have seen to an convenience of the Alpha if the user wants to put a little head math into the programming. I just ordered one of these, and if it works for me, I'll sell one of the Alphas, and keep the last one just for the workshop and maintenance features. The UCII would then must be a 8 port smart overnight charger. Its $50 more than you r$300 limit, but that is what I would get. I might even supplement it with a Super Nova for fast charging. The UCII and Super Nova would set me back $550, but its still less than the $600 I have invested in two Alpha 4 chargers.
I spend more money than an Alpha 4, and more work, but I do have connect and forget capabilities. So, I also save a lot of time with this solution.
Another alternative, which gets me two ports capable of fast charging to 5amps, and is basically a single port Alpha with 5amp charge is the Super Nova (or similar). Two of these would give me a half Alpha with a higher charge rate. I could charge as a faster rate to help make up the loss of the two extra ports, but I would need to move the charger around from port to port. I then have to tend the batteries. I could start the charge at night, and check it before I went to bed. If it completed, I could move it to the next two batteries. If not, i would have to do that first thing in the morning and not be able to fly until its done. I would also run these during the day to top off the batteries as best I could to minimize the charge time in the evening. Super Novas can cycle, so I get a two port cycler in the process. Less thinking since it will just peak for you, but much slower than the UCII because you only have two ports. This would set me back around $260 or so. I might also opt for the DigiPulse 6 port to pick up the slack with overnight charging. More work involved, and still more expensive than an Alpha 4.
This costs me a bit more than an Alpha 4, but less than the UCII setup. However, I have lots more stuff I have to do to get everything charged.
4 SuperNovas would be an almost ideal setup, since I could fast charge one plane, then switch to the other plane. Minimal work involved, and I could charge one in the evening, and one in the morning. Both would be ready for the next day. However, its about $480, and carrying around 4 chargers is damn inconvenient. I'd rather go with the UCII, and live with the extra time programming.
I't tried some scenarios in the past, thought about other chargers, but these two seem to have the least about of negatives for my situation. But in the end, the one time inconvenience of getting the Alpha was easier than suffering through the above drawbacks on a daily basis, month after month, year after year. And it was the cheapest solution with more features.
These are all for my needs, which I admit is not mainstream. But but by the number of Alphas I see at giant scale events, and the number of fellow pilots that want me to get them one, I'm certainly not alone, and probably fairly typical of GS pilots with multiple GS airplanes.
I'm always open to new suggestions, and would love to dump my Alphas for a good alternative. Heck, I'd probably make a handsome profit in the switch based on what they are selling for on e-Bay.
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Stephen
www.StephenFaust.com/giantscalerc
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