David867

Hey guys!

Hope everyone had some great flying.

Today I was flying my funtana at the park where we have our funflys, and I went over by the edge and lost control of my plane, it dive bombed straight down into pavement. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, the entire front end was crushed, but the wings were ok except a corner. When I walked over there, I noticed a HUGE power station, transformers and transmission lines. Later, I was on the phone and walked over there to take some pictures of the power station, and lost connection at one spot, I tried it 3 times, and it lost connection at that point everytime I walked by without fail, each time, locking up my phone and having to reboot. This was coincidentally the same place the Trex450 had lost control and crashed, which was the same time I had walked over with my DVD camcorder going, and it had locked up, which has never occured before either, I thought that was weird. So I'm begining to suspect that's an area of major interference, I guess the spectrum has it's vulnerabilities, there must be some major interference in that area. But that's not a surprise, when there's that much current and voltage travelling around, there has gotta be underground transmission lines creating some big intererence.

Damage report on the plane, only the fuselage needs repairing, and that'll be my fun project, I haven't worked much with balsa, so it'll be a nice change.

Thanks to John, I got the Rhino 2250 25C and Zippy 2250 25C on the eagle tree, the Rhino has about 8 cycles on it, and the Zippy has about 50+ cycles on it. I'll post the graphs. The headspeed readings were messed up, it drops to 0 sometimes, probably because our sensor connection was bad.

Summary:
Rhino has an average voltage:10.41V, RPM:2616. Peak Amps at 80A, Avg 34.8A
Zippy has an average voltage:10.15V, RPM:2570. Peak Amps at 72A, Avg 36.3A

So after some abuse, the zippy is still keeping up a lot of power and I can barely notice a difference in performance, the tick tocks still hold tight and don't fall out of the sky like on my worn out EVO25's. Still haven't been able to get the EVO tested, but it's older and feels much less powerful, so it's not a fair battle. I put them through 3 long minutes of punishment.

Jim, have you gotten your Rhino's and tested them out yet? Let us know what you think.

Happy flying everyone! Stay away from those power stations!

ShadowFox

David, Hey what program is that you are useing to get the graphs??? I like that that would make to where you could really get in the nitty gritty of fine tuning.

dooleyje

I no whut you meen. I fat figer the kee boord all da time so I hooope you giys and gorlss can egnor grand pa' s
kee boord mistacks and hoop you kan undrsten hit.

dooleyje

No I did not get the batteries . Someone has gotton hold of my credit card that I have attached to my music expense account and attempted to purchase 512 bucks worth of Apple I-Tunes gift cards. I only keep a small amount in the account so the purchases were not posted only the amounts locked out in the availible balance. I found it at 1pm and the purchase where made about an hour earlier. I stop everything of cousre and worked with Apple and my bank to dispute the purchases. Trouble is the account is not usable for 10 days or so and i had to lock down that card and order a new one. I use PayPal on line but I wanted to buy my wife a Chrismas gift and the store dod not take PayPal so I used my card. An hour later the charges started popping up. It was that fast. But I always check My account daily and that habit payed off.

David the graphs show a really hard voltage drop down the 10 volts or so and stays there through out the test. The amp drain is impressive. How hot did the batteries get? I would like to see a test with the Evos also. We have to keep in mind that your motor combination is non typical and a test with a typical motor set up would be a better test for us in comparison for a 6-8 min flight instead of a 3 min flight. You enjoy the feel of power of the Zippys and Rhinos and thats what it is really about with all of our styles of flying. But then again it is the feel.

I will test them with my set up as soon as I can spend some money.

Later

Jim

axel8000

Jim!
That's the same thing that happened to my card! It's such a pain in the @55 isn't it?

matty_p80

Jim: can this theft of the id be connected to the shop you bought your wife's prezzie? if so i'd be round there like a shot with some very large lawyer (or a baseball bat!!!)!! you want me to sic'em??

matty_p80

p.s. maybe Aaron can chase the little bleeder(s) down for you??

drobin

This credit card thing must be going around.I just got back from China and someone got my card number.It happened here in the States.They had 2 $1 charges to Napster and that is what tipped off the card company to put a hold on it.Than they tried a big charge that got denied.So everyplace I had automatic charges had to be changed.At least the credit card companys are looking at the charges from your history.

axel8000

Matty,
It's pretty useless.. as far as I know.. the info that I collected the investigators just shrugged off.. The bank basically said they didn't have the resources to go after these guys.. and the police said they wont do anything until the bank contacts them with evidence.. All the evidence I collected they didn't care about. Even though I have the dude's Name and Address. I have a mind to fly to australia and beat the snot outa somebody..

matty_p80

Axel: i wouldn't mind going back to Oz for a trip! didn't get a chance to go to Tazmania!!

axel8000

OK.. so I found out where my card info got stolen.

I just got an email from FMA.. they stated that their site had a security breach apparently last month. After doing all the research they have found that many people that purchased online from them had their credit card info stolen.. So if you've purchased from them prior to nov 1 2008 they suggest you cancel your credit cards and order new ones.

dooleyje

I just ordered some business cards and some stuff from Tower. But I think that the place I ordrred Debs Christmas was the culprip. Napster and Apple- ITunes were the charges I saw. I went back on Apple and My Bank. all of my real charges went through OK. No chrages were made but my money is locked down in that account. Yep is really sucks. Thats the first time I used my card for on line purchase and it bite me. I will stick to PayPal.

Jim

drobin

It must be from FMA.I ordered some stuff from them a while back.And like Jim, they charged on Napster.My credit card company said these people will charge something small first, like Napster or I-Tunes, to see if it is a good card.Than they go after something big. FMA takes PayPal now, so that is the way to go.

Magic Hook

Thats interesting. When we are in Ireland our AMX number was compromised someplace. They spent 2500 in the Apple store and a grand in a restruant. All in NY. They also ordered 1500 in cell phone covers from Taiwan. AMX was awesome and caught it, and did not interupt card service but it got my attention for sure.

Been really busy the last few days and weather has been tough. I just got to fly this evening twice with the 600e. Nice to get back in the air. Trying to get better at precision hovers and playing with inverted flight. I am considering selling my 500 and getting another 50 sized heli instead.

David sorry about your plane. I was thinking about getting my son in law a foamy plank for Xmass. How do you like the Funtana?

matty_p80

can't remember which thread or whose signature it was but it was definitely on RCU and it read:

'real friends won't let you fly foam!'

i thought it was really jolly good!!![sm=lol.gif]

good pun, especially for this time of year!

dooleyje

The thing that slows my bank down in clearing the account is that the purchases were never post and only set amount locked out. Good in one way but it slows down the process to have to wait.

David WOW i am soorry about the Funtana. Sound like some heavy transmission with the electric that sets up a magnetic field. I don't think anything is immune to interference.

Magic the weather id really sucky here too. Pouring down rain and cold. Oh well time for the Sim. If you want to get a 50 the EVO is highly recommended especialy at $239. SMN or HPM. Os is supposed to be comming out with a .55 or.57 or other. The TT redline is super hot motor also.

Matty hows the water?

Later,

Jim

David867

Hey Magic, thanks, I'll get it back together soon.. I think a foamy would be a better flyer than a balsa wood, balsa is too serious and isn't that forgiving, foam is the best for us who aren't that careful with our models. I wish I had foam. haha.

Jim, you're right, my setup is all about power, we did a 3 heli climbout and mine was way up there within a few seconds, there's no flight time but I do like the feel of the power. John has a 430XL and gets good flighttimes, I'll ask him if he wants to put my 2250 25C in there and test it out, that and an EVO25 should make a good comparison.
I think the drop in voltage wasn't all that bad considering the almost 80A draw, I started to bog the head but it still had enough speed to remain in control. The Rhino's are certainly doing great for me and my flying style, bang those sticks!

The logger and program used are unknown, it's my friend John's, I know that it's an EagleTree recorder, and the software probably comes with it. They're pretty cheap to buy, and show some good data.

Sorry to hear about all the credit card fraud, I hope those guys pay! Literally!

matty_p80

Jim: water is okay, it's the getting out onto the boat that's bloomin' freezing! i'm wearing a normal rash guard for the dives then changing into my shorty to get warmed up and keep the cold out!

it's still blowing a hooley (rhymes with Dooley ) here but it dies off every now and again but just when i'm getting tempted to take my prurty bird out the gusts start up and i haven't got the money at the moment for any more spares!!! so i've got my bird fixed (just need to set the tail up again as i had to replace the whole control rod), with the swash beautifully levelled but can't get outside to go fly! noooooooooooooo! ultimate torture!

just been looking at a UK site and the way the dollar is at the moment it's almost cheaper for me to order from there and get the bits sent to my mum-in-law who's coming out next month!!

anyway gators, laters! gotta work tomorrow, bleurgh!


Matty )<}}}}]@>

A. J. Clark

There's a thread going on over in the [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8151388/anchors_8179078/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#8179078] Clubhouse Forum[/link] about FMA system being breached and card numbers taken. My account was hit in early Nov. I have gotten a couple of email alerts from FMA. Today I got one where they accually admited that there system had been breached.

dooleyje

AJ welcome to the thread. Yes at least someone admitted a mistake. How refreashing that is. Lesson is that if they don't accept PayPal then no business from me. I can get my LHS to order most anything also.

Jim

matty_p80

Jim: being a bit of a dolt! managed to get outside briefly after work, which is the first time i've had a chance to spool up properly to check the tail since replacing the servo arm and control rod!

anyways as i got her up to speed she spun violently nose to left, tail to right! is this just a case of adjustment or have i missed something?? like i said being a bit of a dolt! DOH!! Ooooooooo, squirrels! Mmmmmmmmmmm Duff beer!

Matty )<}}}]@>

Magic Hook

Matty are your tail blades on right? Gyro going the right direction?

I made a big hit with my 450 tonight. Had been ripping it up with the 600 showing off for my daughter. I even held my my longest inverted to date. Decided to end the day with a pack in the 450. It seem really little! I came out of a loop way to low and off line. I rolled it to correct line and clipped the grass with a blate tip. Awesome cartwheels in idle up1. Nothing fifty bucks wont fix but my ego was bruised badly. The Mojito my wife made to console me is helping.

axel8000

hey guys.. so i was trying to track my blades tonight.. one was higher than the other.. so i followed the finless bob video.. and was lowering the higher blade.. the problem i'm having now though is that the lower blade is moving up and down.. like it's not rotating straight, it's at an angle, where the higher blade is level. make sense? looks like one side of the lower blade is higher than the other like if the top blade is | the the bottom blade is \... what in the world?

matty_p80

Magic: yes the blades are on correctly, although i have a feeling they might be a bit tight in the grips. they are the K&B ones and i had to shave them down a bit to get them in initially but they do move. as for the gyro, i haven't altered anything since Jim helped me set it up!

something else that's happening now; even with the throttle all the way down, when i take the throttle hold off the head starts to turn even though the throttle curve is set to zero????? you don't think i've damaged the ESC in the last crash??

Matty )<}}}}]@>

dooleyje

Matty: The ESC is not programable so you have to pull the throttle trim down till the motor stops (Remember?) Remember this location.

The tail is super out of trim possibly when you replaced the contol rod and so forth. It is very important to remember the trims of you helicopter so that you can put it back when you replace parts. Adjust your linkage where yopu will give it right rudder and be sure that you test the tail and trim the tail while in rate mode (normal) Then change the gyro to heading hold and pull the battery off and reset the battery and be sure you do not move the heli while it binds and the gyro boots up. OR you have an extra twist in the belt making the tail turn the wrong way. With the heli in front of you and you are looking at the right side with the nose to your right turn the mains clockwise and the tail should spin toward the back. Make sure none of the plastic belt pullys are loose and spinning the the shafts.

Jim