golfingguy27

Hello,
I am starting to think about a setup for a new 35% IMAC plane and it has been a few years since I have bought equipment for a big plane. There are so many new things out there that I have never used before that make planes easier to set up and more dependable (redundancy), that I don't know where to start. I understand basically what the power expenders etc do, but with all of the choices it hard to figure out exactly what is the best for me. Anyway, the plane will likely be flying on Hitec digital servos (so no need for servo matching since I can do that through programming the servos???) It will have 2 per aileron, one per elevator half, and one high torque on rudder. I am not sure what battery chemistry I want to run yet. I'm used to Nimh for rx packs, a123 makes me nervous just because I have never used it and I don't like the fact that you can't really tell how much juice is left by mesauring after a few flights(I have actually had a LITTLE experience with an a123 as an rx pack in a helicopter that I haven't flown yet, and I do have a charger for a123 so I am not opposed to them if I learn more about them and get more comfortable with them), and I am used to handling lipos from flying foamies. It will likely be flown on a BME 116 engine if that matters. I would love to just have all of my needs for power expanders, regulators, switches, and batteries taken care of all in one place. What options should I look into? Thanks for any suggestions, and let me know if you need any more info to give an answer.


Thanks,
Todd

flatspinjim

My Feedback: (3)

Hey Todd
You're going to get lots of opionions here. I just put a 35% extra together so I'll give you my setup. I went with the A123's and I gotta tell you, I think they're awesome! You get PLENTY of amperage from them, plus you have no need for regulators or a power expander. Just my opionion, but the more things you add, the more that can fail, especially electronics. I use 2 2300 packs for the reciever going through 2 smart fly switches, just for redundancy. I have the cellpro charger which tells you how many mah you have used when you recharge. Typically I use right around 200 mah or less per flight, which is not much. You can get a lot of flying in on one charge, plus it only take 10 or 15 minutes to charge.
What reciever and which Hitecs are you planning on useing?

golfingguy27

Thanks for the reply. I will be using the JR 9 channel 2.4 Ghz reciever with my JR 9303 radio, and likely the new Hitec 7985's all around with 2 on rudder or if I can get away with it, one 7955 for rudder. I was looking into the power expanders just for the redundancy and the sending "clean" power to the rx with no chance of a brownout. And by the way, I also have the cellpro charger. FMA is about 3 miles from me here in Maryland.

flatspinjim

My Feedback: (3)

I used the 7955's on my elevator and rudder. 1 for each elevator half and 1 on the rudder. I don't know much about 2.4 or JR but with the 2 A123's going through the smart fly switches I have 4 leads going into my reciever, 2 from each switch, gives me plenty of amperage going into the reciever. The A123's will put out 30 to 60 amps, way more than you'll ever use and way more than a nimh pack will ever put out. I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. theory. Keep it simple. Again, this is just my opinion.
Which plane are you going to put it in?

golfingguy27

I'm not sure which plane it will be yet. All I know is it will either be a Yak or a Sukhoi. I really like the TOC-Xtreme/ThunderTiger/Aviation Models Yaks a lot, and also the WildHare Sukhoi.

flatspinjim

My Feedback: (3)

I've heard good thinks about the TOC's and the Extra I just finished is a Wildhare. Really nice plane and great service! I don't think you'll go wrong either way. If you go with the WH talk with Tom about setting it up, he's really good about helping with setups and really knows what he's talking about

golfingguy27

Yeah.. I was looking at a used Wildhare Sukhoi for a while and it is still an option for me, but I am debating if I should just buy new and get exactly what I want for it instead of getting what the previous owner had in it. I have read all 87 (or something like that) pages of the build thread on here about it and Tom was a heavy contributor in it. He seems like a good guy.

rrritchey

Hi Todd,
I don't know if you have been talked out of a PowerExpander or not but I will throw my two cents in. I feel the PowerExpander gives you an advantage over running your servos off the receiver for several reasons. First, you have to have a receiver with enough ports to get 4 power leads into the receiver bus without going through any "Y"s. If you use "Y"s to share power and a servo on a port you are adding additional voltage drip onto the receiver bus. Also, even with four connections you can loose 1/2V getting onto the receiver bus if you servos ask for 12 amps, which they might in some maneuvers. We outfitted an Aeroworks 100cc 260 with eight 8711s and instrumented it. We saw occasional peaks at 15 amps. With the PowerExpander and Deans connectors you loose virtually no voltage across the Deans. Second, if you have to put multiple servos on a channel using a "Y" or a Matchbox can result in an additional 1V drop before you get to your servo. With the PowerExpander each servo can have its own lead and minimize the voltage drop to each servo. I really believe the PowerExpander will provide better servo response. Let me know what you think and if you are still thinking about a PowerExpander we can talk which would be best for you. I would suggest you look at the Pro and the Competition 12.

billd3

My Feedback: (8)

Hey Todd...you might take a look over at the Flying Giants forum: http://www.flyinggiants.com/default.php
There are lots of posts and information which will help you make an informed decision.
I've been flying giants for 18 years but I have not built a new one until now for about 3 years and, You're absolutely correct...there's been a lot of new stuff to make things simpler and safer.

Presently I'm setting up a WH 40% Giles 202 with a JR 2.4, 9303 and I haven't decided yet on going to a PE or using a Spectrum AR9100 powerSafe Rx rather than a regular 9000 Rx. I have heard that you can't effectively program 4 aileron servos using only the AR9100 (without a PE) with the 9303 Tx; and the WH Giles is claimed to work very well using 1 aileron servo such as Hitec's 7955. I am definately using A123's (2-2300 mah for Rx & servos, and 1-1100 or 2300 on ignition). Since you do not need a regulator with the A123's AND by using only 1 aileron servo per side, the AR9100 Rx seems like the simplest and lightest way to go...but I'm still "on the fence" since I also have a spare 9000 Rx. I sure would like the experience of using one of Smart Fly's PE's. I think they are a top line company, and I really love their super-switches and regulators with nicad and nimhds...One of these days SOON I need to make up my mind too

billd3

My Feedback: (8)

Wow[&o]RCU doesn't seem to like competition...When posting a competing forum they substitute the name with **** and the link fails. Seems pretty childish to me. While the RCU site is a very good one, I would think they would be a little more forgiving and recognize that we ALL visit different forums for information and since information posted by me or any of us on any forum is certainly not proprietory

Here it is in riddle form: the ***** represent 2 words linked together. They are as follows (in reverse so as not to offend) "giants "..."flying"