Moe3754

My Feedback: (14)

The lipo came from here http://www.stevensaero.com/shop/home.php it is a shop here in my town and he charges $16.00 for them it is 7.4 volts and 250 Mah it is a perfect fit also you can get small lipo's here also http://www.precisionheli.com/Merchan...gory_Code=Batt but they are more expensive there,I am running five lights a Red and Green strobe and a white solid and then the two high output landing lights are the two pointing down on the legs of the DF.As for lipo weight I cannot say I do not have a scale but it is only a couple of ounces if not grams,there is very little weight.

Sky High

Did the small Lipo come with a compatible plug that already fits the controller or did you have to adapt it?

Moe3754

My Feedback: (14)

I had to put a jst plug on the controller so it could plug into the Lipo.

av8ersteve

My Feedback: (1)

Here's mine...

Sky High

Well, are you going to tell us what lighting system it is? Or are we going to have to guess?[sm=confused.gif]

I like the deep blue. How about more detailed images of the LEDs and where they are mounted. Thanks.

av8ersteve

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I bought the lights from MaxxLights. I had to shorten them a little and then bought some black heat shrink tubing to conceal the wires. There attached with black zip-ties. The three blue lights are static (steady burning) and I have two reds up front, one static, and one strobe. I have the wire harness plugged into the 5 volt side on the Draganflyer main board. Works GREAT, and I can now fly at night and freak out the neighbors.

Sky High

Yes, I've heard of them and have some of their LEDs but they don't seem to offer controllers for them, just harnesses. I also wasn't happy with their idea of a strobe. Does your strobe just rapidly blink like blink>blink>blink>blink or truly pulse like a real strobe. The one I got just rapidly blinked in succession. The system I finally got has LEDs that actually strobe like a real aircraft strobe.
Maxx was a bit more expensive too for the comparable turn key system I got.

Yes, that is a must!

jswayze

Hi Bijoux,

Sorry I'm a bit late in responding to this but I just now came across your post.

To add to what Sky High said, true Xenon strobe lights play serious havoc with your receiver. Most people I've talked to that have tried a "real" strobe experience glitches every time the strobe fires. The problem is the extremely high voltage the strobe uses. When the capacitor it uses dumps thousands of volts into the flashtube it creates a nasty pulse.

I'm sure there are ways to shield your receiver and servos from the pulse but between the time it takes to mess with that, plus the added weight your "countermeasures" it didn't seem like it was worth pursuing that idea.

In the works however is the use of an extremely bright led by Luxeon. You may have seen these monsters in flashlights and automotive applications, but they are incredibly bright. You'd take a small weight hit but the brightness might be worth it. I'm currently working with the distributor to purchase some, so keep your eyes open...

Regards,

Jeff Swayze
Leading Edge Development
http://www.flightlites.com

Phodel

av8ersteve:

Very nice light setup! I like how you concealed the wiring.................What do you guys think about doing shrink tubing over the Carbon Tube so you will not have to use the zip ties!

av8ersteve

My Feedback: (1)

That would actually work very well. The only downside is you would have to un-solder all the motors then re-solder them again once the heat shrink tubing is installed.

Sky High

I thought about the heat shrink as well but if you break a rod or change your mind about a LED color or placement, all that has to come off. Taking it off is the easy part, it's replacing it that's the time eater! I chose not to do this a while back but that was when crashing and multiple replacements was more likely. Since I haven't had a crash in almost 3 months and after I settle on lighting, I'll probably use the shrink method. Like av8ersteve said, the only part I hate about changing a rotor arm is feeding those small wires through that tube and then having to resolder them to the motor. [:@] It's just like having to take 3 major components out of an engine to get to that $2.00 part buried in it. [:@]

detroitdr

SkyHigh,

Wow!!
You and your messages here are a wealth of information for anyone (like me) who is interested in getting a DF. I've just ordered my SAVS unit and should have it in two or three weeks. I'm so glad I stumbled across this forum and your messages (I was looking for NAV lights for my monster truck... got stuck on your messages and as a result ordered my SAVS)

I'm sure you get this all the time... but thank-you for taking the time to answer questions/take and post vids... They have really helped me a lot.

I'm sure I'll be asking you some more questions when I actually get it...

thanks!

madean

Here's some more NAV light info, and a few sources for LEDs and parts. I hope to post pictures sometime this weekend.

First the links:

[link=http://www.hightechips.com/HTC150.php]http://www.hightechips.com[/link] - HTC150 LED flasher chip has several LED patterns and virtually no external components, just the LEDs and dropping resistors.

[link=http://www.lsdiodes.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index]LSDiodes[/link] - Great prices and fast shipping on bright LEDs

I wanted to maximize the light and give the effect of small flourescent tubes. I ordered four 3mm LEDs from LSDiodes. All are in the 5000 mcd brightness range. I'll put a blue on the front, then standard NAV light colors; green on right, red on left and white in back. I found that 1/4" icemaker line, which is like a frosted white works great as a tube. I cut a 4" piece for each LED. The LED fits nicely inside. I might adjust the length because I'd like to get the LED and attached dropping resistor into the end of the tube for protection. I'll tie-wrap these tubes onto the underside of the carbon tubes. This layout will minimize the amount of wire necesaary to connect back to the controller chip, which I'll power from the 5v supply on the aux connector on the Draganfly.

The datasheet for the HTC150, in PDF format can be found [link=http://www.hightechips.com/Download/htc150.pdf]here[/link]. I have attached a jpg of the basic circuit diagram. Just leave out the switch, R1 and R2 and just wire D0 and D1 for the desired flash frequency (see PDF).

madean

Here's how the tubes look lighted. The LEDs are still on the breadboard here.

Sky High

That is very cool, thanks for the images. I am going to try this soon but with regular drinking straws because of weight. I'm sure your tubes are light in weight but that thicker plastic will add up in weight if you use multiple tubes. Can you weigh one and then at least 4 together and tell us what it adds up to? Thanks.

madean

I don't have a scale I could use to weigh them. As soon as I can find a scale I'll post the total weight of all 4. They'll be very durable thought, and they are light. I haven't tried straws, but I think the thickness of these tubes is one of the reasons they look like they do.

Here are a few pictures of the lights installed. I still haven't received the flasher IC, so they're all steady on for now.

I flew with the lights on for the first time this evening. I'm very happy with the set-up!

Mike

Sky High

Madean, that is absolutely cool. That thing looks like a ride at the fair. Are you going to put any tubes on the stiffeners too? I'm sure the difference in weight of your tubes and drinking straws is small but I'm just trying to conserve every ounce possible so I can hang as many different accessories as possible from my helos. Have you thought about putting a LED at both ends of the tubes to increase the intensity? There ought to be a few calls to 911 about that flying around! Can you post some video of it flying at night, like real soon?

madean

I'll set up my tripod, and try to get some video for posting this evening.

I thought about LEDs at both ends of the tubes, but they really aren't needed. The tubes are fully illuminated, even though it doesn't appear that way in some of the pics. And then, there's that weight thing

After my first flight with these lights, I can say that it's now easier to maintain orientation at night than in the day.

I don't think I'll add any to the stiffeners. Any more lights would just confuse me while flying [X(]. I am thinking about adding a couple of bright white LEDs facing down under the center though. The only problem I had flying in the back yard last night was seeing where to land.

Koop

Well I've finally received my board back from spectrolutions and I was able to test out my new lighting system. I stumbled across it a couple weeks ago on vibelights.com It's called EL Wire and I couldn't imagine a more effective product for the DF. It runs off of 12 VDC and only weighs 1.5 ounces. I made a video this evening so feel free to check it out @ http://dropshots.com/day.php?userid=...8&ctime=211936 Here's some pics to get a better idea on installation. Enjoy!!! BTW great idea Madean with your lighting system. Happy Flying!!!

Sky High

That is too cool. Can you post that video in Windows Media format so I can view it full screen. I hate having to watch things on that little bitty flash screen. I can't see the detail as much. Thanks.

Koop

SkyHigh,
I can only post it the way you see it using drop shots. If you know of another free site that will let me post in windows media format I'd be more than happy to do it. Thanks!!!

Koop

Sky High

I noticed that Putfile.com is a popular place to post free video files. It is used by alot of people on this board.

www.putfile.com

madean

Here's my video using the NAV lights. A couple of disclaimers though: I should have turned autofocus off in the dark, I should have spent more time flying in front of the camera

[link=http://media.putfile.com/Draganflyer-NAV-lights]Video[/link]

Sky High

That is very nice! I've got to get that set up real soon. Definitely set the focus to manual on it's widest frame and well before dark before all references for it to lock on are gone. I think you did very well flying in that confined area keeping it in frame, especially with those trees! [X(] I've found that is the most frustrating thing trying to guess if it's in frame. Did you use a monitor or pick two reference points as boundaries? One recommendation for some really good shots is to find a clearing and shoot right before dark and slightly upward when the sky will be a deep blue (to the camera) and the nav lights will contrast with the sky and the frame will be a silhoutte. Just try it with your eyes if you haven't, it's just beautiful. If it looks as good on tape as with my eyes, I can't wait to finally do it!

Hooch

Well just ordered some of the Vibelights. I like the regular led's in tubes as well, but will that add too much weight to have both? Can't wait to get them in.