actuator control boards
 

i recently bought a full set of Bob Selman LiPolys, actuators, reciever, etc. however, i bought an actuator control board to go with a GWS receiver instead of a dedicated microflight system. is this a good idea? does anyone have any experience with this setup? i was thinking it might just be a better idea to invest in an RFFS, but if this setup will work i'd rather not spend the money.

thanks for the help, P-Smitty

RE: actuator control boards
 

I haven't tried one since I have 8 to 10 RFFS's (I really need to take inventory one day and see where they all are), but there's no reason Bob's stuff would not perform as advertised. I rely on a lot his products and they have all performed quite well.

I don't really understand why you would use such a large receiver with actuators, though. The complete RFFS system with two of the big BSD Standard actuators weighs less than the smallest GWS and its ESC... If you want more power for a bigger motor and faster & heavier plane, you run the risk of over-taxing the actuators' torque.

If you get the RFFS, Bob also makes a simple 2 cell adapter that plugs right into the RFFS (you need to snip one lead, but it is well documented and easy to do), and this allows great performance from the larger motors (N-20s are quite powerful for their size) and it also boosts the power of the actuators by letting them run at a regulated 5 volts instead of the 4.2 to mid 3-volt range you get from a single LiPoly.

I'm running one of these with the N-20 motor and Kenway 4:1 gearbox and I'm quite happy with it. Docile flyers on a single cell now perform unlimited numbers of consecutive loops...

RE: actuator control boards
 

I wanted to get and RFFS with the rest of the stuff when we bought it, but my dad decided that we had enough failed GWS receivers that we should try some of them first. I've been trying to convince him for some time to buy and RFFS before I wire and solder everything together, but I dunno if that's gonna work. I'm gonna check around and see if there's one for sale cheap thats in good condition.

RE: actuator control boards
 

Well, then, if you stick to reasonably slowflying planes you can get a taste of micro flight that way. You need to remember that an actuator only has 1/5 the toque (or less) than a servo. You're controls surfaces should be balance aerodynically and staticly, and they must move freely... You'll need to looka t some of the larger designs for carry the extra weight of the GWS, the ESC and the converter board. 6 or 7 grams is a lot when the planes weigh about an ounce.