Futaba Telemetry for turbine shutdown
 

Does anyone know if you can use the futaba sbs-01v voltage sensor on a turbine pump to alarm out when your turbine shuts down? I just want to measure pump voltage and when it is below a threshold have it alarm out. Maybe at 1 volt or so.
I was discussing this with a friend earlier and he mentioned that i might also get the alarm before startup since the pump voltage would be zero at that time.

Has anybody tried this yet?

Gary Jefferson

Yes you can , in fact it was I who encouraged Futaba to facilitate a zero voltage alarm for just this scenario. You will get a zero voltage alarm before start, why would that be a problem as it cancels as the engine starts?

m

+1

You can also just use the External Voltage Input on the Rx rather than use an additional sbs-01v.

Another option is to use the Robbe Futaba Current Sensor in series with your fuel pump. I have used this as a Fuel Totalizer it gives you a Milliamp Hours used but it is directly related to how much fuel has run through the pump. One I get to 340 Mah I know it's time to land. You can also alarm on a low pump voltage.

If you don't want to mess with your fuel pump wiring you can just use a "Y" on the Fuel Solenoid valve and measure that voltage. It will go to zero on flame-out. You can put a 1/8 watt 1K ohm resistor in series as an electrical protection.

Steve

I sometimes have my radio on prior to startup checking things. If it alarms out all of the time I would think it would be a little annoying if you don't start up immediately.

Steve when you say "external voltage input"are you just referring to the battery port on the receiver?

Steve when you say "external voltage input"are you just referring to the battery port on the receiver?

Steve is referring to the high voltage port on the Rx ( the white one).

If you find the warning annoying just inhibit it till ready to fly.

m

The concept that people are using the amp sensors for a fuel gage and engine out alarm is great. I can see that when you are at a event with a lot of noise and were to get a flame out it would buy you time. Also at a event when the runway is blocked or every one is needing to land you can know how long you can go into a holding pattern and not force it down. Will the robbe current sensor do both? Dan

Thanks Mick, yes it's the little white one on the rx,

Yes Dan it will do that. You can program an alarm for both Low voltage, (flame out) or a milliamp used since reset (fuel Used).

My Kingtech 180 will run out of fuel at 410 milliamp hours. I set the alarm at 340 milliamp hours. I use my spring loaded trainer switch to activate a voice output also.

When everyone needs to land at the same time, I can flip up the switch and see where I'm at. Below 340 mah I can be polite, Close to 410 I get a little pushy and rude and just say sorry guys I gotta land now. Last year at BITW I did exctly that and sucked the UAT completely dry on taxi back!

There's a few other devices out there, the ASSI device from Ultimate-Jets.net and CB Elektronics. They will actually send all the Jetcat and Xicoy parameters to the Tx. One of those parameters is the Jetcat ECU Fuel remaining Value. Along with airspeed and a ton of other data. It's great stuff.

A few links to those products:

http://www.cb-elektronics.de/Index%20english.html

http://www.ultimate-jets.net/collect...en-assi-module

http://shop.rc-electronic.com/ROBBE-...=RF1678&p=2403

Gary, if you decide to use the external voltage connection off the Rx and aren't in a rush for the cable, save yourself about $15.00 and order it off of eBay for around $3.00. Tower charges $18.00 for a genuine Futaba cable which is about 75 cents worth of components( micro co nnector, twisted wire, and a 1 amp pico fuse with heat shrink).

Thanks for the info guys.

Steve on the cb electroniks unit do you know if it will give the low voltage alarm or can maybe alarm out on low rpm, etc. The additional telemetry is nice but the notification of a flame out is my first goal.

Couldnt find a price either. Anyone know the price for the sensor for a futaba 18mz?

Mick you would need to inhibit in the radio, correct?

I don't remember the price off the top of my head bu you can email Dirk Bubley at [email protected].

He's very good with his communication.

On his device you can alarm off Engine Status, Pump Voltage, Low EGT, or Low RPM any of those will let you know you have a Flameout.

It would be nice if the 18mz had a Master Alarm Mute ... but it doesn't :(. I use an earbud in my left ear and if it gets annoying during startup I just pull it out.

If you just want Flame out Detection for a low low price it's hard to beat the voltage sense on either the pump or the fuel valve.

Afterburner is right, those little plugs are cheap. I use the 1k Ohm 1/8 watt resistor instead of the fuse just because they are real cheap at Radio Shack and easy to find. If you do accidentally short them they don't blow out and the resistance is so high even when accidentally shorted you can only draw 5 milliamps and less than .03 watts.

Good Luck! Happy Flying!

You know I just thought of something helpful.

You now can get Super Bright LED lights that you can see in the daytime.

The Jectat ECU has a 'Smoker Port' on it. The software allows you to set it up so when you hit a selected fuel limit that Smoker Port puts out a +5 Volt signal.

It seems like it would be pretty easy to drive a 5v Micro Relay to turn on an LED or even drive an LED directly without the relay.

When your fuel limit is reached .. the Light comes on and as bright as they are nowadays I'll bet you could see it with no problem.

Anyone ever try this?

Never tried but you can also connect the ECU smoker port signal to the external voltage input on the receiver and then set an alarm on a +5v signal, and there will be not warning in standby mode (0v). By coincidence, I ordered the CB module yesterday, the price is 95€ excl. shipment. I understood the alarms have to be set on the transmitter and not on the module itself. I can update you when received.

Great Idea! Yes I Know you can use the smoker port into the Rx. Here's a vid of doing just that on my YA F-14 twin. I was real nervous about having a flameout on one engine and not knowing about it. I did it with three resistors and a voltage divider circuit.

0 volts - both engines off,
3 volts - both engines running,
2.5 volts - Right Turbine only running, Left Flameout
1.6 volts - Left turbine only running, Right Flameout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=nrVKjQZQJYU


And here's a link to the thread

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-j...-than-5-a.html

Happy Flying!