The Battery Clinic - 2009/05

May 2009 101
damage to the underside of the wing. In a
few days, John had rebuilt the Taurus from
the mess shown in one of the photos, and it
looks and flies as great as it did before the
incident.
While cruising the Internet, I saw a good
case for use of the tough-to-remove W.S.
Deans Ultra Plug. See the photo of an
autogiro.
VoltMagic Updates: VoltMagic introduces
its updated 2R-20: an onboard voltage
monitor, weighing
only 7.3 grams (.25
I HAVE BEEN
getting numerous
questions about
Sanyo’s Eneloop
batteries, but I have
no experience with
them. Sanyo’s Web
page provides a
comprehensive look
at this improved
NiMH technology,
but how they behave
in our modeling
environment is of
more importance.
Stefan Vorkoetter has done a lot of
testing, which indicates that Eneloop
batteries are a good choice for flight control
and transmitter packs. One of their main
features is a low self-discharge compared to
that of conventional NiMH cells, as shown
in the graph included with this column.
Stefan’s neat aviation/modeling Web site is
well worth your visit.
Since Eneloop cells are not available
with solder tabs, it is recommended that
you purchase built-up packs with welded
tabs. A couple of sources for these are
Hangtimes Hobbies and Radical RC.
Midair—E Vs. Glow: At our club field on
a clear and calm morning, two models were
sharing all of Mother Nature’s crystal-clear
blue airspace: John Castronover’s new
electric-powered Taurus and Neal
Christensen’s nice Skylark. And then the
old adage came to pass; sometimes you’re
the windshield and sometimes you’re the
bug.
The Skylark made it back to the strip
and landed safely, sustaining only minor
The Battery Clinic Red Scholefield | [email protected]
Also included in this column:
• Surviving midairs
• VoltMagic upgrade
• FMA Direct’s Cellpro Multi4
charger
Are Eneloop batteries the answer?
What’s a midair between friends? John Castronover’s new Taurus and Neal Christensen’s nice Skylark
intertwined aerially. Both models were rebuilt.
A typical Sanyo Eneloop AA-size battery self-discharge curve.
You can see a full test report at www.stefanv.com/electronics/sanyo_
eneloop.html.
Good reason to use
Deans connectors.
That’s a 3S 2100
mAh pack holding
on.
ounce), that allows you to custom-configure
your power setup to use a 4.8-volt, 6.0-volt,
7.4-volt Lithium, or 6.6-volt A123 battery
pack, or use it just as a voltage regulator.
There are 20 ranges for Averaged
Voltage (AV), and two selectable ranges for
Peak Low Voltage (PLV) record the lowest
voltage. There’s even glitch (a missing or
bad signal pulse) and fail-safe detection.
Following are more about the 2R-20 unit’s
features.
• AV: This is adjusted to warn of low mAh
remaining in a battery or incorrect output
from a regulator. It shows a steady display
of the current voltage. Each LED represents
a .1-volt increment. There is just one
monitor for all applications, and you can
fine-tune the colored LED bar graph to
match your system and your preferences.
• PLV: This indicates whether or not the
electrical system is capable enough for the
servos. Below a certain threshold, this
05sig4.QXD 3/24/09 12:04 PM Page 101
102 MODEL AVIATION
shows the lowest
voltage at the
receiver (or
wherever it’s
connected) in .1-
volt increments.
There are two
ranges from which
to select: Normal
and Low. The
Extended PLV
feature temporarily
shows an extra .2
volt of PLV on the
high end for an
early warning. With
a sample rate of
roughly 1,000 volts
per second, this is
the fastest onboard
monitor available.
• Glitch and failsafe
counting: This
unit is selectable for
glitch (Pulse
Position Modulation
[PPM]) or fail-safe
(Pulse Code
Modulation [PCM]
or 2.4 GHz with an
adjustable fail-safe).
The counting is smart, so several within a
short time period are classified as the same
glitch.
A glitch from a PCM or 2.4 GHz
receiver indicates a fault (possibly a
reboot). With a traditional PPM receiver, a
glitch usually indicates a failure to receive
the transmitter’s signal.
For further details, instructions, and
even a demo, visit the VoltMagic Web
site.
Cellpro Multi4 Multichemistry Charger:
Why did FMA Direct take the path of
producing another Cellpro generation?
The company has received many
requests from customers about specific
features they would like to see in their
chargers. Occasionally these things can be
added, but often there is not enough
memory left in the microcontroller to
make it happen. Sometimes, making a
change that one customer wants is not
what other customers want.
But no matter what, the modifications
require countless hours of meticulous
firmware updates and debugging before
firmware updates can be made available.
So a more powerful microcontroller in
combination with the new Open
Architecture Presets philosophy enabled
FMA Direct to make many of us happy.
This alteration was done in an efficient
and superior way. Adding a new feature,
tweaking parameters, and fixing problems
is as simple as correcting or creating
presets. Let’s look at one scenario that
creates an array of issues.
Let’s say that Customer John wants his
FMA Direct’s Cellpro Multi4 computer software makes the new charger almost infinitely customizable.
Shown is only a sample.
charger to balance A123 batteries at 100
mA as opposed to 200 mA. This is a major
decision for any charger manufacturer.
Does it update the firmware to change
the balance current? Will other consumers
like the change? Does the company add a
capability within the user interface to
allow John to set it the way he likes it
without affecting other users? Is there
enough memory to effect the change?
If you read about how FMA Direct or
any manufacturer handles these things, it
is usually an inefficient process. The
results often please some customers while
others complain.
Enter Open Architecture Presets. It’s
changing the balance current, the type of
balancing, or how far along in the charge
process the balancing begins becomes
possible.
Go to the preset you want to alter in the
Charge Control Software (CCS), find the
parameter you want to adjust, and you’re
finished. You have a customized preset for
your specific battery type, situation, or
application.
Within the FMA Direct software is an application that can create this Cellpro charging
graph. Saving the results makes tracking a battery pack’s health elementary.
05sig4.QXD 3/24/09 12:36 PM Page 102
If you are not the type of customer who
wants to dabble in technical matters such as
these, you will still benefit from Open
Architecture Presets. Why? Because this
concept makes it faster and more efficient
to support the myriad unique charge
regimes.
Even if you do not want to alter charge
parameters yourself, you will benefit by
gaining access to presets created by
experienced technicians. Restoring presets
in the CCS is as simple as opening a wordprocessing
document on your PC.
Let’s say you want an A123-only
charger. Copy a single A123 preset to all 25
banks of your charger. Modify the settings
of presets individually. Save them one at a
time to your PC or back up all 25.
Does a buddy want your settings? Email
him the presets-backup file. Once he
opens the file and uploads them to the
charger, he has what you have.
Possibly the most important part of all is
that you don’t spend countless hours trying
to interpret cryptic information that is
presented to you on a two-line LCD. You
can make basic settings at the charger, but
the most efficient way to make detailed and
complex changes to charge parameters is on
the PC, where you have a larger screen, a
keyboard, and a mouse.
Make the changes to your presets at
home and call them up and use them at the
field. Fly at the field; don’t worry about
setting up your charger there. You’re likely
to make mistakes.
To unleash the Multi4’s full potential,
FMA Direct recommends the two-way PC
interface (item FUIM2) and Multi4 CCS
that is a free download from the company’s
Web site.
Built on the success of the Cellpro 4s
and Cellpro 10s chargers, the Multi4
represents the next step in charging
technology. So much more than another
charger, it is based on FMA Direct’s
previous hardware designs and safety
algorithms. However, it sports a new
microcontroller that is four times as
powerful as the one used in the Cellpro 4s.
But the true power of the charger stems
from new firmware. The company started
with a clean sheet of paper and a lot of
“thinking outside the box.” The list of
features and capabilities is rivaled only by
the goal of providing the ultimate in
flexibility and utility.
If you like a more custom solution, look
no further. The charger, in combination
with the CCS, offers virtually unlimited
access to charging parameters. The FMA
Direct computer program also allows you to
graph the charge process and save to
compare performance at a later date.
There isn’t nearly enough room to
cover all of this charger’s features in this
or even subsequent columns, so visit the
FMA Direct Web site and explore. There
is no better way than looking at the
manual for the item in which you are
interested. You can get that at the Web site
too, along with the MultiPro4 software. Play
with them and examine the many features.
Throttle Lock: Jim Meyer wrote:
“Your article on a throttle lock in 01/09
issue of MA is a very good idea. However,
when I tried to program my DX6i, I just
could not shut off the motor.
“The manual shows throttle to throttle as
an example but after calling Horizon I was
told that it could not be done. When I asked
about changing the momentary push button
for the throttle cutoff to a toggle switch, I
was told that if they were to do this it would
be a liability issue if I turned the switch off
in flight and crashed. What are your ideas?”
The whole purpose of the throttle-lock
idea is for safety, so that you don’t
inadvertently hit the throttle stick before you
are ready to fly. Since when are dead-sticks a
liability issue for the radio manufacturer?
When I pull my throttle stick all the way
back, the motor stops. What’s the
difference? I have no idea whether or not it
is possible to do the throttle thing with your
model radio, so I can’t comment on that.
Has anyone been able to set this up on a
Spektrum DX6i or other model? If so, please
drop me a note on how you did it so I can
share the information. MA
Sources:
The Battery Clinic
12219 NW 9th Ln.
Newberry FL 32669
Sanyo
(619) 661-1134
http://us.sanyo.com
Stefan Vorkoetter
www.stefanv.com
Hangtimes Hobbies
57 Cedar St., Suite 6
Babylon NY 11702
www.hangtimes.com
Radical RC
(937) 256-7727
www.radicalrc.com
VoltMagic
Box 1518
Estacada OR 97023
www.voltmagic.com
FMA Direct
(800) 343-2934
www.fmadirect.com