Focus on Competition
Technical Update
Steve Kaluf Technical Director [email protected]
My life has been immersed in spread-spectrum radios, Li-Poly batteries, and electric motors all winter. Now it looks like that will continue into the summer, since I plan to fly an electric helicopter in the competitions I participate in this year.
If someone had told me five years ago that I'd be flying an electric helicopter big enough and with enough power to be competitive (the helicopter, not me) at the Nationals in 2007, I would have simply said, "Yeah, right." But here it is—2007—and I am. Go figure.
By the way, before I get a nasty letter, I still love my engines. There is little that excites me more than the sound of a large four-stroke engine pulling a model through the air.
The point is that the technology available to our sport has gone nuts. You cannot go to any trade show or hobby shop and not see something new every month. This is one of the things that really draws me to this sport. It is exciting to learn about new products and technologies.
With all of these new things we must continue to be very careful, learn about them, and use them properly. We cannot assume that something will work the way it always has when the underlying technology has changed significantly.
We have new things such as:
- Binding a receiver to a transmitter.
- High-power electric setups that could cause a battery eliminator circuit to shut the receiver down if the voltage suddenly drops too low.
- Batteries that are much more sensitive to proper care and feeding and that deliver huge amounts of power.
- Other electronics that must be powered up properly.
The Weak Signals trade show in Toledo, Ohio, will have taken place by the time you read this column. I expect to see a huge number of new products introduced at the show this year. With these new products will come even newer technology; use it wisely.
As I mentioned in previous columns, the Electronic Technology Committee meets on April 16. We have a full agenda, and I hope to see some great things come out of this meeting that will have a positive effect on the industry and our members. Look for a full report in two months.
'Til next time... MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
