Radio Technique
Jack puts a female Deans connector in the switch harness lead to the receiver (Fig. 1). He then shorts the pins of the male plug together, so that when it is in place, the circuit is restored as when new. Mr. Minch then obtains another male Deans plug, to which is wired the ammeter. In this way he can use one meter for a variety of RC systems, without the expense of a separate aileron extender cable for each one. Depending on how many different kinds of systems you have, that could be a considerable saving. The only disadvantage, for my purposes, is that I would have to modify someone else's system in order to make use of my meter. Nonetheless, Jack Minch tried the ammeter, found some problems that he didn't realize that he had, and then sat down to write a long article describing his findings for his newsletter editor. Speaking for newsletter editors everywhere, go thou and do likewise! And for myself, thanks Jack Minch, for crediting "Radio Technique" for giving you the idea.
Radio Technique
GLOW-Plug Drivers: A glow-plug is an electrical resistance that gets hot when you run an electrical current through it. Most are designed to reach a temperature of about 1200ºF, when installed in a dry engine and powered by a 1.5-VDC battery. A few are designed for a 2-VDC lead/acid battery. Without a glow, your engine won't go. That's fundamental. It is also the explanation for most engine starting troubles. Any engine will run if it has fuel, air, compression and a point of ignition. Miss one of these requirements, and it won't run. There are three ways to light a glow-plug: (1) Constant voltage, (2) Constant current, (3) Pulsed current.
Radio Technique
WHAT do you do if your servos feel weak and slow? The project I'm reporting on this month started out as a search for a simple answer to a complicated question. Now, I find myself further behind the deadline than ever before, struggling to put the results of a month of experimenting into 1500 words. Bear with me: something good may come out of it! The whole thing began with several reader requests for a simple way to evaluate a servo. We all know that they slow down, lose torque, get noisy and interfere with the other system electronics as they get old and tired. At some point, repair or replacement becomes necessary. The trick is to find that point while the plane is sitting on the workbench!
Radio Technique
HELICOPTER TIME. After a few years of procrastination, I finally used a chunk of my modeling budget on the purchase of a helicopter-Series 80 "Heliboy" by Schluter, with the necessary accessories! This has converted me directly into a beginner, again. As a purely personal prediction, I see that helicopters will soon become dominant in the RC field, at least in Metropolitan areas. Free-flight gave way to U-control, as the fields became smaller. U-control gave way to RC, as the technology improved to the point where small fields could be safely used for RC. The fields have continued to shrink, and disappear. Balsa wood prices have zoomed over $100 per cubic foot. Inevitably, helicopter kit prices will compete directly with the kit prices of aircraft. When that happens, the switch to helicopters is assured. Model airplanes with propellers appeal to the World War I generation. My children would prefer models of jets, but the noise and flame of a realistic simulation doesn't belong in a small field in a residential community.
Myers at the Wrams Show
THE WRAMS SHOW-mid-winter rite of looking, talking, selling and buying the hobby of modeling. We think in terms of RC aircraft, but boats, cars, motorcycles, helicopters and even submarines are controlled by RC and were represented. Scale models were king of the hill at this meeting, and the emphasis was on big models. We were invited to attend for the purpose of discovering today's trends in RC equipment. Big is the trend. Every manufacturer has something for the "Quarter-Scale" modeler. 1200 maH battery packs (with the protective foam inside the box) were offered by Ace R/C, World Engines, EMS, and Novak, according to my notes.
