TonyHallo
640cc Uber Pimp
Getting closer
Starter test
Starter test
Scale Wendell Hostetler 30% Piper Cherokee Glass Fuselage Build.
- Thread starter TonyHallo
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TonyHallo
640cc Uber Pimp
I don't plan to disconnect the starter battery between flights and didn't care for the fact the starter beeped all the time while the radio is off. I thought about installing a simple MOSFET switch to turn the starter battery off when the radio is off. While investigating the circuit Google AI recommended isolating the starter battery from the radio electric system to avoid a ground loop.. Two PC 814 optocouplers are used to isolate the system on command and the PWM signal to turn the starter motor on. In the photo below on the left side + 8 volts on the red wire turns the stater MOSFET on, the PWM signal on the white wire turns the starter motor on. On the left side 16 volts from the 4S battery provides the voltage to turn the MOSFET on at full saturation, the blue wire provides 5 volts for the PWM circuit to control the starter motor.
The complete system adds a few grams to the system.
As a side note the ESC is rated at 40 amps and is the same size as the 76cc starter I purchased for the Roto 85 engine, It seems that that their 123Cc engine uses the same ESC.
I think this is the last hurdle, time to put everything together and test fly.
The complete system adds a few grams to the system.
As a side note the ESC is rated at 40 amps and is the same size as the 76cc starter I purchased for the Roto 85 engine, It seems that that their 123Cc engine uses the same ESC.
I think this is the last hurdle, time to put everything together and test fly.
Last edited:
GorillaToast
30cc
Hi Tony. Are you planning to fly the Cherokee in the Columbus Scale Classic this weekend?
TonyHallo
640cc Uber Pimp
No, I will be flying the Super Cub. I have been battling the control system for the past 2 weeks so it hasn't flown yet, I'm doing the final testing right now and it seems I have all the user induced problems corrected and beginning to gain trust in the system.
I spent a day trying to get a Hitec DPC-11 servo programmer connected to my new Windows 11 laptop, no success, ended up replacing the servo set to factory defaults, that was the start. Even Google AI gave up on problem solutions and said "let me know what the user forums say".
There's three receivers, one in the vertical fin the other two in the wing tips, and the receivers plug into a RB30+ redundancy bus. The control was erratic and spent a few days waiting for ferrite cores to minimize the noise that I suspected was causing the problem, of course this didn't help. I sent a note off to FrSky and they requested more information, while collecting the information I discovered that two receivers had incorrect firmware installed, installing the correct firmware seemed to help and I though I was good to go. Power cycled the system a dozen times and everything looked good. I'll button everything up in the morning, conduct several more power cycles and be at the field at noon two Sunday's ago. Of course the first power cycle resulted a loose of control, back to square 1. I have a different model redundancy bus that I considered however I have no way to set the Fail safe setting and the factory default is 800 us? Why? Wouldn't 1500 make more sense? Considered ditching the system and installing two receivers to handle the channel requirements, the carbon fiber fuselage made this option difficult.
On Thursday we traveled to Lake Erie to spent a few with my family, while there I discovered I failed to assign Unique ID's to the receivers, what a great find, this has to be problem. Now I can't wait to get back home and get this done. I'll leave the fin set the default zero and set the wing tip receivers to 1 and 2. Things are getting real confusing now so now I start to take notes on Sunday. Power cycled the system a half dozen times and it's working good, I'll button everything up and test on Monday and take it to the field on Tuesday. I plug in the engine telemetry sensors and the system locks up on the second test cycle, no control, no failsafe! OK the problem must be in the engine sensors, disconnect them and conduct several more successful test then plug the sensors in and system failed on the third power cycle.
There are three sensor devices for the engine, a FrSky ASS70 air speed sensor that I'm using to measure the relative pressure differential across the engine baffle, a FrSky SP-RPM that is measuring the cooling air in and out from the engine, and an Advanced Telematics AT-V1 that is measuring the spark plug temperatures, the crankcase temperature, and the engine speed. The AT-V1 is running code that I wrote in Arduino IDE, wonder where the problem may lie? Yesterday morning I reviewed the code and determined the baud rate was set at 9600 while the rest of the telemetry is 57600. Made the change and uploaded the code to the sensor board. Just finished the 8th successful power cycle and will continue testing after the batteries are recharged.
Sorry for the long winded rely, are you flying your Champ Bill? Haven't seen any updates over on RCSB. I plan arrive around noon at your field and hope to see you again.
I spent a day trying to get a Hitec DPC-11 servo programmer connected to my new Windows 11 laptop, no success, ended up replacing the servo set to factory defaults, that was the start. Even Google AI gave up on problem solutions and said "let me know what the user forums say".
There's three receivers, one in the vertical fin the other two in the wing tips, and the receivers plug into a RB30+ redundancy bus. The control was erratic and spent a few days waiting for ferrite cores to minimize the noise that I suspected was causing the problem, of course this didn't help. I sent a note off to FrSky and they requested more information, while collecting the information I discovered that two receivers had incorrect firmware installed, installing the correct firmware seemed to help and I though I was good to go. Power cycled the system a dozen times and everything looked good. I'll button everything up in the morning, conduct several more power cycles and be at the field at noon two Sunday's ago. Of course the first power cycle resulted a loose of control, back to square 1. I have a different model redundancy bus that I considered however I have no way to set the Fail safe setting and the factory default is 800 us? Why? Wouldn't 1500 make more sense? Considered ditching the system and installing two receivers to handle the channel requirements, the carbon fiber fuselage made this option difficult.
On Thursday we traveled to Lake Erie to spent a few with my family, while there I discovered I failed to assign Unique ID's to the receivers, what a great find, this has to be problem. Now I can't wait to get back home and get this done. I'll leave the fin set the default zero and set the wing tip receivers to 1 and 2. Things are getting real confusing now so now I start to take notes on Sunday. Power cycled the system a half dozen times and it's working good, I'll button everything up and test on Monday and take it to the field on Tuesday. I plug in the engine telemetry sensors and the system locks up on the second test cycle, no control, no failsafe! OK the problem must be in the engine sensors, disconnect them and conduct several more successful test then plug the sensors in and system failed on the third power cycle.
There are three sensor devices for the engine, a FrSky ASS70 air speed sensor that I'm using to measure the relative pressure differential across the engine baffle, a FrSky SP-RPM that is measuring the cooling air in and out from the engine, and an Advanced Telematics AT-V1 that is measuring the spark plug temperatures, the crankcase temperature, and the engine speed. The AT-V1 is running code that I wrote in Arduino IDE, wonder where the problem may lie? Yesterday morning I reviewed the code and determined the baud rate was set at 9600 while the rest of the telemetry is 57600. Made the change and uploaded the code to the sensor board. Just finished the 8th successful power cycle and will continue testing after the batteries are recharged.
Sorry for the long winded rely, are you flying your Champ Bill? Haven't seen any updates over on RCSB. I plan arrive around noon at your field and hope to see you again.
GorillaToast
30cc
Wow! I feel for ya. Way, way over my head. No, I won't be flying this weekend, especially the Aeronca. It hasn't been maidened yet.
I'll just be sitting in the judge's seat watching all the pretty planes go by...
I'll just be sitting in the judge's seat watching all the pretty planes go by...
Snoopy1
640cc Uber Pimp
Sorry to say this now I do not feel so bad when it took me several days to figure out a problem with my new radio. Some incorrect programming on alarms and controls on an ESC . It was frustrating and time consuming and when I look back at time when we had zero feedback from our planes and it was a big deal just to reverse a servo.