Is Align seriously trying to compete with Spartan?

Align released another new product for January 2010. The align GP780 3D Gyro. Looks like it is the same as the GP750 but with better pirouette consistency and a few other features.

FEATURES:

•Brand new intelligent control logic providing dynamic gain adjustment bydetecting current flying conditions, allowing for consistent pirouetting rates during chaos or other demanding 3D maneuvers.

•Utilizes feed forward control logic to boost rudder starting speed, and increase response sensitivity.

•Utilizes Silicon Micro Machines (SMM) sensor with excellent stability to dramatically reduce in-flight tail drifts.

•Utilizes AHTCS (Active Helicopter Tail Control System) to compensate any drift caused by wind direction and force ,as well as unintended yaw induced by helicopter itself during flight maneuvers.

•Tailor made specifically for use with high speed digital rudder servos. This gyro festures high sensitivity and minimal reaction time, fully utilizing the potential of modern high speed digital rudder servos.

•Features 1520μs pulse wide and 760μs narrow pulse wide frame rate.

•Digital/Analog servo switchable.

•Reverse switch.

•Rudder servo travel limit adjustment (ATV).

•Delay adjustment.

•Gyro locking mode and gain can be adjusted remotely from the transmitter.

SPECS:
•Operating Voltage:DC 4.5~7V
•Current Consumption:<80mA @ 4.8V
•Angular Detection Speed:500 degrees/sec
•Operating Humidity:0℃~65℃
•RoHS certification.
•Operating Humidity:0%~95%
•Size:26×25x11mm
•Weight:14g

Calculating head speed

The first question I asked myself is why calculate the head speed when I can simply measure it with a tachometer?

There are few answers, 1) if you are going to buy a new one you’d know what the head speed is with the various Motor and pinions out on the market today. 2) Upgrading an existing heli, I am always calculating head speed when trying to upgrade my Trex 600E to a 8 or 12s setup.

Calculating the head speed will not give you exact head speed but it can get you in the ball park to answer questions like what motor based on KV and amps. What ESC, what Pinion?

Also you are going to find a bunch of head speed “Calculators” online. I use them mostly when I am in a hurry, but I try to use this formula to keep my Algebra skills.

HS = ((motor KV x Battery Voltage)/(Main gear teeth/pinion teeth)) x Efficiency
coefficient

KV of the motor is the RPM it turns per volt. For example a Scorpion HK-4035-560 has a KV of 560 and if you plan to run that on a 10s system (~38volts) the RPM will be 21290 unloaded. However sense electric motors are not 100% efficient we have to take the RPM and multiply it by the Efficiency coefficient. Brushless Motor have an EF of anywhere between 85%-90%.

So if or motor has an EF of 90% we would have a RPM of 19152 unloaded. (unloaded means the motor is not under any load like spinning your main gear).

The battery voltage is the nominal voltage of the pack. Even though a 6s will be around 22.2v when fully charged, it runs at around 37v under load so that’s the number you’ll use for head speed calculations, not the fully charged / discharged voltage.

The teeth on your main gear and pinion is simply the number of teeth on the gears. Most manufacturers publish that info, but if in doubt, count it out.

Here’s an example for my Trex 600E on 6S setup:

Align Stock 600XL with a KV of 1650.
Main Gear teeth 170
Pinion Teeth 10
Motor Efficiency I would say is 89%
Volts from a 6s battery I’ll set to 22.8v

Here's the calculation:

Head Speed = ((1650kv x 22.v)/(170/10) x .89
Head speed = (37620/17) x .89
Head speed = ~1960 RPM

My tachometer reads 2050. But I take the measurement with freshly charged batteries so the voltage will be higher and in turn increase the head speed. My eLogger says I float anywhere from 1962-2100 during a hover. So the formula gives me a good idea of what I need to get to increase or decrease your head speed.

Keep your bird in the air.

RaptorEEE

Check this out, I found this on Facebook. A RaptorE, I like the way the batteries mount. I wonder about the C.G.

Trex700E with 12S at 5000mah

Here's another interesting mod that Ken and I have been talking about for a few months. Ken and my Trex600E are starting to turn me back on to electrics and as much as I resist the new mods, cheaper batteries and videos like this ARE NOT HELPING! Watch this kid work the tail.

I am pricing out the parts tonight!

Just when you thought it was safe

These are pictures of a Trex500 converted to a nitro. I found this on runryder a month or so ago. Thought I would give you all some ideas. I believe he had an OS 32 maybe a 37 in it.


Talk about fun in the sun. Man a 37 would be crazy fast! Anyone want to convert one?

Going Electric, Tools you might need.

There are a ton of things to be concerned about when building a RC Helicopter, you need to make sure everything has loctite, pinions and gears mesh, links are a certain size, blades are balanced and track, and the list goes on.

Then there’s the electric powered heli. As easy as it is to set these you there are a few extra tools you need to make sure your heli doesn’t burn up a speed controller, a Lipo or the motor itself. I don't bother with the smaller 200 or 400/450 class helis but when you have 13 degrees of pitch on a 500 class you can easily comsume a lot of amps.

Here's a couple tools, Watt meters. E-Flite makes a Power Meter that support most of the common functions(Ammeter, Amp-hour meter, wattmeter, voltmeter, Watt-hour meter) I like this one because of the big easy to read digits.



Then there's the WATT's UP meter. This has the standard features like the E-Flite but shows all the readings on the screen. It lets you easily measure EIGHT electrical values that tell you what's really going on.



Finally my personal favorite EagleTree's eLogger and the supporting software. In addition to greatly enhanced resolution and accuracy, the V3 now supports voltage to 70 volts, current to 100 amps (150 amps optional), GPS (with optional GPS Expander), 4x the logging capacity of the V2, Three Temperatures, and Throttle Logging (or logging of two RPMs)! And now, you can connect the V3 to the data port of your Spektrum AR9000(TM) or JR R921(TM) Receiver to log and display RF Link performance data!


This is the elogger, with the brushless sensor and the powerpanel display.

Then with the supporting software you can down load flight information to you computer and play it back. You get to view all the vitals as they happened in the air. It also allows you to configure the software and powerpanel displays.

Jame's HK-500.

I had the privilege of working on Jame’s HK500 the other day. Just dialing it in making sure she's ready to fly. Using a DX6I and Ar6100, GY520 with a Futaba 9650 for the tail, Town Pro MG930 for cyclic and the stock align motor and esc (for the Trex 500).

His head speed is about 2520 rpms with a 13T pinion and a 162T main gear. He has +13 and degrees and -9. A few more mods and this think will do just fine.

James has done a lot of work on this bird to get it flying like a good 500.