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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / January 2007



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Terence Lynock (MSW) - 20 Jan 2007 01:44 GMT
How long would a 1500mAH battery last in the avarage two channel setup
i.e receiver and two servo's? not having done any flying for many years
I think I had better start from scratch and work up so intend just
flying unpowered gliders for a start and learn to control them then bung
a motor into it?,

                                 regards,           Terry
Doug McLaren - 20 Jan 2007 11:07 GMT
| How long would a 1500mAH battery last in the avarage two channel setup
| i.e receiver and two servo's?

It's hard to come up with any `average two channel setup', as it
depends on how you fly, the plane itself and the servos and how
they're installed, but if it's a nice gentle thermal glider, probably
for several hours -- perhaps seven?

That's just a guess though.  Really, what you'll need to do is cycle
your battery and determine it's capacity, charge it again, then go fly
for a known number of hours, then drain your battery when you're done
and find out how much capacity is left, and do some simple math to
estimate how long you could have stayed up -- then subtract a generous
safety buffer.

If your glider has any ballast or weight added to make it balance, you
could replace it with a bigger or another battery pack ... if you're
going to send up weight, it might as well be useful weight!

Signature

Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzied.us                    Think global, act loco ...

Terence Lynock (CSD) - 20 Jan 2007 14:37 GMT
The message <1169290739.8552@frenzied.us>
from "Doug McLaren" <dougmc+usenet-20070119@frenzied.us> contains these words:

> If your glider has any ballast or weight added to make it balance, you
> could replace it with a bigger or another battery pack ... if you're
> going to send up weight, it might as well be useful weight!

Hi Doug,
               as long as I can get two or three hours out of it I will
be happy, the a/c is a 80'' span thermal which I did intend to fit a
motor to but as I havnt flown powered models for a very long time and am
only just getting back into flying models at all I thought I would start
at the bottom so to speak and work up so the glider I am finishing has
just the receiver and two servos
We used to use dethermalisers but now its all micro circuits and
electronics so should be much more enjoyable as I can control what it
happening, the glider has been built to take a motor fit at a later date
so may use a larger battery anyway to get used to its size and weight,
have seen some 6 cell AA Ni-MH rated at 2400 mAH which would fit just
nicely into the cockpit space and leave space for moving fore and aft
for balance so may go for one of those,

                                           regards,             Terry
tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net - 21 Jan 2007 16:31 GMT
> Hi Doug,
>                 as long as I can get two or three hours out of it I will
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> at the bottom so to speak and work up so the glider I am finishing has
> just the receiver and two servos

You should easily get 2 -3 hours flyong out of the 1500 mA receiver
battery. As long as you don't have any really stiff or binding linkages.

I fly mainly slope and thermal gliders, although I am not adverse to
putting on a power pod when the wind doesn't blow on the slopes.

My 100 inch glider will fly very nicely in thermals with just a tiny
amount of control input... more of a slight nudge really. I reckon that
the transmitter battery will be starting to get low before I need worry
about the receiver batteries in my different models. Most of my gliders
are rudder, elevator with some aileron controlled ones as well.

Welcome back.... nothing so nice as pootling about in thermals on a nice
day. The weather forecasters are predicting a "blisteringly" hot summer
for this year. I just hope they are right !!! I love hot still weather,
a diesel with an exhaust extension quietly chuntering away... climb way
up until the fuel runs out and then the long slow glide and search for
thermals.... hell I am packing the sarnies ready  !

Reg
Terence Lynock (MSW) - 23 Jan 2007 17:08 GMT
The message <51hireF1j030jU1@mid.individual.net>
from tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net contains these words:

> Welcome back.... nothing so nice as pootling about in thermals on a nice
> day. The weather forecasters are predicting a "blisteringly" hot summer
> for this year. I just hope they are right !!!

Hi Reg,
             I hope they are right too seeing as the temp outside right
now is about 29f!! about 3 minutes walk from my house is what was a
small quarry back in the 1800's and has now been landscaped with a
pathway through the middle but there is still one nice big hill on one
side and some quite promising slopes and the beauty is if I crash it the
workshop is only a few minutes walk away!,

                                             regards,                  
  Terry
tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net - 25 Jan 2007 16:50 GMT
> The message <51hireF1j030jU1@mid.individual.net>
> from tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net contains these words:
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>                                               regards,                  
>    Terry

Hi Terry,

That sounds very similar to something not far from me. You are not on a
certain South Cumbria peninsular are you ? If you are then I can suggest
some very good places nearby. Probably coincidence and you are at the
other end of the country      >:-)

Reg
Terence Lynock (MSW) - 27 Jan 2007 01:19 GMT
The message <51s5fdF1lk27gU1@mid.individual.net>
from tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net contains these words:

>  You are not on a
> certain South Cumbria peninsular are you ? If you are then I can suggest
> some very good places nearby. Probably coincidence and you are at the
> other end of the country      >:-)

> Reg

No Reg,       down south in Telford on the edge of the Ironbridge Gorge,
we had a lot of industrial developement in this area with Coalbrookdale
and the Darby family so there are a lot of old coal mines and various
old and now disused pits and so on most of which have been reclaimed and
landscaped now and this plus the natural topography around here makes
for some nice little areas of slopes and valleys.
Just a few miles to the south west we have the Wenlock Edge and a bit
further on through Church Stretton is the Long Mynd and Stiperstones
which is all hills and deep valleys and there is a gliding club based up
on the Mynd, a perfect quiet place for a summers sunny afternoon up high
on the lovely green hills with a picnic and some beer just watching the
gliders playing in the sky,

                                regards,               Terry
tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net - 27 Jan 2007 17:09 GMT
> The message <51s5fdF1lk27gU1@mid.individual.net>
> from tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net contains these words:

> No Reg,       down south in Telford on the edge of the Ironbridge Gorge,
> we had a lot of industrial developement in this area with Coalbrookdale
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
>                                  regards,               Terry

Hi Terry,
Definitely not the same place, just seemed so similar in the
description. You obviously have some GOOD sites near you so I don't have
to go sharing my local ones.    

I have been building up a small fleet of gliders for different
conditions. Some are very good in a strong wind, others are for when the
conditions on the slopes are light and there is a selection of diesel
and glow powerpods for use in calm weather. I fly off coastal hills, the
winds are smooth and there is usually a goodly supply of thermals coming
up from the sand in the estuaries.

A nice 20 mimute drive sees me on the slopes and I can usually spend the
day up there without seeing anyone..... brilliant    >:-)

I have just ordered a plan for the Bird of Time from the States. The £
is strong against the $ and now was a good time to get it. I have
fancied building one for a while now and it is going to be next winters
build job, although I will spend time during the warmer months cutting
all the wing ribs and making up a "kit" of parts ready for when I start
building. For a mere £10, which includes airmail, I will have hours of
fun !

Regards,
Reg
Terence Lynock - 27 Jan 2007 20:26 GMT
The message <521f9hF1mdqnfU1@mid.individual.net>
from tux_powered@nowhere.at-all.net contains these words:

> I have just ordered a plan for the Bird of Time from the States.

Hi Reg,

             Saw plans for that one on eBay a few weeks ago as I
recall, been looking for plans for a Minimoa for a while as it is the
one glider that has always held my attention but havnt seen any plans
for it on eBay yet,

                                      regards,                     Terry
Doug McLaren - 22 Jan 2007 16:34 GMT
| as long as I can get two or three hours out of it I will
| be happy

Then you'll probably be happy.  Two channel gliders don't use much
power.

| so may use a larger battery anyway to get used to its size and weight,
| have seen some 6 cell AA Ni-MH rated at 2400 mAH which would fit just
| nicely into the cockpit space and leave space for moving fore and aft
| for balance so may go for one of those

RX/servo packs should be 4 or 5 cells -- six cells will probably fry
something unless you use a regulator.  And contrary to common sense, a
five cell pack will probably last slightly *less* long than a four
cell pack.

Either way, I'll bet a 4 cell AA 2400 mAh pack would last over 10
hours in your plane unless you've screwed things up and your servos
are binding.  At some point it just become silly to get more duration
-- unless you're going for your LSF V 8 hour slope task, that is!

Signature

Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzied.us
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was
room-temperature British beef.

Terence Lynock (MSW) - 23 Jan 2007 17:15 GMT
The message <1169483366.24275@frenzied.us>
from "Doug McLaren" <dougmc+usenet-20070122@frenzied.us> contains these words:

>  At some point it just become silly to get more duration
> -- unless you're going for your LSF V 8 hour slope task, that is!

Hi Doug,
            Much easier to just take an extra pack or two fully charged
than have an airframe lugging a big lump of unneccessary battery around,
I am not into attempting any endurance records as I tend to fall asleep
every three hours or so after a cup of tea and especially when the sun
is shining,

                                        regards,            
Terry.........(snooze)
The Raven - 22 Jan 2007 11:12 GMT
> How long would a 1500mAH battery last in the avarage two channel setup
> i.e receiver and two servo's? not having done any flying for many years
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>                                  regards,           Terry

My personal testing has shown that a 4channel trainer consumes about
40-60mAh per flight. The upper end being when you tend to throw it around
rather than use it as a 'trainer'.

So, using the same receiver and only two servos you'd be around half that.
Of course, it sounds like you're soaring/gliding which means you may see
lower servo loads and thus use even less power.

A friend of mine once claimed a 3 hour slope soaring flight, he was using a
2 channel setupo with a 600mAh pack. Note that most TX batteries will rarely
exceed 3hours of use.

Regards
Doug McLaren - 22 Jan 2007 16:42 GMT
| A friend of mine once claimed a 3 hour slope soaring flight, he was using a
| 2 channel setupo with a 600mAh pack.

Sounds perfectly reasonable.

(And on a good slope with good conditions, three hour flights are not
uncommon.  It's one of the things that makes slope flying so much fun
-- fly all day, never worry about landing for more fuel, new batteries
or even not being able to find thermals.)

| Note that most TX batteries will rarely exceed 3hours of use.

Stock batteries, maybe.

My Futaba 9C (a.k.a. power hungry computer radio) lasts 6 hours on
it's 1800 mAh NiMH pack.  I'll bet a non-computer radio could do over
12 hours on a 2400 mAh pack.

To be fair, the stock 600 mAh pack only kept it going for a little
over two hours.

Signature

Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzied.us
"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. But I don't
want to spend a lot of money..."

Mark Miller - 23 Jan 2007 02:05 GMT
>| Note that most TX batteries will rarely exceed 3hours of use.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> it's 1800 mAh NiMH pack.  I'll bet a non-computer radio could do over
> 12 hours on a 2400 mAh pack.

Concur, and I have data!  Once upon a time, I charged up all my Tx's, put
them on a table, and turned them all on to see how long they'd run.  I'd
shut off a Tx when I got a low battery warning, or the meter got close to
red, or whatever.  Among the collection were 3 Hitec Neons. For those
unfamiliar, the Neon is a very simple, cheap 3 channel radio that's
suited for 2-channel gliders or simple electrics.  

The Neon with a 600 mah battery lasted 4:45, suggesting that with a 2400
mah battery, it would gone for around 18 hours.  

After 5 hours (5:12, according to my notes), I stopped the test.  The
other 2 Neons had 1200 mah batteries and they were still in the green;
based on the first one, I would have had to wait another 4.5 hours and I
just wasn't that patient.    

> To be fair, the stock 600 mAh pack only kept it going for a little
> over two hours.

Very consistent with my results.  I have 2 Optics with stock batteries;
one lasted 2:44 and the other hung on another 6 minutes to 2:50.  The
Optic is a computer radio, but it's not as tricked-out as your Futaba.

- Mark Miller

Signature

"Whatever will have been, will have been."

- Douglas Adams, "Life, The Universe, and Everything"

Terence Lynock (MSW) - 23 Jan 2007 17:23 GMT
The message <1169483716.27785@frenzied.us>
from "Doug McLaren" <dougmc+usenet-20070122@frenzied.us> contains these words:

> To be fair, the stock 600 mAh pack only kept it going for a little
> over two hours.

Its nice to know the electronics can keep going longer than I can
Doug......;-),

                             regards,             Terry
 
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