Anyone know of a good pocket field level tester ???

[WBFAir]

Hello all

I've been looking for a good pocket size field pack tester so I can check how much is left in a pack.

One of my fellow club members had something last week but it was a little hard to read but it was very small and cheap.

I've been using my CellPro4 for a checker but it's not really practical for a qucik check so it would be nicer if I could have something I could quickly pull out of my pocket to help me better evaluate my flight times.

Thanks

[BikeNBoatN]

Something like this (http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=43229)? Common Sense Cell-Spy. Be sure to get one that reads accurate, like I mentioned in my posts (on the last page).

[PTFlyer]

Bill, that one from Common Sense looks to be alot like the one I have....so my guess is it will be just as difficult to see in direct sunlight also...

Not to take anything away from Common Sense but----
the difference is the one I picked up can do all 6 cells at the same time (if you are using a 6 cell pack/balance connector)....instead of looking at the decimal point for which cell it numbers them....it's smaller and the real kicker is it's only 5 bucks....so get two....(two shipped to the usa via International Air Mail is only 12.95)

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6589

[WBFAir]

Bill, that one from Common Sense looks to be alot like the one I have....so my guess is it will be just as difficult to see in direct sunlight also...

Not to take anything away from Common Sense but----
the difference is the one I picked up can do all 6 cells at the same time (if you are using a 6 cell pack/balance connector)....instead of looking at the decimal point for which cell it numbers them....it's smaller and the real kicker is it's only 5 bucks....so get two....(two shipped to the usa via International Air Mail is only 12.95)

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6589Hey Pete, yeah forgot to ask you a bit more about it Sunday but I thought it looked a lot lke the Common Sense one but I remembered too that yours also shows a pack total at the end which is good.

Basically I posted this as I was hoping there might be something a little better then that one sorta in regards to the seeing it thing I mentioned but also too maybe one that shows the % level like the CellPro4 does so I could do a more simple quick check out at the flying area without having to remove the pack and test it at my car but so far in all my research it seems the one you have and the Common Sense unit are all thats out there.

Kinda surprising as I would think a simple portable pocket pack info tool would be a thing everybody could really use and want so somebody would have come out with one but at least as far as I can tell this is all there is.

If you don't mind maybe I can play with that one a little bit more next week and if I think I could really use it I'll get a few.

Thanks for the help.

[WillJames]

I have used Duralite testers for years. Easy to see in sun and very reliable. Can apply a .5,, 1 and 1.5A load to give a true idea of what is left in your pack under load.

[PTFlyer]

Bill, no problem......check it out next time we are at the field..
I'm kicking around a couple of ideas about moutning some type of sun shield on it or mounting it into some type of housing to be able to see it better in sunlight.

It does all I need it to do at the field for 5 bucks...as long as I can see it...

[kgfly]

Not sure if you are after a load tester or just a pack/cell voltage checker but take a look at the new Bantam TwoMeter: http://www.rcaccessory.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=362&HS=1

The TWO-METER is a very sophisticated electronic device that is controlled by a high performance microprocessor and precision resistors. It has three functions; ‘watt-meter’, ‘battery checker’ and self-balancer. Those functions are essential for electric flyers to ensure safe battery operationn and to measure the electric consumption of the power system. And the built-in balancer can equalize the individual voltages instantly.

The TWO-METER can handle all types of Lithium batteries(LiPo, LiIo, LiFe (A123)) consisting of up to 6 series-wired cells, but the battery pack must have a balancing plug for checking voltages.

[george0079]

How about the 8-ball checker

http://www.fromeco.org/Products/05FRC8BAL/Default.aspx

[WBFAir]

Hello all and thanks for the replies

Just to clarify though and I guess I could have made this a little clearer but, yeah I'm just basically looking for a battery level tester I guess as what I want is something that I can walk out to my helo with and check how much juice is left as I'm trying to get a good feel for what I should be setting my timer.

I'm not quite sure what a load tester would be used for as I'm pretty new to all this stuff but I don't think thats what I want.

At the moment I have been using 5 minutes which seemed to give me almost perfect a 20% left every time when I was playing around with fine tunning it in my back yard but now at the field its coming out with 50% with the same time as I'm flying it around a lot more so I'm thinking I could add a little more time so what I was thinking I could use this tool so at the end of the five minutes I could give it a quick check, see what I had left and keep playing with it till I had a good time to have it end up with 20%.

Also just for something like that and then after the general usage I would use something like this for, I was also hoping not to spend anything over $20.00 at the most.

Actually the meter that PTFlyer recommended, aside form maybe being a bit hard to see in direct sun, which I'm sure is probably the same for the Cell Spy unit, is actually a little better then the Cell Spy I think as it has a few more features and then is also cheaper.

[ginnz]

I got one of those cheap cell checkers from hobbycity last week. it blinks the voltage in each cell in .5 second increments up to 6s. my question is how accurate are these checkers?

i have a cellpro 4s charger/balancer, and always charge my packs with this on 2c auto mode. it shows me each cell, and whats going on. anyways when its done charging and balancing, it shows each cell at 4.2 volts. then i check it with the cheap checker, and itll say (cell1=4.22,cell 2=4.16,cell 3=4.20) (these are actual readings i just took from a hobbycity 3s 2100 mah lipo).

so, even though the cellpro charger shows them all balanced, the checker shows otherwise. which one do i trust? i would think the cellpro4s, but i dunno?

[PTFlyer]

it says it's accurate to +/- .03v per cell

[triten]

kinda new to the hobby... have a couple of questions..

i purchased a blade 400

kong power charger and 4 kong power 3s 2200 packs.

when i charge them what should the cell charge be at per cell as the charger does tell me the voltage per cell.

also when i purchase one of these little devices what should be the lowest voltage reading PER CELL to optimize flight time without damaging the packs?