3s too bright? Best way to dim??

[setishock]

Originally Posted by Dustin Mustangs

Can you post a link to the one you used?

Top of the page is the buck regulators. I bought the 5 volt 3 amp step down regulator and it's half the size of a US postage stamp and weighs next to nothing.

http://www.pololu.com/category/84/re...power-supplies

[aburkhardt]

Man, I just set up mine on 2s and it looks great! The blue and white weren't that bright so I didn't use much of these colors, I'll save them for another project.


Sent using Otto correct.

[flyinfool]

If you want simple AND light weight.
The brushed ESC is the way to go.
This 7A brushed ESC is only 5.5g. and now you can adjust the brightness to exactly what you want from you TX while in the air.

You can even turn them completely off if you wish.

I have 7 similar ones on my night ship to control all of the LED lighting.
I have RGB LEDS mixed to control functions so the colors change depending on stick position.

[prototype3a]

I flew all last year with the lights on my 600 running off the BEC set to 8.4v. (a WR Hercules HC)

So, when it came time to covert some of my airplanes to night flyers I went with a low dropout linear voltage regulator internally set for 9v. When run off a 3s pack, they just start to dim when you should be landing. At 9v the current draw of the leds is drastically reduced and they're not so bright that it is disorienting.

Specifically speaking they are LM2940T-9.0/NOPB.

[Elgyn]

Originally Posted by kavic5150

Wow a 20 amp and 30 amp brushed esc? Dustin (the OP) is setting up a 300X. Does it really need to be that big? How about a 5 or 10 amp brushed esc?

they're cheap and they work.....

[Dustin Mustangs]

Originally Posted by prototype3a

I flew all last year with the lights on my 600 running off the BEC set to 8.4v. (a WR Hercules HC)

So, when it came time to covert some of my airplanes to night flyers I went with a low dropout linear voltage regulator internally set for 9v. When run off a 3s pack, they just start to dim when you should be landing. At 9v the current draw of the leds is drastically reduced and they're not so bright that it is disorienting.

Specifically speaking they are LM2940T-9.0/NOPB.

Thanks for this suggestion, I ordered one of these from digikey for like 2 bucks and it works perfect. It weighs less than 2 grams and drops my 3s voltage to an even 9v and holds it there. I am using green and red LEDs and the greens are much brighter so I have them run through the regulator and the reds on full 3s voltage. They are pretty much the same brightness now.

My build is finally active after a slight hiatus. I will post up a thread about it one of these days as it has some pretty unique ideas (rear facing lights anyone? ).

Anyway, a long overdue thanks as this was just what I as looking for!

[prototype3a]

I forgot that on my night flying Logo600 canopy, I actually put a resistor inline with the ... red? leds so their brightness would match the other colors.

On my little plane, I did nothing of the sort because the leds were more complex and I didn't want the additional weight.

[B.Ewing]

Dont know what the OP came up with...but i offer my cheap rig of a solution! i have a setup where the whites are too dim on 2s and way to bright on 3s. everything else looks good on 3s but the whites. i just took a permanent marker and colored on top of all then white led's and it reduced the brightness....just enough!

[Skidpad]

In preparation for my 3s setup, I bought a regulator to drop my voltage down as posted above - but found it here in the US:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Step-d...item27eaeb362f

Dirt cheap.

Love this forum!