Things ordered to make night flier

[Che Che]

Hi guys..

I am kinda still a noob.. But I love idea of night flight.. All people here say it is same like day, even better, considering you do see heli better..
I am also noob in electronics department, but hopefully did ordered all I need to make it..

I have Align 450L Dominator 6s...

Okay, so, this is what I ordered (with prices):
100 x 1206 Super Bright LED White (Forward Voltage: 2.7-3.7V) $1.90
100 x 1206 Super Bright LED Emerald Green (Forward Voltage: 3.0-3.6V) $1.65
100 x 1206 Super Bright LED Red (Forward Voltage: 2.1-2.3 V) $1.35
100 x 1206 Super Bright LED Blue (Forward Voltage: 3.0-3.6V) $1.65

100pcs cause it was almost same price like 10-20pcs..

Next I used: http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz to calculate which resistors I need (using 4,2 voltage batteries) and I ordered:

200x
1206 SMD Resistor 22 Ohm $1.39
1206 SMD Resistor 82 Ohm $1.39

Batteries, those little things are most expensive of all things I ordered for this build:
10pcs 3.7V 50mAh Polymer Li-Po 360821 (again it was 15$ for 10pcs, against 3-4$ per one pcs)

1 Roll Conductive Copper Foil Tape 3mmX30M $1.49
Breakable pin header 40 Pin 1x40 Male+Female 2.54mm $1.49

Then, for body, ordered on ebay:
3m Glow Wire (blue neon) with 3V controller $2.84

If I am right, I can just cut that thing down if it is too long.. Am I right here? Do anyone know for sure?
I was thinking to make separate battery for wire, but reading about it I find out it uses 0.9W per meter, so it would be better to hook it up on main battery (6S battery).. Problem is how to get voltage down to 3V.. Can not use helis BEC, it is 6V and + I do not want to stress it with glow wire consumption..
But I find on ebay something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/191947837264 to hook that Glow Wire on main battery... $0.76 (ordered 2pcs)... It should be small and strong enough... But I will probably need some help on this cause I do not see how to adjust it (I guess it is on that small sliding-turning thing).. Will see when it is in my hands, maybe they will send some manual, at least to know how to wire it, where is IN and where OUT.. Will probably need some help there, will ask here if I am stuck..

What do you think, will it be all I need, will it work?
Maybe it was better choice to buy that Glow Wire on 12V? I guess it would work better to drop voltage from 26V to 12V then to 3V?

All in all it was around $23 for now, but there are lot of things, next one I would make will be much cheaper... Only new glow wire, all other things are already there...

Will post my progress when things arrive, and I start build it...

[kavic5150]

Most of that looks good.

Just a word of caution about that el wire. Its rather difficult to trim as it requires soldering a tiny wire afterwards. I dont recommend it. It would be much better to find a vendor that offers the stuff by the foot and a shorter length would probably be brighter.

82 ohms seems a bit low for red leds. I'm not sure since I havent tried anything lower than 91 ohms for red/yellow. Just something to watch out for.

It will be neat to see how your night flyer turns out. I havent seen anyone do an el wire setup for a while.

[Che Che]

Thank you for your reply..

I am kinda very good with soldering.. That is something my father said to me it will be nice skill to have when I was a kid, and I learned to do it quite good. Just couple days ago I soldered my friends iPod, 42 small connections on 1cm.. all working great, clean solder.. So I may try to solder that wire if there is need for it.. Will see.. I will try to use whole 3m if it all work nice..

On resistors part, 82ohms is something calculator give me... I can always solder 82 + 22 in series to have 104.. Will see what is good thing to do..
Red is okay with 82, yellow need more since yellow is lowest voltage, a bit under red.. I did not order yellow..

I hope it will be okay..

Thank you very much for your reply, it is important to me, I do not have anyone to ask, and considering I ordered all on ebay from China, and it will take like 1,5-2 months to get it all it would be bad if I do not have something I need for build and have to wait another 2 months for it..

[Che Che]

Only thing I do not like here are those 50mAh batteries...

If those LEDs are 25mA, and if I use only 3 of them on each side of blade, it is kinda 150mA in total, so, all in all it is only 20min..

And bigger batteries, I am afraid, will be to heavy for small 360mm blades..
It would be great if I find some way to just replace them, considering I will have more of those.... Will think about it a bit, may be I figure something out for it.. I hope.

Edit:
I think I got something.. Will use those connectors not to make like standard connection everyone are making, with that small like "key" connector which close circuit and then LEDs are working. Instead, I'm thinking to make that into battery connector, and make those batteries replaceable. Then instead of that shrink wrap on top of them I can use something like inner bicycle tube, so it can be removed to replace battery.. Hah!
Good idea I think..

Edit 2:
And another thing I remembered it would be great to make.. Imagine when you land, while replacing main battery, it would be great if those blades can be switched off.. Just to save batteries.. And then I figured out it would be great to have something like "gravity switch" so those are on only when blades are revolving.. hah.. Great! Only to figure out what that "gravity switch" from my head would be..

Edit 3 (LOL):
Found what I need.. It is called "tilt switch".. Ordered.. 1,5$ for 10pcs..
It is looking like it will be great build.. hahahh..

Now it is just about me and how I will handle it...
But you got to admit it is some great ideas.. Did not see someone is making it like this.. Maybe there is some good reason why not.. Hahah.. But I can always ditch if my ideas are not good and build like everyone else..

[kavic5150]

On 360mm blades I think you'd be ok with a slightly larger battery. I used to use 120 or 130mah batteries on that size of blades.

[Che Che]

I did order it already, bunch of those 50mAh batteries, + now I like idea of batteries I can swap to recharge. So, at least for now, I like to build it like I said I will.. We will see how it will go..

It would be nice to just put new battery in when one is empty..
And then at home to recharge them all together..

Thanks for your support..

[Che Che]

Just quick test of GlowWire position on canopy...



Did not like it... So here is try no 2 (which I like far better):



And just fast with tail:




Glow Wire is okay.. but kinda not that bright.. Not like LED's at least..

I am now waiting just for batteries so I can make those propellers glow..

I made connection thru balance cable, first 3 cell (around 12V) for one GW, other 3 for second.. Those little step-down modules work like charm.. When I set them on 3,15V they stay there no matter if battery is 4,2 or 3,6... It is always 3,15v. I do not notice them gain any temperature at all on any part of it...
Did one test 6-7min (do not need any more time, my flight is 3-4min) and battery voltage did drop just a bit, so little it is maybe even measure error, like 0,02V per cell... So all great!!

I did find out GW consume around 1W per 1meter, I have 6m there (2x3m)... But all in all it is looking like it could work whole day on one battery, much more then I need...

[Che Che]

Okay.. I am still waiting for batteries, but have time and made night blades, with some 150mAh batteries, and all is working like charm... BUT (you will see on end of post)...

Here they are, start, marking them where LED should go:



Making 2mm gap for leds and resistors



Soldering resistors and leds




Soldering tilt sensor (whatever real name of it is )




Angle of it, a bit to ground so it disconnect when horisontal



And, finally make it resistant so rubber can go on it and not damage it
I am using hot glue gun and tape on top of hot glue so I can form it better, it can not be formed with bare fingers, it stick like crazy. Put tape on it, and form it, and when it cool down just get tape of.. (nice tip here)...



All in all it is working... Rubber idea is working like charm.. Will make some images of it, do not have them now..

Now "BUT" part of it...

T-rex 450L night blades test (0 min 49 sec)

It is looking great, lines are solid (on video it does not look like, but they are)...

When I try it, heli almost went crazy..

Not to make this thread to big, I made another one here: https://www.helifreak.com/showthread...84#post7195584 to discuss about problem I have...

And one more unpleasant thing happened..
I did made them in 6hrs, and it was about midnight.. And I was completely disappointed when I try them... and try them again.. and again.. without battery... put regular blades in... again "night" blades.. trying...
.. and in middle of my struggle, neighbor girl living below me (we are not friends, just neighbors) sent me message to stop immediately, I woke her up countless of times, she is going to work in morning...

I did completely forget about heli not being very silent...

[Che Che]

Okay... If anyone is still watching this..
I made another set of blades, on brand new set..
This is my setup..



But it can not work, still wobbles like crazy...
I think 150mah 4,5grams batteries are a bit too much.. Maybe at lower rpm, yes, but on 2000+ it wobbles...
But then I decided to somehow put them closer to center and try.. And it is working!! I know clear tape is a bit stupid, but force there are under half of kilo so it do work..
Of course I will get that round plate off, and put batteries better so they do not disturb pitch changing...

Night blades test success :) (1 min 29 sec)

I am still waiting for those 50mah batteries to arrive, and will see, maybe it will work like I planed it, those are 1,5grams, and it is significantly less... Forces on blade are extreme, on that part they are like 500-1000 G forces (7cm from center of rotation on 2500 and 3500rpm), so it is huge difference if battery is 4,5 or 1,5grams.. And I do need exact place for battery, if only 3mm off from each other it makes around 200gr of force difference, and it wobble..
If placed like on video forces are 150-250 G's which is okay with 4,5grams battery...

All in all it is not easy to build it for 2500-3500 rpm's... If blade is bigger, rpm is lower and blade and heli have bigger mass, so it can go like that...

[quinn]

I'm using 100mah on my 380's. totally smooth, no wobbles. balance is really important. not only span wise, but chord as well. turn blades vertical on magnetic balancer to check. here's mine before heat shrink went on. just using male servo plug as a jumper to turn on.


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[Che Che]

Thanks..
I did not realize it will be big deal, I know now it is... 0.1gr for those small blades on 3600rpm is big...
I am waiting those 50mah batteries to arrive...
And I am trying to make it so I can change batteries.. I do not like having to go home to recharge.. Will see, maybe will have to ditch that idea and glue it all to blade...
Even if those batteries are 3mm on different position it will wobble.. Will see if I can make it like I wanted or not...
Will see when those batt. arrive... If they arrive..

Night flight test T-rex 450L (1 min 43 sec)

It was starting to rain, so I just made short flight...
I had some problems landing, I thought it touched ground but it was not.. It is a bit harder to see when it touches ground... And another thing, on video it is looking like nice strong light from glow wire and led's but in reality GW is a bit lower.. It is still okay, but it would be perfect if GW is a bit brighter... I will consider changing it all to led or adding some leds...

[quinn]

Bz

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