DIY guide request

[The Dude II]

Another 30 minutes of video uploaded.

About 30 more to go - maybe tonight or tomorrow I'll get uploaded.

Bit bigger project than I expected at first - been fun though - hope it helps someone!

[edhall]

Great, I finally got through the series of videos.

Great job.

[flyinfool]

Nice job. You have a different methods than I do but it looks very functional.

One thing that I noticed that you did do but did not mention is to wire the switch so that moving the switch to the outside turns them on. This way centripetal force will keep the switch in the on position.

[seanmil666]

Is there a way to make this a sticky?

[Finless]

Stuck per request!

Bob

[jfcastiglia]

very nice!!

[AGM F.Cruz]

very nice tutorial!i'm gonna try to do my blades too! just one question, do you mind to explain how can i do to put just the female plug? like on align ones, one port to turn them on with a male plug and charge in the same port, without the on/off switch

[The Dude II]

Just omit the switch, the 3 pin "port" would then have the Battery terminals as I have shown.

Now the delta - in-place of wiring the LED "-" to the switch - run that to the 3rd pin on the port.

port would look like this:

LED Battery Battery
- + -

To charge - you plug into the center & right pins.

To "turn-on" the LEDs - connect jumper between the two "-"

I strongly suggest using a switch - the "jumper thing" is a big PITA at the field, messing with, dropping and having to tape in the jumpers.

Tail blades - touch a blade during landing and not have the jumpers taped - sure to chuck the jumpers along the flight line!!!

[AGM F.Cruz]

yes!didn't thought about that! lol, i will do like yours! thank you very much!

[The Dude II]

40 AWG magnet wire!

Bit of a handful tacking down and soldering - but shortens the build as no "pre-clear coat" is needed (enamel finish) to insulate the wire from the exposed CF.

Also watch your current loads - 40 AWG at 0.003" is good for about 90mA and has a resistance of 1.1 ohm per foot.

[weezbad]

how did you tack it down..did you purchase it or unwind it from a speaker.?

[The Dude II]

Thin CA - tip of a pin.

Working with this wire (easily obtained... search for 40 AWG Magnet wire) takes a bit of patience, no Caffeine and both 4x & 10x magnifying glasses.

These are under 2 coats of clear...as I was a bit messy with the CA initially.
After the first coat of clear I had "nipples" sticking-up through the clear that needed to be sanded (Wet, 2000) flat.

Next attempt - blades with 12 LEDs per blade - micro controlled...I'll be much more conservative with the CA - thinking is to tack only at the root.

[sp00fman]

Those blades look very nice with the 40AWG wire.

My first set of night blades was with some thin wire. It is indeed very hard to glue it on the blade, and not make a complete mess (as i did). Also the CA fumes were terrible when i got annoyed and just ran the tip of the CA bottle along the wires length.

How do you make the wire not curl up and stay pressed to the the blade while the CA dries?

[The Dude II]

Answer:
The wire is "tacked" in several locations - not continuous with CA; it's the Auto Clear Coat that bonds the wire to the blade.

My Question to You:
How much interest and how much would you be willing to pay(i.e. - value to not try to recreate this SMALL engineering monster) to have "your set" of blades mod'd to perform these sort of color/pattern changes?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS0HBBnwKUA[/ame]


Prototype about to be built...has 2 RGB LEDs + 4 fixed color LEDs on top of blade...bottom has two fixed colors...see below for feature set.

All is controlled through 1 spare channel on the radio...maybe 6-10 functions(TBD) based upon code loaded...

Fail Safe
Low Battery
All Off
RGB Color 1
RGB Color 2
Night Ryder Effect
Fan Blade
Dashed Discs

What would be included in the price...

• your choice of blade (I would acquire new set - will not except "previously flown blades)
• 1 custom Head button with integrated micro-controller, battery, charge port & On/Off switch
• Finished set of blades with 2 RGB LEDs + 4 fixed color top, 2 fixed color LED bottom
• Possible custom Programming for your set (may offer up to 20-30 custom "routines" - you choose between 6-10 combination)
• Obviously as stated by all our other manufacturers, the created "Business" would not assume ANY responsibility of what/who you damage and the other legal stuff...taxes where applicable.

I ask - as the "Labor" to layout "each blade" is through the roof...I've inquired to have an automated process to layout the traces on the blades and custom circuit board.
There's a certain "number" that needs to be hit to make this "affordable" in mass.

Read as... less than 10 sets... at say $400 per set of blades...I'll build my 1-of-a kind and have them all to myself... and whomever contracts me out.

If on the other hand...100 people come forward and "Got TO HAVE"... the economies of scale take over and maybe we're talking $250 to $300 a set.

What are your thoughts?

[THEBUILDER]

Those blades are awesome! ive seen em.

[MADigital]

Wow, just found this thread. Good Stuff. I also want you all to know that you may be responsible for a untimely divorce after I hit the ATM tomorrow AM! Thanks Guys

[The Dude II]

First hurdle - can we wire blades using wire that's only 0.003" thick?
If we can, that opens up the door to more circuits on the blades.

Answer: Yes. Actually not much harder than working with copper tape...different skill-set.






Next - learn a PIC or AVR and figure out interface between RC, micro and LEDs - as the chip natively can't handle the higher currents and/or 3S voltages.

Done.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scf39OSAjes[/ame]



Now, how difficult to layup 11 channels of LED atop a blade.
It's work! Reminds me of a line from an 80's movie - "as persistent as a dog with two dicks". (Curious who can recall that one!)

This shows 2 fixed color (inner & outer) and 3 RGB in the middle.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33h3zxpSNE[/ame]

All this but still not flying yet!

More clear... flip the blades and layup the bottom LEDs and sensors.

Head Button and simple disconnects will be the next timely portion - then there's the flight testing and code writing to get the "features" (On'Off, Fail Safe, Selectable colors & patterns) out of the blades.

Have already contacted Silcion Valley for some "simplified versions" - basically so you could just adhere a strip to "your" blades, clear coat, mount a head button, mount an infrared "x-mitter" & go fly.
Original estimates stated above are about correct for first small batches.
Thus far, no interest - so 1-of-a-kind!

[edhall]

For reference and to simplify ordering you can get the Radio Shack switches from digikey under part number

DigiKey DPDT Switch # 401-2001-ND

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...001-nd&x=0&y=0

[Sarcoise]

Looking for a solution to lighting the tail blades, all I can find are $20 "450 Night T/R BLADES (Glow in the Dark)" that appears to be just that green plastic that needs to be "charged" and a simple UV LED to add to the "glow".

I was thinking of painting with the glow in dark paints and wiring my own UV LED. I would imagine at $20 a pop, I would soon get frustrated at replacing them every time I bumped the tail, esp. since night flying leaves landing a bit harder than daytime.

Anyone tried some of the spray paints on a pair of white blades? Wondering how well it worked, did you use an UV light, etc...

-Sarcoise

[flyinfool]

One of the issues with the paint is that the blade will be opaque.
This means that the UV LED will only light up the boom side of the blade.