DIY Night blades

[gixxer1769]

i do not have a heli yet, but been checking out the forum, and was looking at the night flying thing, pretty cool. check out your cell phone chargers, i have the sprint instinct and it has a lipo batt, the charger for it puts out .7mah, ussually only takes 2 hours to charge my cell phone batt, might be worth looking into, let me know if anyone trys it and if it works, seeing how i dont have a heli or a night rig yet... but soon very very soon, geeting the itch looking and watching all the vids.

[flyinfool]

OK now for the balancing trick.
By the time I was done building my blades were not very well balanced.
What I did was to weigh them.
Cut a piece of .015 Dia solder to the length necessary to match the weights.
Set the light blade up on a rod located at the desired CG obtained from the heavy blade.
Move the solder around till the cg was right.
Melt the solder to the copper tape in that location.
Perfect.

Dang these are bright. I have not figured out a way to take a pic the shows just how bright they are. But I can see the lights at noon an a clear day.
I have not tried flying with them on in daylight just to see if they will be visible. I'll have to try that.

[jackheli]

Maybe this video will give an idea of brightness...

[SlowWhite]

I've crashed 2 sets of MS Blades both on there first flights, and didn't like the flight characteristics of them. how ever I still have 2 chargers for the 710mm blade and 107mm tail blades.

Along with the charger for there (texting blades) or what ever htey are called that they said was the correct charger for there blades but wasn't.

I'd like to use those chargers if at all possible, but I am planning on making a set out of V-Blades.

And I guess what I'd love to see is one specific place (ie: thread) that lists the locations of where to buy all the parts you need to build your own set, including part numbers, etc.

Everyplace I've clicked on this thread was a bit confusing.

[jackheli]

Originally Posted by SlowWhite

I am planning on making a set out of V-Blades

Biiiiiiiig mistake, in my opinion.

I did mine with them and I can tell you I regret it. Not even questioning the dynamic characteristics of the blades...

The surface of the blade is conductive so I had a lot of grief trying to make my setup work, such as adding a piece of plastic isolating tape under some of the LEDs, etc. etc.

I can't wait to make a new set out of a Radix set or whatever....

Can't help you with the parts list, sorry. Bought all my stuff from the local Electronics Parts supply...

[SlowWhite]

But which V-Blades? I have a set that have the Clear coat over the top, that aren't like the older TST's (which I also have) where it felt like you were touching the Carbon Fiber.

[jackheli]

V-Blades 2. Mine also had the coating but I guess it is not thick enough or whatever...

It is not that it is not possible to use them, it is just that they are trouble, IMO.

[SlowWhite]

what did you have to do to get them to work? bobby and Nick used them at Ircha and seemed to work just fine? But I haven't asked bobby what he had to do in order for his to work right.

[jackheli]

Put a layer of isolating tape under anywhere where you will solder SMD components.

Check my postings for pictures of the blades I am currently using.

[flyinfool]

I had the same issue with my old TT blades being conductive in the carbon areas.
Before I added any foil to my blades, I put down a 2 part clear coat to insulate them.

If the blades are not properly insulated you can end up with a very high current draw and short battery life.

[SlowWhite]

Just thought i'd through in some websites:
Copper Tape - hopefully this is the right stuff.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...pper_Tape.html

[jackheli]

You'll need 1/8" or even 1/16" wide, or else you'll need to cut it down to width...

[SlowWhite]

I'm just having a hard time finding a place that sells it that size. My main consern wasn't cutting it but more, the adhessives on the back. Don't think every brand uses the same adhessives, what adhessives are best?

[SlowWhite]

is this what we need?

http://www.tessco.com/products/displ...84&eventPage=1

And for LED's: page 2560 - Surface Mount LED's (not exactly sure which ones I need)
http://onlinecatalog.digikey.com/Web...kCode=dik08flx#

[jackheli]

Looks like it will work. I personally cut mine from a 1/2" strip. Not a big deal...

Not sure how to gauge the adhesive. I guess you will have to try it out and see...

[SlowWhite]

Originally Posted by SB

That is one way, but that requires a bit of mechanical work.
i built a wireless connection to my blades, its short range from the swash plate it reaches about 3 inches, works like a dream, and there is plenty of power in the LiPo on my blades to run the little micro controller!!!!

SB I'd love a detailed build on this if you could!. I've wanted to do multi lights on my blades so that i'd be able to turn some on/off for more effect, like at the Ircha 2008 night fly.

[jackheli]

Using an IR pair would be soooo much easier... very simple circuitry and not as messy...

Just mount the IR LED on the heli frame, turning it on from the transmitter with:

http://www.hewittonline.net/rcsw/rcsw.htm

Point it to the head where an IR sensor would be mounted. As the head spins the sensor will turn on and off as it passes through the IR beam.

Decode the pulse train received by the sensor with a simple 555 timer or any other clockable monostable and voilá...

[SlowWhite]

OK the last place I posted you have to be an authorized distributor so no luck there, however I just found this place and although they don't sell the 1/8" size tape they do sell the 1/4" which can be cut and there is also no minimum order.
http://www.rshughes.com/products/054007_35083.html

[SlowWhite]

And I also found the new page from Mudbogger early posts on the 1/8" copper wire
http://shop2.frys.com/product/593702...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

[jackheli]

What size blades are you building?