ok nite fly next step ?blades?

[xpftp]

ok iam bite . i put some skid lites and boom lites on put her in the air and will yeah ..... its sweet..

blades ? B400 heli .. ..... what are some cheaper blades? iam not gonne spend $100 on them ..

thanks

[xermalk]

Why not make them yourself? you end up around 15$ then. And they end up much brighter then the factory blades.
You dont need copper tape like most say in the guides, just use a copper strand or two from a separated cable.


http://i47.tinypic.com/r2qasg.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2e20ww3.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/29ztmx4.jpg


I had absolutley no soldering experience before i started my night 250 project.
No part was hard, only the led strips took forever to solder properly.

[xpftp]

gusss iam gonne have to .. just find a palce to order LEDs from ..

thank you for the images

[Drivelayer]

I have just started looking and not found an answer yet.. how will doing a DIY on my blades effect the performance. TREx 450 pro V2 with 3GX and Align 3g blades.

[kavic5150]

It does add weight to the blades so think of it like dropping your throttle 5 to 8%. Typically for 325 - 360mm blades you want to shoot for the thinnest 70mah to 100mah single lipo cell you can find and mount it as close to the blade grip as possible.

I like to have my lipos on the underside of the blade as this allows for the switch and charge port to be located on top. The portion of the blade nearest the grip produces very little lift so that is not an issue IMHO.

Heres some links for tiny switches and charge ports:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/AYZ0103AGRLC/401-2014-1-ND/1640123

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/310-93-164-41-001000/ED7064-ND/103571

The second link is for strip socket connectors. I like to cut those into sections of 3 connectors to match up with those align 3k night blade chargers for an easy charging solution.

Also I strongly recommend copper foil tape to get the best aerodynamic profile possible. Like this stuff:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-foot-roll-1-4-Wide-Silvered-Copper-Foil-Tape-SILVER-BOTH-SIDES-3-Yards-/350623821300?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51a2ce edf4

I've bought copper tape from RobinAnn41 a few times. Tell her Kavic from HF sent you.

If you guys need any more links just let me know.

Also if you want some DIY night blades custom made, just send a PM to Timtreo. Havent heard from him for a while but he was making night blades.

[Timtreo]

I'm still here, just had a rough month with one personal disaster after the next but yep still making night blades. Just catching up on the last few sets I have to do now. Cheers

you end up around 15$ then

Dollars??? Can you even order a set of decent blades for 15 dollars?

[kavic5150]

The thing about night blade supplies is you spend around $50 to $75 including shipping from 3 or 4 different vendors and you end up with enough supplies to do at least a half a dozen pairs regardless of blade length.

And if the task of DIY seems like too much work, just ask Timtreo. I've seen pics of his work and can vouch for the quality. Tim puts in a few extra steps that I dont bother with on mine.

The difference from off the shelf blades and DIY is stunning. Pick out the right color leds and you can easily see them on an overcast day.

[Timtreo]

True words (thanks Kavic) and don't forget you have to add in $ for impulse buys when ordering parts Lazers from digikey, spare heli parts and upgrades from anywhere else, you can always justify it with the thought of future shipping costs . I just planned on spending $30 for a bunch of 1S lipos and my cart was well over $100 at checkout .

[kavic5150]

Already bought the laser diodes and drivers. Next step is how to affix them to the blades.

[Timtreo]

Hehehe, we are on the same page with that one .

[xpftp]

thanks for the info on foil tape.. kav .. but where do we get serface mount or such led or diodes ??

and one place to get batterys ?

i dont mind building them myself i have a set or 2 of woodies for my 400 so they my test build blades ..

and if i dont like how they come out what do you avg for price ? tim for say 325s ..

and has anyone tried the sheet lighting ? them say 5inch by 5 inch sq people were gettin for backlite mod on transmiters ?? being you can cut them down to any size i guess like paper ..

[Timtreo]

You can get 0805 SMD LEDs at Digikey or Mouser for the best selection of colors and wave lengths of colors and resistors but I like LighthouseLeds.com for their standard colors. I think they are very true to the color they are supposed to be but they don't sell the resistors (at least not last time I ordered from them). Kavic may know some other places as well. You can get a ton for pennies from Ebay China but they must have different color vision over there because the ones I got a while ago I threw in a box because I was sick of testing every one to find out what color it really was...
I really liked EPbuddy for 1S Glacier lipos but they had almost no size in stock a few weeks ago now I think they only have 250mAh 1S. I emailed them twice and left a few voicemail messages asking about restock and no answer so whatever with them. Just check out all online R/C places and see what they have (lots of ad links here on HF) and don't forget to check your local hobby shop if you have one. You can PM me here on HF for a price if you decide you would rather have them done for you. Really depends on the kind and brand of blades. Tim

There was a thread a couple months ago I think in this section where someone was going to use those EL panels on a heli, forget it was for the blades or canopy and don't know if he ever did it...

[kavic5150]

Do a search on ebay for "3.7v lipo" Look for a thin one anywhere from 70mah for lightweight and good 3d to 120mah for longer run times with 325mm blades.

Also SMD resistors can be had from a few ebay sellers in almost any quantity you could want. And since these sellers are usually individuals and not big companies you can just message them and they will usually put together a custom order for you.

Look for 1/4 or 1/8 watt SMD resistors in 0805 or 1208/1210 sizes or thereabouts.

As for el panels on the blades it would be tough and only really doable on a larger 500mm+ blade. You need an inverter and a battery near the blade root. Then your heli would fly badly since any length of el tape would cause significant airfoil disruption. The stuff is almost 2mm thick in the center.

I havent tried it with el tape, but I did try it once with a couple of those LED driven side glow fiber panels. At only 1 x 3 they made my 550 handle like a schoolbus.