LATEST MODS

What an exciting day for micro R/C hobbyist. Hobby King just introduced a new module that is compatible with Spektrum DSMX and DSM2 technology for your Turnigy 9x and other radio that accepts JR style module.

OrangeRX DSMX/DSM2 Transmitter Module

It’s a full range system too. So you can fly all the Horizon Hobby DSM2 and DSMX BnF system with your Turnigy 9x.

Price is decent at $30.

New Hobby King OrangeRX DSMX and DSM2 Transmitter Module for the Turnigy 9x

Thanks to Julian for giving me the heads up on it’s availability. :)

Many of you know that the Blade mQX motors are pricey at $15 a pop. For the same price, you can buy four v929 and v949 motor and solder to use with the mQX. It’s a direct fit because the use the same pinion.

Here’s the direct link for two clockwise v929 motors for $7.50.

Here’s two counter-clockwise v929 motors for the same price.

However, for those of you who don’t want to solder, you can easily do the following…

Take the old plug off the bad mQX motor. Remove the shrink wrap. And use that plug as an adapter to connect the new v929 motor to your mQX female connector that runs back to the flight controller board.

Hope that makes sense. Even if you don’t have a bad motor right now. Just order it from Banggood now. So when you do need it, you don’t have to wait the month for it to arrive from overseas.

I have always thought the night blades of the larger R/C helicopters were cool. But they aren’t available for the micro helis that I fly. Coming up with a way for getting the micro blades lit up without adding too much weight to the head took me awhile to think of. But here’s a sneak peek at the result.

My friend’s y911 (what some of us call the v911 clone). I nicknamed it ‘Spook.’

I have a 0603 LED on top and one below the blade. (I now like the brightness of the 0805 even more) I don’t know what color is the best for this. I chose white because it’s hard to go wrong with that. Initially I had a UV LED on the bottom, but it was so dim…it didn’t work out very well at all.

Copper foil tape, cut into 1mm width strips.

The copper traces and both LED added a mere 0.05g to the blade. I put tape on the other blade to balance it out. However, I think it’ll look even better if both blades has the LED. :)

Here’s a video:

And here’s a shocker that surprised me…with night blades and the rotor disc plane being so visible…orientation is actually easier at night than in the day. The feedback is that great. Because at the size of these micro, even in full sun…you can easily lose the orientation. This is even more enhanced on the new version I have where I got red LED on the bottom, and white one on the top.

Let me know what you guys think.

And here’s the RCGroups discussion thread on this topic:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1748394

Update: 01/30/2013
Check out what Nine Eagles and Helimax RC is bringing. The Axe 100SSL (Nine Eagles 126a) with build in LED lights in the main blade that draws power from the main battery. Nice. I am curious how it’s done. No details at the moment.