Mods

Just wanted to share my new 1S LiPo charging station. I took a 1s Micro parallel charging paraboard from Hobby King and mod it to become a serial charging board. I think this paraboard would be cheaper and easier to mod. Plus, it does not have the LED that drains the first lipo cell if you don’t remove the lipo right after charging has completed.

With this mod, I can use the balance port of the charger to individually charge each cell. I can charge from 1 cell to 6 cells.

Here’s a closer look.

Here it is, charging two 150mAh LiPo. The stick the temperature probe near the cells so the iCharger could monitor the temp and be able to shut down the charging if any cell rises to unsafe temperature.

And here’s how you configure the board if you were to charge 3 lipo cells. You simply move the positive lead to the last cell. I like it because I can charge all the various connectors normally used with 1s LiPo.

You can also charge different capacity LiPo together. But for safety, you would limit yourself to the charge rate of the lowest capacity connected lipo. Not a big deal if you have the time. Otherwise, it would be better to charge cell combination with similar capacities.

Hope that inspires you with your own mods.

Alternate color scheme…orange/white/black

See the original post here: Blade Nano CP X “Logo XXtreme” Paper Canopy

For those of you installing the Blade Nano QX flight controller onto the v929/v949/v959 frame. Here’s the latest template you can print out. Overlay against a piece of clear plastic and cut out an adapter. The white rectangles are so the motor plugs on the board can have clearance.

Click on the following button to download the PDF. When printing, ensure that you’re not resizing or fitting the image to page. Just print at default scale.

See this thread for more info: Blade nQX FC board on mQX, Ladybird & X4 size quads

As technology progresses and we RC hobbyist find the need to mount additional things to our transmitter, the need for adjustable mount points arises. Of course, if these transmitter manufacturer were current with the time, we would have more elegant solutions in place. Instead, follow along for a solution if you don’t like every hobbyist best friend, tape and velcro.

Check out this Walkera QR w100s quad that allows you to mount an iPhone so you can get a first person point of view, while still being able to control via your radio transmitter.

There are other tools and software such as iKopter, that allows for waypoint programming of your drone with Google Maps overlayed, all right from the phone. Then there are the popular telemetry displays that many pilots are already attaching to their TX.

For my purpose, I simply need a rear mount point that I can attach my HiSky HT-8 or Tactic Anylink module to. And be able to easily be removed, pivot and adjust as needed. Kindda like how Lego pieces snaps together.

With that thought in mind, why not use lego pieces. My little boys has a bunch of Lego Hero Factory (Bionicle) pieces all over the place. And I noticed that the pieces is perfect for what I had in mind.

Without their knowledge, I took a piece.

It used a Dremel to cut it in half right at the line. Then I drilled a hole and stuck the ball and stem through it. epoxy it in place because I didn’t want to bother removing the case and coming up with a mount solution. Hot glue may work just as well.

Here’s the stud:

Then I use a screw to securely attach the other half:

Now, I can attach and switch between the AnyLink or HT-8 module easily. And the TX still fits in my existing transmitter case without having to update the layout.

It holds securely and can pivot in every which way. You can extend it with other Lego Hero Factory pieces for additional accessories addon or to make things for secure. It’s really up to your imagination at this point.

update (06/21/2013)
I found that Walkera made a couple of mounts available that obviously fit their radio and possibly others.

Here’s the Phone Holder A for their bigger radios: 2402D, Devo7, Devo10, Devo8s, Devo12, DevoF4 and F7, 2801PRO

And this is the Phone Holder B that fits their smaller radios: Devo 4, 6, 6s, 7E

Here’s the instruction for how it mounts onto the smaller radio.

Ever want to use the popular Eflite/Parkzone style batteries with your v911? Here’s a mod that uses the Hobby King mini extension plugs (Only $0.52 using BuddyCode) and fit it nicely into the V911 charger to enable you to charge both types of batteries.

Simply cut the dividing bars. Easily done with an xacto knife. I cut one bar from the front and two bars underneath. It’s obvious when you open it up.

Then the connector fits in really tightly. Just perfect. If you find it too tight a fit, just sand/file off a little bit of plastic off the charger.

Then I glued down the plug and wires from underneath to ensure it won’t move.

As for wiring, just solder the wires up appropriately. Red to + terminal and Black to – terminal.