Check out all these great batteries that we now carry below:

http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/10/23/faa-approves-use-of-draganflyer-x6-rc-uav-for-use-by-mesa-county-sheriff-under-certificate-of-authority-coa/ http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/10/23/faa-approves-use-of-draganflyer-x6-rc-uav-for-use-by-mesa-county-sheriff-under-certificate-of-authority-coa/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:57:03 +0000 Draganfly Innovations http://www.rctoys.com/pr/?p=811 Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and Draganfly Innovations have been working together to test the Draganflyer X6 for policing operations. The Colorado Grand Junction Free Press reports that the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and the Draganflyer X6 have meet the strict requirements of the FAA in order for the Draganflyer X6 to be operated for police requirements.

The FAA controls what can be operated in United States airspace. Most of the requirements of the FAA have to do with ensuring public safety, and the Draganflyer X6 has met these requirements. This allows the Mesa County Sheriffs office to operate the Draganflyer X6 for various police operations. Using the Draganflyer X6 aircraft provides a substantial cost savings over hiring out full size aircraft for police operations.

Read more about how the Mesa Countys Sheriffs office is employing the Draganflyer X6 in this article by the Colorado Grand Junction Free Press.

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http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/08/28/announcing-5-new-thunder-power-batteries-for-your-rc-planes-cars-and-helicopters/ http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/08/28/announcing-5-new-thunder-power-batteries-for-your-rc-planes-cars-and-helicopters/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:43:47 +0000 Draganfly Innovations http://www.rctoys.com/pr/?p=787

We’re pleased to announce the release of 4 brand new Thunder Power Lipo batteries. We pride ourselves on carrying every Thunder Power battery manufactured. These recent additions represent some of

Thunder Power’s coolest new developments.

New Thunder Power 7.4V 2S 5400 Saddle Pack

This new battery from Thunder Power RC features a saddle shaped design, with two individual battery packs wired in series. This allows for greater flexibility and increased capacity. ROARR approved, this saddle pack lipo battery is perfect for all your RC cars and trucks.

Specifications for the Thunder Power TP-5400-2SPRSD Lipo

• Voltage: 7.4 V
• Cells: 2-Cell (2s)
• Capacity: 5400 mAh
• Max Continuous Discharge: 25C
• Max Burst Discharge: 50C
• Max Continuous Current: 135A
• Max Burst Current: 270A
• Weight: 331g
• Dimensions: 28 x 46.5 x 69 mm Saddle Pack
• Series: Pro Race Series Surface Pack
• Balance Connector: Thunder Power RC 4 Pin
• Connector: Deans Ultra
• Case Type: Standard

New Thunder Power Sport Race 3s 8000 Lipo

Expanding the Sport Race Series is the new 8000 mAh 3 cell 11.1 V pack. Capable of providing 22C continuous and 45C burst current, this battery is perfect for larger RC model airplanes. As with all our thunder power batteries, the 3s 8000 is fully compatible with our Lipo battery chargers. New to electric RC? We’ve got a great selection of Thunder Power compatible balancers and chargers available. This battery pack also features standard Deans connectors, so you can use it easily with your other standard RC equipment and ground vehicles.

Specifications for the Thunder Power RC TP-8000-3SSRD LiPo:

• Voltage: 11.1V
• Cells: 3-Cell
• Capacity: 8000mAh
• Max Continuous Discharge: 22C
• Max Burst Discharge: 45C
• Max Continuous Current: 176A
• Max Burst Current: 360A
• Weight: 530g
• Dimensions: 139 x 41 x 39mm

New Thunder Power Sport Race 2s 8000 Lipo

Designed specifically for ground vehicles, this battery pack is ROAR approved and fully compatible with all our Thunder Power chargers. Standard Deans connectors allow you to use this pack with all your RC ground vehicles.

Specifications for Thunder Power RC TP-8000-3SSRD LiPo

• Voltage: 7.4 V
• Cells: 2-Cell (2s)
• Capacity: 8000 mAh
• Max Continuous Discharge: 22C
• Max Burst Discharge: 45C
• Max Continuous Current: 176A
• Max Burst Current: 360A
• Weight: 382g
• Dimensions: 30 x 46.5 x 138 mm
• Series: Sport Race Series Surface Pack
• Balance Connector: Thunder Power RC 4 Pin
• Connector: Deans Ultra
• Case Type: Medium

New Thunder Power Pro Race 4s 5000

This brand new Thunder Power battery adds to the large Pro Race Series. Pro Race series batteries are specifically engineered for optimal racing performance. Capable of providing a maximum burst discharge of 80C, this battery adds incredible performance to your RC cars, trucks, and other electric surface vehicles.
<h2>Specifications for Thunder Power RC TP-5000-4SPR LiPo</h2>

• Voltage: 14.8 V
• Cells: 4-Cell (4s)
• Capacity: 5000 mAh
• Max Continuous Discharge: 40C
• Max Burst Discharge: 80C
• Max Continuous Current: 200A
• Max Burst Current: 400A
• Weight: 564g
• Dimensions: 46 x 46.5 x 138 mm
• Series: Pro Race 40C Series Surface Pack
• Balance Connector: Thunder Power RC 4 Pin
• Connector: Deans Ultra
• Case Type: XX-Large

New Thunder Power RC TP-5000-1SPRD Lipo

Featuring an extra large 5000 mAh capacity, this new Lipo battery is perfect for smaller RC cars, trucks, and other ground vehicles. This one cell battery provides 3.7 volts at a maximum burst current of 80C. Tested and approved at the ROAR lab this battery is officially approved for usage at ROAR sanctioned events. The TP-500-1SPRD Lipo battery also features standard Deans connectors, allowing you to use it with all your standard RC equipment and surface vehicles.

Specifications for Thunder Power RC TP-5000-1SPRD LiPo

• Voltage: 7.4 V
• Cells: 1-Cell
• Capacity: 5000mAh
• Max Continuous Discharge: 40C
• Max Burst Discharge: 80C
• Max Continuous Current: 200A
• Max Burst Current: 400A
• Weight: 145g
• Dimensions: 135 x 45 x 17mm
• ROAR Approved

Do you need chargers, balancers, connectors and other accessories for your lithium polymer rechargeable RC batteries? We carry a huge selection available for purchase online or over the phone.

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http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/08/11/announcing-the-draganflyer-x4-helicopter-a-brand-new-ultra-portable-vtol-uav/ http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/08/11/announcing-the-draganflyer-x4-helicopter-a-brand-new-ultra-portable-vtol-uav/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:19:31 +0000 Draganfly Innovations http://www.rctoys.com/pr/?p=779

We are pleased to announce the release of our latest UAV helicopter, the Draganflyer X4. Several hundred hours of research and development went into its design, bringing about a sleek, sophisticated UAV. The Draganflyer X4 features much of the same technology as the Draganflyer X6, but is available at a much lower cost. Designed for commercial, government, and military applications, the Draganflyer X4 provides affordable aerial photography and videography.

Diverging from our larger 6 rotor design, the Draganflyer X4 features the same quad rotor design used by our older helicopters. Four brushless motors independently drive four carbon fiber rotor blades, all controlled and monitored  by an advanced flight computer.

The flight computer uses SteadyFlight technology to process the inputs of seven individual sensors, including:

• A barometric pressure sensor
• Three accelerometers
• Three gyroscopes

The flight computer reads sensor outputs and precisely determines the motor outputs required to keep the helicopter flying straight and level. If selected by the pilot, the barometric pressure sensor is used by the helicopter to maintain altitude. Properly trimmed and balanced, the helicopter will hold its position in the air allowing you to get excellent aerial photographs and video.

Four different cameras have been customized to work with our UAV, including:

• A 12.1 MP digital still and video camera
• A micro color video camera
• low-light black and white video camera
• A FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) video camera

All of these cameras transmit wireless video via a 5.8 GHz transmitter built into the mount. Wireless video can be received using either the handheld controller (which includes its own flat patch video antenna) or the optional base station. Video glasses plug directly into the handheld transmitter, allowing you to see what the helicopter is seeing and get perfectly aimed aerial photographs and video. The optional base station is compatible with any modern PC running Windows and features three standard RCA output jacks. This allows you to use your own recording equipment with the cameras or even re-transmit the video stream if needed.

Because all wireless communication is subject to interference, all of our cameras now feature a built-in DVR that records a pristine, interference-free copy of your aerial video to an SD memory card. After you finish flying, plug the SD memory card into your computer and edit the video using the software of your choice. Each camera also features a custom designed mount with a remote tilt feature (adjustable via the handheld controller). Designed to give you the best quality video possible, each camera mount features balanced, oil-filled shock absorbers. The shock absorbers keep the recorded video free from vibration, guaranteeing that you get the best possible results.

The Draganflyer X4 UAV features an innovative case system that makes transporting the helicopter easier than ever. The entire Draganflyer X4 helicopter presses neatly into its pre-cut slot in the case. Each part and accessory fits into molded high-density foam inserts for safekeeping during transport. The transport case features a dual layer design with flight accessories in the top layer and the base station in the bottom layer. A patented, load-bearing system clips on to the transport case allowing it to be worn like a backpack, and transported just as easily. Built from flexible Cordura™ nylon, the load-bearing system is securely attached using Fastex™ hardware and adjustable carry straps.

The entire transport case fits neatly into a rugged ATA (Airline Transport Association) certified hard case, rated to last over 100 flights as airline baggage. The padlockable, all-metal, carpet-lined ATA case allows you to safely transport the helicopter anywhere in the world without worrying about damage caused by the rigors of travel as airline baggage.

Designed for small enterprises and projects on a budget, the Draganflyer X4 is our most affordable unmanned aerial vehicle ever. Use the power of a full featured VTOL UAV  for your project – the Draganflyer X4 makes professional quality aerial photographs and video easier to obtain than ever before.

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http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/06/29/roar-remotely-operated-auto-racers-sanctioned-thunder-power-battery-packs-for-your-rc-cars-and-trucks/ http://www.rctoys.com/pr/2009/06/29/roar-remotely-operated-auto-racers-sanctioned-thunder-power-battery-packs-for-your-rc-cars-and-trucks/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:38:10 +0000 Draganfly Innovations http://www.rctoys.com/pr/?p=724

ROAR (Remotely Operated Auto Racers) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting rc cars and trucks. ROAR also provides liability and bodily injury insurance for it’s members who race at ROAR sanctioned events and keeps a database of approved lithium polymer batteries. Tested at ROAR’s laboratory, approved lithium polymer batteries need to meet criteria including safety and performance. If you’re racing your electric car or truck at a ROAR sanctioned event, you should use approved batteries. We carry all of ROAR’s approved Thunder Power RC batteries, listed below:

You can browse through our huge selection of Thunder Power RC lipo batteries on our site. We pride ourselves on carrying every battery that Thunder Power RC manufactures, so if you see one that we’ve missed, feel free to contact us.

What You Need

To do this project, you’re going to need a few materials:

• An RC helicopter, or RC airplane with 3 channel control or better – You’re going to need a stable platform to take pictures from. Helicopters are useful because you can hover in one position, but airplanes are cheaper. You might already have an airplane or helicopter around, but if you don’t, the Multiplex Easystar works well for this project. Note that to make a remote shutter function, more than 3 channels are needed.
• A lightweight camera, with remote shutter operation – You need to be able to remotely trigger the camera. This can be done a number of ways, but the simplest and most economical is to attach a servo to the top of your camera with rubber bands. Make it so that when you throw a spare channel switch on your transmitter, the servo arm will move and press down the shutter switch. As with any mod, feel free to create your own solution.
• A large protractor
• Some string and a weight – Clay works well as a weight, I’ll explain why you need it shortly.
• A drinking straw – You’re going to need this to build a sight for the protractor.
• Measuring Tape – You need to know the altitude of your aircraft, and to do this, you need to measure it’s distance from you. Landmarks with a known distance can also be used – consult any street map with a scale for these.
• A notebook / paper / pencil
• A friend to help – You can’t fly your aircraft and make measurements at the same time. Take a friend along to help you, and ask them to record the measurements.

The Math Involved

Now we come to the hard part – a little bit of math. You don’t really need to understand all these derivations, feel free to simply use the formula that I’ll give you. The problem is this: given an aerial picture, how can we figure out the scale?

We need the altitude of the airplane to figure out the image scale. This can’t be done directly, so we measure the angle (a), the distance (d), and use them to compute the height (h). This is a right triangle, and there are some handy trig functions that apply. In this case, we use the tangent function, which gives the ratio of the opposite and adjacent sides.  This is expressed as follows:

By taking the tangent of the angle a, and multiplying by the distance (d), we get the height (h). Here’s the formula that you would use:

So how do you get the angle? It’s simple: take the protractor and tape a piece of drinking straw to the flat bottom. Then attach a piece of sting to the bottom center of the protractor, so that it dangles straight down the 90 degree mark. Use the ball of clay to make a weight at the bottom of the string. Now, when you tilt the  protractor, the string will measure the angle. Be careful though: the angle with respect to the ground is not what’s read directly off the protractor scale. Reading the difference between the indicated angle and 90 degrees will give you the angle you need.

So why do we care about the altitude? Well, it turns out that the ratio of the altitude and the focal length of the camera is the image scale! You can find out the focal length of your camera by reading it’s manual. This is usually expressed in millimetres, so convert it to whatever  unit you have used to measured the distance, and thus the altitude in. Let’s put that all in a convenient formula:

And that’s the only formula you need. Just measure the distance, and the angle, know the focal length, and you’re done.

How to Do the Measurements

All that math was fun, but how do you actually measure distances using this method? I’ll illustrate with an example:

Suppose that you’ve just gone out to a field, and want to measure the distance between a tree and a building. The first step is to find a landmark you can fly over with a known distance. Using a measuring tape or map, you find that a nearby hill is 50 feet from where you’re standing. With a friend ready to measure and write down the angle, you launch your airplane and fly over the nearby hill, taking several pictures. Your friend sights the model aircraft through the protractor – straw device built earlier, and finds the angle to be 75 degrees.

Using a calculator, you find the altitude to be:

After landing, you download the pictures and print them full size, with no scaling. Your camera’s user manual reports that the focal length is 152 mm (millimeters). Converting this to feet is easy, just type it in Google or multiply by the number of feet per millimetre. 152 mm is 0.48 feet, so you plug that into the formula we derived earlier and obtain the following:

This means that distance measured on the picture is 0.000257 times as big as the real distance. You’re almost done: using a ruler, you measure the distance between the tree and building on the image to be 1 inch. Converting this to feet (because we want the distance between the building and tree in feet), gives a distance of 0.0833 feet. Now, multiplying this by 1 divided by the picture scale gives a final answer of 324 feet.

And that’s it – you’ve just measured the distance between two objects using nothing more than a RC aircraft, camera, and a little trigonometry. Just keep in mind that you have to know the distance between the airplane and you accurately for this to work – always take pictures right on top of the marker with a known distance.

© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
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1. Build An Awesome Airframe – Several users of rcgroups.com have reported that replacing a micro heli’s styrofoam airframe with cable ties works wonders for flight performance. I think the key’s in the reduced weight, letting the RC helicopter fly faster and higher. Some might prefer the original fuselages looks, others may like this minimal appearence. Make the new airframe using plastic cable ties available almost everywhere, and thick CA glue. Remove the old styrofoam fuselage with a sharp hobby knife, being careful not to damage the internal components, and then build up a new airframe with the cable ties. Here’s a picture showing one such airframe, click the image for a larger version.
2. Print a Landing Pad – This isn’t really a micro RC helicopter mod, but printing off this RC helicopter landing pad gives you a landing practice area. Landing RC on a small target can be challenging, so this makes for a great RC helicopter game.
3. Color Your RC Helicopter With Spray Paint – In most cases, micro RC helicopters are made of foam with a base color of white. You can use foam safe spray paint to give your RC helicopter a unique look. You can also use clear plastic to add a canopy.
4. Build Your Own Fuselage – Most people have a few foam dinner plates laying around, which provide the perfect material for building micro RC helicopter fuselages. Remove the original fuselage with a sharp hobby knife, and build up a new one using material from the foam plates and a foam safe CA glue. This has been done many times, with some remarkable results. Here’s one of the coolest. You can find inspiration by looking at the many mod threads on rcgroups.com and similar sites.

We hope you enjoy doing these mods. Have fun with your mini and micro RC Helicopters!

You can pick up parts and helicopters for these projects on our website.

© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
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The Havoc Stinger is a new mini RC helicopter, based on the successful Havoc / PicooZ design. Features include:

• Available in three different colors, green/purple, yellow/orange, and blue/orange
• Powerful 50mAh 3.7V Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery
• Charge time: 15-20 minutes
• Flight time: 5-9 minutes
• Battery charger is built into the transmitter
• Compatible with all of our mini helicopter parts

The coolest new feature is the glowing eyes and cool insect design, which are included in all three colour schemes. The mini helicopter parts are available in different colors, so you can add matching rotor blades and tail props to the Havoc Stinger.
The Havoc Stinger is for indoor flight only. You can add small amounts of weight to the nose or tail to make the Havoc Stinger move forwards or backwards more quickly.

© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
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We are pleased to announce that we will be adding the amazing Blade MCX indoor micro RC helicopter to our inventory. The Blade MCX is the next step in the world of indoor RC helicopters, and has several amazing
features that set it apart from the crowd.

Blade MCX Main Features: What you Get In The Box

The Blade MCX includes everything you need to fly, right out of the box. Here’s what’s included:

• Blade MCX RTF Micro RC Helicopter
• 2.4 Ghz, DSM-2, Spread Spectrum Transmitter (Includes 4 AA Batteries)
• Portable Lipo Battery Charger (Includes 4 AA Batteries)
• 1 cell, 3.7 volt, 110 mAh lipo battery
• Small Screwdriver for Assembly
• Extra Canopy Securing Rings

Because you don’t have to purchase additional parts to fly the Blade MCX, it’s perfect for beginning pilots who are new to the hobby. The
Blade MCX is also well suited to pilots with previous RC helicopter experience, for flying indoors and during the winter months.

Helicopter Features

The most innovative feature of the Blade MCX is it’s fully proportional, four channel radio. Having four channel control means that pilots can fly the helicopter with four dimensions of freedom. Just like a large, expensive RC helicopter, the Blade MCX can fly up/down, rotate left/right, pitch forwards/backwards, and bank left/right. Having a four channel radio system lets you precisely control the Blade MCX’s movement through all three dimensions. Four channel control is nothing new to RC Helicopters, but what makes the Blade MCX special is it’s size. With a rotor diameter of 7.5 inches, and a length of 7.9 inches, it can easily fit into the palm of your hand. It is very uncommon to find RC helicopters of this size and price range with four channel control.

The Blade MCX features a coaxial rotor design. This coaxial design gives the helicopter great flight stability, and removes the need for a separate tail rotor to control yaw (rotation about the main rotor
axis). The main rotors spin in opposite directions, cancelling out any yaw caused by their rotation. Coaxial helicopters are great for flying indoors, because they are inherently stable and so can be controlled very precisely.

The Blade MCX uses a tiny 1 cell lithium polymer battery for power. Unlike most micro RC helicopters, the battery is removable and interchangeable. Each cell provides 3.7 volts of power with a capacity of 110 mAh (Milli ampere hours). You charge the battery using the included base station, which runs off four “AA” alkaline batteries. A typical charge takes about 30 minutes and provides an average flight time of 6 to 8 minutes. Because the battery is interchangeable, we recommend that you purchase an extra so that you can use one while the other is charging.

The Blade MCX uses a genuine Spektrum DS-2 type radio system. The helicopter radio is fully compatible with many other DS-2 transmitters, including the:

• Spektrum DX5e
• Spektrum DX6i
• Spektrum DX7
• JR X9303
• JR 12X

Modular radios which have Spectrum modules installed will also work with the Blade MCX. Please note that the Spektrum DX6 is not compatible.

Spread Spectrum technology greatly reduces the chance of any radio interference from other aircraft of sources. It also uses a short transmitter antenna, allowing the transmitter to fit in a small and sleek case.

Blade MCX Transmitters are all mode 2, meaning that throttle and rudder are controlled with the left stick and pitch and roll with the right. The transmitter throttle stick is not spring loaded, so it remains at the position that it was last set to. Most RC helicopter pilots prefer this, as it allows you to remove pressure on the throttle stick while hovering. The radio has a dual rate feature, which allows you to choose how fast the helicopter responds to your commands. Beginners should start with mode 1, which can be set by pressing down on the right control stick and holding until the red light starts blinking. Setting the transmitter to mode 2 is done the same way.

Weighing only 1 ounce, the blade MCX is virtually crash proof. A sudden drop from a few feet above the ground won’t damage it, and in most cases minor collisions with walls are not a problem. In the event of a crash where damage does occur, we carry a selection of the most commonly needed replacement parts. Although it is not indestructible, the Blade MCX’s durability makes it an ideal gift for anyone over 12 years of age.

If you want to get into the exciting world of RC helicopters, the Blade MXC makes a great starting place. It will teach you all the basics of RC helicopter flight, and can be used as a stepping stone to more advanced models. If you’re already an experienced RC helicopter pilot, you’ll be impressed with the Blade MCX’s control and stability. Watch our site for tutorials on the Blade MCX, including a how to for installing replacement parts.

You can check out the blade MCX on our website.

© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
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Lithium polymer batteries are one of the best things that ever happened to electric RC flight.

Batteries In General – How They Work

Before taking a look at what makes lithium polymer batteries special, we need an understanding of how batteries work in general. So, whats a battery? A battery is an array of electrochemical cells, wired together in series or in parallel. Each electrochemical cell can be thought of as a device which can “pump” charge. By wiring the individual cells together, we obtain an efficient device which can move electrical current in the way we need it to. Each electrochemical cell actually consists of 2 “half-cells”. The half cells are connected by what is called a “salt-bridge”, an electrolyte which allows ions to travel through it. The cell is constructed out of materials such that electrons want to travel from one half cell to another. Eelectrons flow into the cell at the cathode (positive electrode) and flow out at the anode (negative electrode). The electrolyte permits this travel, and the net result is whats called a potential difference between the cell terminals.

Electric potential is really just a fancy word for a simple concept: the amount of energy that a certain amount of charge contains. Think of it like this: if the wires to each cell were water pipes, and the cell was a pump, the potential would be the pressure in the pipes. Potential is usually measured in a unit called the volt. One volt corresponds to one joule of energy (about the energy needed to lift an apple 3.2 feet), per 1 coulomb of charge. A coulomb is simply a number of electrons (6.241506 × 10^18), the negatively charged particles which carry current.

It’s here that we see the first important advantage that lithium polymer batteries have over other types. Each lithium polymer cell can produce up to 4.2 volts. Other battery designs, like nickle metal hydride (NiMH) and nickel cadmium (NiCd) only give a maximum of 1.2 volts. From this we can see that you need fewer lithium polymer cells than NiCd or NiMh cells to produce the same voltage.

Besides maintaining a potential difference between the positive and negative terminals, a battery also
has to be able to maintain that potential difference for a set amount of time. The reason that we have to charge batteries is that over time, each chemical cell reaches equilibrium. At equilibrium, no ions want to travel between the half cells, and so no potential difference is created. With rechargeable batteries, sending a current through the cell reverses this process, so it can be used again.

Every battery has a capacity associated with it. Capacity measures the amount of charge that the battery can provide, usually given in milliamp hours. Think of amps as measuring the rate that charge travels at. 1 Amp corrosponds to 1 coulomb of charge moving per second. Because a coulomb is such a large measure of current (comparable to that found in lightening strikes), RC aircraft batteries use milliamps (thousandths of an amp) to measure current. Because amps measure the rate of charge, multiplying the current in amps by the time the battery operates gives us the total charge that the battery can move. This is expressed as follows:

If the capacity is known, we can find the time the battery can operate by dividing by the current. From the above equation:

In summary, batteries have two primary, defining quantities. The voltage, or potential difference, measures how much energy per unit charge the battery provides. The capacity measures how much current the battery can provide, or the time that the battery can operate while a given current is being drawn.

Lithium Polymer Batteries – Some Terms Explained

There are a few naming conventions and terms that the RC community has adopted, which express the number of cells in a pack, how they are wired, and how fast the pack can be discharged. The “C” is a common unit, which tells how long it takes to discharge the battery in fractions of an hour. For example, discharging a pack at 1 C would take 1 hour, at 2 C it would take a half and hour, and so on. If we take a 3000 mAh battery and discharge it at a rate of 3000 mA, it will take 1 hour and the battery will be discharging at a rate of 1 C. You get the charge / discharge rate in C by dividing the capacity by the current.

Every lithium polymer battery consists of cells wired in series and parallel, and the number of each is specified on the pack. The naming convention looks like “XSYP” where X is the number of cells in the pack, and Y is the number wired in parallel. As an example, a 4S3P battery would have 4 cells in series, and 3 in parallel, giving 12 total.

RCToys.com has a huge selection of lithium polymer batteries, and the chargers, balancers, and power supplies needed to use them.

© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
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Mode 4 Transmitter

On a mode 4 transmitter, ailerons and throttle are controlled with the left stick and rudder and elevator are controlled with the right stick.

Mode 3 Transmitter

On a mode three transmitter, ailerons and elevator are controlled with the left stick and rudder and throttle are controlled with the right stick.

Mode 2 Transmitter

On a mode two transmitter, throttle and rudder are controlled with the left stick, and ailerons and elevator are controlled with the right stick.

Mode 1 Transmitter

On a mode one transmitter, elevator and rudder are controlled with the left stick, and throttle and ailerons are controlled with the right stick.

——
© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
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• The Best Paper Airplane In The World – Michael O’Reilly provides instructions for folding an excellent paper airplane on his website. This plane is a little challenging to fold, but it flies as well as the balsa wood gliders found in craft stores. Once you get the hang of folding this paper airplane, other paper airplane designs pale in comparison. After you manage to fold it, try downloading some printable patterns and making colored airplanes.
• Scale Piper J3 Cub – Building this scale model makes a great weekend project, and while it’s not a flying model it makes a great display piece. The model prints out on one sheet, and includes instructions. You will need: scissors, a hobby knife, a ruler, a pencil, and some white glue. Print the model off on card stock – available at most craft stores.
• World Record Paper Plane – This paper plane design holds the current paper airplane flight duration record, at 27.6 seconds. Folding this paper airplane is relatively easy, but try to crease the nose folds firmly – it helps prevent crimping the nose later in the folding process.
• Flat Nose Paper Airplane – The flat nose is extremely easy to build, and flies well without much adjustment. The flat nose flies best indoors, tossed gently from an elevated platform. Try bending one wing slightly downward, which will cause a gentle downward spiral and very long flight times.

We hope that you enjoy folding and flying these great paper planes.

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© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
RSS: www.rctoys.com/pr/feed

Unlike conventional PPM (pulse position modulation) and PCM (pulse code modulation) radio systems which operate on distinct frequencies, spread spectrum radios broadcast over a large range of frequencies simultaneously. These frequencies are all members of the 2.4 Ghz band, which removes them from the frequencies often used by other communication devices. Because of this, spread spectrum radio systems are already immune to interference caused by non RC radio systems.

Spread Spectrum technology has another advantage though: there is no need for frequency control.
Spread spectrum radio systems broadcast over a multitude of radio frequencies, and the user is never aware of what they are. This works because:

1. The transmitter is assigned a unique identification code when it is manufactured.
2. The receiver is programmed to seek and lock to this same code.
3. After the transmitter is powered on, it encodes the signals it sends with its identification code.
4. The receiver scans for this code, and locks to the frequencies that the transmitter is operating on.

Each identification code is globally unique, meaning that no other radio system is using it. Because of this, the individual frequencies that the radio is operating on are irrelevant, so as a result an unlimited number of spread spectrum radios can operate simultaneously.

The most noticeable consequence of this technology is that spread spectrum radios are immune to radio interference. Spread spectrum radios also allow an extremely fast servo response time, because the entire encoding, decoding, and execution of radio commands happens in milliseconds.

Spread spectrum technology is becoming more prevelant in RC radio systems, and will shortly replace conventional FM radio systems entirely.

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© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
RSS: www.rctoys.com/pr/feed

The best way to balance your RC model airplane propellers is to use one of the many prebuilt balancers available. Blade balancers usually come in two varieties:

1. finger prop balancers – sufficient for most modelers, you can get good results using a simple blade balancer for 5 to 10 dollars depending on the supplier. Great Hobbies has a balancer which works sufficiently well to balance most model airplane props.
2. magnetic prop balancers – produce highly accurate results and are usually more expensive than finger balances.

Use the blade balancer by unscrewing the two metal rings and then placing your propeller in between them. Tighten the metal rings so that the prop doesn’t move and support the entire apparatus with one finger tip on each hand. The prop is balanced if it remains motionless. If it tips forward or backward then you will have to adjust it according to the following procedure:

1. Mark the heavy side (which tips downwards) with a felt tip pen.
2. Sand one side of the propellers heavy end with medium to fine grit sandpaper. Do not sand the propeller tip – this will cause a dynamic imbalance when the engine is running.
3. After removing a very small amount of material from the heavy side of the propeller, test it again using your blade balancer.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the propeller remains motionless while held in the blade balancer.

This procedure will balance your propeller accurately enough to eliminate the most severe vibration during flight. 3D aerobatics, racing, or other demanding flying requires propellers to be balanced more precisely. You can get a higher end magnetic balancer for 20 to 30 dollars. It’s usage is about the same as the finger balancer except that the propeller is held between two magnets.

Check your propeller’s balance using the above method and be sure to follow the manufacturers instructions when putting the propeller in the balancer.

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© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
RSS: www.rctoys.com/pr/feed

This power supply can be used to charge your RC helicopters, without using C batteries. Because C batteries have a limited lifespan, using this adapter will save you money over time. The BR-ADAPTER plugs in to either the transmitter, or the charging base station. When using the BR-ADAPTER, you don’t need batteries in either the transmitter or the base station.

The BR-ADAPTER plugs in to any standard 120V AC outlet, and provides 500 ma of current at 6 volts. Please note that you need to have either a base station or transmitter to use the BR-ADAPTER. Both of these products are available separately on our website.

Use the BR-ADAPTER to power your indoor RC helicopters, and save money on batteries.

——
© Draganfly Innovations Inc.
Phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907
Email: info@rctoys.com
Web: www.rctoys.com
RSS: www.rctoys.com/pr/feed