Information Articles

Replacing the two pinions on your Interactive Toy Concepts Micro Mosquito or FireFly RC Helicopter is very easy. You’ll need a flat head screwdriver with a thin tip (or other similar tool).

Your pinions will either look like this: (1st generation Micro Mosquito and Firefly)

Or your pinions will look like this: (2nd generation Micro Mosquito or Firefly)

Pinion Gear Removal Instructions:

1. Find a flat blade screwdriver with a very thin tip.
2. Gently place the flat end of the screwdriver in the space under the pinion gear
3. Slowly twist the screwdriver so the end pries the pinion upwards.
4. You should be able to pull the pinion the rest of the way off using your fingers.

Pinion Gear Installation Instructions:

1. Position the helicopter so it is directly facing you.
2. View the images above and match the pinions you have to the 2 styles
3. Match the Left and Right pinion.
4. Your pinion that looks like the left pinion in the pictures goes on the left motor (with the helicopter facing you)
5. Your pinion that looks like the right pinion in the pictures goes on the right motor (with the helicopter facing you)
6. Using your fingers, press the pinions onto the motor shafts. Press the pinions all the way down.

——
© 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 Micro Mosquito and Firefly RC helicopters by Interactive Toy Concepts both use a single cell 200mAh Lipo battery. This battery is good for hundreds of uses, but if you ever find that you need to replace yours please follow these instructions:

1. Remove the small motor pinion gears by prying them off with a thin screwdriver. (read this article if you have trouble)
2. Remove the retainer on the bottom main shaft. The tab will pull off sideways.
3. Remove the rotor assembly (rotors, shaft & gears) as one piece, either by pulling on the top of the main shaft or by pushing the bottom of the main shaft up through the body.
4. Remove all 7 screws on the bottom of the Micro Mosquito or Firefly body.
5. Remove the 4 motor screws on the top.
6. Gently separate the upper and lower body halves until you can see screw which holds the circuit board to the upper body half. The screw is located on the inside near the front left leg. Remove this screw.
7. Pull the battery up to release it from the adhesive tape, and locate the red and black wires. Unsolder the old battery and remove. Set the new battery in place and solder its wires, ensuring that the polarity is correct. The red wire is positive and the black wire is negative. Do not allow the battery wires to short to each other, or allow the wires to touch any point on the circuit board except the battery contact points (labeled B+ and B-).
8. Replace the screw that holds the circuit board to the upper body half.
9. Align and join the upper and lower body halves, ensuring that none of the internal wires are pinched.
10. Replace the 4 motor screws.
11. Replace the 7 screw that hold the body halves together.
12. Install the rotor assembly, sliding the bottom of the shaft through the hole in the center.
13. Clip the retainer onto the bottom of the main shaft where it exits the bottom of the body.
14. Replace the small motor pinion gears. The pinion with the flat cap should be installed on the right hand motor with the flat cap facing up. The other pinion should be installed on the left hand motor with the stem facing up. The pinion on the right side should mesh with the upper large gear, and the pinion on the left side should mesh with the lower large gear.

The battery replacement is now complete.

——
© 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

Quick reference and setup guide for the Thunder Power TP-1010C charger with the V2.3a software update. Note: if you do not currently have V2.3a software installed in your TP 1010C charger, you can do so by downloading it from Thunder Power’s Downloads Page. Complete instructions are listed on that page. To program your TP-1010C charger you’ll need to purchase a 1010C USB programming cable.

Thunder Power 1010C Specifications:

The TP1010C is capable of charging/discharging:

• 1 to 10 Lithium Polymer cells
• 1 to 30 NiCd or NiMH cells
• 6V, 12V or 24V lead acid batteries
• 1 to 10 A123 Lithium Ion cells
• Maximum charging current: 10A
• Maximum discharging current: 2A

Note:

• The Thunder Power TP1010C is capable of 220 watts output which limits the max current a pack can be charged at, e.g. a 5S Lipo pack could be charged at 10 amps whereas a 10S pack could only be charged at 5 amps.
• The Thunder Power TP1010C is capable of dissipating up to 2 amps max current with a power limit of 22 watts, e.g. a 3S Lipo pack could be discharged at a maximum of 2 amps whereas a 5S pack could only be discharged at 1 amp.

Navigating the V2.3a Thunder Power 1010C Software:

There are two basic sets of information that will be displayed on the Thunder Power TP1010C screen:

• operational screen data, e.g. data that pertains to charging/discharging and
• setup screen data for the various kinds of charging/discharging that can be done with the unit.

Thunder Power 1010C Front Panel Button Functions

There are 4 buttons on the front panel of the Thunder Power TP-1010C. The buttons can be used in two ways, short presses (less than 1 second) and long presses (greater than 2 seconds). Generally, long presses are used to enter/exit setup menus and to commence charge/discharge. Short presses are used to change menu selections within the setup menus, change cell counts and currents and also to stop charging/discharging on the operational screen.

Thunder Power 1010C Startup Screen

When first powered on, the TP-1010 charger will immediately display its manufacturer (Thunder Power), model number (TP-1010C) and software revision (V2.3a). Following that it will display the operational screen it was last used for.

Thunder Power 1010C Startup Screen with Software Version 2.3a

Selecting the Battery Type on your Thunder Power 1010C

The Thunder Power 1010C with V2.3a Can Charge your NiMh Battery Packs

1. Select, using short presses, either charge or discharge using the “SEL/MOD” button
2. Then use the “CHARGE/ENT” button to select the cell count (displayed as “XsPACK”) or current (displayed as “C or D =X.XXA”
3. From here the “-/DEC” and “+/INC” buttons are used to alter the numerical value (the X’s) of these two parameters
4. To enter the Thunder Power 1010C setup menus, long press the SEL/MOD button
5. The TP-1010C display will show “Battery type” and a chemistry, most likely “LiPo”
6. To change the type of battery, push either the “-/DEC” or “+/INC” buttons to scroll through the 5 available chemistries
7. Once the proper type has been chosen, short pressing the “SEL/MOD” button will take you through the various parameters that can be changed for that type of battery
8. The following tables show these parameters along with a description of each and a range of adjustment.
9. Once you have dialed in all the specifics for the battery you want to charge or discharge, long press the “SEL/MOD” button again and you will be taken back to the operational screen.

Programming the Thunder Power 1010C for NiCd and NiMH Cells

Programming Thunder Power 1010C for Pb Cells (Lead Acid)

Programming Thunder Power 1010C For A123 Li-Ion Cells

Programming Thunder Power 1010C For LiPo Cells

Setting Up the Thunder Power 1010C To Start Charging/Discharging

1. From the operational screen, to select charging, discharging or cycling, you short press the “SEL/MOD” button.
2. To change the number of cells or charge/discharge current, you short press the “CHARGE/ENT” button which will initiate blinking of either the Pack size or charge/discharge current.
3. From here you use the “-/DEC” or “+/INC” buttons to alter the numbers.
4. Once the proper numbers have been set, long press the red “CHARGE/ENT” button to initiate charging, discharging or cycling. Note that short pressing the red “CHARGE/ENT” button also halts the current charging, discharging or cycling process.

Understanding the Thunder Power 1010C Display

As a battery charges or discharges, information is given on the main screen.

• In the upper left of the screen you will see two letters that change every two seconds, these are the battery type and function being performed.
• Just to the right of that you will see the current voltage across the pack.
• To the right of that you will see the charge current.
• Just to the right of that you will notice that there is another character that changes back and forth, this will show either A for amps, CC for constant current or CV for constant voltage depending on what kind of charging you are doing.
• The second row of the TP-1010C display shows the amount of charge placed back into the pack in mAhrs and overall charge time.

View Individual Cell Voltages on the Thunder Power 1010C (LiPo & A123)

If using a balancer in closed loop mode, you can at any time during a charge or discharge cycle (LiPo and A123 only) check to see any of the individual cell voltages.

1. Long press the “SEL/MOD” button until a screen with CH and CL are displayed on the far left end.
2. From here you can use the “-/DEC” and +/INC” buttons to scroll through the cells, two per screen.
3. To the far right of these screens you will also be shown the maximum deviation voltage between cells.
4. Leaving the unit alone for about 6 seconds will return it to the charge screen.

Using the Memory Settings on the Thunder Power 1010C

From the main charging screen, the one that you initiate charging from, there are three parameters that you can alter, the cell count, charge/discharge current and memory position.

1. At the far upper, right end of the display you see [M 1-10], this is the memory location. To access it short press the red “CHARGE/ENT” button quickly and the number in the brackets will begin to flash.
2. You can use the “-/DEC” and “+/INC” buttons to change the location. Note that each location will keep the cell count and charge current stored.
3. There are 10 memories per battery type for a total of 50 memories. Note that the memories cannot be named

How to Print This Article

• Download this article as PDF
• Or select File -> Print from the menu bar. The page should print without all the fancy formatting and display only this article.

Where to Buy a Thunder Power 1010C

Draganfly Innovations Inc. is the best place to purchase a new Thunder Power 1010C charger. Draganfly Innovations offers FREE Shipping anywhere in the world on all Thunder Power 1010C chargers. Buy online 24 hours a day at www.rctoys.com or order by phone 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907 during business hours.

——
© 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 Hacker A20 Series brushless motors are the latest design using outrunner technology. Hacker A20’s are specifically engineered for high power and maximum efficiency using proprietary Hacker Brushless components of the finest quality. Hacker A20 brushless motors come in 4 types: Hacker A20-S, Hacker A20-M, Hacker A20-L, and Hacker A20-XL.

Hacker A20 Series Brushless Motors Feature

• Outrunner motor design uses no gearbox for lower weight
• Five to Seven times more torque than direct drive inrunners
• High torque means large propellers for greater thrust
• Rotating can/endbell provides excellent cooling
• Great cooling means very long flight times with Lithium Polymer cells
• Versatile mounting options for front or back mounting

Hacker A20-S Brushless Motors for RC Airplanes - Use With 2 Cell LiPo

Hacker A20-S brushless motors are developed for 4-8 oz. indoor slowflyers and indoor aerobatic r/c airplane models with 2 cell LiPoly batteries. The 12 pole “outrunner” type design creates a massive amount of torque, allowing larger direct drive propellers to be used without the need for a gearbox. Hacker A20-S motors feature oversize bearings, curved neo-magnets, and High efficiency stator design. These Hacker A-20-S motors produce the most power at lower current consumption than other popular outrunner designs! The Hacker A20-S brushless motors use a standard 3mm (0.118 in) output shaft.

Hacker A20-M Brushless Motors for RC Airplanes - Use With 3 Cell LiPo

Hacker A20-M series brushless motors are developed for 7-12 oz. slowflyers and aerobatic parkflyer model rc aircraft with 3 cell LiPoly batteries. The 12 pole “outrunner” type design creates a huge amount of torque, therefore larger direct drive props can be used without the need for a gearbox. These Hacker A20-M brushless motors features oversize bearings, curved neo-magnets, and high efficiency stator design. Hacker A20-M brushless motors produce the most power at lower current consumption than other popular outrunner designs. The Hacker A20-M brushless motors use a standard 3mm (0.118 in) output shaft.

Hacker A20-L Brushless Motors for RC Airplanes - Use With 3 Cell LiPo

Hacker A20-L brushless motors are developed for 12-18 oz. parkflyer rc aircraft models with 3 cell Lithium polymer batteries. The 12 pole “outrunner” type design creates a huge amount of torque, therefore larger direct drive props can be used without the need for a gearbox. This Hacker A20-L brushless motor features oversize bearings, curved Neo-magnets, and high efficiency stator design. Hacker A20-L brushless motors produce the most power at lower current consumption than other popular outrunner design. The Hacker A20-L brushless motors use a standard 3mm (0.118 in) output shaft.

Hacker A20-XL Brushless Motors for RC Helicopters - Use With 2 or 3 Cell LiPo

Hacker A20-XL brushless motors are developed for mini and micro sized electric rc helicopters. The 10 pole “outrunner” type design creates a massive amount of torque. This Hacker A20-XL brushless motor features a cooling fan, oversize bearings, curved neo-magnets, and high efficiency stator design. Hacker A20-XL brushless motors produce the most power at lower current consumption than other popular outrunner designs. The Hacker A20-L brushless motors use a standard 3mm (0.118 in) output shaft.

Hacker A20 Brushless Motor Applications

See our related article: Hacker A20 and A30 Electric Brushless Motor Applications

Where To Purchase Hacker A20 Brushless Motors

Draganfly Innovations Inc. sells a huge selection of Hacker brushless motors and Hacker brushles motor parts & accessories. They also sell Hacker brushless speed controllers, APC electric rc airplane propellers, Thunder Power RC Lithium Polymer Batteries, Voltage Regulators, Castle Creations Berg receivers, and RC Servos. Get all you need to power your electric RC airplane online or order by phone: 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907.

——
© 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

Hacker Opto Pro ESCs Require Their Own Battery

The Opto Pro series of brushless speed controllers by Hacker Brushless are a little different because they not have a Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC) built in. The two Hacker Opto Pro ESCs we sell are the Hacker X-40 Opto Pro and the Hacker X-70 Opto Pro. This means the Hacker Opto Pro ESCs will only provide power to the brushless motor and will also not provide power to your radio receiver and servos. To power your receiver and servos you will need a dedicated receiver & servo battery pack. We recommend a Thunder Power Receiver Pack LiPoly Battery coupled with a 5.1V Voltage Regulator. When you do not have a second battery for the receiver the Hacker Opto Pro speed control will not function, will not beep and you will not notice any lights.

Properly Connecting a Hacker Opto Pro ESC

To properly install and connect a Hacker Opto Pro brushless speed control first connect it to the brushless motor and then connect it to the main flight battery. We recommend Thunder Power LiPoly batteries. The receiver lead coming from the Hacker Opto Pro ESC will connect to the throttle channel on the receiver. The servos will also connect to the receiver as usual. To power the receiver and servos connect a receiver pack battery to either the battery terminal or any open terminal on your radio receiver (RX). Once the entire system is connected properly with one battery for the receiver & servos and the other battery for the ESC and brushless motor the Hacker Opto Pro speed control will function normally.

——
© 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

Draganflyer RC helicopters are not only extremely fun rc aircraft, they are also capable of filming incredible aerial video footage from angles nearly impossible to achieve otherwise. With three video camera equipped Draganflyer R/C helicopter models on the market it is easy to choose the one that fits your budget and your needs. All of these Draganflyer models use 2.4GHz wireless video transmission. The three models are the Draganflyer V-Ti with Eyecam, the Draganflyer V-Ti Pro, and the Draganflyer SAVS.

The Technology Behind Capturing Wireless Video

The Draganflyers use an onboard camera with a 2.4 Gigahertz broadcasting transmitter. A ground based receiver converts the wireless video signal to a standard composite signal. Each successive Draganflyer model uses a higher resolution camera, and improved wireless receiver than the previous one. The Draganflyer SAVS even uses a diversity video receiver with dual patch antennas. (These are the two white square signal receivers mounted on the receiver base station case). These enable the Draganflyer SAVS to receive signals from the transmitter that have followed different paths. The Draganflyer SAVS diversity receiver collects both of the signals and utilizes the strongest one, switching between the two for optimum signal quality.

Capturing & Recording the Wireless Video

Since all Draganflyer rc helicopter wireless video receivers output composite video through a standard RCA plug (1/8” or 3.5mm), you can connect it to almost any video recorder or display device. If you only need to view the video, the receiver can be connected to a television. To record the video signal, simply connect it to your VCR or camcorder. If you would like to record the video for professional or commercial applications, a digital recording format is ideal. The video can be edited and converted to DVD or other popular formats. A good recording format is mini-DV, which is used by many camcorders. This stores digital information on a magnetic tape. Once recorded, the video can be transferred to a computer (via firewire) and is in a digital format which completely eliminates any quality loss caused by copying. Most mini-DV devices are small in size (perfect to store in your SAVS receiver case), and have a viewing screen for watching the live feed.

Upgrading Your Draganflyer Wireless Video System

All of the Draganflyer RC helicopter camera systems can be upgraded from the base V-Ti version to the SAVS. Here are links to the Eyecam Extreme High Resolution Wireless Color Video Camera System - Draganflyer Helicopter Upgrade and the Draganflyer SAVS Upgrade Kit - Convert Your Ti Pro To An SAVS.

We’re Here To Help

If you have any further questions about how the Draganflyer RC helicopters capture video, contact customer support by calling 1-800-979-9794 / 306-955-9907 or send an email to sales@rctoys.com. Good luck and safe flying!

——
© 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 FMS flight simulator is a great training tool for learning to fly RC helicopters and RC airplanes without worrying about crashing. The FMS simulator software and aircraft models are free to download from the FMS Web site. The simulator software is compatible with computers running Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista. The software will not work on Macintosh computers. We sell GWS transmitter to PC USB interface cables so you can connect your RC transmitter to your PC allowing you to control the model on the FMS simulator with your actual Futaba, Hitec or JR RC transmitter.

Troubleshooting Your FMS Setup

What do you do when you have everything connected and you can’t get the model to fly properly? We have some common troubleshooting procedures to help you get everything sorted out.

First, check the simple things:

1. Are you using a Mac? If so the FMS software will not work nomatter what you try. It is only compatible with Windows.
2. Are you using Windows Vista? If so there is one extra step you need to do. You’ll need to install the file d3drm.dll. Follow these simple instructions.
3. Are the transmitter batteries fresh/fully charged?
4. Is the cable plugged in firmly to the transmitter’s trainer port?
5. Is the USB end of the cable firmly connected to your computer?
6. Ensure that the transmitter is turned on.

Calibrating Your Transmitter With Your PC and the FMS Software

1. Turn on your computer (Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista)
2. Turn on your transmitter and plug in the USB cable to computer
3. Click the Start button on your Windows taskbar
4. Goto Control Panel
5. You may need to click the button for Classic View
6. Now click on Game Controllers
7. Your RC controller should show up in the list, possibly named PPM
8. If there is nothing displayed then there may be a problem with the transmitter, USB cable, or computer
9. If there is more that one controller and you are unsure which one it is, double-click on each one and while in test mode check if there is any on-screen response to stick movement
10. Once you find the correct one, select Properties -> Settings -> Calibrate
11. Follow the instructions
12. When it is finished click OK and close the game controller and control panel windows.
13. Run the FMS simulator software
14. Select Controls -> Analog Control -> Joystick Interface -> Mapping/Calibration -> Calibrate
15. Follow the instructions
16. Click Finish, then click OK to exit the Calibration window, and then the Mapping window.
17. You should now be able to control the simulator with your RC transmitter connected via USB FMS calble.

——
© 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