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Post by livefibre on May 16, 2007 17:52:43 GMT 10
Well the Lost Model Alarms arrived today and they seem to be quite LOUD even with my industrial deafness I should'nt have to much trouble finding my planes in concealed places after controlled crashes. The alarms have an inline set of plugs for 2 channel sets or just plug into the receiver with a spare channel and leave the other end of the wiring free.They don't have to be in a circuit.They have a continual BEEP and a warning series of BEEPS when they are powered up.Takes about 30 seconds to activate after Tranny is turned of. Photo 's of micro receiver and v tail mixer for comparison. mixer is a $8.00 cheapie from HK as well.
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Post by st on May 16, 2007 18:54:05 GMT 10
Thanks for the report Alan. My crashes are uncontrolled rather than controlled Is the mixer from revolution shop too? I couldn't find any on their site a week or two ago?
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Post by livefibre on May 16, 2007 19:40:18 GMT 10
The mixers are from royal sharp.
Cheers Alan
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Post by thevon on Sept 19, 2007 7:51:10 GMT 10
Gary this is the post about the LMA's and has a link to Skyking. Sean and I have a couple each and they're definitely the loudest and most annoying noise! But the only drawback is that mine tends to go off intermittently and I think it's very sensitive to very tiny radio dropouts. Whereas Glenn's (Zipper's - I have some of those and I like them) have a couple of seconds delay and don't go off for apparently no reason... but they're not as loud. With Glenn's when there's a radio dropout, they start to give a little beep every few seconds. If it flies past and gives 3 beeps that means it has logged 3 radio dropouts. Glenn's are $20 each inc postage but the Skyking ones cost us about $30 each to get a batch of 4, inc post.
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Post by thevon on Nov 13, 2007 21:41:44 GMT 10
Ezza I thought I'd switch this discussion into this thread about LMA's, answering Mt Mellum. I was saying I got mine from Glenn and you said you used the Wowings Be-Found ones . Question: Do they start beeping as soon as you switch off your TX? or do they wait a while? I have one alarm I stopped using because it doesn't start beeping for a long time. It's darn useful having them beep as soon as you switch off the TX - I regularly have trouble finding mine in the grass even at Bald Knob! The alarm saves heaps of time.
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Post by ezza on Nov 13, 2007 21:57:04 GMT 10
Andrew,
Yes, it starts beeping immediately. You can adjust how often it beeps, from slow to fast. It is pretty darn loud as well. I have lost count of the times I have managed to find the plane where I would have had no hope without the sound. I have used 9 so far and had no problems. I won't build a plane without one ever again.
I think the low voltage thing is one of it's best features. If you are flying and it starts beeping.....land!! Sometimes you only get 20 seconds or so but atleast you have some warning.
Eric
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Post by mtmellum on Nov 14, 2007 7:19:50 GMT 10
yea thanks, I've picked up this thread after asking the same question in another.
Did the HK cheapies turn out ok ?
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Post by thevon on Nov 14, 2007 8:23:59 GMT 10
Ezza that's great. Somehow we missed out on the fact that Wowings had them and they sound great. (well, also Wowings closed up for a long while too). Will have to check with Pete (new Wowings owner) whether they still have them. I agree, I simply wouldn't fly without one.
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Post by jase on Nov 14, 2007 9:42:33 GMT 10
andrew, next time i come around i'll bring a plane and we can plug it into one of my auxillary connections on my receiver and we can see if a simple flick of a switch will turn it on straight away.
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Post by rossco on Nov 14, 2007 10:44:48 GMT 10
Hey guys,
Ive got a program ready, as soon as i get some chips, ill feed it in and see how it goes. Included sofar; - LMA triggered by lost signal, landing gear switch, or similar. - Glitch counter, reporting after the first glitch is set every 10 seconds or so with no. of beeps to glitches. Set atm is max 5 glitches, more? (i thought it would get annoying) - Low battery alarm... still having some issues with this as theres a lot of variables.
All can be fine tuned in firmware, although im still deciding whether to include a "programming mode" for the user to set options so suit? This could be done in a logic switch set on the unit, although most of you burry your alarms in the model? It could be put into programming mode and setup with the triggering channel?
One thing that i do want to add at some stage down the track is.... wait for it... radio tracking. Its really not that hard to do at all, although a separate tracker would be needed. This could be as simple as a trick directional areal on a portable radio with headphones. Got your direction, now follow till you hear your plane screeming in panic. One crazy thing came to mind while i was thinking along tracking lines, GPS. A GPS chip onboard, similar to a mobile phone, and a laptop on site with internet connection and google earth. A little execive as you already know generaly in what area you need to start searching.
Anyway, please throw your ideas my way, and ill see what i can do. (a test unit might be in it for you)
Rossco
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Post by sean on Nov 14, 2007 11:19:49 GMT 10
Very impressive Rossco, if you could get the radio tracking working that would be incredibly useful, I've had a few occassions where the wind drowned out the noise of the LMA beeper until I was practically on top of it. Personally I'm not a fan of the glitch counters, IMO they don't serve a purpose (you can usually tell when you get a glitch) and you have to put up with a beeping plane until you land...
Does the LMA sold by Wowings have a glitch counter?
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Post by ezza on Nov 14, 2007 11:54:04 GMT 10
Does the LMA sold by Wowings have a glitch counter? No, It only beeps with lost signal or low voltage.
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Post by thevon on Nov 14, 2007 11:55:21 GMT 10
Yes I agree - Zipper's (Glenn's) alarms have the glitch counter up to a max of 4 or 5, but it's annoying as you regularly do get small hits or dropouts and the thing won't stop beeping until you switch it off and on again. Doesn't really worry me but I don't need it. But the voltage alarm is really useful. Actually I'm not sure if Glenn's has that? Can't remember and I haven't flattened a plane for ages. With an LMA you never leave the plane switched on by mistake! So they don't tend to go flat much. Another thing I like with Glenns's LMA's is the short lead. I always put the RX, switch plug and LMA next to each other so I only need a short lead and have to bury the rest ... or cut & solder. Jase, not sure what you mean about the switching? It's not something I'm chasing ... I'm happy with it beeping when you switch the Tx off.
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Post by rossco on Nov 14, 2007 14:57:57 GMT 10
BUGGA! I did think that the glitch counter may be more annoying than usefull! In fact, is it usefull at all? This, i could have thought about more before doing the programming. Ah well, all a learning experience. If you get multiple glitches, soon after you first launch, i would think that its a sign of trouble ahead? If so, then maybe just one beep when the clitch hits? If its beeping its head off, then you know your getting some severe interferance? The microcontroller can detect this, much quicker, and with smaller glitches than you will feel or see.
I think that i will simplify the glitch detection first, then work on the low batt and finally radio tracking. You think that a cheap, portible radio, used with a directional aerial is reasonable expence, effort and added gear to carry? (we could do with some tunes on site)
Thanx guys, exactly the feedback i need. Keep em comming!
Rossco
PS, throw any extra capabilities in here you would like. We could turn this into a full on black box. Ill start a new thread if need be, and we can all design it to be as usefull as possible.
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Post by thevon on Nov 14, 2007 16:42:46 GMT 10
Rossco, it's worth looking at the specs of the Skyking alarms (I think described earlier in this thread) - here's their site: www.skykingrcproducts.com/accessories/lostmodel/lost_rc_model_alarm.htmlYou can even listen to their sounds on that webpage! They are often reviewed as being the duck's nuts in LMA's. Sean and I got some a while ago and altho his seems to be OK, mine is rather annoying as it keeps sounding its lost alarm when I'm flying - seems to happen with different planes and radios too. It must be very sensitive. It's a darn annoying noise too! I can live with it but it causes a few funny looks. There are also alarms which have a power save function: i.e. it beeps loudly for an hour then drops back to a quiet intermittent beep. If you have to give up searching at twilight and come back a day or 2 later, you switch your radio on then back off again and it resumes the louder frequent beep! I'm not sure which alarm that is but it is something occasionally useful as most of us have had situations where we've had to come back for a search a day or more later.
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