Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Neon Glowing Ember at Night

     From S.F. Design Solutions (http://www.sf-design-solutions.com/ )  for $18.00 US including the attached  and wired "Y" harness to simply "snap" attach into A.) the airplane's micro battery receptacle, and B.) onto the actual micro battery. The battery fits in the same mount already on the bird.
     For attaching the main aparratus and the actual tiny wires to the bird, rather than stubborn tape, I used Cortland "Micron" dacron fly line backing material to tie simple Uni-knots (Duncan Loops) around the wire and the frame at tactical places. .
     This simple knot creates, essentially, a midget Tie-wrap that one can cinch down and tighten, but with one difference: one can also LOOSEN the knot to move things around if necessary. Once satisfied with everythings' placement, then it's time to cinch down the knot and then  "zap" the knot's wraps with a drop of super glue to lock them in place.
     To attach the nicely maleable wire lengths to the foam wings, I used small, 1/2" X 1" strips of tape.
     Thankfully, once that first, main aparratus of micro receptacle and wires is secured underneath the receiver board to the frame with that first little loop knot, everything else falls into place nicely, as the wires are very maleable and bend easily and then hold their shape.
     I'll post a diagram of how to tie the Duncan Loop/Uni-Knot for you non-anglers later, but here are some shots of the completed work.
First, showing the little knots (white, but gray on the last shot) securing the wire and aparratus to the plane at secure locations ( mouse "CLICK" the image to see an enlarged shot):                       



                             

 And now my Ember glowing brightly at night, first shot is the frontal view, with "Red on the Right for Return" , and a VERY bright white "landing" light facing forward. :
 And from behind, you see the blue and green on the right, and know she's going "away"

We'll see how long the flights are, but these tiny, four included diodes in total draw very little power according to Jeffrey of S.F. Design Solutions, so little that flight times are not shortened significantly. This is a well-constructed and user-friendly design, and I can tell it was well thought out. I'll give a report after a calm night of flying! 

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