Smart-Fly Powerbox Sport Plus

[Pilot013]

Hi dear friends!

I would you like your suggestion regarding my hesitation what to chose. I am now building a Yak-54 86", DL-50 setup. I'll use these servos: 6 x Futaba S3305 analog servos. At 6.0V they provide about 9 kg/cm of torque. It is about 130oz/in I think. I am from Bulgaria, here we use metric system. However, I hope this is ok now. I'll use a 4kg JR servo for throttle. I'll also "feed" my system with 2 x 4000mah 7.4v Li-po with normal standard connectors (Futaba style). My receiver is Futaba R149DP. I was interested if this system will be secure and giving the necessary power to my servos without any problems for 3D flying ->

PowerSystem Sport Plus

http://smart-fly.com/Products/PowerS...ersystems.html

I see the connector jacks are the same, which means that I can run about 6 AMPs continuosily on both cables, coming from both batteries. I couldn't find anywhere what is the stall consumption of 3305's. I'll use dual 3305 on rudder and one on each surface (Elevators, ailerons). I read that the capability of the powersystem is 5 AMP cont. and 15 AMP momentary. Is this enough for flying hard 3D preventing all kind of failures due to lack of amperage and voltage to the servos?

If you have any other ideas or propositions about what could be used on this plane and setup, I am open to consider it and to discuss!

Waiting for your answer, dear flyers!

[Kiwi]

OK I am biased but what your looking at cant be beaten for the size plane your building.

Your servos in that application will never ever peak out anywhere near 6 amps and even if they did the system can easily handle a spike of 14 plus amps anyway. Your JR types plugs are constant rated at 3 amps but do start getting hot at 7.

The reason I love the SF sport series is its compact and clean.

90% of lost airplanes are done in due to bad wiring setups, servo extensions flopping around inside the plane etc etc. This series of expanders gives you a very good head start at getting your model cleanly setup and that is seriously a very big plus in model longevity.

[sweetpea]

If it was me, I'd spend the dough on the EQ6. Why.

For this application the servo matching isn't needed. But you know the next bird you get will need it. Also it comes with the optic kill which I recommend on any gas plane for safety to you and others at/near the field.

But I have the sport plus, the Sport, the EQ6 the EQ10 and I love em all.

[Pilot013]

Hi guys!

Thanks for your fast answers. Well now I am happy that I got your answers so fast. Well since I am from Bulgaria, I have a certain budget, so I think I'll buy the powersystem sport plus, which includes 2 in 1 - regulator and distribution system. I also hope that the voltage will not drop when using these 22 AWG wires on board. I'll try my best to secure everything. Also, I'll make a building thread, so I could get some useful suggestions. I think for the price of 199$ this is great product.

As to the ignition, I think in this package the optical kill switch is included. However, I still cannot figure out how it works. Can you explain a bit for me, regarding the small miracle unit. How is working. How do I make the system, so when clicking a knob the engine stops, without even having a choke servo....

Best regards, friends!

[sweetpea]

Very simple. I'll explain how I run mine. There are various ways to do it though.

The instruction on the unit explain it as well.

You will take a male to male jumper (included) and put one end in the top right slot that says IGN. The other end will go in the channel of your desire on the Power Expander. For example I plugged mine into slot H.

I then take the white signal wire from the PE that correlates to H and plug it into Aux 2 of the my RX.

On my radio, flipping the Aux 2 switch then activates or deactivates the Optic kill.


Next step...

Take the fiber optic cable (black) and push it into the Power Expander optic cable support. Make sure it goes in all the way and then screw the cap tight to hold it in place. Then run the cable near the front of your motor box. Somewhere up there mount the small ignition kill unit. Again plug the optic cable into that the same way. You may need to trim the cable. Now you can start hooking up your ignition. On the small ignition unit you will see ports to plug into. They are labeled. One will go to the battery and one goes to the ignition and one goes to an optional red LED. I run my battery into a charge switch and then the switch to the battery connection on the Power Expander. This enables me to use the switch to turn the planes ignition off, charge the battery from the switch and use the ignition kill to turn the motor off.

Then run the wire that says ignition to your ignition to your motor. And now you are done.

Now to verify. On the small ignition unit there is a green LED. This lights up when the ignition is getting power. If you chose to plug in the Red LED it will do the same. Reverse the channel on your radio to get the switch to operate the way you would like to kill the engine.

Hope this helps.

[exeter_acres]

Personally, I don't think the 3305's are any where near enough for a 50cc plane.......

[Pilot013]

Hi!

What do you mean by that? I suppose the plane will be flying normally with them? Well they are maybe not extremely fast - 0.2sec. I hope the Yak will be capable of making a torque roll, snaps, etc...
I have these servos from my previous Yak-54 Great Planes 25%. I think that 9kg/cm is enough, well I hope you can explain your opinion .

As for the Smart-Fly Powersystem Sport plus I think it will be better to buy it from UK ->

http://www.freestyle-rc.co.uk/_shop/...STEMSPLUS.aspx

The price is pretty much the same like in USA, but it will come to Bulgaria faster and I won't have to pay taxes and VAT also.

An hour ago we discussed with a friend of mine about buying the unit. I am still convinced to buy this product, since I want to be sure that my aircraft will be handling well and will be secured. He told me that he would not buy such unit since it is not so necessary. He has a 84" Cap 232 with a ZDZ 40 engine. He uses S3305 also, but has 1 MG995 on the rudder. So finally he has 4 Futaba S3305 and 1 MG995 Pro. He is using just a 5.0V ~ 6.6V reg which can handle cont. 8 amps. Everything else is plugged directly into the receiver. I was just wondering how does this compares with the Smart-Fly. Since I am not very very familiar complex RC electronic systems, I hope you can tell some more tips and PRO's when using the Smart-Fly.

In fact my colleague has never had any problems with his CAP 232 for 2 years now. He has a 9 channel JR receiver. I don't think there is a big difference between JR and Futaba receivers as to amperage strengh.

Well I am still planning to buy the Smart-fly unit for Christmas. I'll put 2 x 4 Amps switches. I don't plan to use a fail-safe switch. I'll just use these 2 switches for both Lipo batteries.

Best regards, waiting for your answer!

[sweetpea]

With 50cc size planes the debate is ongoing whether you need it or not. Personally I wouldn't waste my money on one for 50cc. You have no ganged servos to worry about. As long as your throw isn't maxed out causing an amp draw the RX will handle it just fine.

But if you move to 100cc and up the added features help when you start having servos that could fight against one another and drain power.

If you got the money then get it. You will use it later for sure on larger planes.

Just so you know I fly my 100cc planes without the PE's. I only recently had some extra money and decided to outfit them with it because I could. I never had an issue pushing me into that spot though.

[Imac Kiwi]

From your 1st post you are running 2 Lipo packs. By the time you purchase regulators and some kind of Batt share or Backer system, you have just about paid for the Power System.

You get the advantage of the Optical Ign Cut-off, Deans ultra connecters for power in, and interference protection for not much more in one compact unit.

[Kiwi]

If your friend has an MG995 on the rudder then wish him luck.

I never get into brand wars but that MG995 servo is the worst most unreliable piece of dirt you could ever want to mount in your airplane. Unless Tower Pro have re engineered the entire servo its a time bomb waiting to fail.

As for the debate about if you need it or not that's a personal thing. Given that you will have dual battery redundancy, filtered and amplified signal to your servos, stable servo voltage as opposed to starting off with 7.2 and ending up with 6.0 for the day, and the simple yet safe way to kill your engine at any time. You see the argument is a moot point.

Oh I forgot fail safe battery switching as well.

You see it has a whole lot of plus's that the other system does not have.

Its like a radio in your car, you don't need it to get from A to B but heck its nice to have it when you want it.

Yes you dont have to have it to be able to fly but your plane setup and safety is way ahead of your friends.

[Pilot013]

Hi dear friends!

Thanks for your great answers! Well finally I ended up - I am buying it before New Year
I still cannot figure out the role of Fail-safe. I have noticed that I have it in my Futaba 9CAP. As far as I have read this is another type of fail-safe which puts the servos in a certain position if the connection between the transmitter and the receiver is gone. What about the fail-safe switch? Do I need to put one? I have such one, which came with my previous 8 AMP regulator. It is a standard one, which I think will be ok for 50cc. Hope you can help a bit on that...

I would like to direct the attention to the servos. I made a small research and read carefully the TBM suggestions about the different servo setups. There was written that for such an aircraft a 5 x Hitec 5955TG are the ultimate performers. Unfortunately, they are too expensive for me and I don't want to put more money, because till this moment I have bought a new engine, new aircraft and now a Smart-fly Powersystem.

I want your opinion about the way the plane will handle with 3305's. I am pretty new to 3D flying but this is my final target, so I'd like to become good 3D Flyer. I hope that it will be enough. I remember my GP Yak-54 was flying well with them. I don't have much experience, I haven't seen it flying with other servos, but what can we do now...

Best regards! Merry Christmas!

[exeter_acres]

Personally I would not put those servos in a gas airplane.... They are fine servos, just not enough for this application...