Smart-fly 14mz Power Expander

[Kiwi]

While Biff is the quickest gun in the East when it comes to props and cool things, he missed the boat on his little dandy. If you are into the FUTABA 14MZ scene then this is a must have to give as much security as possible with your onboard rx setup.

Fresh off the press, the latest creation from the Smart-Fly box of magic tricks is the 14MZ power-expander®. Specifically designed to work with the Futaba R5014 DPS receiver this promises to clean up the spaghetti mess in your large scale RC airplanes.

The unit is designed to plug and play with the Smart-Fly super regulator or turbo regulator. It can also be run directly from a 7.4 volt unregulated* power source if you are running industrial servos or HITEC 59xx series servos that are capable of the higher voltage. The onboard regulator feeds the rx with a clean and filtered 5 volts with a 2 amp current capacity for the rx feed only. This will allow you to run channel 13 and 14 (non proportional) as say ignition cutoff or choke. The other 12 proportional channels are feed from the rx through the onboard filters and amplifiers to get the cleanest possible signal to your servos. The power feed to the 12 proportional channels is totally independent of the feed to the RX. The advantages of this are many and well proven.


Of course if you want constant voltage then a turbo regulator is just what the doctor ordered. These regulators have a variable voltage adjustment up to 6.6 volts. That kicks those big servos along very nicely with a 10% increase in speed and torque.



If there is a demand there is also the chance that a new regulator capable of delivering 7.5 volts will be available. It will run roughly $20 more than the current super reg or turbo reg but will give those of you running the HITEC 59** series servos some 20% more omphf.
LED lamps indicate the battery supply is active and a third LED indicates the onboard regulator is delivering 5 volts to the receiver.

The power-expander® can handle loads up to 20 amps without any signal degradation and truly cleans up your installation. Surges or spikes of up to 40 amps can be handled.

This is great news and a step above the rest when it comes to keeping your valuable RC toys flying with the utmost safety and reliability and at a reasonable price.

The days of servo glitches and buzzing are gone with the use of this setup. No more extraneous commands to your servos caused by voltage fluctuations. With the Futaba 2048 PCM system coupled to the filtered and amplified signal from the Smart-Fly power-expander and regulator system your plane now goes where you point it.

Keep an eye out here for the results as we do static and live testing of this new hardware package. Release dates have not been confirmed but delivery is expected some time around APRIL 2006.

Stay tuned.

Kiwi

[YaKs are BeSt]

why would a reg that regulated less voltage, what I mean is 7.5 volts should be cheaper than 6.6 but oh well.

[Kiwi]

Whoops.

Makes more sense with the photos attached.

Kiwi

[Kiwi]

That has to be the fastest reply in history. I had not even got the second photo in and you were on that.

As for the price I am only guessing it is more to do with volume than capacity. I do not expect there will be a huge demand for the 7.6 volt system and volume drives pricing.

However I am sure Robert Richey will be only too willing to answer the question and I will get him on here as soon as I can rassle him up.

Kiwi

[Kiwi]

Ok

I have mounted this baby in my 2.3 Comp-Arf Extra. I have a few minor mods to do to the thing and it will be ready for a road test. I also intend to chop the antenna down to six inches and fit a base loaded Deans antenna.

All going to plan I will get all this done and ready to test early next week. The plan is to do some range testing out in the desert where two miles of clear unobstructed space is easily available. I have a frequency scanner that can also measure the signal receives at the rx so the results should be factual and not just a random sample.

Will keep you posted as I go with this as I go.

Kiwi

[3W.]

"If there is a demand there is also the chance that a new regulator capable of delivering 7.5 volts will be available."

Theres demand here for sure in me. im runnin TGs wanna see there full potential.

[Kiwi]

3W.

It will be a goer for sure if we can rouse up a few candidates.

I have a prototype that pumps out 7.6 volts but you need to feed it with an 11 volt pack. Then you get this horrible Ohms law kicking in and it limits the output power of the regulator to around 10 amps max. Basically it looses way too much potential as heat as opposed to deliverable current.

My thoughts on going to 7.6 or even 7.4 volts using a whopper sized Li-Ion pack indicates that will be the winning combo. Today you can get good light 5700 MaH packs for $60. They charge to 8.4 volts and have at least 2500 MaH on the top side of 7.5 volts. Put two of those babies together and you still have over 5000 MaH available before you hit your 7.5 volt minimum. Then even when you get that low you are still 0.5 volts over the minimum disharge voltage of the pack anyway so you can still fly with extreme confidence although your servo speed and torque will be diminishing.

Hope you get my idea here.

Kiwi

[3W.]

Yer the 2 - 7.4 volt kokam 3700 batts I use now when i charge them are up to 8.4 volts. They take over 12 flights to drop to 7.6 volts (I have onbord volts display) which is as low as im told to takem being lo poly. So a 7.4 reg would be perfect for 7.4 packs (no charge spikes for consistancy). U dont need to burn up 11.1 volts, move that bat weight into capacity.

I understand i might need to update my batts to bigger capacity li poly or li ion for more capacity cause i guess i wont get 12+ flights out of it any more with the servos delivering more. He should call it the 'BOT Power' Regulator...

[excelpoint]

i thought it was only the 5995 that could run on 7.4V not the 5955 which is only rated to 6V. The 5995 is the robotic servo not the one we generally use for aircraft applications.

[3W.]

	Quote: Originally Posted by excelpoint
	i thought it was only the 5995 that could run on 7.4V not the 5955 which is only rated to 6V. The 5995 is the robotic servo not the one we generally use for aircraft applications.

Model Engines aus agent said its ok from Hitec cause the packeging ratings are based on the min max volts we put safely through reciever if pluged in direct, also u can run the 5995 on 4.8 but not many bot systems are on it that low. Apparently that part of the servo is the same as the BOT one, only differnce is 180 pot travel, gear train stoppers and a replaceable bottom mount, but im gonna check into it more..

[3W.]

Hey kiwi, I have the current one which im going to put the 14 channel on but want to know if new one has different bolt pattern and does it need more room underneath.

[Kiwi]

3W,

You knocked the nail right on the head. The six volt (sorry sux volt KIWI) rating is nominal and assumes that standard 6 volt NiMh packs fully charged delivers 7.2 volts. Thus feeding 7.2 volts to the servos and keeping them at 7.2 is supposedly harmless as the servo can take that.

There are guys running systems with Li-Ion packs direct to the servos but that worries me as they are really at 8.4 volts when fully topped off. Even the rx's from Futaba and JR will handle that direct voltage but me being of Scottish ancestry suffer immense pain when I burn up an rx and dump a plane into the deck trying to save $60.

I am working with Robert very closely on this power expander and regulator setup to get it right before it gets released but if what I have tested so far to date carries out in the finals then this is a really kick arse setup.

I always get into trouble when boasting off about the improvements you get in flying by going to regulated voltages and seperating the rx from the heavy power loads and fluctuations you get when putting all that current through your rx stand alone setup. The issue is not the current loading on your rx as that never happens. The power bus to the servos in your RX is exactly that. A positive and negative rail to feed only the servos. The issues arise when you place a whacking great load on the battery packs in say a fast snap. The voltage to the rx drops with the load. That drop in voltage is seen by the rx (remember it feed off the bus in the rx) as a signal or pulse. That is what tells the servos what to do in the first place. So you get this vicious voltage drop that the rx interprets as a new signal from the tx. It moves the servos a tad, that hits the volts again and so it goes on.

That is a mechanics wauy of putting it OK. If there is a super brainy technico electrico out there that wants to define it with some better science please do as I am not claiming to be the brains on this.

Anyway heres the bottom line. In the past five years I have lost three giant scale planes. All to electrical stuff ups on the builders part, that is me. In the last three of those five I have never looked like putting one into the deck due to an unwanted glitch or some stray un intentional movement of the plane. Flying pattern the plane goes where I point it. Before it would at times have a mind of its own. (see one of the other posts where Matt or someone was having trouble with the antenna placement) Now it flys where I point it and with that I now fly a hell of a lot closer to the deck with the confidence it is not going to glitch and auto huck itself into the ground.

If you dont beleive me I truly dont mind, it takes all types and kinds to make this hobby. But if you want to eliminate your electrical worries then the Smart-Fly setup is a killer. I use the fiber optic ignition kill system. I use the power expanders and regulators. I use his switches (the regs are fail safe to on as well so if the switch goes titters on you you wont notice it)

Too me it is cheap insurance once you get into the four digit numbers on your planes. And again they fly better.

OK off my soap box.

Kiwi

[Kiwi]

	Quote: Originally Posted by 3W.
	Hey kiwi wheres the 7.4 to 5v reg situated on the expander. can u post a pick of bottom side if there is a buldge. I have the current one which im going to put the 14 channel on but want to know if new one has different bolt pattern and does it need more room underneath. Is there a reciever reg in the current unit i have now.

3W,

Same size and same foot print. I will post some more pics in the morning. I have fitted this one directly onto the mounts of the original PEX on my 2.3 to test it. It is the same size in every aspect.

Kiwi

[3W.]

There must be small amps to reciever so the reg dont need to be that big or heat sinked. I dont know figures but does the current expander regulate to 5v from 6v or 6.6 to reciever. I assumed this is how the reciever power is cleaned by being reduced from main fluctuating supply.

[Kiwi]

3dubya.

Sorry but time got the better of me last night and bed became a necessity.

The PEX you have has a reg in it to supply 5 volts to the rx the same as the new 14MZ board. There may be some minor differences but I can clarify that with Robert later.

Are you going to use a regulated power supply to the PEX or are you planning to go direct from your battery packs.

The new PEX's have the power switch built in so if you are using the batteries directly to the PEX there is no need for a seperate switch. If you are using a regulator you just remove the switch cable (it fail safes to on that way) and use the switch setup on the reg.

I will get some more pictures for you today and post them.

Kiwi