Useful tips...

 This is the page for useful tips and tricks.
Some of them may ( or should) be already known, but speaking with beginners, I decided to install this page.
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Fast charging of tx - batteries?

 If you plug the charging cable to a quickcharger and the on your tx, you will see following:
Nothing is happening. Why ? A diode in the tx prevents the battery voltage to get to the charging plug, so the battery will not be recognized by the charger.
Some transmitters have a jumper inside to bypass this diode ( if yes, it is decribed in the manual...), otherwise:
A simple wire soldered over the diode and you can charge your tx faster!
Just open your tx, locate the diode and solder points just like shown on the photo ( here you can see inside a Futaba FC-16 ) and solder your wire there:

Warnings:
Disconnect the battery while soldering and take care of enough distance between the wire and the pcb !
charging current shouldnīt be selected higher than 1,5 A , in emergency cases 2 A can be used.
Always connect the charging cable first to the charger and THEN to your tx, disconnecting should be done in reverse way ( danger of shortcircuit).
And always: take care about the proper polarity! The diode, you bypassed now, had the task to protect against wrong polarity.

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What to do with dead servos?

 Most servos are dying due loosing some tooths in the gearing. In this case, you can either buy a cheap gear set ( available in hobby shops for most common servos), or use the servo in an other way.
No, I donīt mean to feed the trash.
Such servos could be used as a RC- switch for various functions, in my homemade heli, for instance, the searchlight is switched on and off by such a thing.
Building requires not more than 15 min. and a few parts, that can be purchased in any electronics shop for a few bucks, or are already at home.

Just the electronics and cables of the servo is used. It is fine, when the servo pot is already mounted on the pcb, otherwise it should be mounted there with CA- glue.
The new parts are soldered to the pcb instead of the motor and thatīs all. The pot is used to adjust the switching point of the circuit, and on the transmitter a normal switch should be used.

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Why to buy a pitch-gauge?

 Getting more into helicopters, you will never want to miss some useful tools. The pitch gauge is one of it.
Using this fine thing at home to set both blades to an equal pitch range, and you will never have to set blade tracking on the field!
There are different manufactors, they work all well and can be used on helicopters of (nearly) all sizes. I am using the one from Vario, you can see it on the pic.



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How to measure rotor- or prop rpm?

 One of those tools, you wouldnīt want to miss again : an optical rpm-meter. It is available from different manufacturers. Most of the devices are switchable to measure rpm on 2 or 3 bladed props ( or rotors) . On one side, thereīs an optical sensor, discovering differences in illumination. This sensor is holded into the direction of the prop or rotor and immediatly, the rpm can be read out on the display.
For measuring the hover rpm of a helicopter, it is helpful to have a second person, but if you donīt have one, you can fix the device on the tailboom using rubberbands. But: donīt forget to watch your helicopter while reading the diplay!!
Tools like this can be purchased for little money in your local hobby shop:



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Use at your own risk! I am not responsible for anything bad resulting from using these tips!