Adding a beeper to a plane's forth receiver channel

I just lost my $160.00 GWS Slow Stick in a cornfield and want to prevent this from happening again. I know that there are some very light weight beepers that are available, assuming that I can get one, how do I hook up the signal line of the receiver to turn this beeper on? (The beeper will only have +/- power-lines and no signal line).

The idea is that I would work the rudder (my rudder is hooked to my aileron line) after a crash and the plane would beep indicating its location. I would be very careful to hook the beeper up such that the power and signal lines to the beeper could survive most crashes. Alternatively I could simply keep the beeper beeping all the time at one second intervals.

Reply to
Peter Olcott
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Sounds like something like the Air Alert would be what you need. Light and cheap:

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Reply to
David Hopper

Ypu might also consider .

Hth,

Reply to
Boo

That is a good idea, thanks.

Reply to
Peter Olcott

That is a good idea, I am surprised to see that the battery for the tag lasts for nine months, when it is essentially transmitting all the time, it must have a hibernate mode. Also the tag only weights 5 grams and the whole system with two tags only costs $80.00. The range of 100 yards is probably sufficient, in any case one could quickly hone in on where-ever the plane is, even if out of range, simply continue to search a wider radius until the signal is detected.

As usual I came up with my own solution while I was waiting. I got a 120 decibel siren from radio shack for six bucks, it draws 150 ma, and weighs about an ounce, this will reduce my fifteen minute flight time by 20 seconds. I will simply keep it blaring the whole time. I tested it, and it is very very loud, the range might be 1/2 mile.

Reply to
Peter Olcott

Hmmm Just lost my S/Stick which I believe is in a neighbours garden. It is a holiday weekend so will have to wait for one particular neighbour to return. Being a newbie myself the experienced lad tells me the stock motor and 2c lipo makes the aircraft too light and that a brushless motor and bigger battery will make it more usable. Walking across one extra field will help :0) If it is found I hope the rain has not ruined the receiver (DX6i combo). Following the thread with interest.. Rog (learning the hard way)

Reply to
himself

Your Li-Po may ruin also, discharge too much is bad. Is the garden guarded by an attack dog? mk

Reply to
MJKolodziej

Hi mk Cannot say for certain the Stick is there, very noisy dogs both sides, hopefully I will gain access tomorrow. That was my 4th flight, record so far 2 crashes, 2 good landings. will keep away from the villge in future. Rog

Reply to
himself

|>how do I hook up the signal line of the receiver to turn this beeper |>on? (The beeper will only have +/- power-lines and no signal line).

No need to worry about it.

| Sounds like something like the Air Alert would be what you need. Light | and cheap: | |

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Yup. These work perfectly. I've put one into most of my planes, and they've saved me a lot of grief. Nothing sucks more than going down to the local slope with some others, then flying around, and then you find that your plane won't listen to your controls, then you realize that the plane you were `flying' wasn't your plane at all, and now you've no clue where your plane is -- it probably crashed a minute ago, somewhere ...

The alarms aren't really *that* loud, but you can hear them from a few hundred feet if it's quiet, and 50 or so feet if it's really windy. And even 50 feet is a HUGE improvement -- it's amazing how easy it is to hide even an 8 foot wing span plane in some brush or trees so that you'll never find it, even if it's only 10 feet away. Without the alarm, I've even had to resort to aerial photography to find missing planes. Like this case --

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In general, these alarms are triggered by no signal reaching the servo plug they're plugged into. THe Hobbico one is also triggered by the that servo being idle for more than a few minutes, which means that it'll work with all RXs. (Some RXs always send a valid signal to the servos, even if the TX is turned off.) The downside is that while your RX is on, you need to wiggle the sticks every minute or two or the alarm will trigger. Of course, that will also warn you if you left the plane on when you put it in the car, so it's not all bad.

Reply to
Doug McLaren

I use Loc8tor.com. It uses its own battery -- the radio receiver battery is often thrown from the model during a crash -- which defeats the purpose.

Reply to
Lee B.

Those work great. I lost a Bowman's Hobby Scooter slope combat plane to the scrub oak up at Grass Mountain. In this case I didn't have one of these installed and since I was on a 50mhz channel, turning off my tx and listening for the servos' jitter doesn't work because there is little noise on that band and the servos don't jitter with no tx signal. I promptly put air alerts in my other slopers and have located one by following the no input beeps.

Reply to
fubar1

Try

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They have one for $20USD that works well with JR PCM, which is what I use. After I lost a 2M EP glider I won't fly without a lost plane locator anymore. The field is surrounded by a swamp with tall cattails. Bill K.

Reply to
bill kolofa

Lost my brand new Robbe Arcus in a large dense corn field. No hope of finding it.

..until I remembered that the newfangled brushless controller used starts to beep emergency signals when a reliable TX signal is unavailable. (and blocks the motor from operating due to unreliable signal)

Switched off the TX, and the plane was soon found. Undamaged!

Amazing the level of sound that can be derived from a brushless in "beep" mode :-)

(With older controllers, it may be a very bad idea to shut down the TX however!)

Reply to
Blarp

Yes, just flipping the TX control arms can make enough servo "clicking" noises to help locate a lost plane. Don't ask how I know that....ha ha

My Hong Kong beeper alarms are enroute....My temporary solution is a $3.50 buzzer from Radio Shack that screams a high pitched noise all of the while it is plugged in. Only draws 10 mah. You cannot hear it all that much when the plane is up high and flying. It is temporary, until my order arrives.

We had another guy drop his 40 sized plane into some soybeans yesterday. It took at least twenty minutes to locate that large plane in three foot high plants! Those plants are a bear to march through, since they grab your feet. The plants even untied my shoelaces while I was in the field!

After seeing this same fellow drop the his plane twice into corn or soybeans in three days ( he's in his upper 80's and his eyesight is failing)..I think the club ought to strongly request him to get some beepers. regards, rich

Reply to
richg99

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