The Best Solder to Use for RC Electronics
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
Solder is solder, right? I mean you heat it up, it melts, you remove heat and it hardens. There’s not much more to it than that. However, if you’ve spent any amount of time soldering you’ll soon realize that not all solders are created equal. There are hundreds of different combinations of alloys, wire sizes and flux types to choose from that can greatly affect your soldering experience. Solder Alloys Solder comes in a variety of different alloys. Every alloy has a different composition of metals in it. The 2 main categories of alloys are lead solders and lead-free solders. Until a decade or s ..read more
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Number of Drones Registered with FAA – State/County Maps
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
I recently found out that information about the number of drones that are registered with the FAA is freely available at this website. The FAA calls them Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) but most people just say “drones.” I spent some time going through the data, looking at the town I live in and places near me. The data is pretty interesting. It is divided by hobbyist/non-hobbyist and then lists the number of drones that are registered in every town in the United States (not just states, but also places like Puerto Rico, American Samoa and military bases). After looking at this massive ..read more
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Drone (Quadcopter) Frame Sizes – Mini, Micro, Nano
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
I have good news and bad news. First, the good news. It is very simple to understand quadcopter frame sizes. It’s a single measurement that is standard for any quadcopter and it gives a good number to compare the size of drones. More on that below … Now, the bad news. Things get more complicated when people start using the terms mini, micro, nano, etc. People seem to just use the terms however they want. In this article I’m going to describe how to measure frame sizes, what different frame sizes are used for, and what some of the various terms mean. Make sure you read to the end where I give s ..read more
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Portable Lipo Charging Station: How to Charge in the Field
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
When I started this hobby the thing that shocked me the most was how short flight times were. 5 minutes??? Sometimes more. Sometime less. A Phantom may get closer to a half hour. To make matters worse, most people drive to a park or a field where they don’t have access to electricity to recharge their batteries. Yes, you can buy a couple dozen batteries so you can get a couple hours of flying in. But what many people do is they make portable charging stations so they can stay out in the field. Car Batteries A lot of DC input lipo chargers will work at 12 V. For example, the SKYRC iMAX B6AC V2 ..read more
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Top 10 Best Drone Books for 2017
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
I’ve been working my way through as many books on drones and quadcopters that I can. The quality of these are hit or miss. Some are very good and some are just horrible. Most good information in this hobby is still found in forums and Youtube videos. The problem with that, though, is that the information is scattered all over the place. A good book, if you can find one, takes care of that problem.  Below are some of the top books about drones that I’ve found. Getting Started with Hobby Quadcopters and Drones by Craig Issod This book is meant for beginners and it does a good job going over ..read more
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Quadcopter Communication Protocols – Overview
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
There is a lot of confusion out there about RC protocols. Why? Partly because the hobby changes so fast that it’s hard to keep up with everything. It’s also partly because there are just so many of them. Quadcopters are made up of many different parts and all those parts have to communicate with each other. A protocol is the “language” that the parts use to talk to each other. But here’s the problem: All the parts use different protocols. The protocol that the transmitter uses to communicate with the receiver is different than the protocol that the receiver uses to communicate with the flight ..read more
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Puffed Lipo Battery: Why they swell and what to do about it
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
Anybody who uses lipos will eventually encounter a puffy or swollen battery. And the first question that inevitably comes up is “What should I do?” This post is all about what causes that swelling and what to do when it happens to one of your lipos. Are Swollen Lipo Batteries Dangerous? Yes. Next question. Seriously, there are so many examples of puffed batteries that start on fire that this shouldn’t even be a question. That doesn’t mean that every battery that is puffed is going to explode as soon as you use it but it does mean that a high enough percentage of them are going to be dangerous ..read more
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RC Lipo Battery Guide: Explanation, Safety, and Care
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
Without LiPo batteries, quadcopters and drones probably wouldn’t exist. Why? Because no other battery provides as much energy while delivering high amounts of current in so small of a package.  This means: longer flight times, better maneuverability, and faster flying.  In other words, more fun. However, there is a lot of confusion about what terms mean, how to properly charge lithium polymer batteries, and how to be safe when using batteries. In this lipo battery guide, you’ll get: An in-depth explanation of battery specs – Nominal and cut-off voltage, capacity, C-rating, inte ..read more
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Brushless Motor Kv Constant Explained
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
The most common description of a motor’s Kv constant is that it is the ratio of the unloaded speed to the applied voltage of a motor.  Or RPM per volt, as many people say. The main problem with that description is that it is wrong.  The other problem with that description is that it seems right. And when something seems right but is actually wrong, it tends to cause a lot of confusion. Why is it wrong?  That’s a long story (which I’m about to tell).  But first, we need to know a little bit about brushed motors and back-emf. Brushed Motor Model I’ve explained the very basics ..read more
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23 Best Quadcopter Blogs, Forums and YouTube Channels
LearningRC
by Eric
3y ago
When you are first starting out in this hobby, you need to rely on internet sources a lot. Why? Because the manuals that come with transmitters and flight controllers and motors and ESC’s are either non-existant or unreadable.  I’ve come to accept that. So when you have questions, the easiest thing to do is to ask Google.  Chances are somebody out there has already asked the same question or had the same problem.  And if they haven’t there are online communities where you can ask your own questions. The following websites are some of the best places I’ve found (so far) that give ..read more
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