Scale Soaring UK

The battery life is not capable of a long days flying, the tx will cope with a range of 6.6v to 8.4v and is served by 2X li on cells. There’s not a great deal of space, any suggestions for a capacity upgrade? 3S + bec?

M

On my Jeti DS16, the charging port can take a wide range of voltages (the actual charging intelligence being inside the Tx). As a result, if it needs a popup at the field, I just plug a 3s LiPo directly into the transmitter. I know nothing about FrSky but it would be worth checking whether it has a similar facility.

I have three sets of batteries with mine. Just change when needed.

Cliff, Have you extended the wire down into the battery compartment or do you take the back off to change packs?

There is no room for the single cells and the three pack holder, it would have to be a soldered together pack of li on with a bec to take the volts down to 6.6v-8.4v, if there is such a thing? The component shop do a variable voltage item but it’s too big.

Why is nothing ever easy!

M

Just checked the charger, it puts out 15v at 1amp. A 3S pack might work but how would you control the amps? And it’s not exactly secure holding a 3s pack whilst flying?

M

10S Express has a battery compartment that you put the batteries in like you would AA's or the like.

Mark, the amps will be automatically looked after by the intelligent battery charger function - unless limited anyway by the supply.
A Lithium chemistry charger will usually start in current limit mode until the off-charge voltage gets to max. volts (8.4 for a 2S LiPo), then changes to a fixed voltage charge, reducing the current.
You can usually see a charger backing off the charge current periodically whilst it reads the pack voltage, particularly on a NiMn charge, as the charger needs to determine when the voltage peak/slope reversal occurs to terminate charge at the correct point.

Cliff, Your Access model is different, mine has a 2S li on pack with the wire disappearing inside, hence the need to take the back off to change a pack. There is no room for a larger pack. Not enough room really for the wire either!

Changing batteries to 2off 18650 cells seems to be one of the changes made between the 10S & 10S Express!

Mark,
It looks as if the X10S battery can only be charged whilst the Tx is switched OFF - see warning in the instructions to make sure unit is switched off before charging.
There is a thread on the web about someone who didn’t like the small usb type charging port also - so did a very nice professional job in fitting a 5 pin fast charge connector on the back, just above the row of 3 under the rubber strip.
This allowed him to use a standard Li-on chemistry balance charger.

Apart from that, it looks as if you are limited to the internal battery life & Frsky charger - same as with my X12S

It does seem rather a negative step from a firm that gave us so much innovation?

I will try a connector and three cell li on battery holder with single cells and see if that’ll give me a charge in the field?

Thanks for your help.
M

The X10 has a pin connector for the charger to tx connection, anyone know what they are called and which would fit?

Ta.
M

Mark,
Not sure what your connector looks like.
One source I saw mentioned a USB-C for a small oval connector that a charger plugged into, but the following link seems to refer to a simpler connector. Maybe they changed between X10 & X10S.
https://forum.alofthobbies.com/index.ph ... oject.398/

Thanks Peter, the story is still moving on. I talked to T9 who have suggested another battery which is on their site and listed for the Horus, same mah, same 2S li on but made by a different manufacturer, it is listed as a ‘upgrade’ but is the same size and output. They say you need a cable to protect the battery but I can’t find out why the charger and tx couldn’t cope with it. The connector needs to be moved into the battery bay.

Not sure why there isn’t a balance lead used?

M

Mark,
Just checked the T9 site & the only X12 spare battery listed is a 2000mAHr type.
If that is the same as in my very early X12 Horus, then it is a NiMh as I changed mine via T9 a few months ago.
The Horus board & battery have an internal 3 pin 0.1” pitch JST-XH connector (outer 2 pins used), but some of the other connectors on the charge board are 2mm pitch JST.
Maybe they have changed the spares battery pack since then?

See. https://www.t9hobbysport.com/frsky-horu ... ck-upgrade

It may be my logic that doesn’t see this as an upgrade?

M

Mark,
It does appear to be the same marked voltage & capacity as the standard one, so unless the original doesn’t perform as per the label, it doesn’t look much of an upgrade.
As you say, there is no individual cell connection - just overall pack.
I wonder if that is just a carry over from the previous Horus X12 NiMn pack use, before going to the Express versions.
One of the downsides of Frsky producing constant changes to their range is the detailed hardware tweaks.
Peter