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Tail Lights!! Afterburners~~~

Discussion in 'CineStar FAQ - Tips and Tricks' started by Tim Joy, May 8, 2014.

  1. Tim Joy

    Tim Joy Active Member

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    I found some 12v LED brake light bulb replacements and mounted them to the rear boom, but I couldn't see it very well and then during a job it broke off. So I decided to up the game.
    Ingredients-
    2x old-skool flashlights from the dollar store, with good reflectors.
    2x 12v LED brakelight bulb replacements. Like These
    Hot glue and wire and zipties of course.

    Take out the reflectors.
    Unsolder the base from the LEDS so they have a flat bottom, and solder the power wires on, so they exit down the center.
    Hot glue them in the flat part of the reflector.
    I used the screw cap that would hold the flashlight bulb in place and then made a hot glue wall that forms to the 25mm boom.
    Then zip tie it all on the boom.
    I had to saw the edges of the reflectors where they meet, and put some hot glue to hold them together, but it ended up very solid.
    They look like bug eyes and even in bright sun I can always see them. I was pretty amazed. The viewing angle is very large too. Even at 90 degrees I could see them well. At night they look like afterburners. Hope you find this helpful!
     

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  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Now all you need is a loudspeaker so you can play messages like: "Come outside with your hands up!"

    How much current do those babies pull?

    Andy.
     
  3. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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  4. Tim Joy

    Tim Joy Active Member

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    Or, "take off your top!"
    I don't know how much they draw but probably the same as a good strip of lights.
     
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  5. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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    I feel the need the need for speed!

     
  6. Jason Herring

    Jason Herring Member

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    Steve,
    I really like your lights you use, do they work well during the day? Do they take away any flight time?
     
  7. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    It’s hard to say if they do, as I’ve always run them, but I don’t think they take more than about 100mAh during a 5-10 minute flight.
    They work pretty well, but I discovered something interesting this week, which is that they don’t work very well at eye level or below. I was flying in a valley where I was above the copter, and I lost orientation when the copter was in certain positions. I may have to re-think my setup to cover that possibility.
     
  8. Tristan Twisselman

    Tristan Twisselman Active Member

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    I put "headlights" and "Tail lights" on my X8 when i built it. I like having them as well as the ones on the boom and it helps because they don't flare into the camera like the ones on the booms can at night. Here you can see the square set of led for the front, the rear has the same thing but red. Oh, and I have a little bit bigger set of LED on this copter. Ill start my own thread later about it ;)
     

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  9. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    In addition to LEDs on booms 4 and 6 of a CS8, I use these on booms 3 and 7, out by the motors: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006Z7QTKM...vptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4d7ublxeks_e

    The red ones point forwards, the white backwards. The red ones are not as easily visible in full sunlight.

    You can rotate them around the boom to the appropriate angle for the flying you're going to do -- so if you anticipate that the copter will be below you (e.g when you're on the top of a bluff/cliff) you can tilt them up.

    But as I fly FPV with Cinemizers, I can maintain orientation using the compass and the terrain. If I lose FPV (which hasn't happened in reality yet -- but which I've practiced), I climb vertically to safe altitude (that is, where the copter is visible against the sky) on AH and PH, and then either regain orientation visually or enable Come Home (aka "DJI Go Home" ;) )

    Andy.
     

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