[RCSE] Lithium Camera Battery Concepts, was 8hour slope task battery

[Scobie Puchtler or Sarah Felstiner]

Responding to my use of non-rechargeable lithium cells as onboard power, Jim
wrote:

> 1.  I think the reason many of us use rechargeable cells is for cost
> consideration.  Maybe it is cheaper to just reuse the same ones.
> But buying
> chargers, etc. costs money too, in fact, it is more expensive to
> start with
> buying everything.  I wonder what would be a price comparison between the
> two would be?

A cost comparison would be interesting, but open to some accounting
interpretation, of course. The lithium cam-batt side of the equation is not
too complex. I figure I pay (very cheerfully) about $0.23 an hour for
onboard power, given that some of my models get only 12 hrs on the CR-2
packs (four servo hlg, for instance) and some get close to 40 hrs. on the
DL123 packs (two servo red herring, for instance). Hard to compare apples to
apples, though. How do you account for the cost of a fancy charger (some
guys have more than one!), a field battery, multiple packs per plane if you
want to fly while charging, the fact that rechargeables do eventually wear
out or get unreliable (not to mention field batteries), and the value of
time charging vs. time flying? It's a style thing, and a choice thing, not
probably accountable in any real practical way.

> 2. I don't see it as the perfect solution for all applications.

Me either, just all MY applications :)

> Just those
> where the battery is accessible.  When I build as foamy my battery is in
> there until I cut it out.

I remember you making this comment before, and if that is your rule about
foamies, then that's perfectly allright. But I guess I'll admit to being a
little mystified about why you seem so specifically energized about not
replacing foamie batteries. It's easy enough in most foamies to make the
battery removeable even if it's deep and surrounded by foam, and for most
folks, the kind of duration these batteries give means they'd be replacing
them once a month or even much less often, no great hardship in my opinion.

> Question, how do you know when you are getting to the end of your battery
> life?

I just wrote an answer (posted RCSE) to that same query a few minutes ago
which should make my very simple but effective technique clear enough. Let
me know if it brings up more questions, or if you want a copy re-posted to
you.

>I mean for those of us who stress about such a thing, the
> nice thing
> about rechargeable is that you can recharge until your paranoid heart's
> content.

Yeah, it is partly a style and personality thing.
For me, the 'nice thing' is specifically having many many flight hours where
I don't have to stress about my batteries AT ALL (other than tracking flight
time, but for me, that's an easy, reliable habit), or spend ANY time
charging at the field, EVER.  Even if you have two packs per plane, you will
still fly more when you don't have to bring a charger or use it at all. If
your flying time is precious to you, then not having to charge is an awfully
big bonus.

 All I
> am saying,
> is that for a lot of us, we don't like the idea of using batteries until
> they die.

No need to use them till they die. If you read my basic test technique,
you'll see that the whole point is to never use them that way. In fact, once
you have a benchmark for a given plane, you can be exactly as conservative
as YOU wish. It's only if you're determined to get every last second out of
a pack that you have to spend any time at all in worry mode.

Let me just reiterate that I totally get the concept that many many folks
are comfortable with rechargeables, very invested in the accompanying
technology, and not needing or wanting a new idea or system, and that is
fine.

I am (despite previous semi-fanatical meant-to-be-humorous comments to the
contrary) not actually out to change everyone's ways. But I think my style
of onboard power has an awful lot of plusses, and occasionally folks assume
problems with it that aren't really there. It offers a more equipment free,
task free environment in which to do the hobby and for me, that really
changed the whole picture and made it more viable to keep on flying rc
gliders at all. I started learning faster and having more fun. I started
taking my glider to places I never would have simply because it was so easy
to throw just a plane and a tx in the car, duffel bag, backpack, whatever. I
started taking 10 hour hikes with my HLG and flying in 6 different locations
on a mountain. The hobby really changed for me.

So I mean to share all that, in a spirit of real joy, with anyone who might
end up enjoying the hobby in a new way as a result.

Thanks for your thoughtful questions, Jim.

Lift,
Scobie in Seattle


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