Seems to be a lot of interest in hlg golf about now. Here in the backwoods of WA and OR we do this without the expense of golf carts as are used in the less rugged parts of the country. I attended the PASS make a wish charity hlg golf contest last Sunday but had to get by with a less than optimum charger. Hlg golf is a bit hard on battery managment in that it seems to take about 50 percent longer to finish 9 holes than the normal battery life for a competitive hlg. Those that use CR2 lithium primary batteries should stop reading now. I used a less than perfect charger last weekend and managed a third place finish with my UpLink. After returning to Seattle, I decided to design a hlg golf charger. Two days of design and testing produced a charger that is cheap, light, and will allow you to fly a poly hlg all day as long as you have 30% of the time available for charging. I normally fly only 30 minutes per charge as that allows me to spec out for at least 10 minutes on the last flight. Why is the big thermal always on the toss after the timer goes off? I used a 6 cell KR600AE park flyer pack as the power source and a Radio Shack 272-1162 (KPR113) flashlight lamp bulb as the control element. The bulb is about $1.19 US. The battery pack should be in the $20 range or you may have it available from a park flyer electric. Build a jumper cable that mates with the battery pack on one end and with your hlg charge jack or battery connector on the other end. Cut one of the wires in the middle and solder the bulb in series. My UpLinks all use a 555 rcvr and 2 CS20 servos powered with a 110 mah NiCad pack. This simple charger works out to require about 1 minute of charge time for every three minutes of flight time. The 600 mah charge pack provides enough energy allow 3 hours of flight assuming the hlg battery is charged at the start of the day. You have a few visual clues to go with your stopwatch. The bulb is bright white if the source pack is full and the hlg pack is quite low. The bulb is dull orange if the flight pack is charged and the source pack is at 75 percent or more. When the source pack is more than half discharged the bulb will go out when the pack is only 2 thirds charged. It is still charging so wait a while longer. If you ever notice the bulb getting brighter, then you have gone past the peak. Stop recharging, the hlg battery is full. Tests with a 110 mah pack in the hlg and a 6 cell KR600AE Sanyo pack for the charger show that 3 minutes charge put 25 mah into the hlg pack, 10 minutes put 65 mah, and 15 minutes put 100 mah into the pack. The 600 mah source is capable of about 5 full charges to the 110 mah pack. Each charge takes a bit longer than the last but you have the bulb brightness to provide a guide The charger and power source weighs about 4.3 ounces and will fit in your pocket with no problem. A couple of extra 6 cell packs will keep you flying all day. Great for those hike up to the top of the slope situations. -- Dick Barker Seattle, WA - The Old Fart Glider Flyer - RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
