One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Waggly tails
Martin
Posts: 744
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 14:11
Location: Warwickshire

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by Martin »

Thanks Ron. :D Private message your address and I'll send you a free one, ready to go. I'm making a batch of three right now as Shaun wants one for his museum / collection, and I'm going to give the last one to Mike (Ralkbirdy) to force him to build something for it. :lol:

If anyone else wants a complete one, let me know here or by PM, and if there's any interest I'll make a few more. Now that my stock of three motor/gearboxes is used up, I'll have to order some parts to make the next batch and find somewhere I can buy some springs as I'll have used up all the ones from my old broken transmitters :lol:

The parts are pretty cheap though so I think £10 each, including shipping will be about right if anyone else wants one.
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RON
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Joined: 12 Jun 2017, 15:09
Location: Stokesley North Yorkshire

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by RON »

Martin
That’s very kind of you.
I’ll put my thinking cap on what to build.
I’ve got a couple of ideas

PM sent.
Thanks again Martin.

Ron.
G0MBV Class A Radio Amateur, North Yorkshire
Mosfets
Posts: 60
Joined: 18 Feb 2018, 20:14

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by Mosfets »

Hi Mike

For a spring assortment you could try these from CPC.

http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d01893/ ... st=Springs

Ade
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RON
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Location: Stokesley North Yorkshire

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by RON »

Thanks Ade
Just found same set in Farnel for less
Ron

http://uk.farnell.com/duratool/d01893/s ... assortment
G0MBV Class A Radio Amateur, North Yorkshire
Mosfets
Posts: 60
Joined: 18 Feb 2018, 20:14

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by Mosfets »

Good call Ron, usually their prices are the other way around and CPC the cheapest , seems crazy when they are basically the same company.

Ade
Martin
Posts: 744
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 14:11
Location: Warwickshire

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by Martin »

When I got back from flying today, I've finally finished off the units for Shaun and Ron. Sorry for the delay guys, they'll be posted out on Monday.

I made a small change to the mount so that a bent pin can be pushed through a hole and there is a 'hook' or 'latch' to clip the pin behind to stop it falling out. I updated the image of that mount, plus the stl files and openScad files in the post on the first page where I originally put them.

click picture for bigger view

ronsGG.jpg

You can see the new little pin in the photo. This is the one that I'm sending to Ron, and Shaun's is pretty much identical. The blue wire is the rudder input from your receiver, the violet wire the elevator input, and the grey wire the auxiliary input that allows you to switch the pulsing off from your transmitter and allows you to control the percentage of time that the motor is powered.

I've been thinking of modifying the sketch so that if the 'aux' wire isn't connected to the receiver then the unit will automatically default to some sensible preset power level. This will allow the unit to be used with simpler transmitters (maybe vintage ones) that don't have an 'aux' channel that can be operated by a switch.

The red and black wires are for connection to the battery - red is the positive, of course. The unit seems to work fine from 5V and doesn't draw much current so you could perhaps connect these to the receiver and use the normal 5V receiver supply from the ESC BEC - but I connected mine to the same two cell battery that powers the plane. It might be okay on three cells but the Arduino input is only officially specified up to 12V and fully charged three cell is 12.6V.

As there are only three input 'signal' wires from the receiver to the Arduino, you must ensure that the Arduino ground (black wire mentioned above) is connected to the same ground level as your receiver. If it's an electric plane with the receiver powered by the ESC BEC in the usual way then this will automatically be the case.

Near the top of the photo you can see the clamp screw that attaches the coupler to the drive wire that goes to the rudder (and maybe elevator) on your plane. You just slide a piece of thin (16 or 20 swg gauge or similar) straight piano wire into the hole and tighten up the screw to secure it. It's useful if you have access to the screw somehow on your assembled plane as this allows you to adjust the centre position of the 'waggling' without having to bend the wire. It's also a good idea to put one or two short lengths of plastic tube supports for the drive wire part way along its length (mounting all the supports with light fixings to the fuselage so they're in a straight line) - that stops the drive wire from whipping around inside the fuselage when it's oscillating.
belli
Posts: 39
Joined: 19 Feb 2018, 19:19

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by belli »

Hi Martin,

I have just connected mine up and have a few questions:
I am not sure if my Arduino Pro Mini is 8MHz or 16MHz, does it make a difference? I'm assuming mine is 16MHZ as it is a 5V unit.
I tried at first with what looks like a Pro Mini but has a USB connection, it identifies as a Leonardo according to the IDE, the sketch won't compile, it this a pin conflict issue? A nano compiled and seemed to run fine.
Is there a way to 'hard code' the frequency? I have an Adams actuator which oscillates very nicely but seems happier at the higher frequency offered by 'full up elevator'. It would be nice to have the option to set the frequency in the software for a 'single channel' only option. I guess the PWM could be hard coded too as per your suggestion above.

Thank you for a great project! I am busy with an airframe, probably a Sniffer as I have just always like the cute stubby nose... I'll probably post the laser files here if anybody else is interested.

Cheers,
jmendoza
Posts: 167
Joined: 18 Feb 2018, 23:07

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by jmendoza »

Look at the crystal on your board, it is marked either 8.000 or 16.000. Be sure to select the correct version under the tools menu when selecting your board and be sure to select the right processor version, voltage and frequency as it does make a difference. Be sure your programmer is set to the correct voltage as well. I have used both the 3.3V 8MHz and the 5V 16MHz versions with equal success.

Jay
belli
Posts: 39
Joined: 19 Feb 2018, 19:19

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by belli »

Hi Jay,

My voltage regulator is labelled S8PE and the oscillator is labelled A.y I'm guessing that it's 5V as if I power the RAW pin then I get 5V on the Vcc. It seems most 5V boards are 16MHz. There are little scratch blocks on the rear for voltage and frequency but none of them are marked.

Cheers,
jmendoza
Posts: 167
Joined: 18 Feb 2018, 23:07

Re: One off Galloping Ghost system, for Pulstar

Post by jmendoza »

I checked the tools menu and there is only 3.3V/8MHz and 5V/16MHz selections available for the AT Mega 328P, so if you have 5V it must be 16MHz. Same goes for the AT Mega 128P, but I only use the 328P versions.

Try loading Blink, if it works, you are home free.
Jay
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