Simprop SAM & SAM Gold

[PaulJ]

I think the reason the pots give problems is the fact that they are open, wire-wound pots and prone to dust and muck getting in there and just plain wearing out.......

I only used mine for about three seasons and it was working fine when I stopped using it. But now, 30 something years on they are a bit jittery. But to be fair, I haven't given them serious attention yet......

Paul

[stuart mackay]

Strange all this pot wearing out business, as it is a new one on me and back in the day when they were being intensively flown, I never heard of problems that Bruno refers to. As Paul says, maybe operating in a dusty environment could accelerate issues, or that folks continued using them way past their use-by date, but it is a new one on me and I have never experienced any issues with Simprop sticks.
In fact I was talking to one of my RAF buddies today from Guetersloh and he still has his PCM and had my System 90 from me, when I was having a mad clear out moment, and he cant recall any issues back in period.

[stuart mackay]

Hi Mike, your collection sounds pretty comprehensive.
For those who dont know what a Digi4 looks like, see the link below for all Simprop Txs produced between 1964 and 1996.
Love to see pics of your collection too, Mike!
Knocked one of these up this week to give a the Simprops Tx a flight test after nearly thirty years!.
Cheers
Stuart

Hi Stuart

Thanks for your really interesting post, I now know who to ask when I need some information on Simprop sets!

I'm quite lucky as I have 8 Simprop sets in my collection, a couple of which I think were built under licence by Mainstream in the UK. At great expense, I bought a Digi 4 on eBay.de because I just loved the look of the handles at the sides, but found that as I'm a "finger and thumb" flyer, I'd have never been able to use it. I also have a Super 4, Alpha 2007 and 2x Alpha 3, SSM and 2x SAM FM. Unfortunately, I've only got flight packs for the 2007, SSM and SAM, but you do see them come up on ebay.de from time to time, so maybe I should place a bid or two.

I've powered up my Simprop SAM this afternoon and it worked fine (once I could find a suitable battery), but is a "low hours" set as it went into my collection in the late '80s. My other SAM is well " beaten up" and was bought for spares.

Mike

Stuart's Super 60

[Martin]

Nice looking Super 60. Antique solartex? Prop looks a bit small for that laser though, and the glazing is remarkably clear!

[F2B]

I repaired my SSM several times by replacing the pot strips.

... I started to convert to 2.4 a while back but I got a bit bogged down with suspect pot tracks ...

Any idea why Simprop were prone to pot problems?
Between us we've done hundreds of conversions with 50-year-old-pots...

Not really.
I've only refurbished 3 SSMs, at a time our Simprop repairman kindly sent me some resistor tracks.
He's been out of the picture for well over 20 years now and my stash is gone.
The problems were very rare anyway, but given the years that have passed since it might look as it was more frequent than in reality. I also counted in a set of a club mate, that suffered from the same problem.
About my own SSM contest 8 special, all is still working, but the elevator pot has gone a bit scratchy, often a sign that the resistor wire is about to fail.
More a case of being better safe than sorry.

[stuart mackay]

Nice looking Super 60. Antique solartex? Prop looks a bit small for that laser though, and the glazing is remarkably clear!

Yep, and it is an old Laser 45, cant remember what prop I had on it when I last flew it 30 years ago, (recommendations anyone?); so just screwed something propeller like on the front, so folks didnt notice the glazing!

[stuart mackay]

I repaired my SSM several times by replacing the pot strips.

... I started to convert to 2.4 a while back but I got a bit bogged down with suspect pot tracks ...

Any idea why Simprop were prone to pot problems?
Between us we've done hundreds of conversions with 50-year-old-pots...

Not really.
I've only refurbished 3 SSMs, at a time our Simprop repairman kindly sent me some resistor tracks.
He's been out of the picture for well over 20 years now and my stash is gone.
The problems were very rare anyway, but given the years that have passed since it might look as it was more frequent than in reality. I also counted in a set of a club mate, that suffered from the same problem.
About my own SSM contest 8 special, all is still working, but the elevator pot has gone a bit scratchy, often a sign that the resistor wire is about to fail.
More a case of being better safe than sorry.

As I suspected, Simprop have responded with "we dont have spares for those anymore"!, so looks like further investigation might be required to get Bruno's SSM airborne again!

[Mike_K]

Hi Mike, your collection sounds pretty comprehensive.
For those who dont know what a Digi4 looks like, see the link below for all Simprop Txs produced between 1964 and 1996.
Love to see pics of your collection too, Mike!

Cheers
Stuart

PM sent.

Mike

[tiptipflyer]

I have some old Simprop booklets to share with you.

SimpropDigiProspekt.pdf

(1.16 MiB) Downloaded 155 times

SimpropDigiProspekt2.pdf

(1.09 MiB) Downloaded 171 times

If there is interest to see more dedtailed ones, I have two more.
If you like to see my converted Digi4, it is posted here:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=134
Cheers
Frank

[stuart mackay]

I have some old Simprop booklets to share with you.
SimpropDigiProspekt.pdfSimpropDigiProspekt2.pdf
If there is interest to see more dedtailed ones, I have two more.
If you like to see my converted Digi4, it is posted here:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=134
Cheers
Frank

Fantastic Frank, keep them coming!!
Lovely to see photos of my old friends Fritz Bosch (left) and Werner Kaeseberg (2nd left) on page 3 of the prospekt2 and also Werner holding his world record holding speed model at RAF Guetersloh on page 5!

Do you have any information on the Super1, single channel proportional?
I have seen one but know nothing about it.