Light up canopy

[honwal]

I am going to light up canopy on 200srx, I will be using 3.7v volt power source jst connectors and led lights, stuck to under side of canopy, battery piggy backed to heli battery, is this a good way to do it , or is there a better method which is tried and tested,

thanks

[Grumpy]

Why would you want to do that?.. night flying?

[honwal]

Why would you want to do that?.. night flying?

more like as light fads.

[tomatwalden]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

[honwal]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!

I thought my set up didn't seem that bad lol

[Grumpy]

more like as light fads.

Then i'd say don't bother. It's just adding weight and stuff to potentially go wrong for no purpose other than to make your heli look like Christmas tree decoration.

[tomatwalden]

I thought my set up didn't seem that bad lol

Flying when the late fades is really difficult. If you have a full night setup with LED blades etc. then fair enough. Otherwise, I think the bright, lit-up canopy will just make the disc harder to see ...

You may find it works for you, but personally when the light fades, I head to the pub!

[myxiplx]

It can definitely be done on a smaller helicopter, I built a night fly mCPX BL a while back which included canopy and tail lights, plus LEDs on the blades, that's a truly tiny helicopter but it still flew great.

Weight is your enemy on these small models though, so for the main canopy, what you really want to do is tap into the main LiPo flight pack rather than adding an extra battery. The LEDs draw bugger all power so it doesn't affect the flight time by more than a few seconds. On my mCPX I tapped into the main board, but on the 200SRX I think you're using 3S packs, so the easiest thing would be to make yourself a socket that uses the balance lead off the battery. To keep things even I'd probably use it for 3 LEDs, two under the canopy and another on the tail, with each LED powered by a separate cell of your flight pack.

If it helps, this was how I lit the canopy on my mCPX BL:
Tapping into main board to power a tail LED? - HeliFreak

But if you're looking for visibility at night I strongly recommend building some LED night blades, they are a huge help with visibility and even help you orient the helicopter in the daytime. When I build the mCPX blades I was still learning and actually preferred using the night blades since it made is really clear which side of the disc I was seeing. I made a newer set for my Trex 250 which also worked really well.

My mCPX BL night blades: Building mCPX BL night blades - HeliFreak
And my Trex 250 blades: It's that time of year again... Trex 250 night fly projecct - HeliFreak

[Euclid]

I've been thinking of putting 2 LEDs, one red one white, on my 200's skids for a while now to aid orientation (carp eyesight). 2 LEDs, 2 resistors, a bit of heat shrink and fed from the battery balance plug. Neglegable weight and seconds off the 9min+ flight times, why can't it work?

[myxiplx]

It'd work just fine, easy enough to make, and not expensive to try.

On my mCPX I did find that the LEDs in the canopy and tail didn't help that much, it was the blades that really made a difference. But those lower lights are great landing lights in the dark, so would be useful for winter :-)

[honwal]

It can definitely be done on a smaller helicopter, I built a night fly mCPX BL a while back which included canopy and tail lights, plus LEDs on the blades, that's a truly tiny helicopter but it still flew great.

Weight is your enemy on these small models though, so for the main canopy, what you really want to do is tap into the main LiPo flight pack rather than adding an extra battery. The LEDs draw bugger all power so it doesn't affect the flight time by more than a few seconds. On my mCPX I tapped into the main board, but on the 200SRX I think you're using 3S packs, so the easiest thing would be to make yourself a socket that uses the balance lead off the battery. To keep things even I'd probably use it for 3 LEDs, two under the canopy and another on the tail, with each LED powered by a separate cell of your flight pack.

If it helps, this was how I lit the canopy on my mCPX BL:
Tapping into main board to power a tail LED? - HeliFreak

But if you're looking for visibility at night I strongly recommend building some LED night blades, they are a huge help with visibility and even help you orient the helicopter in the daytime. When I build the mCPX blades I was still learning and actually preferred using the night blades since it made is really clear which side of the disc I was seeing. I made a newer set for my Trex 250 which also worked really well.

My mCPX BL night blades: Building mCPX BL night blades - HeliFreak
And my Trex 250 blades: It's that time of year again... Trex 250 night fly projecct - HeliFreak

Thank you kind sir for the encouraging, informative post, just what I was after,

I didn't even think about balance plug it would help big time, and it also gives me the choice of 12v leds, this is the route I will be taking,

I am away for w/e but soon as I get back I will order bits and pieces,

thanks again