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aeajr
345 Posts |
 Posted - 08/31/2006 : 12:57:34 PM
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Updated May, 2010
During my early pilot development I learned how hard it can be to find a plane that has landed in the woods, tall grass and other places where you can't see it. I lost my Aerobird, my first RC plane, when a huge gust of wind carried it over deep woods and I was too inexperienced to deal with it. Even though I was certain I knew where it went down I could not find it. I bought another Aerobird and flew it often.
When I moved on to gliders I started flying a Spirit 2 Meter. I got into trouble and it went down into heavy woods and brush. Fifty feet into the woods, trying to decide how to proceed, I heard Beep Beep Beep. The plane was about 150 feet away in heavy tree growth. I had the plane located and out in 10 minutes. Believe me, where it had landed I likely would not have found it.
The difference was a little device you put in the plane that gets attached to the receiver. If you turn off the transmitter, the thing starts beeping loudly and you can hear it from quite a distance.
This is what I used in my Spirit Sailplane and several of my other planes.
http://www.californiasailplanes.com/Lost%20model%20alarm.html
It hooks to any channel or it can share a channel with one of your servos. It has the connector to pass through to the servo.
This will work in any plane with a 72 MHZ receiver.
Low Voltage Watch
In addition to helping me find planes, this locator also monitors my
battery pack voltage and sounds an alarm if the pack voltage gets below a safe level. This is especially valuable on my gliders. Every time I turn on a glider, it does a pack voltage check, under load, and reports that pack condition as a series of beeps.
If the pack voltage falls below a certain level, while I am in the air, the beeper will sound. If the plane is close enough, I can hear and know not to go looking for another thermal.
Channel Conflict Test!
As a test to make sure no one is flying on your channel, turn on the
receiver only. If the device does not go into lost plane mode then someone else is on your frequency.
A similar device that I have in some of my planes is the SkyKing RC Lost Model Locator - $20 - This one will work with PCM systems as well as the Futaba 2.4 GHz systems. It does not work with Spektrum and JR 2.4 GHz systems.
http://www.skykingrcproducts.com/accessories/lostmodel/lost_rc_model_alarm.html
Review
http://www.slopeflyer.com/artman/publish/skyking_lost_model_alarm.shtml
Here are some others I have not tried, but look interesting.
Lost Model Locator - $10
This is only Does one job, but does it well, I hope.
http://www.allthingsrc.com/webshop/product_info.php/cPath/24/products_id/39
RC Reporter - $24
A bunch of features
This one works with 72 MHz as well as 2.4 GHz Futaba and Spektrum systems. http://wingedshadow.com/rcrprod.html
The planes I fly most often now have a locator/battery monitor installed. At $15-30 they are cheap enough that I can put one in every plane. This way I can't forget move it to the current plane before I fly. It is cheap helpful insurance to protect a $150 to $1500 investment.
LONGER RANGE USE
The plane Locator Receiver is about $200 and the transmitter that goes in the plane is $50
http://theplanelocator.com/rcplane/index.html
This is a radio beacon/finder system. It does not connect to the receiver but sends out a continous signal that you can home on with their receiver. Note that this one requries an amature radio license.
From the maker's web site: About 1/2 mile range. Transmitter is less than 1" diameter, 1/2" high, and has a weight of less than 1/3 ounce including the battery. Powered by a single CR2032 battery that will last for over 30 days of continuous operation and signals you when it needs replacing. Factory programmed to any one of your choice of 50 channels
Walston
http://www.walstonretrieval.com/main.htm
For really long range finds, measured in miles, there is the Walston system. This is a very popular system in use by many sailplane clubs.
The plane unit is about $130 while the tracking unit is $400-$800. This is good for clubs, especially sailplane clubs, or for people who need a very light transmitter measured in a few grams.. If your sailplane costs $1000, a $130 transmitter is worth the cost. I have one of these that I move from plane to plane.
Yes, I have both the small beeping plane locator/battery monitor and the Walston in the plane. The Locator is in there all the time and is useful for short range find, battery status and channel conflict. The Walston would only be used to find a plane if it was far away and I could not walk directly to it. Hopefully it will never happen, but if it does, I want to be prepared. Some of my planes represent significant investments so I want to make sure I can find them.
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Best regards,
Ed Anderson
ESL President,
ESL Newsletter Editor |
Edited by - aeajr on 05/12/2010 06:58:51 AM |
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aeajr
345 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2007 : 07:28:13 AM
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MEDIUM RANGE LOW COST LOCATOR
Update May 2010
Suppose you want something with a cost and range capability somewhere between the $20 beeper and the $400 Walston ( transmitter/receiver)
Consider the Loc8tor. This is a medium range transmitter/receiver system that is good for 100 to 600 feet. That is no where near the Walston's range, but if you can get within 1-2 football fields of your plane, this could be a good option.
Since this does not connect to the receiver it will work with any radio system. Also it is not dependent on the receiver battery as it has its own battery.
The Loc8tor Lite- $80 up to 400 foot range
Includes receiver and two transmitters. This model can monitor up to four different transmitters.
http://www.loc8tor.com/product_information.asp?pid=96&cid=18
Product review
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=907418
The system consists of a small 5 g tag that you put in the plane. The battery is good for months. This is bound to a receiver that can read the signal and take you within a foot of the plane. The higher the plane, the greater the range.
In windy conditions, such as when you are slope soaring, a sound beeper may be hard to hear. The Loc8tor would work much better and provide longer range.
Also note that most of the sound beepers work off the receiver battery. If the crash is hard enough, the receiver battery can be disconnected. The transmitter on the Loc8tor uses an internal battery. Even if it is thrown from the plane, it will be powered by its own battery. You should still be able to find it and be near the plane.
You can move the tags from plane to plane or buy up to two more tags at $45 for the pair. For the Lite receiver, you can monitor and locate up to 4 transmitters up to 400 feet away.
The Loc8tor Plus, $160, includes 4 tags, and a 50% longer range, up to 600 feet. It will monitor up to 24 tags which would be good for a larger fleet or for club use so you can buy one and share it
among a group of pilots.
If you saw where the plane went down these devices should work for you. If you consider that you can probably get within a few hundred feet of your plane pretty easily, these locators give you a pretty wide area of coverage. Of coures if you dropped it 3/4 of a mile out, getting within a few hundred feet might not be so easy.
When you consider that two tags cost $44, or about $22 each, they are about the same cost as the beeping locators. If you consider the value of the included 4 transmitters, the longer range unit, which is only a $40 premium over the Lite version.
FIND IT ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET!
LOC8tor - GPS
http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/Loc8tor-GPS.aspx
Reports actual location via GPS
This unit is larger than the other. Likely would not fit in a small to medium size glider or something like a Supra. Not enough room in the fuselage. However it may be very useful for cross country soaring or for larger airplanes.
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Best regards,
Ed Anderson
ESL President,
ESL Newsletter Editor |
Edited by - aeajr on 05/12/2010 07:34:30 AM |
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aeajr
345 Posts |
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cluft
14 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2008 : 02:26:25 AM
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Wow, it's been 4 years since I wrote the piece about tracking a downed plane. I must say my tracking equipment works really well- Haven't lost a plane yet.
I read through the piece and checked some of the links to see if they still work and for the most part, they do. The links that don't work you may be able to find if you google search. I thought I'd update some of the information here.
For a time, a second company called "the plane locator" was marketing a tracking system that worked very much like the walston and for alot less dollars. However, the FCC decided to shut then down. I got one of the transmitters and it works about the same as the walston. I can track it with my VR-500.
There's now a WiFi tracking device called the Loc8ter as mentioned in another post by "aeajr" and they now have a newer, cheaper version at around $80.00 that includes two tages and a receiver the size of a credit card. this should allow you to find your plane up to about 600FT away.
This brings up something that I didn't mention in my original piece on tracking, and that is range. It is important to know the range of the tracking device that you mount in your plane. Lets say you purchase a Loc8ter and you think your covered. Now your at the CASA contest and you just chased after that far off lift and you see your plane drop in the woods. You now have a bearing on your plane and can follow that bearing until you get a signal with the receiver. The Loc8ter will work well in this case.
But what if your in a boomer and your plane is just a speck, and you blink, and now it's gone. You don't know where it went. First, you have to find the signal, then you have to find your plane.
I had this very discussion with a flier at this years DBSF/SJSS contest. A Walston receiver tracking a walston transmitter is good for several miles. A receiver such as the Yaesu VR-500 listening in CW mode is almost as good. a receiver set to AM or FM mode will have a lot less range but more then the Loc8ter.
My Yaesu was a good investment.
Carl Luft
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aeajr
345 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2008 : 2:23:48 PM
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| I have revised the original post, added some new information and fixed links |
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
ESL President,
ESL Newsletter Editor |
Edited by - aeajr on 09/12/2008 2:36:56 PM |
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aeajr
345 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2010 : 07:20:44 AM
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| Upated links and added the new GPS Loc8tor. |
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
ESL President,
ESL Newsletter Editor |
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Topic |
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Plane Locators