Newbie with a Miss Geico

[POWERS]

Hey guys,

I am completely new to the r/c thing. I mean I had the obligatory r/c cars and trucks when I was a kid, but am just now picking up the REAL hobby. I had been reading the forums here for a few days now and ended up taking a trip to my local hobby shop Monday to "just check things out", not really intending on leaving the shop several hundred bucks poorer which I inevitably did.

I got a chance to run her last night for the first time. Then I did a little more reading on the boards here and tweaked her a little bit to get her trimmed out better and took her for a run this morning. The little changes to the C.O.G and the prop angle made a world of difference.


Being a completely new at this the guy at the shop steered me towards NiMh batteries to get started, 7.2v 5000mAh to be exact. Let's just say I'm ready to move up to LiPo. I've learned alot about it on here but really want to know more. Does anyone know a good reference or site to study up on these batteries? Id like to understand what it means when someone says they are running 4s 25c 4500maH and so on.

Also, i noticed the boat had a slight tendency to pull to the left, how do i adjust the Rutter so its straight?

[Diesel6401]

Hey guys,

I am completely new to the r/c thing. I mean I had the obligatory r/c cars and trucks when I was a kid, but am just now picking up the REAL hobby. I had been reading the forums here for a few days now and ended up taking a trip to my local hobby shop Monday to "just check things out", not really intending on leaving the shop several hundred bucks poorer which I inevitably did.

I got a chance to run her last night for the first time. Then I did a little more reading on the boards here and tweaked her a little bit to get her trimmed out better and took her for a run this morning. The little changes to the C.O.G and the prop angle made a world of difference.


Being a completely new at this the guy at the shop steered me towards NiMh batteries to get started, 7.2v 5000mAh to be exact. Let's just say I'm ready to move up to LiPo. I've learned alot about it on here but really want to know more. Does anyone know a good reference or site to study up on these batteries? Id like to understand what it means when someone says they are running 4s 25c 4500maH and so on.

Also, i noticed the boat had a slight tendency to pull to the left, how do i adjust the Rutter so its straight?

:welcome:

I hope that your lhs talked you into a nimh & lipo charge not just a nimh charger. Read up on everything, here's a thread (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209187) i read when I was making the jump also here is another (http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?t=12020). Make sure you read the flex cable issue and submit your request form (http://www.horizonhobby.com/Content/PDF/MissGeico_Request.pdf) and steve here at OSE sell a upgraded cable (http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ose-geico-cable) that is already pre-cut. 99.9% chance you have the wrong direction cable in your MG. Make sure you take care of that.

[POWERS]

:welcome:

I hope that your lhs talked you into a nimh & lipo charge not just a nimh charger. Read up on everything, here's a thread (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209187) i read when I was making the jump also here is another (http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?t=12020). Make sure you read the flex cable issue and submit your request form (http://www.horizonhobby.com/Content/PDF/MissGeico_Request.pdf) and steve here at OSE sell a upgraded cable (http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ose-geico-cable) that is already pre-cut. 99.9% chance you have the wrong direction cable in your MG. Make sure you take care of that.

Actually I did ask if they had a charger that did both and they did not have one at the time so I just bought the cheapest NiMH charger they had.

Thanks for the links I will definitely do some studying up before I make the jump to LiPo.

As for the Flex Cable I actually read about that on here the night I bought it and took it back to the shop the next day and they hooked me up a new one. I also registered on the site to get my replacement to as a back up.

[ron1950]

if u are useing the tx from proboat then u can trim the left turn out of it with one of the two knobs on the right side of the tx(beleave its the top one). just get it going stright away from u and turn the top right knob slightly to the right i beleave.......till u think boat is going strght,,,

[POWERS]

if u are useing the tx from proboat then u can trim the left turn out of it with one of the two knobs on the right side of the tx(beleave its the top one). just get it going stright away from u and turn the top right knob slightly to the right i beleave.......till u think boat is going strght,,,

Thanks,

I figured there had to be an adjustment there just didn't know which one to start touching first. Ill be taking her out again tonight and will play with it.

[Diesel6401]

A good discount charger for you is this (http://www.hobbyhot.com/gt-power-dualpower-li-polymer-battery-manager-built-in-ac-pow-c-208-p-1-pr-905.html). Easy to use and the price is right!

Here's a list of the chargers I use and I love them.
Hyperion (http://www.maxamps.com/EOS0606i-AC-DC.htm)
Great Planes Triton (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVRS6&P=ML)
Turnigy Accucell 6 (http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028)

[POWERS]

A good discount charger for you is this (http://www.hobbyhot.com/gt-power-dualpower-li-polymer-battery-manager-built-in-ac-pow-c-208-p-1-pr-905.html). Easy to use and the price is right!

Here's a list of the chargers I use and I love them.
Hyperion (http://www.maxamps.com/EOS0606i-AC-DC.htm)
Great Planes Triton (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVRS6&P=ML)
Turnigy Accucell 6 (http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028)

I only scrimped on the NiMH charger cause I knew it would be replaced fairly soon. When i make the switch I'll want to get a solid charger. I am liking the Hyperion charger you linked too. Just curious how long it would take it to charge a 5000mAh battery/ Right now my NiMH charger takes about and hour and half each to charge the 5000mAh's I've got, and it's killen me.

[Diesel6401]

I only scrimped on the NiMH charger cause I knew it would be replaced fairly soon. When i make the switch I'll want to get a solid charger. I am liking the Hyperion charger you linked too. Just curious how long it would take it to charge a 5000mAh battery/ Right now my NiMH charger takes about and hour and half each to charge the 5000mAh's I've got, and it's killen me.

Depending on which lipos you get it will probably be a 1c charge rate, so 5000mah would charge at 5 amps and take 1 hour. Some of the newer lipos like the hyperion's can charge at a higher rate.

[ron1950]

i have a couple of orion lipo chargers and find they do so many things that they make it diffacult for new people to set up...very easy afterward though lol....even after reading the manual somethimes i dont know what i just read lol maybe i was reading the french language section ..u never know!!!!

[Diesel6401]

The hyperion and triton are as about as easy as it gets. The only major difference is the hyperion has a store mode and the triton does not. Both balance/charge dead on. They are auto calaculated to 1c so when you set the mah rating it sets the charge amp rating for you. Great for beginners. Always double check everything before pressing charge though!

[nomobux]

I got this one recently and it seems to do the job well. See this video as to using. It's easier than my Triton actually and you can't beat the price. I think they now ship free and I know they are very fast.

http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html

[Steven Vaccaro]

One thing to consider. I suggest not skimping on a charger. Buy the best you can afford. One that is foolproof with many fail safes.

[POWERS]

One thing to consider. I suggest not skimping on a charger. Buy the best you can afford. One that is foolproof with many fail safes.

I'll definitely make sure to get a better charger. Right now I'm leaning towards the Hyperion that Diesel linked to.

I know I have to reprogram the esc with the little plug in programmer before using LiPo. Do i have to swap it back to run the NiMHs that I currently use in it?

[Diesel6401]

I'll definitely make sure to get a better charger. Right now I'm leaning towards the Hyperion that Diesel linked to.

I know I have to reprogram the esc with the little plug in programmer before using LiPo. Do i have to swap it back to run the NiMHs that I currently use in it?

Yea hyperions are really nice. You have to switch back to nimh because the nimh may trigger the low-voltage-cutoff.

[POWERS]

Thanks again to everyone for the info. I've probably run the boat about a dozen times in the last 4 days, i think I'm getting addicted. Just picked up a new prop today, gonna try my hand at balancing, sharpening and polishing it this weekend. Probably be looking at doing the lipo switch in a couple weeks or so. My fiance and I are expecting our first baby in the next couple weeks, so I've picked up this hobby to satisfy my need for speed since I had to step away from my hobby of modding muscle cars for a bit.

I know with cars I could check performance gains by taking it to the track and seeing it on the quarter mile. From what I've seen on here it looks like the gauge of choice on speed is gps, anyone suggest a good small one to use for this?

[Diesel6401]

Thanks again to everyone for the info. I've probably run the boat about a dozen times in the last 4 days, i think I'm getting addicted. Just picked up a new prop today, gonna try my hand at balancing, sharpening and polishing it this weekend. Probably be looking at doing the lipo switch in a couple weeks or so. My fiance and I are expecting our first baby in the next couple weeks, so I've picked up this hobby to satisfy my need for speed since I had to step away from my hobby of modding muscle cars for a bit.

I know with cars I could check performance gains by taking it to the track and seeing it on the quarter mile. From what I've seen on here it looks like the gauge of choice on speed is gps, anyone suggest a good small one to use for this?

I use THIS (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Foretrex-301-Waterproof-Hiking/dp/B002EOULAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1284686181&sr=8-1) and love it. In the MG video in my signature you can see the gps at the end and get a reference of its size.