ADF Pitch Controller - Product Enhancement/Upgrade

[kazzer]

Kevin McLeod (designer and manufacturer) has just informed me that he has discovered two small problems that occur with the ADF Pitch Controller under certain conditions.

1. The current ADF won't work if you power it from a 6V BEC in combination with some receivers. The problem does not occur when using 5 Volt BECs.

2. The current ADF will drop in and out of fail-safe operation when connected to a Sombra Labs receiver driven from a Polks Tracker.

Oddly, the ADF is fine with a Seeker + Tracker, and Merriman tells me he's used the ADF with a Sombra Labs Rx and a W-Fly Tx. It must be the combination of SL + Polks that's throwing the timing off. Irrespective of which combination does and doesn't work, this problem has been addressed with a new version of software that will be standard in ADFs from this point forward.

If anyone encounters these problems and would like an upgrade, please let me know and we will arrange for the unit to have a software update.

The new instruction booklet is available on-line at

http://support.caswellplating.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=163&nav=0,5,6

[xxl]

Hey Mike just want to

Hey Mike just want to say thanks for this upgrade contacted Kevin and he said he would take care . You guys are great

[chuck chesney]

Hey Kasser,
Talk about good timing!

Hey Kasser,
Talk about good timing! About a month ago, I ordered one the ADF pitch controllers from your company, which fortunately, has not arrived yet.

The ADF will run off of a Sombra receiver, being powered by a stand alone 6v BEC. The whole thing will be using a Hitec transmitter, or maybe a Futaba, in the future.

It sounds like the problem doesn't happen with anything except the Polks transmitter, but would you please be kind enough to send me one of the upgraded ADF's when you ship the one that I purchased? Thanks for having the integrity and guts to publicly announce a problem with one of your products, and then to do something to fix it.

Best Regards,
Chuck

[kazzer]

We are expecting another delivery

We are expecting another delivery from Kevin any day, so you'll be getting the updated version.


AND these newer version are LESS expensive! A really good buy considering they have a fail-safe built in too!


Thanks

[KevinMC]

Hi Chuck,

I believe a clarification

Hi Chuck,

I believe a clarification is warranted on my original message. The compatability issue with the Sombra Labs receiver has been resolved with updated software but the new software cannot make the ADF function correctly with a 6V BEC. Regrettably, the best I can offer is to address this in a future version of ADF.

[Guest]

Is this a power issue?

Is this a power issue? I know most microcontrollers don't like to be run much over 5 volts. If that's the case then just fit a diode i.e. 1N4001 inline with the power feed to the leveller.

One feature that would really enhance your leveller is inclusion of an onboard spirit level that could be used when the boat is on the water.

This could be used to adjust a ballast trimming system, i.e. a weight shifted by a servo to ensure the boat is totally level, thus optimising pitch control.

A separate channel to the controller in a simple on/off configuration would enable the accelerometer to act as a spirit level. Some additional code in the microprocessor could interpret when the boat is level and sitch a tricolour led from red, amber, green, with green indicating the boat was dead level.

The LED could be mounted somewhere that is easily visible when the boat is in the water.

Once the boat is level, switch the channel back, and the leveller reverts to normal duties.

What do you think of that idea?

Andy

[KevinMC]

Hi Andy,

Without getting into a

Hi Andy,

Without getting into a drawn out technical discussion, it's a signal level thing.

Onboard level indicator? I like it. I really like it. I've also already designed it in. Granted, you do have to mount the ADF someplace where you can still see it with the boat all closed up, but the "zero bubble" indication is always live with no need to switch the function in and out. It's also unaffected by the trim settings on your transmitter.