The Story of My Development
Electronics is my hobby. This is the reason why I began to develop electronic parts for F1A models. Nowadays I have almost everything what is necessary for class F1A. But my development has not been finished yet. I'm still working and improving my devices.
I make every part in more samples. So I can sell some parts of my production, but my manufacturing capacity is very limited. It is only a home made hobby, not the professional production. Although I try to make my products the best I can.
Electronic Timers
When I began with class F1A I used mechanical clockwork timers. But models with clockwork timers ware difficult to fly and trim. So I decided to develop my own electronic system for F1A. My first timer was Timer T1. I used it for one servo models. It was a great progress versus clockwork timer. The timing was very precise and easy to adjust. But there ware still some difficulty with model trimming. I found that it is necessary to control the right wing angle. I used a mechanical wing wiggler in one model, but it was difficult to trim, because the tow hook position dependency.
So I decided to develop new Timer T10 and Servo Wing Wiggler for new models. The timer enables to control stabilizer, rudder and wing. It works with Electronic Tow Hook which enables to re-latch by servo. The main advantage is that I can trim all deflection in all flight phases independently. It makes model trimming much easier and faster.
Radio Tracking System
Because free flight models used to reach long distances at strong wind, some kind of model tracking system is necessary. My first tracking system was an Acoustic Buzzer. It helps a lot, if you observe the model's direction, while going for model. But it is not sufficient, if you lost the model's direction.
So I began to think about some kind of radio tracking system. These systems are based on transmitting pulses of carrier frequency. The most expanded system uses 2 m radio band (144-146 MHz). But this band is very occupied now. So I decided to use another free band of 70 cm (430-440 MHz). I did some pieces of radio beacons in that band and they works well. Later, I improved this beacon a bit. Now it is called Radio Beacon RB2. It contains micro controller and programmable radio transmitter. So I can adjust any frequency in that band by firmware.
Radio DT Including Radio Tracking System
Then I began to work on radio DT system. The most of modellers use another receiver for radio DT function. So they have two antennas and modules in the model. I decided to make only one module with complete radio transceiver which enables both transmitting and receiving. The module is called Radio Module RM1. It enables to transmit pulses of carrier frequency as a radio beacon. Furthermore the radio transceiver enables full communication with Timer T10 including timer adjusting as wireless Setuper and remote control and trimming. To comply FAI rules I did two versions of this module. The Red version module forwards all received commands to the timer. The Black version module forwards only DT and EFT (Extended Flight Time) commands (other commands are ignored). So this module is intended for competition usage.
But my development has not been finished yet. I'm developing another kind of radio system which will enable further precision of model location...
Conclusion
As a conclusion I have to say that model with an electronic system doesn't have to fly better than a model with clockwork timer. It is a question of aerodynamics and model trimming. Moreover in the real conditions it is more important to find good air, than to have a brilliant model. However the electronic system brings better ability to trim the model perfectly.