Backup Power Supply for models...!

[retiredVTT]

This "Backup Power Supply" product looks cool for $24.99

Here's the blurb..


The Scorpion Backup Guard is a completely self-contained Li-Po battery and BEC circuit in one! It features a built-in 2-cell 500mah Li-Po battery, coupled with a linear 5 volt 10 amp BEC circuit and special logic circuitry that turns it on only when it is needed. As long as your normal flight battery or BEC system puts out more than 5.0 volts, the Backup Guard waits in the stand-by mode monitoring your radio receiver voltage level. If the receiver voltage ever drops below 5.0 volts, the Backup Guard instantly switches on and restores power to your radio gear to prevent loss of control or those annoying "Brown-outs". With up to 10 amps of current available to power your radio gear, the Back-up Guard has enough power to drive all of your servos through a Brown-out event, or for a safe controlled landing in the event of a total failure of your ESC or normal receiver battery system. Think of it as an "Insurance Policy" against unnecessary and avoidable crashes!

This product weighs just 38 grams or 1.34 ounces, and measures 55 x 31 x 15mm in size (2.16 x 1.22 x 0.59 inches). Best of all, the retail price on this cool new product is only $24.99, so you can afford to have one in each of your airplanes or helicopters.

Here is a photo of the new Scorpion Backup Guard.

[bdg]

This looks like a nice backup solution! Have you found this available for order locally? Many of the LHS seem to be out of stock. Just curious about your success and if you might have tried it out already??

Brian

[retiredVTT]

This is brand new..just released from Scorpion and available from the Scorpion US Distributor...

http://www.innov8tivedesigns.com/produc ... ts_id=1154

Bill

[Juice™]

would you have to recharge it every sortie... I wonder if it would loose its charge through the ESC over time.

[MarkL]

would you have to recharge it every sortie... I wonder if it would loose its charge through the ESC over time.

Doubt you would need to recharge it every flight if it doesn't kick in, which only happens if the main voltage drops below 5v. It is basically a 500mah 2S lipo with the circuit to monitor the voltage level and turn on/off. So normal lipo care.

[retiredVTT]

I would think it would stay charged for months as long as your main power source stays above 5vt.

A reading of the voltage level could be taken via the balance plug connector at any time.
(..not necessary, see below..the unit has a blinking LED indicating low voltage..)

I would think these should sell very well, as they take the place of a regular BEC and are much simpler to install rather than having to solder in a parallel connector for the typical BEC.

Bill

[retiredVTT]

Here is a follow up on this product.. the manual is found here:
http://www.scorpionsystem.com/files/dow ... 0Guide.pdf


Basically...you connect the backup power unit AFTER you have plugged in your main receiver power as you commence flying,

and, when you commence shutdown you disconnect the backup power unit FIRST, then remove the main power...!

Makes sense when you think about it...if you removed the main power before removing the backup unit, you would trigger the backup unit to "on"...which you don't want.

The unit has an LED on it to tell you when the charge is down to 30%...which then requires recharging.

I'm going to order one.

Bill

[AndrewS]

I ordered one today to put in my Pulsar. Handy to have an automatic reserve power supply for TD e-gliders.
Thanks to Bill for telling us about this.

Andrew

[MarkL]

If Rx brownout protection is you main concern there is also this:
http://www.spektrumrc.com/products/defa ... id=spm1600

or the cheaper HK version:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... ector.html

[JohnOSullivan]

Seems like a great power source for radio supply for non electric models also. One of my minor problems has been how to provide a 4.8 to 6 volt supply for my radio in non Electric sailplanes from a LiPoly source.
The Dimension Engineering Park Bec has been my answer to date. This one does essentially the same thing.
Yesterday's one hour + slope soaring flight on my Pulsar 3.2 m Sailplane used 135 ma. With a 500 mah capacity on this converter, you could bank on nearly 4 hours of operation before needing a recharge.