User's Manual

ManualsBrandsPlanrite Trading ManualsElectronicsREMOTE CONTROL TRANSMITTER

well to give your Microblimp a nice appearance, without adding any

annoying vibration noise to the operation of the Microblimp.

If your Microblimp came with a Blimp shaped balloon, you will also

have a set of styrofoam blimp fins that are attached to the rear of the

blimp balloon. The fins are attached by bending the small tabs 90

degrees alternately, and then taping the tabs of the fins to the inflated

blimp balloon with cellophane tape.

The Microblimp gondola is so lightweight that it can actually be flown

with a regular latex party balloon. Be aware that a latex balloon can

very easily pop, and then your Microblimp gondola will fall to the

ground and possibly become damaged. It can be a lot of fun to fly

with a latex “rubber” balloon like this, but remember, the latex balloon

will only hold helium gas for a few hours, and is constantly leaking

helium gas.

Testing Transmitter and Receiver

Multi-Channel Operation

The 900Mhz R/C System (868Mhz in EU), can be configured for use

on one of 3 “channels”. You select your channel when you switch on

your transmitter. The position of the Left joystick at startup controls

what channel you will use. When you startup the Transmitter, you can

hold the Left stick to the Left, leave it in the middle (default), or hold

it to the Right, to configure operation on Channels 1, 2 and 3 respec-

tively. Default is Channel 2 (left stick is in the middle position). The

receiver will measure signal strength to lock on to the desired trans-

mitter, so all you need to do is make sure that when a new Microb-

limp is starting up, that the appropriate transmitter is closest to the

new Microblimp. An audible tone sequence will indicate the Channel

the receiver has locked on to. Once you have confirmed that every-

one is on a different channel, you are ready to go. Get your friends

together with their Microblimps and fly together! The possibilities for

aerial racing and other aerial radio controlled sports are endless!

Note that every Microblimp can be used on any one of the three chan-

nels - all selected from the transmitter at startup. (See Fig. 8)

Establishing Transmitter-Receiver R/C Communications

Turn on your transmitter by pushing the 3 position switch all the way

to the far right. The main transmitter LED will glow.

Next, attach the Bahoma cell to the Microblimp Gondola - you will

notice a distinctive audible musical arpeggio tone sequence (C-E-G-

C-G-E-C notes) that indicates successful microprocessor startup.

This arpeggio is usually followed by a two-tone repetitive sequence

(C-E,,,C-E,,,C-E -- and so on). This repeating two-tone sequence

indicates that the receiver is scanning for a transmitter signal - it will

continue to repeat until a valid transmitter signal is received. Once a

valid transmitter has been found, the Channel number will be indicat-

ed by a series of tones (G note). The default transmitter channel is

Channel 2, so you should hear two “G” notes to indicate that the

receiver is operating on Channel 2. The propellers may start spin-

ning, and you will be able to control the propellers by using the

Transmitter Joysticks, but first you will need to adjust the trim by

moving the small trimmer wheels located near the transmitter joy-

sticks.

Adjusting the Trimmers of the Microblimp Transmitter

Rotate the trimmer wheels with your thumb until you have successful-

ly stopped the propellers from spinning. This can be tricky to do the

first time - especially if you are not sure which stick controls what on

the Microblimp - it helps immensely to know which trimmer wheel

needs adjustment. Basically you will want the trimmer wheels to be

positioned near the middle of their full range of motion. Make sure

you know what mixing mode your transmitter is configured to - (the

default is “Airplane Style Mixing”). If you are confused, remove the

Bahoma cell from the Microblimp gondola, and read ahead to under-

stand the controls of the Microblimp. Once you understand the joy-

stick controls, you will be ready to adjust the trimmer wheels.

Controls

The included RFX900 Transmitter allows you to independently control

the direction and speed of three propellers of the Microblimp gondo-

la. Two of the propellers are situated on the left and right and one

propeller is located in the middle for vertical ascent and descent.

There are 3 user-selectable “Mixing Modes” available on the trans-

mitter. (See Fig. 8) You select your “mixing mode” when you switch

on your transmitter and the mixing mode you choose will be saved in

memory until you make another selection. The position of the Right

joystick at startup controls what mixing mode will be selected. The

factory default mixing mode is “Airplane Style Blimp Mixing”. When

you startup the Transmitter, you can hold the Right joystick to the left

to select “blimp/tank-style mixing” that more closely resembles the

controls of the Plantraco Tri-Turbofan airships. When you startup the

Transmitter, you can hold the Right joystick to the right to select “Air-

plane Style Blimp Mixing” “Flight Simulator” mixing mode is

accessed by pushing the Right stick UP at startup - which will put the

transmitter in to a non transmitting state that is used only when we

want to connect the transmitter to a personal computer for using the

freeware FMS flight simulator software. (The Computer Interface

Cable is available separately). Note that the selected mixing function

will remain in memory, even if the transmitter is switched OFF - This

can be convenient, but it can also cause confusion if you forget what

“mode” you are in. So if you use the non-transmitting FMS function,

you’ll have to remember to select another mixing mode when you

want to fly your Microblimp - if you forget to do this, it might seem

like your transmitter is not working - you have to remember what

mixing mode you left your transmitter in.

Airplane Style Mixing - Default (or Right Stick to Right)

This style of mixing closely resembles a 3CH model aircraft, except

with a blimp, you can also have “reverse” throttle! The Left stick con-

trols the master throttle rate and direction. The Right stick controls

“ailerons” and “elevator”. If you pull the Right stick towards you, you

will ascend - just like a model R/C aircraft. If you move the Right stick

to the Left and Right, the Microblimp will turn to the Left. or Right

(See Fig 9)

Blimp/Tank Style Mixing - (Right Stick to Left)

This style of mixing closely resembles our Tri-Turbofan Airships, but

now we have full-proportional control. The Left joystick controls the

Left Motor forward and backwards direction and speed. The Right

joystick controls the Right Motor forward and backwards direction

and speed. The middle “Up/Down” motor is controlled by the Right

Joystick motion from Left to Right. That is - you can move the Right

joystick to the Right side to ascend, and to the Left to descend.

(See Fig. 10)

FMS Mode - Selected at startup (Right Stick pushed UP)

Not a true mixing mode - the FMS mode shuts down the radio func-

tions of the transmitter and instead sends signals through the mono-

phonic audio jack on the left side of the transmitter box. A special

cable (available separately - not included) connects the transmitter to

a personal computer with the freeware FMS software installed, and

you can use the Microblimp transmitter as an R/C Flight Sim input

device.

Low Battery Protection

The Lithium Polymer Bahoma battery should not be discharged lower

than about 3 Volts. The Microblimp will ensure that you do not over

discharge your lithium polymer battery, and it will warn you when

your battery is low and needs to be recharged. The Microblimp mea-

sures cell voltage while your are flying, and when the battery voltage

gets low, the Microblimp will halt all controls for about 10 seconds

and will play a 2 note sequence (E-C---E-C). You can fly for about

30 seconds after the first warning, and then the second audible warn-

ing tones will sound, The third warning is the final warning and the

Microblimp will then go into a “deep sleep” mode to protect the cell

from over discharge. Three Strikes and Your Out! Don’t get caught

with the Microblimp high in the gymnasium rafters when this hap-

pens Be aware that the LED will stop blinking, controls are halted,

and the two audible tones - Come down when you hear the first warn-

ing tones. Always remove your Bahoma battery from the Microblimp

and recharge it. If you leave the battery on the Microblimp for too

long (like overnight) you may over discharge and damage the

Bahoma Battery - so be sure to disconnect it and recharge when you

are done playing.

TTACHING AND

DJUSTING

ALLAST

EIGHTS

In the small parts bag you will find one of the round stickers is to be

used to attach a small metal washer to the bottom of the balloon. This

washer and the magnetic metal weights serve as the ballast adjust-

ment for the Microblimp. A “ballast” is a weight control device that

is used to create an equilibrium in the buoyancy of the Microblimp.

Neutral Buoyancy is very important for proper operation of the

Microblimp.

Stick the metal washer to the inflated balloon several inches behind

the Microblimp gondola attachment point. Next, magnets are added to

the magnetic washer so that the Microblimp is hovering at a level atti-

tude - neither rising nor falling. If you have added all of the included

ballast weights (magnets), and the Microblimp is still rising, then you

might need to tape a small coin like a dime to the balloon and start

the ballast adjustment all over again. The magnetic weights are main-

ly for fine adjustment of neutral buoyancy. Depending on your alti-

tude, you might need to add extra weight to achieve neutral buoyancy.

Just tape on another coin or paperclip - any small weight works

Achieving neutral buoyancy should only take a minute or so, and will

need to be repeated if you move the saucer to a new location or build-

ing. Ballast adjustments are usually made every day due to minute

ALL FORWARDS

ALL REVERSE

DOWN

LEFT

RIGHT

Fig 9. Airplane-Style-Blimp Mixing

LEFT MOTOR

FORWARDS

RIGHT MOTOR

FORWARDS

DOWN

Fig 10. Tank/Blimp Style Mixing

RIGHT MOTOR

REVERSE

LEFT MOTOR

REVERSE

CHANNEL 1

CHANNEL 2 (DEFAULT)

CHANNEL 3

TANK/BLIMP STYLE MIXING

AIRPLANE STYLE BLIMP MIXING

FLIGHT SIM MODE (NON XMIT)

Fig. 8 -

Configure Transmitter functions by holding

stick position while switching transmitter ON