Reddit reviews Hitec 44165 X1 AC Plus Single Port 6 Amp AC/DC Charger (NiCd/NiMH/LiPo)

I got an Eachine 250 racer about a month ago. It has been a lot of fun, but there are a lot of details. My next racer will probably be a smaller/lighter 180 frame.

For FPV goggles I have three ideas. One, is get the status quo Fatshark goggles at whatever level you can afford. Two, get the HeadPlay HD goggles I got. Three, get the Avegant Glyph, which has the really nice feature of letting you pop them up and down without a band. I do really like my HeadPlay HDs, but they are big and bulky. I haven't perfected how to adjust the straps to get them to stay on my head well.

Arms, managed to break one without breaking a prop.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016Y5U1JO/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Capacitors, they pop off very easily. I lost a capacitor at the same time I broke an arm. Or a hot glue gun, I Highly recommend putting hot glue over the caps next to each arm to help avoid the loss in the first place. You want a low temperature hot glue gun to not melt any plastic or traces. I consider the capacitor issue a design defect, but you can work around it with hot glue. The original revision seems to have lacked the capacitors, from pictures I have seen online.

Capacitors for Eachine 250 racer:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00W8YYMZA/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Youtube video exampling how to solder them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLYVZUpL0K0

Get a Taranis X9D Plus. It is a great transmitter. Also get a X4R-SB receiver, and use SBUS. The D4R won't let you control the lights too, because it can't do PPM and PWM at the same time. You can control them with the X4R-SB, SBUS+PWM. SBUS has great latency, 5-10ms. I was recently talking to a sponsored racer who told me that PPM, which is supposed to be 27ms with the D4R, is really more like 100ms. It averages the four last frames together. This link includes a case and X8R, which I think will work as well as the X4R, but you should do the research. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014IYSXL6/ref=mp_s_a_1_5

To do SBUS+PWM, requires a special bind procedure. You want channels 1-8 as SBUS, and 9+ as PWM. The most relevant part is "jump S1&S3: SBUS, 9, 10, 11 or jump S2&S3: SBUS, 9, 10, 11 (No telemetry)" Here is a link that talks about it.

http://www.frsky-rc.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6793

Small tie wraps like the ones already on the arms to hold the ESCs. You break an arm, and you will need to replace the tie wrap.

Soldering iron, solder, etc, because you have to desolder the ESC from the motor to replace an arm, and then resolder it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BRC2XU/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Qtips and rubbing alcohol for cleaning. Mix the alcohol 50/50 with water. The flying field was muddy after lots of rain.

Carrying case of some kind. You don't want it banged around in transport, and same with the transmitter. It is best to get the X9D with the case, because people price gouge on the case stand alone.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ABQS7YI/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Batteries, you can burn through them very fast. But watch out for their height. I bought some of the new "Graphene" 4S batteries, and they are really too tall to fit. Some people remove the back LEDs to make battery installation easier.

Battery charging/carrying bags to help with uncontrolled fires started by batteries. I have two, one for charging, and one for carrying.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005HTH78W/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A battery charger if you want to use 4S batteries. The included charger is 2S/3S only. I have a Hi-tech X1 which will only charge one battery at a time. You can also get the X4 which will do four at once.

Battery charger for 4S batteries:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005LH3392/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

XT60 banana plug cable for charging with the above charger:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XBSBYCG/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A V shaped antenna mount to get the receiver antennas up in the air. When over head the carbon fiber body blocks the signal well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00WV04P62/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A voltage monitor so you know to land when your battery voltage is low. The video signal includes the battery voltage as part of the OSD, but I prefer LoS while learning to fly. It lets me keep an eye on where I am in relation to trees. On the other hand I have yet to find a good place to mount a voltage monitor. With the length of the balance cable on batteries you are likely going to need a balance cable extension for 3S and another for 4S.

Voltage monitor:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EXPPF80/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3S balance cable extension:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XP4IO88/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

4S balance cable extension:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JBP1RGG/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Double sided tape to mount things on the top of the body, like the antenna mount and receiver.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009NP1JQC/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Small x-acto knife to help remove the double sided tape.

Electrical tape to tape down wires for lights and receiver.

Size 2.0 hex wrench for the frame screws. It will be needed to replace arms.

Scale that can measure grams. You want to knowing and control weight.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010HKEDPK/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sunglasses to avoid problems seeing on sunny days. Lets say you are flying LoS, and look into the direction of the sun. You can't see the quad well enough to control it, because of glare from the sun.

ESC flashing adapters to change/upgrade the firmware. I am not sure these are the right ones for the ESCs on the Eachine. I think they are, but I haven't tried it yet.

Atmel socket flashing tool:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00V2W467I/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Atmel USB programmer:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0051SRZWC/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

USB cable to use with transmitters and simulators. It is best to learn the basics in a sim, instead of replacing lots of parts.

USB cable for simulators:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DFDTU9G/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Old post of mine on learning in a simulator:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter/comments/3zr8o0/cheap_fpv_acro_simulator_with_real_transmitters/

Be sure to set a fail-safe, which is very easy with the Taranis. I had a fly away with my first Eachine, because of a defective Spektrum DX6 and lack of fail-safe. After that I switched to the Taranis, which doesn't cost much more and has way more capacity.

Yeah, the internal one is the ring charge, this is my external (you can get cheaper ones that work as wel)

Looks like the 7000 series. There's a 7000 (assembled by user), 7500 (same but comes preassembled), and 7800 (don't remember what difference this had). There may have been others in the series but those are all I know of. I'm guessing the 7500 because the wires are run through the tubes.

It's discontinued and there's very little support available, though they do respond to email at [email protected]. I tried to get a replacement motor and they told me they don't sell them. So if you want to sell me one of your motors, I'll buy it!

Battery is a LiPo. I bought this charger for it:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LH3392

You could get something cheaper nowadays. But you have to unwrap the battery to see what its specs are to charge it properly. If it's 5000mAh (or some other number) it requires a different setting on the charger than the more common 2500mAh. That's one's PROBABLY a 2500mAh. Get a LiPo charger with a "Deans" connector, and read up carefully about charging it properly so it doesn't explode. If you know what mAh it is and how many cells it has, you can buy a cheapo charger that's hard-coded to that one exact combination. Or you can buy an expensive one like I linked to above to be able to charge multiple types.

It's an old, finicky gimbal that's hard to balance and charge, so if you give up, PM me and I'll buy a motor off of it because we still use one at a school I teach at.

compare that traxxas charger to this one I think they are the same one...

Hitec X1

Edit: looks like the traxxas is rated for 80 Watts the hitec for 55. Both for 6 Amps

I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005OTX7LG/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for track day and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LH3392/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ov3lxb02YPP5E for other use, including charging to storage mode. Though I was able to find them much cheaper than they're listed here.

I personally am afraid of getting what I pay for when it comes to chargers and batteries so I do t go for the cheapest.

The Gens Ace battery I bought is a 2s 5000mah 50c. I'm not a lipo expert but I have had different lipos with different c ratings. Im not sure what impact it has on the battery. But don't worry about it. I would try to get something between 20 and 50c, you should be fine.

And yes, you will need a charger. When I bought my first lipo I almost made the mistake by charging it with the stock wall charger

Here are some links to Amazon. I have owned all these battery's and charger

This is my Gens Ace lipo, just bought it a week ago. Seems fine:

Traxxas 5000mAh 7.4V 2S 50C LiPo Battery Pack by Gens ace https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JCS7QPC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_ruiTVGqT7plCC

This is my venom lipo. Great brand, just pretty expensive:

Venom 25C 2S 5000mAh 7.4V Hard Case LiPo Battery with Universal Plug (EC3/Deans/Traxxas/Tamiya) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YNQXGO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_jf7DybTY2S501

This is my charger. Great charger, kinda out dated but works fine:

HiTec 44165 X1 AC Plus Single Port 6 Amp AC/DC Charger (NiCd/NiMH/LiPo) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LH3392/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_og7DybJFYKT6C

I would also recommend getting a lipo bag. Lipo batteries tend to do catch on fire, but none of mine have. I would still get one just in case. Just out your battery in it when you charge it and store it. Here's the link for one:

Generic CoBean Silver Large Size Lipo Battery Guard Sleeve/Bag for Charge & Storage https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HTH78W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4h7DybR76NC3S

Other than that, post when you get your battery and charger so we can help you out on setting everything up. Just make sure you get a 2s. 3s is crazy. Also if your going to be driving on the street, make sure you got a pair of road tires because the battery will tear up your off road tires. Other than that, have fun!

I bought this: Traxxis 6AMP but I'm pretty sure this is the same thing, just rebranded and cheaper: HiTec 6AMP

Its got a decent range for batteries (2cell - 6cell), charges different batteries other than LiPo and has a nice read out as well as a wall plug and car battery leads for field charging.

Edit: after looking at that turnigy accucell, it looks like I got hosed pretty good :/