Home Automation – IOT – Security – Future Support

Just a collection of thoughts I have no plan or intention with this. It is at the moment just a collection of thoughts; based on some experience. There are few things in a home now that need to or are expected to last more than a few years. It’s only […]


dual colour LED strobe

High power Dual-Colour LED strobe 4

A new Strobe This strobe can be supplied as a dual-colour or single-colour configuration. As dual-colour it alternates between the two colours. RC PPM control allows it to be switch on/off in flight, and between two patterns. The RC control lead can be cut off if not required and the […]


Multi-rotor FPV Transmitter and LED Mounting

Video Transmitter Mounting The small video transmitters get quite hot.  They are supplied covered in a protective heat-shrink which also reduces their heat dissipation.  The hotter they run the less reliable they are; or the more likely they are to fail. This mount was assembled with heat dissipation and a […]

FPV transmitter mounting

lost model tracker fitted to small quad

Smaller Quads and Lost Model Tracker

250 size FPV quad racing Finding a 250 size quad in long grass can be a problem. I suggest using at least a audio alarm. The racing circuit is usually well defined and searchable. RF trackers work best over longer ranges. The beeper will help within the last 20 meters […]


Gimbal Controllers – another look 4

What’s Current Looking to see what is current, well supported and/or well documented, open-source, available and at a reasonable price. There seems to be some activity at the moment around the StorM32 brushless gimbal controller (BGC). It looks to be quite well documented. Unfortunately, no Linux support. Although it claims […]

StorM32 BGC Ebay

parkzone icon a5

Parkzone ICON A5 Ultra-Micro Repair

The Story From brand new, after 3 flights, the problem was that the motor would just shudder and not rotate. There was that burnt electrical smell and one of the three speed controller (ESC) mosfet chips had a fine crack.  One of its two mosfets was shorted. The small controller […]


Mill SIBA Controller power supply

The Original Fault The cincinnati milling machine, with milacron sx 850 controller, dating from 1993, was occasionally complaining of a SIBA failure. This is the IO rack that connects to the main controller by a fast serial link. Not much information is available and second-hand replacement parts cost a fortune […]

Rebuilt SIBA power supply

rcbeacon.com updates

Web Site Updates – addresses and https:

History Several years ago this site was created as www2.pmb.co.nz to use WordPress to replace our much older html only pmb.co.nz site. When rcbeacon.com was introduced 2-3 years ago, the site contained a lot of content. Fully converting from www2… to rcbeacon was going to be a big job. The […]