AUTHOR:DAVID GLADWIN
EGT. As Sir Stanley Hooker wrote in his
book, (Not Much of an Engineer) like the
human body, any health problem is shown as
rise in temperature so monitoring engine tem-
perature is good practice.
Measuring just 51 x 44 x 10 mm and wei-
ghing 23g, (0.8 oz) and costing just 72 Euros,
it’s a superb device, all of my Xicoy ECU
engines are being equipped with a unit, it’s
that good!
http://www.xicoy.comfrom the ECU on internal memory which can
also be replayed, forward or backwards at
normal, x10 or x100 speeds simply by con-
nection a 5-10 volt battery. Firmware can be
upgraded through the USB card ensuring
compatibility with new ECUs. It also means
that any changes to ECU settings can be
made via the USB card.
This the perfect device for monitoring engine
health by enabling a check of EGT on every
start and an occasional check of full speedthe tubing keeping everything correctly orien-
tated, so be careful with the heat gun!
That has made a male plug and this is the
basis of the female socket. To make the latter
is simply a matter of inserting the supplied
plastic encased three pin “plug” over which is
applied the female socket ensuring correct
orientation so that the assembly is correctly
gripped.
I found that inserting the pins into the plug The pins are inserted into the plastic moulding so that small latches engage the pins to hold it in position.Exact sizes to suit your installation, no problem!The Xicoy smart data terminal features graphic display of RPM and EGT and is small and light, making it
perfect for onboard installation. A very capable unit. (a chilly day in the workshop indicated!Female sockets are formed from male plugs by the addition of three pins and the whole assembly locked up with the second moulding.
when using PowerBox’s own premium wire
very easy but when I tried inserting a pin
using JR heavy duty wire it was difficult to
fully insert the pin, the thicker wire made the
pin a very tight fit in the plug. It could be done
but required some further compression of the
pin using small flat pliers.
One final point: The PowerBox sockets,
moulded in clear plastic are not physically
polarised so correct polarization is achieved
by observing matching colours. However, the
clear plastic plugs DO enable one to visually
confirm that the pins are fully “home”.
Having used this extensively on my new
Sabre, I will never go back to my old, solde-
ring, system as making custom wiring as
described is vastly quicker, easier and chea-
per than hitherto and is arguably safer with
the avoidance of soldered joints.
I have no doubt that many jet modellers have
already discovered this system, so perhaps I
am late in the game, but if it’s new to you give
it a try, my guess is you will never use any
other system!
http://www.powerbox-systems.comXICOY SMART DATA TERMINALA couple of years ago I purchased a Jets Munt
Merlin 100 which was installed into my original
BVM BobCat XL which had completed hun-
dreds of flights with JetCat P70, an ultra relia-
ble engine, and which endowed the BobCat
with excellent performance. Installing the
Merlin gave the machine an even more spar-
kling performance allowing easy half loops
with a roll off the top from a normal take off!
The Merlin came with a tiny data terminal
weighing under one ounce which allows per-
manent installation in the airframe. The latest
Merlin’s can be supplied with a new full colour
terminal with a graphic presentation of engi-
ne performance, EGT AND RPM as well as
all the usual features of the previous GSU.
Size and weight are the same as before and
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