6. May 2014 20:08 by outbackuav in
Posts 1. Tweezers
Super fine Japanese tweezers from eBay, I have straight and curved but the curved ones don't have much grip. Very useful for grabbing stuff inside small fuselages and wings.
2. Chemist Glasses
If you don't need them now, you'll need them one day! I used to used a magnifying glass on the top of a set of helping hands but the glasses are much easier.
3. Temperature Controlled Soldering Iron
I replaced my basic 40 watt unregulated with a Chinese temperature-controlled iron with a digital display. It was very cheap (sorry Haako!) but it does a fine job. I bought a set of tips that make any job a lot easier. I used to dread soldering now I've soldered new wires on to servos and even added resistors inside a servo to make it sweep 180 degrees.
4. Servo Connector Crimper
Free yourself from the tyranny of servo extension cables and connectors in inconvenient places. Crimping is easy and makes much neater planes.
5. Combination Watt Meter, Servo Tester, Battery Checker
I've got a little HobbyKing 6 in 1 unit that is very useful for understanding what current I'm using, testing servos and peeking insode batteries.
6. Half Decent Muiltimeter
My first one was $4.99 (can you tell I'm cheap?). Finally upgraded to a new one and it has automatic voltage ranging and best of all, an audible continuity tester - very useful when you've got into some contortion to put the probes on and then realise you can't see the screen.