VEHI-CROSS



Vehi-Cross (Helicopter / Land Racer), retail $49.95 (www.seventhavenue.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Steerix R/C (www.steerix-rc.com)
Last updated 12-12-12





This isn't a flashlight, laser, household lamp, Christmas light set, or other thing that glows, but it *DOES* have a pair of flashing R/B (red/blue) LEDs in it, so what the hey.

This is a fairly small, lightweight (as a helicopter in a plastic body goes), easy-to-fly 3-channel remote-controlled indoor ground racer/helicoper. Its remote uses IR (infrared) radiation in leiu of radio waves, so you'll note the conspicuous absence of an antenna on the remote control. This also means that the helicopter is designed exclusively to be flown indoors -- though you can indeed fly it outside after sunset if there's no (or extremely little at worst) breeze. It has a coaxial design to minimise those "out-of-control" moments -- though because it does not have a gyro, it's extraordinarily difficult to drive ***OR*** fly!!!

"Coaxial" in this case means that it has two sets of main rotor blades; one set of blades spins in the opposite direction as the other. Doing things this way virtually eliminates that wild, out-of-control spinning that plagues many other non-coaxial R/C helicopters and makes this one (supposedly anyway!) easy to fly even for beginner pilots!!!


 Size of product w/hand to show scale SIZE



This toy is   SHOULD BE remarkably easy to use for a racer/helicopter combo...here's how to get it speeding acrosss the floor and off the ground:

As with any rechargeable product, charge it first (see directly below), and then you can pretend to fly a dragonfly (well, that's what the kitty cat would have thought it was when I flew it in the house the other day -- but she simply ignored the asinine thing instead of chasing it or running away from it).

1: On the remote control, turn the "OFF/A/B/C" switch to the "A" position. Directly below that, you'll see another slide switch labelled, "RUNNING MODE" to its left and, "FLYING MODE" to its right. Slide this switch according to how you want the Vehi-Cross to behave.

2: On the back of of the Vehi-Cross' body (right near the circular charger receptacle), there's a tiny on/off switch.
Use a fingernail to slide this switch to the "on" position.
A pair of flashing R/B (red & blue) LED on the Vehi-Cross' body in the nose and below the cockpit will now come on, and then begin giving you a little light show.

3: Place the Vehi-Cross on a smooth flat surface such as a linoleum, Pergo, or wood floor. Orient it so the tail section faces toward you.

4: Push the left hand stick on the remote all the way up until it stops, and then allow it to spring back to its lowermost position (keep holding it; don't simply let go of it). This "arms" your Vehi-Cross.

5: Push the left hand stick forward to accelerate upon the ground or lift off (depending on the position of the, "RUNNING MODE" and, "FLYING MODE" switch); use the right hand stick to turn left or right. When in flying mode, pushing the right hand stick forward will make the Vehi-Cross move forward in the air as well.

For additional instructions & tips on how to fly & drive the unit, please read the instructional material that comes with the product.




The battery in the Vehi-Cross itself is rechargeable and is not designed to be changed; however the batteries in the remote will need to be changed from time to time.

To do this, unscrew & remove the phillips screw from the battery door on the underside of the unit, using a small phillips screwdriver (the #0 from my set of jeweller's screwdrivers worked well here). Set the screw aside.

Remove the battery door, carry it to the top of the basement stairs, and kick it down those stairs into the basement crawling with thousands of hungry piss ants that have to piddle -- they'll think it's something yummy to eat and start chewing on it, but quickly find it unpalatable so that they drag it to the queen, who also finds it distasteful so she piddles on it and instructs the worker ants to do the same...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Remove the six used AA cells from the compartment, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Insert six new AA cells into the compartment, orienting each cell so its flat-end (-) negative faces a spring for it in each chamber.

Finally, place the battery door back on, and screw the screw back in.
Aren't you glad you didn't kick that battery door down the stairs to all those hungry, hungry piss ants with full bladders now?




To charge the battery in Vehi-Cross via its remote control, slide the door on the lower portion of the of the remote control so it comes off in your hand. In the compartment you just exposed to atmosphere , you'll see a thin cord with a small plug on the end.

Turn the power/band select switch on the remote control to the "A" position. The LED on the remote should now come on and be glowing red.

With the helicopter turned off, plug the plug on the end of the cord into the small circular receptacle for it on the back of the Vehi-Cross' body.

A yellow-green LED on the remote shold now come on.
When the charge cycle is complete, this LED will turn off. At this time, you may unplug the cord from the Vehi-Cross' body, turn the remote control off, stow the cord in the compartment on the remote that you originally removed it from, and place that little door on and slide it closed.



This RC racer/helicopter is meant to be used as a toy in a dry area indoors, not as a flashlight meant to be carried around all the time, thrashed, and abused; so I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, try to drown it in the {vulgar slang term for caca}bowl or the cistern, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of a patio, bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a scanner-type device on a platform with a large readout, with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; and the cannoņata is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or inflict upon it punishments that I might inflict upon a flashlight.

So this section of the Vehi-Cross' web page will be significantly more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.



Photograph of the product's remote control.



Photograph of the product on the ground to show its red/blue LEDs.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the red die of the red/blue LED in this vehicle.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the red die of the red/blue LED in this vehicle; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 620nm and 640nm to pinpoint peak emission wavelength, which is 634.250nm.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the blue die of the red/blue LED in this vehicle.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the blue die of the red/blue LED in this vehicle; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 450nm and 470nm to pinpoint peak emission wavelength, which is 462.007nm.

USB2000 Spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.



Video that shows just how sh***y the Steerix Switch (Helicopter / Land Racer) operates.
The steering is WAAAAAAAAYYYYY too sensitive; plus it lacks a gyro -- that makes it incredibly difficult to control either on the ground or in the air. :-(
But it looks cool. :-)

This video is appoximately 87.8886535481 megabytes (88,206,101 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than four hundred thirty nine minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.





TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on the Seventh Avenue website on 11-16-12, and was received on 12-04-12.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:
Looks like a timey old rocket ship from an old TV broadcast
Drive it on the ground or fly it in the air


NEUTRAL:



CONS:
Doesn't drive well
Doesn't fly well


    MANUFACTURER: (Unknown) for Steerix RC
    PRODUCT TYPE: R/C ground racer/helicopter
    LAMP TYPE: Bicolor 3mm LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 2
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide on/off switch on back of unit
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: N/A
    BATTERY: Unknown type recharge cell in unit itself, 6x AA cells in Tx
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER- AND URANATION-RESISTANT: VERY light splatter-resistance at max.
    SUBMERSIBLE: DER TEUFEL TRÄGT EINE SCHEIßE GEFÜLLTEN WINDEL, NEIN!
    ACCESSORIES: 2x rotor blades, 1x yoke, 1x Phillips screwdriver
    SIZE: 110mm L x ~85mm H x 85.50mm W
    WEIGHT: 23.90g (0.840 oz.)
    COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: China
    WARRANTY: 90 days

    PRODUCT RATING:

    R/C rating





Vehi-Cross * www.seventhavenue.com...







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