Super Nova and Pocket Peaker From FMA Direct

Nov. 01, 2005 By Glenn R. Viveiros

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If you are looking for a good, scratch that, GREAT pair of charger's for your R/C needs then look no further FMA has the answer.

We test the SuperNova Fast Cycle battery charger for stick packs, receiver packs and transmitter packs; it works with Ni-cad and Nimh batteries. Also from FMA Direct is the Pocket Peaker Glo-Charger, connect your favorite charger to this small wonder via the dummy glo plug in its base and hit the charge button, in twenty minutes your back in business.

First off we'll start with the SuperNova, it packs quite a lot of punch in a small package. This is a d.c. powered only charger so if you want to use it at home with a.c. power you will have to use an a.c. to d.c. power converter. The charger has some pretty good instructions and you will need to purchase or make some adapters to be able to charge your style of battery pack. I also got the recommended accessories for the charger, the Versatile Adapter and its 9" power connector wire. These will allow it to interface with most popular radio equipment.

Charger with the plastic stand and all the instructions. Click for full size image	Front face shot of the charger, you can see the fan in the top left. Click for full size image
Power input wires for the charger. Click for full size image	Output side for the battery. Click for full size image

Here are some technical specifications on the SuperNova.

Model no: FC700
Manufacturer: FMA Direct Inc.
Type: automatic or manual mode peak-detect battery charger and discharger capable of handling Ni-cad, Nimh and lead-acid batteries.
Size: 51/2x3l/2xl5/8 in.
Input: 12V D/C from lead- acid (car) battery or a 12V DC power supply with at least a 10 amp output.
Input cables are, 36-in. long with large alligator clips.
Output connectors are female banana plugs
Will charge from 1 to 25 cells
Cell capacity, 50 to 3000 mah
Charge current: 0.1 amp to 5 amps
Discharge current. 0.5 amp to 3 amps

The SuperNova has a two-line LCD display so that you can very easily read the different modes and power options that are available. It has three buttons on the front that you use to navigate though these various modes. It also has a cooling fan on the front panel to help keep it cool during long charging sessions. The unit is supplied with two plastic legs that keep it mounted at a slight angle so that you can view the status of the charge more easily. The two plugs that I made for the charger allow me to charge either one or two stick type battery packs with the Tamiya style connectors, these are a very common type used in R/C and what I run my electric powered items with. The unit also has a very handy ten pack memory, you can save the charging parameters of ten different battery packs and recall them by pressing just a few buttons so that you can quickly charge your favorite battery pack to its peak efficiency without having to re enter all the information over and over.

With a few adapters that are available from FMA Direct and a couple that I built myself, I was able to charge all the batteries and battery packs that I use in my radios and cars. The first one is the Versatile Adapter (part number 501MC) when connected to the SuperNova charger with the 9" d.c. power cable (part number 201BCB) it allows you to charge just about any receiver or transmitter battery pack. It has connections for Moles, Deans, Futaba J style, J.R. and Airtronics plugs. It also has a 2.1 mm round style output. Using these I was able to charge the receiver packs that I made with 1550mah double a batteries. To charge my 7.2 volt stick packs I used two different connectors that I soldered together with plugs and wire I got from my local hobby shop. One for the single batteries and one for the duel sets that I use in an Emaxx and starter box. Please note that the double adapter is wired in series so that the packs are seen as one twelve-cell stick pack instead of two six-cell packs. You can only do this if you have the same type and capacity cells in each pack.

The Versatile Adapter showing all of its many connections. Click for full size image	The 9" DC Power cable that connects the Versatile Adapter. Click for full size image
Single 7.2 volt stick pack battery charging adapter. Click for full size image	Double 7.2 volt stick pack battery charging adapter. Click for full size image

On the Ni-Cad batteries one of the best features of the SuperNova can be brought into play, which is the Automatic Mode. This is a powerful; yet smart charging option available only for use on Ni-Cad batteries. In the Automatic Mode, the SuperNova will automatically analyze and pick the optimum discharge, charge or discharge and charge current. This can be used for one to twenty five cells. In this mode the battery status is monitored once each minute and the charge or discharge rate is modified for optimum efficiency. Since the majority of batteries being charges in the R/C world are Ni-Cad, this is the default start mode of the SuperNova.

If you charging Nimh or Lead Acid batteries with the SuperNova you have to set the number of cells, the battery pack capacity, the charge rate and the discharge rate. Once you set these and activate the unit, it will discharge and then charge of just charge depending on what you want it to do. Once the battery pack is completely charged, the advanced peak detection circuit will turn off the high rate charge and enter the trickle charge mode to keep the battery pack at optimum level. The trickle amount is dependent on the battery pack parameters that were set in the unit. The SuperNova is capable of storing ten different charging parameters for your different battery packs.

Default mode is the Automatic Mode for Ni-Cad cells. Click for full size image	Single 7.2 volt stick pack hooked up and ready to charge. Click for full size image
Input and Output voltage to the battery pack. Click for full size image	Discharge voltage on this single 7.2 volt stick pack. Click for full size image Click for full size image
View while in the Charge Mode of the Automatic Cycle. Click for full size image	Times for discharge and charge of the single 7.2 volt stick pack. Click for full size image
Duel 7.2 volt stick packs wired in series and ready to charge. Click for full size image	Screen shot of the MAH that were charged and the time it took. Click for full size image

As stated above, the insturctions that come with the unit are very easy to follow; they walk you through each step in the process of setting up the unit for each style of charging. With the three buttons on the unit it is very easy to navigate through the four separate menu options and their sub levels. With a 110 volt a.c. to 12 volt d.c. power converter and this SuperNova charger you can handle almost any R/C battery charging need. The unit is compact and lightweight, but very powerful in its charging abilities.

The next part of this pair is the Pocket Peaker Glow Plug igniter rapid charger. It is a great little gadget to have in your pit box to throw a quick charge to your Glow Plug igniter so that you can be back in business in just a short time. This charger is to only be used on Ni-Cad battery powered glow igniters. The unit is made of durable aluminum and includes a dummy glow plug so that you can just clip your igniter on and hit the start button. It will automatically charge at 1.2 amps for twenty minutes. When you hook the power wires up to a 12 volt d.c. power source the power l.e.d. will light up, next you clip on your favorite glow igniter and hit the start button. The charging l.e.d. will light up and there will be a high pitched whine that comes from the unit. In about twenty minutes you will have approximately 400 mah charged into your glo igniter. If your glo igniter has a larger battery (most do) and you want to add to its charge, unhook the glo igniter, wait about ten seconds and then hook it back up and hit the charge button again. You can do this until you reach your desired charge level.

This little device has proven indespensable at the track, twenty minutes to have an operational glo-igniter is great compared to the twelve to sixteen hours the stock chargers that come with the glo-igniters take.

Pocket Peaker in its factory packaging. Click for full size image	Pocket Peaker and its included instructions. Click for full size image
Pocket Peaker hooked to a 12 volt d.c. power converter with power l.e.d. lit. Click for full size image	Pocket Peaker powered up and charging one of my glo-igniters. Click for full size image

With these two powerful but easy to use chargers in your corner there is nothing in the R/C spectrum of batteries that you cant charge. FMA has made a pair of winners for the R/C enthusiast.

Any questions of comments please feel free to email me

Glenn R. Viveiros

depdog@off-road.com