By Peter Dennis
Flying Sites Editor

The Super Nova 250S battery charger/discharger has for several years been an excellent entry-level charger. Although not the cheapest on the market, at around £75, it does have several features not available on more expensive chargers.

The Super Nova has been sold in several guises. In the USA it has a silver casing and is sold under the FMA mark. Here in the UK the Super Nova 250S comes under the Pro Peak banner and is sold through Ripmax.

The Super Nova has long been regarded as a great little charger. Being able to charge up to 25 cells, Nicad, NiMh and lead acid cells, its virtues have been extolled on numerous occasions; however, it has also come in for criticism!

A number of users have found it difficult to understand the programming sequences and all the functions available, and especially setting up 'Manual' charging. This is compounded by universal criticism of the small instruction booklet that is provided with the charger.

We, here at Flying Sites, have for some time provided a free download schematic diagram guiding users through the different set ups, but what has really been requires is a simple no nonsense re-write of the instruction manual.

Well, now help is at hand in the form of a new publication 'A User Friendly Guide to the Super Nova' by Andrew Gibbs. The guide comes in a handy A3 size and has 30 pages. On first inspection the guide is much more than a well written re-write of the original manual. It also contains lots of useful advice on safety, power supply to the charger, wiring battery leads and a very useful 'Hints and Tips' section. All this information will be of use to both newcomers to electric flight as well as old hands. The booklet has also been illustrated with several colour photographs.

The main body of the booklet guides the user through all programming functions (both automatic and manual) in a simple easy to understand way.

At the heart of Andrew's description is a Flow Chart. This chart is colour coded and printed at the back of the booklet. But as you will require the chart while reading about each function, Andrew has thoughtful supplied the same flow chart on a loose piece of paper. So now you can follow the instructions with out continually turning to the back of the booklet.

Andrew explains each feature and function in turn. He describes clearly what each function does and how to get to it via the three programming buttons. Again each section is illustrated with a colour graphic of each screen that the Super Nova displays. And with regular reference to the Flow Chart, you will soon find your way around.

Probably the part of the Super Nova that most users find difficult is programming their own personal charging set-ups. The booklet contains a table with all the ten factory pre sets listed. Each of these can be modified to your own settings, to suit your own batteries. Again Andrew explains how to modify each of these setting, from battery type, number of cells, capacity, charge and discharge current.

The programming section concludes with a technical specification and a comprehensive list of the Super Nova's features, many of which I had no idea existed, as they didn't appear in the original instruction manual.

Andrew's 'Hints and Tips' section includes very useful information on choosing charging rates, reserving a memory for special use, and charging/discharging transmitter batteries. Also included is a section on battery care, how to look after a new battery, battery storage and assessing the condition of older batteries. There is even a simple calculation to assess how many flights you can safely make with each charge of a receiver battery.

The booklet closes with several charts for you to record your own battery information and also a table to record each of your personal pre-sets memories.

All in all, this is the Super Nova Manual that model flyers have been crying out for! It's well written and it guides you easily through each function in an simple to understand way. But it also has the added advantage of interesting and useful information about setting up your charger and battery usage and care.

The booklet is well worth the £6 (inc p+p) asking price. As it says on the cover: At last! An easy to understand guide for Super Nova owners.

Recommended!

Price £6 (inc p+p) Cheques made payable to Andrew Gibbs.

Email: mrandrewgibbs@yahoo.com