sgbfly

Hi Peter,

Spiros has kindly done me the picture I asked you for earlier. Thanks for your other picture which will debut this weekend.

Hi Spiros,

Thanks for the pictures. Very clear & will also make the latest cut this weekend.

Simon

rikybob

Thanx Simon,

Humour is such a touchy thing. I now believe that comedy and Helicopter flying have to be left to the wayside while one is under the weather.

Maybe I will feel better tomorrow when I am "up with the chickens" (ouch)

Regards,

R/B

P.S. The Kubrick thing was good if I say so myself! [:-]

aircrash

Hi there!

Well it seems that our BOL have chicken out of being so powerful.
But Simon`s BOL is used to chickens, so it was not a problem.
This has to do, definitely. There must a relation, somehow.

So here in Greece we say "does/can the donkey fly?" and that`s said to show an impossible action or case.
But in our case even the donkey (our BOL) flies... just using a switch.
Or else our BOL would be a chicken =a bird that can`t fly. (or a donkey that thinks it can fly...)


Next is the weather...
I saw that only in Australia the weather is nice, although it has some rain occasionally. Next is<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Orlando Florida, then Athens Greece and last Worksop United Kingdom.
The funny part is the weather here at this time is more like as in Worksop.
So I still can`t fly...

Spiros

pgroom_68

Hey again Spiros,

It is thunderstorms here in [link=http://www.weatherzone.com.au/radar.jsp]Sydney[/link][:@] - so I guess I'm grounded as well.....[sm=confused_smile.gif] So much for buying an Outdoor Helicopter - eh?

Rikybob,
(I know you are reading along 'cause your unable to fly right now)
I thought you might be interested in [link=http://lifehacker.com/5315210/diy-steadicam-provides-scorcese+like-smoothness-for-10]THIS[/link] - it could be used to video chickens!

Peter[sm=shades_smile.gif]

Ddaddy

Windy here too....should get scope out to measure channel 4 signals.....<div>
</div><div>Wheeee....the MSR is so much fun!</div><div>
</div><div>Ken</div>

patricklupo

Has anyone here replaced theirradioin a stock Big Lama, with a 72Mhz or 2.4GHzfrom another brandlike a Hitec? More specifically,doesthe transmitterhave to supportany special mixing of rudder and throttle channels, or does the 3 in 1(or Dionysus Design mixer) handle all the work of combining the separate throttle and rudder controls into coaxial outputsfor the motors? I believe the ESky radio channels 1 thru 4 are mapped directly to thesame channels coming outof thereceiver, but wanted to checkbefore selectinga radio.

I'm looking at theHiTec Laser 6 72MHz because it'sone ofvery few radios thatoffer greatrange (1+ miles) and alsosupport the pan/tilt headtrackingI use forthecamera on my plane. I'd love to be able also use the same radiofor my Big Lama to extend the range, support tilt headtracking,andalsoavoid the receiver/gyro power upissue, onceIgo boardless. Unfortunately the Laser6 is a very basic non-programable radio and only supports elevon and v-tail mixing (neither of which would mix channels 3 and 4 for coaxial motors).

sgbfly

Hi Patrick,

I was trying to avoid an new rx and tx in my conversion to try and keep costs down. Keeping all other components the same a basic choice was Dionysius Design mixer or v-tail mixer with new rx and programmable tx. So it was $30 vs $100 before you consider the other parts.

To answer your question. The DD mixer handles the combination of throttle and rudder for the co-axial setup and allows for adjustment of rudder sensitivity. So in theory you should be OK with any rx and tx combination of the same brand (or type for FM). Also, early results on another forum confirms that FM receivers do not have the gyro power up issue.

Your project sounds interesting

Simon

patricklupo

Thank's very muchSimon. That's a relief to hear that I shouldn't need a highend programmable radio.

On a related note, the $33Hobbyking 6ch radioand receiverhas per channel programmable mixing and might eliminate the need for a DDmixer all-together. If so, you'd also have to consider gyro wiring placement, as it normally connectsbefore the mixer, butin this case would have to go after the pre-mixed output from the Hobbyking receiver (justbefore the motor ESC). Perhaps mixing channels 3 &amp; 4, reversing one of them, and then setting the throttle curve would do the trick.

If the Hobbyking reciever initalizes much quicker than the ESky, it might also solve the gyro init delay issue. The HK reciever also has redundant antennas for more reliable reception. There's a few threads in RCGroups.com with folks whoown this radio, so I'll bet they could answer qustions on how fast the receiver comes up, as well as if itcouldbe programmed for coaxial mixing.

Also, check the review section for this radioon HobbyKing.com for a link to a video review.
</p>

sgbfly

Hi Patrick,

Yes that Hobbyking radio is an interesting option. I guess by the time you have added a cable for programming and shipping its closer to $50.....but even so excellent value &amp; useful to have as the hobby expands.

For me the DD mixer and grappling with the esky 2.4G rx would still be the way to go for the simplest upgrade. As you point out, there is the potential for plenty of experimentation with programming the tx before you nail the setup - but the extra fine tuning abitly could be useful . Although for my BOL - I could not be happier with how the boardless upgrade has performed.

Simon

rikybob

Peter,

Nice steady cam and the price is right! Here is another [link=http://steadycam.org/]DIY[/link]!

Well home again and up with the chickens, too windy to fly. Dang! I find that now that I have the bird dialed in that I am less inclined to fly when there is ANY wind!

Unfortunatly the weather here is degrading to squall lines for tomorrow.

Spiros, The flying donkey thing was very funny!

Well, back to healing!


Rikybob


P.S. I am extremely bored. No new info on Blade SR

barak1001

You guys have totally forgotten one other option. Learning to fly with the rudder pyro rate the way it is.

Eliminating the need for a programmable radio and a DD mixer.

I learned to fly my brushless v4 on the 72mhz stock radio. I just got used to rudder after a while. When I stepped up to a DX7 radio I didn't bother putting any expo on the rudder channel because I was used to it.

sgbfly

Hi Tony,

TBH I had ruled it out as an option. Its not very good for an on-board cam which I am having a lot of fun with. The precision just isn't there when I experimented with it briefly on the Big Lama.

Simon

aircrash

Hi there!

The programmable Tx + Rx looks good, at that price.
I would be interested but as many others I`ll have not one, but two stock Tx.
I decided I`ll buy another BOL, rather than building it out of spare parts. This way I can have a battery too, one more charger, a Tx, a canopy and some other more I like to have as spares (as I had said I should not build a second BOL out of spares as it costs much more, I should have bought an RTF from the beginning).
So I`ll still have all the spare parts... and who knows... I may sell something here locally.

But I think Simon is right.
Don`t forget that some may upgrade to separate electronics a ready brushless system, that`s already a bit expensive (or at least they had already spent some money).
And of course the fact that many have two or more stock Tx.
And as Simon says it flies good then the cheaper the better.

As for the cameras... I don`t know... I have bought 12... now I don`t have any... made some money out of them...

Rikybob,

If you liked the donkey and his dreams then there`s more for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tToRJQWssw0
And one more Greek expression: The donkey called the rooster as a big head. -&gt; used when someone judges or blames another for a fault or something wrong the other has, that he has already done or he is wrong too. Cause the donkey can`t have the right to call the rooster as a big head, as the donkey has a bigger head.
*Note that a rooster is a male chicken.

Spiros

rikybob

Spiros,

Let me get this right. You have a BOL, have enough parts to build another! Gonna buy another! Sold a bunch of webcams! You ARE a renaissance man!

Well, got bored, went flyin' in the wind. Cam fell off, landed on neighbors roof. Fell into rain gutter. Retrieved same! [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rewcrI4VNKk]Made movie.[/link] Enjoy the last few second of this resilient Cam!

Need to leave mechanical things alone until I heal up!

R/B

Sky Soldier

Hey Rikybob,

Thanks for sharing the photos of you field box. That answers a question I had posed earlier about what was being used for transport after shaft extension on the BOL. Transport/storage is important to me as I travel fulltime in a solar powered RV. Haven't extented my shaft yet as the bird is flying great now and will wait for the BIG crash before adding any more parts. Or maybe I'm too chicken to take the plunge!

Jerry

aircrash

Hi Rikybob,

Thanks for the compliment. Although I may seem a bit insane.
On the other hand I`m a bit scrooge. Only when I like something so much I spend money.

That`s a good steady high altitude flight in a windy weather. The video is good too. So you use xtreme blades?
What I like is the place you`re. It has many trees and so much green around.

So, another funny video. It`s an old Greek pay-tv advertisement. The policeman is playing a role as he has seen so many movies...
But you know which is the funny part...

Spiros

rikybob

Sky Soldier, I like the tool box measure of storage and was able to use the original inner "egg crate" to store the bird. I has the extended shaft but the top blades just stick perfectly over the side in the tool chest. I too am an RV'er as you can see on my vids our 5th wheel lives in the back yard. We both are still working but manage to take about 50/60 days off a year! I carry my bird with me to the various resorts and enjoy my hobby wherever I go. I, as yet have not carried this one on a road trip. Next month I will for 11 days! Please send me pix of your "Solar rig"


Spiros you and I are distant brothers somehow. I have been known here in the south where I live to be, "tighter than bark on a tree" and that is about right unless it is something I want/need. Then I spend the $$$! As for the video I use only stock blades. I DO NOT like the Xtreme blades on the RC711 set up. It makes the bird fly very unpredictably! I want to try the Walkera blades one day though! Yes, Florida is STILL green even though we are slowing becoming a metropolitan area.

As for the video, that is actually how I imagine the Simon acquired his chickens!

R/B

Sky Soldier

Hey Rikybob,

I did notice your use of the egg crate in your field box. I'll keep that in mind when I scan the luggage, bins and boxes available at Walmart. I think I need a more slimline case to give me more storage options. Until I install the extended shaft the original box will do with an extra box for parts/tools. Now that I've sold the 2 M41 airsoft tanks I have more space/weight available and thinking about getting a third bird to join my herd. Another stock BOL.

Haven't figured out how to attach pics here yet.



Jerry

P.S. guess I did. Preview doesn't show that

Ddaddy

Hi Everyone,

Well today was a bad day. Light rain wind at 7 with a little gusts....was flying BOL outside. Finally got around to putting 10T pionions on and stock blades. It's a differnt bird...altitude doesn't come as fast but much easier to control. bad news is I was about 100ft above my house fighting wind and all of a sudden it starts going crazy....kill power, hits roof then concrete patio deck. Broken superskids, bent inner shaft (maybe outer too) and canopy destroyed. Looked like the upper ball to flybar broke too but upon closer inspeaction...it unscrewed! Screwed back in fine and not stripped. : ( Thats one part I didn't disassembly and locktite when I got my heli from rc711.....I'm sure it came off in flight causing the crash. Sigh....preflight checks need to get better.


Anyway, I promised an oscope of receiver channel 4 signals. File is attached. Pin 1 was used for ground, chan 0 is pin 2 and chan 1 is pin 3. I have the esky 001367 receiver feeding Ultimate rc711 esc's with esky 001337 mixer. From everything I see, my receiver should work fine with a gyro. Everytime I connect I get consistent binding with 2 sets of 2 beeps immediately. Red light comes on immediately, blinks once and it's bound...less than 2 secs always. The channel 4 receiver output signals support this. pins 2 and 3 outpu a differential signal of 5 volts as soon as battery is plugged in. After binding you see some PWM on the signal, exactly what I would expect. I can not see any reason on my receiver that a gyro would have to wait for power to initial as output signal is immediate on my receiver with PWM immediately following. Oh, the file has all pertenant info on how I digitized the signal and you can also see where I did it 3 times with same results.

Ken

ps tab delimited
pss...make preflight checklist
psss wait for better weather to fly and keep bird over SOFT ground!

<br type="_moz" />

pgroom_68

Hey again Ev'ryone,

I've got sad news I was just completing my BOL benchtest and, upon plugging in my lipo (with the Tx already on) there was a sizzling noise, white smoke and excessive heat from the lipo plug ([sm=50_50.gif] I don't think I plugged it in wrongly). End result is there is no more beeps from the ESCs as they no longer initialize[sm=cry_smile.gif] I've fried something. Can you guys suggest a kit that I can order to make it all better? I hope the gyro is OK (that is the most $) as the switch cut into the red wire of the servo extension cable was off at the time so no power got to that

Better news is that before I fried something, the gyro LED was steady blue (when I switched it's power on after initialization)

So, to repeat my question, which BL motor & ESC kit should I order? [link=http://cgi.ebay.com/370-Size-Coaxial-Heli-Brushless-Conversion-Combo-LAMA_W0QQitemZ190355085017QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio _Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2c520c16d9]THIS one[/link]? Does anyone have a HongKong supplier link?

Peter[&:]
P.S. It would also bring me inline with Simon's ESC

sgbfly

H Peter,

I'm absolutely gutted for you

Link 1 &amp; link 2 both eBay seller wowmodel in Hong Kong. I've even altered the .com to .com.au for you

HTH

Simon

ps. The eBay search was 370 brushless
ps2. Email rc711 &amp; they will sell you a kit

rikybob

Ddaddy,

Sorry to hear about your luck! Although I tend to believe that there is a sickness that has us out flying when we should not be. I SHOULD NOT have been flying yesterday and came very close to losing my bird in a tree! I am glad your event is recoverable.

Peter,

I never would have made it as far as you did! I have the patience of Job, but this boardless brushless is waaaaay beyond my capability! Best of luck to you! Simon is right, the good people at RC711 tend to want to please and will let you "order off the menu" if you tell them plainly what you want.

Rikybob

p.s. the sun is rising here in Florida.......the storm front is 9 hours away.....will there be a "calm" before this storm?? Would love to fly but look what happened to Ddaddy!

pgroom_68

Hey again Simon,

If anything it was scary more than anything else.............[sm=stupid.gif]
Thanks for the empathy mate - it means a lot![sm=teeth_smile.gif]

I have just ordered one of [link=http://cgi.ebay.com.au/370-Coaxial-Heli-Brushless-Motor-ESC-Conversion-Combo_W0QQitemZ180461090576QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadi o_Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2a0451b710]THESE[/link] from Link 1. Is this exactly what you have got? The time until it arrives will go really fast 'cause I have so many other things "on the boil" ATM I have just got my Walkera [link=http://www.besthobbysite.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=150_152&products_id=12592]CB180D[/link] back up and flying again with a new flybar, blades and blade screws - the HBFPv2 mod is nearing completion - and I am SLOWLY progressing on the [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWtkEcYJGE4]Alien Design Roswell Project[/link] - all in all I think I will stay fairly busy. It is best that way[sm=wink_smile.gif]

BTW, does HTH near the end of your posts stand for "Hope That Helps" or "How The Hell"?

Peter[sm=shades_smile.gif]
P.S. I predict that there will be a "2.4G Big Lama without Transmitter" for sale by Christmas 2010 (I hope) - I would buy at least one if not two or three........................

rikybob

Hey Peter!

I have a good friend who had a dozen projects going at once, we called him "Skip"......he would skip from one project to another......the only differece is, is that he wuld NEVER finish a project!

As for the Walkera, aside from the butchering of the Queens English on their web site, it looks like a cool bird. I guess you crashed it? Is it as they advertise a good transition bird? As for being busy, I agree, its a good thing!

Rikybob

ps The skys are not cooperating. Ratz!

sgbfly

Hi Peter,

It looks the same, right down to the packaging &amp; instructions in the last picture. I don't know why they have removed the labels of the esc's though. Mine was ordered from RC711 (by email request), but it was $60USD excluding shipping.

As an aside, I have finally worked out the settings for the DD mixer and how the gyro gain responds to them. Will post on this later. It took me 4 lipo's to get the idea as it does not really work like the 3in1 tuning, which was the wrong starting point lol.

Hi RikyBob,

Hope you are feeling a little better today. I am like you really really hoping I don't crash because I have it absolutely A+ at the moment.

Hi Ken,

ouch! I am gutted for you as well

Simon