rotarydoc

Hey guys,

JPEE,

Sounds like the little lady is working you overtime...heck yeah, you should get overtime!

Hope your knees make a quick recovery...

Nick,

Thanks for the kind words on the SDX...it's alot more work than the Align electrics were, for sure...and I haven't even gotten to the fun part, the servo setup, linkages, and all that fun stuff!

I ordered the O.S. Hyper .50..it was the last one Heli Direct had in stock...and I got the Outrage pipe, and those CF blades coming...

The description states that the deflector is included..hope I get the cool plug like you got...

Sounds good on the 600 head setup...hopefully you'll get a chance to test both helis here soon...are your Velocity parts going to be here later this week?

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Your SDX should fly good with all the new equipment you are putting in it.

I looked at the bottom pic on the Outrage pipe and it is the same deflector I have. The plug is on the back side of the deflector.

I ordered my Velocity parts on Friday, so hopefully they will come Monday or Tuesday. I still have to get the one way bearing case out, but I am not too motivated to work on that.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Yeah, about the only thing not new will be the throttle servo...I am going to use the rudder servo from the Raptor...it should be fine, I was looking at it working earlier, it's plenty fast enough and has plenty of torque to handle the throttle.

It should fly well...

Oh cool, thanks for looking at that pic...so I'll have a nice plug for the pipe...keep the Forester cleaner...lol...

Cool on the parts coming in...hope you get motivated when they get there...

Bedtime here, back to work tomorrow, and on with the build this week...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Half of my parts came today. I just need a new one way bearing sleeve and a bearing for the main gear. I put the new dampners in the Velocity head and installed the new push pull control shaft.

I am liking my new adjustments on the 600 Vbar. It seems to hover a little better. Right now I am testing it in some pretty strong winds. It handles the big gusts pretty good. It goes up and down with the gusts like a flybared heli, but it doesn't really get knocked from side to side. It also seems to have a lot more power. With the flybared head it kind of seemed slugish, but now it responds very quick and feels like it is LiPo powered. The 600 flybarless heli is a lot more fun than my 450 flybarless heli.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Cool....sounds like you had a better day than me....

That is great on the V-bar, sounds like you are getting it setup better each time...I think it takes a fair amount of tweaking to get it just right...which is good, you can fine tune it exactly like you want it.

That's cool that you noticed a power increase, and that the response is better.

Justin mentioned that he had a V-bar on a Trex 450...and described it as "just too much" for it...I think it's harder to setup on a smaller heli like that...I never did much research on the Gaui 200 FES systems....I wonder how they work?

Well, here was my day...my FIRST order of the day was stuff I forgot to order last night....like a new header tank, my old Raptor one is not so great...a main blade holder, I sold all mine with the Raptor stuff... ...some fuel line, and clamps...and an RX padded wrap...forgot that too...

Work was slow, so I build all my linkage rods at work. THEN, I realized that the servo wheels that come with the Align servos are not nearly big enough...the push pull links are spaced 30mm apart at the heli end, so I need large servo wheels to get the links parallel...so I got some from Heli Direct, nice 35mm aluminum wheels...should work great. I found out by doing some research that the Align servos use the same output shaft diameter and splines as Futaba...which is good...

OK, all is looking good...I get home...start messing with servo direction...and got the cyclics all setup...and went to do the rudder servo...the brand new Futaba 9254...and it is DEAD...absoulutely nothing...I plugged 2 other different servos into the RX rudder pins, and they both work...I have no idea, I guess I just got a bad one...which is strange for a Futaba servo. I double and triple checked my polarity on the plug...it's just a bad servo...

So, I emailed Heli Direct about that....and I either send it to them, or send it to Futaba....either way, it's a week or more in limbo....so I ordered one from Heliproz for now...I hope Heli Direct will just give me a credit, so I don't have to send it to Futaba...

THEN, I discovered some more things...I read the manual where it said I might need servo spacers so the servo arms clear the frame....well...I do...lol...so they are on order from Heliproz along with the servo...

Well, I figured what else now...so I started figuring out the mounting on the throttle servo, the one I took off the Raptor. I got some servo mounting screws just for that purpose....and they are too small...the diameter is too thin for the frame holes...but, the Align servo hardware kits that came with the cyclics fit fine...so all I need is one of those kits, right? Well.. good luck on that! I cannot find that anywhere....

To make the rest of the story short, I found some at RTL fasteners that look pretty good..maybe a tad too large, but they should be OK. At the same time, I went ahead and got some SHCS for the phillips frame screws, particularly the boom clamp ones, since that's how you adjust the belt, the phillips will probably wear out over time...and some 3mm nylon locknuts to go with them...

WHEW...I HOPE that is it for now...

I'm sort of stuck for now...I guess I'll do the canopy and fin decals tomorrow...

Oh, and here is a pic of the canopy I am getting....I'm sort of on the fence...it's pretty sharp I guess, I'm just not into the painted windsheild thing, and I'm not sure about in-flight visibility...now I see why it has blue tail blades...

http://www.heliproz.com/prodinfo.asp?number=403955

I see the price went up with that canopy by about $15 also...

Well, good luck when the rest of your parts come in...

What a day...I gotta go see how Jack Bauer ends the show "24" after this...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I heard it is hard to setup the Gaui 200 FES.

Sorry about all the problems you ran into on the SDX.

I like RTL. I wish they had deals that the total could be under a $100.

I like that canopy.

I am working on some electronics again. I have a school project were I can communicate with a computer with a microcontroller, but it has to be through a serial port using RS-232. My computer doesn't have a serial port, but I can try using my old computer. Right now I am trying to work out the bugs with my keypad and LCD.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Yeah, I figured there would be some snags along the way in the build...and I'll get through them...I am hoping to get to at least break the engine in this weekend, and maybe even fly it a bit...but we'll see...

That canopy is a pretty color...it might grow on me after I see it some more. I hope the guy remembers to bring it, I'll have to call before the fun fly...

Cool on the new project....sounds like fun.

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I'm pretty sure you can get a serial to USB adapter...and it should be able to act as a serial port on an old computer...it's all serial data, just via a different interface...

Good luck on the new project...

Hope you get the Velocity parts and get it up in the air again soon.

I also like RTL, but their shipping is outrageous...I paid $11.65 for USPS Priority on a few screws...[X(]

Glenn

rotarydoc

Nick,

Not sure if this will work...and it's in China, but you get the idea....

Looks like it comes with a driver CD as well...

Can't beat the price!

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-RS232-Serial...item563cb6824a

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Once I read about you mentioning a RS-232 to USB adaptor I remembered I already had one. I haven't had to use it until now, so I forgot about it. Now I have to figure out how to have Hyperterminal recognize it.

That is a lot for shipping. I haven't ordered from RTL for awhile, so I don't remember how much I was charged for shipping.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Good luck on the RS-232 to USB...I notice that one on eBay comes with a driver CD...I think you have to have certain drivers installed on your PC to get it to work properly...and I'm not familiar enough with it to help much.

At least RTL ships out fast, my order has already shipped.

Heliproz has good prices...I got the same 9254 servo from them for $104...and Helidirect and Ready Heli were both $119...

I probably won't see anything today, but I should get my engine, pipe, and some other stuff tomorrow.

I should do the decals on the canopy and fins tonight, because I will be busy with final assembly and setup the rest of the week.

Glenn

JPEE

Nick,
Good luck with your USB thingie, I hope it works for your project. I got to my house "early" this morning and pulled the toilet out of the bathrrom and did some other stuff before the painters arrived at 8:00 a.m. So about noon time I was done with my work so I snuck off to the big field a mile away and did 3 packs through 500, what dream that heli is. I had the 600 with me too but it was fistering up like rain is coming tonight as predicted. Wind gusts were starting so I said "ok" to my little voice that said "don't take up the 600". Three 500 flights will hold me for a few days.

Glenn,
I took my curve in "normal" on the 500 like that guy set up my 600 at 0-60-70-80-80. It lfies nice and is more smooth forsure. BUt, I will need to bump that up as the nose to tail is rocking as I do flybys. In idle-up no issues, shes like a dream and performs well.

Sorry to hear your getting old like me! and forgot to order everything you needed in the way of parts. Really sorry to hear that servo was graveyard dead out of the box too. I hope they make the xchange for you.

JPEE

evdreamer

Glenn,

My adaptor had a USB chip and what I assme to be a RS-232 chip to convert the +and- 12V to 5V. My computer recognized it, but I couldn't get anything to show up on Hyperterminal. I will just wait till tomorrow at school to try it out. I think this is my last project for the quarter, so I am not in a big hurry to finish it. When I was trying it out I noticed all my negative signals were getting chopped off. Then once I took my adaptor off I was getting them back.

That is cool you got the servo cheaper at Heliproz.

JPEE,

That is cool you had time to fly again.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Not much new here...no parts today...so I'm kinda at a standstill at the moment.

I should have put decals on, but Justin stopped by, and we chatted helis all night..lol.. Didn't get a thing done...


Nick, I couldn't remember if there was anything else you needed to know on the V-bar...or if you just needed more time and testing, so I didn't ask Justin anything more about it...

We did figure out that I had the linkage balls on the wrong side on one servo wheel, so we got that straight...he was showing me why his Logo 600 went down that day, the motor wires had chaffed through on the frame..and caused a short, and ESC shutdown.

Justin was keenly reading the RC Heli mag review of his Logo 600....they rated it very highly...

JPEE,

Nice on the improved 500 settings, and great flights...those curves are similar to what Justin used on mine, but mine are more or less flat at 78 across the board. I could try those you have and see how it does as well....

Good that you listened to your little voice, it is usually right...lol...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I think I pretty much have everything working with the V-bar. I think part of the problem I was having was letting the heli drift too long in autotrim. I am planning on flying tomorrow if the weather is decent. It is hard to find a calm day, so I probably won't be able to test the autotrim feature for awhile.

Aren't the Logo frames made out of plastic? That must be a sharp frame.

Does Justin get RCHeli mags or was that yours?

I hooked my old computer up and hooked it up to my circuit. The signal looks a little better, but it is still getting chopped off. I need to check if the cable my teacher made is good. I also need to check if the wires go to the right pins. I read that there isn't a standard color code for RS-232 cables, so maybe that is the problem.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

I thought you had more or less figured out the V-bar, but when Justin was here, it crossed my mind to ask him...

Even if you have an issue later on, I can always run it by him for his input..

Good luck if you fly tomorrow, hope there is not too much wind, so you can test some more, and try the auto trim some more.

Yup, the frames are plastic, and I am not sure how it rubbed through...he was showing me the area, and where he had applied some heavy duty marine shrink wrap to keep it from happening again. The motor wires are huge, and come out at a bad angle, so they are more or less rubbing all the time. Looks like he has enough protection to keep it from happening again.

I don't think he gets the magazine, or even reads it too much...he seemed to enjoy that article alot. It was a back issue from March, and apparently, he hadn't seen it. It was my copy. Speaking of which, I think I am finally caught up...they sent me 2 copies the other day, May and June at once....I was way behind...not sure what's up...but seems to be good now..

Good luck on the RS-232 project, and I hope you get it figured out.

I am starting on the decals on the SDX. They are looking pretty good so far...not too hard to apply.

I hope I get some stuff to do some more on it tomorrow.

Justin was pretty impressed with it, and thinks it will fly very well.......and I'm sure it will...in his hands...lol...

It's going to take me awhile...but that's OK!

Glenn

evdreamer

Guys,

I got my circuit working! This is very cool. I can type some thing from the computer and it shows up on my LCD. Then I can type some thing on my keypad from my microcontroller and send it to my computer.

Nick

evdreamer

Glenn,

That is cool RCHeli mag is on time for you now.

Are those decals the kind where you need water to apply them?

That would be cool if the rest of your parts came tomorrow.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Congrats on the sucess with your microcontroller to PC communication setup...sure sounds easier to input stuff to the LCD that way...

Glad you were able to figure it out and get it working now...

Yeah it's cool on RC Heli, except now I have 2 magazines to catch up on at once, and no time to read them...lol...

Well....you do use soapy water with the decals, so that you can move them around where you want them to be...but they are still sticky-back decals, not like the ones you may have used on plastic model cars, where you soak them in water and then apply them.

It's kinda like window tinting on cars...first you apply soapy water, then the decal, and then get the decal in position where it needs to be, then squeegy the air bubbles and excess water/soap out from under it, and then let them dry overnight.

They work really well, but are terribly (Hirobo!) expensive....I'm not sure what this sheet costs, but the smaller ones for the Quark were $20 a set...[X(]

I hope I see my engine today, I can start on that next....have you ever dial indicated the clutch start shaft on your engine?

RC Heli magazine and Rob both said it's important to make sure the clutch/start shaft is true to within .002 shaft runout to prevent vibration...

I have the dial indicator, and know how to use it...so we'll see...I'm just not sure on how to correct it if it's over .002...

Glenn

jroo

Hey all,

Just getting caught up with all the talk over the past few days. I've been off working on a 'project'.

So as I was setting up my 250 and 450, eye-balling levelness of the flybar and servo arms and using that dinky pitch gauge seems a bit 'primitive' to me. Yea, I know, you can get it 'good enough' but I'm a bit of a perfectionist... I started looking around for a digital angle gauge. I found one at harbor freight for $30, but looking at it I was like, "wait i can make this..."

So off I went. I have one of these:

[link=http://www.sunspotworld.com/]http://www.sunspotworld.com/[/link]

what you get is 3 SPOTs. They have some great features. 3-Axis accelerometer, temp sensors, light sensors, buttons, led's, as well as communication capability over 802.15.4 radio signal.

I'm a software engineer by trade and my native language is Java, so it's a perfect fit for me.

I'm pretty close to having my own angle gauge that will remotely display the angle read to my laptop.

No more putting on, off, on , off, on, off of the pitch gauge, tightening, loosening, tightening, loosening of that silly pitch gauge screw... I'm done with that

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

I'm really interested to see this when you are finished with it. Hell, It maybe even patent worthy. You may be hatching your million dollar 'pet rock" idea here. If you need someone to work on the mechanical side or do any plastic injection design, let me know.

evdreamer

Glenn,

I don't need to dial indicate my fan/clutch assembly because of the design. Even if I wanted to dial indicate it I couldn't. Finless has some great videos on dial indicating and how to correct it. I can't remember if they are in the main setup pages, but I think I saw some on the T-Rex 600N build videos. If I remember right you just rotate the assembly until it is in the range you want.

Jreue,

Have fun with your project. I have worked with those sensors before. The accelerometer is pretty fun to work with.

Do you know Visual Basic? I tried teaching myself how to program using Visual Basic, but I had a hard time gathering all the info to program in it.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,


jreue,

Your "invention" sounds promising....definitely keep us posted on your progress....

Nick,

Thanks for the info on the runout setup...I did find a video in the HF techroom, by another guy, not Finless...but it gave me a real good idea of what I need to do to get the dial indicating done.

They suggested tapping the hub with a hammer lightly, and/or rotating the parts until you get it within specs.

That is nice that you don't have to worry about that on your Velocity.

I just got my large servo wheels from Ready Heli, that was super fast...they look great, but are a very, very tight fit on the servo output shafts, which I guess is actually a good idea, in case the screw fell out...just makes me nervous putting that much force on the output shaft...I'll see later how that goes.

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Did your engine come today?

The rest of my parts came for the Velocity today.

I also had a great day flying the 600. Now I know why Justin and the people at your field like the V-bar so much. I have never had a helicopter fly so good. My 600 can now out perform my Velocity. It could do everything I through at it and more. It was still very stable in a hover. It started to rain right before my last flight, so I just waited it out.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Nope...no engine today..I was surprised, because Heli Direct is usually very fast to me, since they are in Mass, right up from me. Could have been because of the last minute stuff I added to the order....

I did get the servo wheels on, and everything setup at 90...those little adjuster pins are awesome for setup...someone was thinking when they came up with that idea...

I THOUGHT I had another bad servo! I was checking the servo operation....and got a nasty glitch in the aileron servo...over and over....the RX pack was low, so I charged it...but had the same thing.

I tried a rebind just for the sake of it...still the same. It seemed like it was in a certain area of the cyclic stick...so I kept playing with it, and found it was just off center on aileron that did it worst...so I brough up the monitor on the TX screen, and it looked OK, no jumping....but I still was wondering, what with all the DX6i pot problems....so I have a spare DX6i that I use for Phoenix...I bound it to that...and all is good....[X(]

I guess I never noticed it in flight with the small helis...it happens so quick, you might not even notice in mid flight...but I'm sure glad it wasn't a bad servo...and, I'm just glad I found it NOW, instead of out in the field breaking in, or on the maiden...[X(]

I am wondering if it's covered under warranty since they had so many issues...this one was not one of the recalled ones, I checked that a long time ago..

Other than that, it's going great, these servos seem very fast and powerful....compared to what I am used to..[X(]

Still no rudder servo yet either....but I got more decals done...so it's getting there...


I am so glad to hear that you are liking the V-bar...I figured you would, once you got it dialed in...these guys won't fly without it now...Justin says he "won't even own a flybar heli" again...

Have you noticed it's different to land with it? Most guys have an adjustment period on that...it doesn't quite sit down like a fly bar heli...just something to get used to....

That is cool...for as much as they cost, I am glad to hear that you like it. One of the main reasons I didn't want to spend any money on a better gyro was because I could very well want to go FBL on the SDX next year....

That's great to hear!

Glenn

rotarydoc

Nick,


Here's a couple of pics of the now finished servo linkage...

I'm pretty proud of it...LOL...took a bit of doing!

There is an open slot for a carb smart if I were to go that route later...

Glenn