JPEE

Hi Jreue,
Man, it sounds like your shmoozing with the big boys! For real, that was kind of you to go to the trouble of calling the guy out of State to help out!


Nick,
Sorry you did not get to fly due to the heat and such. Perhaps tomorrow will be your day.


Glenn,
I sure hope you take a maiden video or something close to the first few flights.


Me,
I worked on the 500 new tail box for a bit. I tore it down to pieces and then took the bearings and greased them. Did the reinstall and mounted on the heli. I also while greasing I did a new upper main bearing too, then I was out of time. I will finish on Sunday I think if all goes well.


JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

jreue,

Interesting story, and sounds like a very unique person...keep us posted...maybe he'll give you a heli or something for helping him out!

Nick,

Sorry it was so hot there today....your weather is creeping over here as usual...hot and humid tomorrow and Sunday, with thunderstorms in the afternoon each day...lower 90's, gonna feel like August...

A guy replied to my post on the 9503 menu question...and answered it perfectly...I have to press the enter button on the left upper corner of the display twice to get back to the main menu....I could not find that in the manual anywhere...sure is nice to have forums to ask questions and get answers so quick!

I found another issue today that I didn't know....that there are trims for each of the idle up menus...I found that out when I hit idle 1 with the B400, and it went drifting off to the left...lol...

Getting there with the 9503...I knew it would be a project. It's all worth it though, I love it!

JPEE,

Nice progress on the 500...take your time....

I will try to get some vid of the SDX soon...I can't promise when, I will try this weekend though.

Mark,

Glad to see ya pop in for a few...figured you were just swamped with stuff to do...

You've got plenty of time to catch up...we'll still be here!

Congrats on the move, and the new job!

Glenn

evdreamer

JPEE,

I probably won't be able to fly until Tuesday.

Hopefully you can test the 500 out on Sunday.

Glenn,

That is cool someone was able to help you out with the 9503.

The DX7 also has different trims for each idle up.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Just got back from the schoolyard across the street, setting up the SDX. Man, it is HOT...[X(]

Feels like the middle of August...had to come back for awhile....

Got the basics all setup on the SDX, throttle, throttle hold, trims, all that stuff.

I can't remember how to set the pitch so that it doesn't go negative when I hit throttle hold...I'll have to look in the menus again...

Other than that, it seems great, got the gyro set up nicely with the gryo menu, since I'm able to use that with the JR R921.

I got my DX6i from Horzon today....not only did they send it FED EX Saturday delivery, but they sent me a BRAND NEW DX6i to replace mine..

Talk about service!

I may try to go to MHA later on, about 6 or so...when the sun goes down a bit...but then there is always the risk of thunderstorms..[&o]

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Good to hear the SDX is flight ready again.

Cool about the DX6i.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

I was going to go to MHA, but the storms are almost here now.

Maybe tomorrow, but it looks like more of the same...[&o]

I may just have to tough it out tomorrow, or get up early and fly...[X(]

I was going to fly the small helis, when it was calm, but now the wind from the storms has arrived...

Maybe they'll pass real quick...lol...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Hopefully you can fly soon.

It looked like it rained pretty good right before I got off work.

I haven't flown my 450 in awhile. I should probably do that when it is hot out and then I can go back into the AC right after.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

I did manage to get 4 flights in on the B400/450....the rain missed me...

Sounds like a plan for the 450!

I have noticed that the 9503 is a bit unbalanced...heavy towards the lower end where the battery is. Do you use any kind of neckstrap adapter?

I was looking at the JR one, and the KDE one. I have a Spektrum one that I got for the DX6i that I tried, and it works pretty well, I just don't care for the way it looks.

The KDE one looks nice;

http://www.readyheli.com/SJR-NSB-KDE...r_p_35944.html

The KDE and the Spektrum are adjustable, so you can shift the weight as you like it. The JR is a 3 hole thing, doesn't look as adjustable...

http://www.amazon.com/JR-DSM-Neck-St...6408932&sr=8-1

Just thinking... and I'll probably get a TX case too, they aren't too expensive really....and have alot better protection than the Wingtote bag that I have been using.

Tomorrow's weather looks even more brutal that today's, with "real feel" temps in the upper 90's....nearly 100...[X(]

I may have to wait to fly the SDX until next weekend at this rate, or see how it is after like 6PM...

Hope you can fly soon...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

That is cool you got a few flights in.

My DX7 is really unbalanced towards the battery. I have never used a neckstrap adaptor on my transmitter. I kind of fly with the antenna facing the ground, so I don't notice the unbalance.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

I fly the same way, antenna slighly down, but the radio wants to go the other way...

I'll try the KDE one and see how it goes...

I checked Accuweather about an hour ago...and the Real Feel temp is 101 degrees...[X(]

No flying here till later on, at best...[&o]

Glenn

JPEE

Hey Guys,

Glenn, I had a strap for a while but wound up taking it off for a few reasons. I have the habit of turning on the radio at least 6 feet away from the heli or plane. Then I go over and plug in the battery. Once the ESC is done and I know I am "hot" I go back to the radio and hit the HOLD switch. Next, I get to where I want to stand and then "hold off" and I am ready to fly. I got banged a few times with blades due to the next strap making the radio throttle rub my chest and turn on the motor and blades... OUCH! Then bending over the heli with the weight around my neck bothered me too. I did like the part that I could relax my arms but in the end I hold my radio now.

Glad you got some stick time. I worked on the 500 for just a bit today and wound up with my main gear having slop in between the antiroation gear. The short story is, it appears I need a shim between the gears thicker than the one that comes with the set up. With the J-screw in place the tubular race that grips the one way bearing sticks up just a few 1000ths over the top of the main gear. If they have shims I can add one between the two gears and separate/spred them thus taking out the slop. I have to hit the LHS tomorrow and see what they have. This you wont believe, remember I stripped the ball stud out of the blade grip. Well I took off both my existing blade grips and will replace them as a new pair but boy oh boy those bearings in and out of the old blade grips were so dirty, you'd ah thought I drug them through the dirt! I had to clean everything up with solvent and will re pack all of the bearings tomorrow, put the boom struts on and center my tail servo, blades and I am ready!

Hey Nick!

JPEE

rotarydoc

JPEE,

I'll catch up later, it's late....but I figured I'd remind/show you this vid from way back when....

Not sure if it's the same thing as you are having, but what you see in this vid is perfectly NORMAL...

Hope that may help you some...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24XPOsKYzRM

Talk to you guys tomorrow.

Nick,

Only news today was that Justin's 700e stock Align motor caught on fire mid flight today...[X(][X(]

He had to make an emergency landing, and got the fire out....

Said smoke started pouring out mid flight...must have been quite a sight...

I wasn't there, I sat out today, just too hot...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Do you know if that motor runs hot like all the other Align motors? The 700 motor looks like a nice design. My guess is with the heat and Justin's type of flying the insulation melted and caused a short. Scorpion made a motor mount for the 700 that works with one of their motors. It sounds like my experience when my ESC almost started on fire in my Edge last year.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Apparently the motors in the 700e do run hot, and Justin said that Bert Kamerer also had one go up in smoke...

I agree with your diagnosis, the insulation probably melts, then the windings short...and the hot weather was probably a contributing factor as well.

Yeah, KDE also makes an adjustable motor mount, and a stronger main gear. Justin was talking to Bert Kamerer at the fun fly about those.

Interestingly, Bert lost a main gear at the fun fly, I have it on video, didn't get around to posting it yet, but I wonder if it was a stock main gear? Probably, since he's sponsored, and I would guess has to use the Align parts...

I think Justin's buddy, who works at a hobby shop is going to send that motor back to Align...in the meantime I think he's going to use a Kontronics (Pyro?) motor, which should run cooler, but make less power.

Glenn

evdreamer

Guys,

I ended up flying today. It rained a lot last night, so it was kind of like a swamp. However, I got the whole field to myself. I got 6 or 8 flights in on the Velocity and 4 flights in on the 600. I almost crashed both of them trying out new moves. I almost got a flipping circle and piro loop down today. I was also working on a rolling circle and that was the one I almost crashed trying out. I also tried out a piro circle which I worked on last year. Then I worked on some new variations of flipping/piro figure 8's. I had a glow plug burn out again, but this time it lasted a lot longer than before. When I had it out I checked the piston and it still looks good. I was also having fun doing autos, so I did one after every flight. I can almost land where I want to now.

rotarydoc

Nick,

Wow, sounds like you had a great time..

Cool on the new moves...glad the close calls were just that, and no crashes..

Hopefully, the more experience we get, the fewer crashes. I have had a couple of close calls this year, but knock on wood, no crashes yet...

Charles at MHA hasn't crashed a heli in over a year...lol..[X(]...and he flies every weekend....

I'm going to look the SDX over for next weekend.

I ordered my TX case, a neckstrap, a neckstrap balancer, and some other stuff last night.

Ready Heli is on the ball lately, I got an email saying it was shipped at 8:30 this morning...

At the same time, it seems Heli Direct is slowing down a bit, didn't get any shipping info from them today....they are probably swamped this time of year, and especially on Mondays, after the weekends...and the crashes...[X(]

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I also noticed Ready heli shipped stuff out faster than Helidirect when I ordered my flybarless parts.

Nick

JPEE

Hey Guys,

Tonight I used my new Hyperion Duo 3 charger. I charged two (2) 3000 mAh packs at once SWEET!

I forgot to look at the time to see how long they charged but I only charged at 1 C as it was hot ouside on the patio. Also my 19 amp power supply I used was warm with the combination of the outside temp and the load. The charger ran cool with no issues. I did a check of the cells after charging and they were far more closer than the TP1010. Over all I am tickled with it. I had an unexpected guest come by who is 90 years old and that took the bulk of my day away so I brought the charger here to house 2 to play a bit. I had also just got the 500 done when they called and said they were minutes away SUPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got a quick 3 min hover in the yard as they pulled in. The 500 is back! I was suprised the tracking is dead on and I used the blade pitch gauge. Tomorrow at the field I will give another GOOD LOOK over before I lift her very high. I had some issues with the battery connectors from the 3000 mAh packs 4 mm and trying to make then EC3, the wire is just to large to fit the bullits. I know the amps issue you gonna say but I fly so easy I thought? ? ? So I went ahead and made my new three 3000 packs for the 500 Deans connectors. Then I made a pigtail from the Deans to EC3 so I can use my Y cord and still fly two each 3S packs.

So I think that covers it. Hope you guys got some flying today.

OUT JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

JPEE,

That new charger sounds awesome...glad it's meeting your expectations...you should be good to go for along time with all your chargers you have now..

Sounds like the 500 rebuild was a sucess...congrats, I know that was a big one...and expensive. I hope all goes really well tomorrow when you take it up for real.

I got a few packs in at the local field tonight before a rain shower came through.

Nick,

Interesting to hear that Heli Direct was a bit slower than Ready Heli....it always used to be the other way around for me.

I ended up getting the TX case from Amazon...it's amazing how much heli stuff Amazon has! They even had the 9503 radio, and I was going to get it from them, before I found out Hobby Hut was going to be at the fun fly. I still ended up getting a better deal from Hobby Hut than I would have from Amazon.

Hope you can get some more flying in this week.

How are your electronics projects going?

I listed the new DX6i that I got from Horizon on eBay. So far it's got alot of watchers, and one bid.

Glenn

evdreamer

JPEE,

That is cool you like your new charger.

Glenn,

I probably won't fly again until next week. I try and limit one gallon a week and my gallon is already empty.

I haven't worked on my electronics yet. I have been pretty lazy since school got out. I checked the price out on the new circuit board company. The board is cheaper than the other company, but they have a really high setup fee. I kind of would like to get a desktop CNC mill or CNC router, so I am trying to save my money. I would like to use those to work on my Edge 540 project that I put on hold. I could also make some tools to work on my helis with the mill.

Good luck with the DX6i.

Nick

JPEE

Nick, sorry to hear your glow plug keeps getting burned up! Man that has to be frustrating to say the least not to mention costly after a while.
Congrats on the new moves and OMG be careful and dont lose one of your babies. It is nice you got so many flights in too!


Glenn, thanks for the video, I had forgotten that but when watching it came back to me as familure. Here's what I did. I asked the LHS if they had a second shim they could sell me that is between the two gears, NO they only sell either the whole one-way for like $17.99 or the inner through shaft with the washer for like $9.00, so I bought the whole thing. But first we looked at the new one in the bag and it appeared my one-way bearing had moved down in the housing making the slop possible. So he gave me a 450 bearing remover which fit inside the one-way and that allowed me to tap it in and out trying to attain a tolorance that was right. Well trying to this on the floor was tough and after three tries I said gimmy the new one-way. When I got home I mic'ed the position of the one-way and how far it stuck out fo the gear and worked on getting them at the same point. I tried several times and could not get it right on and I was losing time and I had to leave the soon. So I set that stuff aside and took the new one and installed it and WA-LA it was perfect. So perhaps today when I get to cleaning up my bench I will play with that some more and see if I can get it right, then I'll install it in another bearing set and have a back up set of main gears.

I have been talking with a guy that bought a 700N air frame and was converting it to an E. Also during this time his bought a 600 LOGO bare bones. Then he installed the V-BAR his ESC and his new monster motor that was scheduled for the 700E and flew for her. He said that thing is so quite, and ran so smooth, and had tons of power he is selling the 700E build and getting one for himself. He will stretch it to a 700 and go with the longer blades and he will have one heck of a set up he says. He too got in on the customer appreciation and got that second VBAR when they had the sale. After reading about all of the troubles on the Align 700E and that the not only do the motors burn up! but I am told they are factory sealed and you cannot open then to grease or replace parts, that sucks if true.

Godda run but thanks for the video and after I play with the one-way I'll let you know what I turn.

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Nick,

I don't blame you for kicking back and relaxing for awhile, try to enjoy your time off of school, for sure!

That CNC milling machine sounds cool...every time I go to Harbor Freight, I always look at those mini metal lathes, and think how cool that would be at times.

I hear you on the fuel...I just bought another gallon on Friday...it turns out my LHS is actually charging me $35 for a gallon, which isn't too bad. It was that $40 that was bothering me...it's only $5, but it's just the sound of FORTY dollars for a gallon of fuel...

JPEE,

Sounds like you are figuring out the issue on the main gear, it's always nice to have a new part for comparison on something like that.

Hopefully, you can figure out the old one and get it ready for a spare...

Your buddy sounds like he likes the Logo 600..I am pretty impressed by them, Justin and another guy at MHA have them, and they both like them alot...the 700 is coming out at some point, and alot of people are interested in it, for sure.

The Trex 700e is having issues, no doubt. I can't say for sure on the motor disassembly, but if it's like most Align motors, it isn't easily serviceable at all. Between the non-adjustable motor mount, stripping main gears, and motors burning up, I think Align has disappointed some people...maybe they rushed it to production without enough field testing...sure seems like it...

I may not get to fly tonight, rain on the way, and tomorrow too...

Hope you have a good first flight with the 500...

Glenn

evdreamer

JPEE,

Yeah it is getting kind of expensive replacing the glow plugs at $7 a piece, but the Velocity is still my favorite heli.

Good luck with the one way bearing.

Glenn,

Good thing there isn't a shortage of fuel like there was in the past. That would probably push the price over $40/gallon.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Yeah, I remember reading about that fuel shortage..[X(]

At my LHS, the 15 and 20% nitro is about half the price. I guess the nitro is what is the expensive part of the fuel mix. Methanol is relatively inexpensive...and the oil is nothing that special.

I was asking Charles about glow plugs, he said the longest he's ever gotten on a plug was about 80 flights, he says his average is about 40-45 flights on a plug. I always thought they lasted a bit longer...but maybe that was in the RC cars.

I am still on my first one, and I have a couple of spares all ready to go...I didn't have any problems in the break in with glow plugs. I love the OS .50 Hyper, I can't believe how well it idles....I started it on Sunday, dead cold, and carried it about 100 yards out into a field, and it was just purring away the whole time...I guess because we used to have so many stalling issues with the little .12 engines in the RC cars is why it amazes me so...that was soooo frustrating...cars all lined up to start a race...and 1 or 2 would stall out...then hold up the entire race while guys tried to get them restarted...we ended up making a rule that if your engine died on the line, the race started without you...[&o]

I just got back from 3 packs at the horse track. I am flying at a different part of it, where there is a soccer field...it's alot bigger than where I used to fly, but it's often used for games or practice.

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I wonder what Charles is doing to help his glow plugs last a long time. I am probably only getting 10-20 flights on mine. I need to start keeping track of that.

That is good your OS is idling good. I had problems with my YS at first. I think part of the problem was it wasn't tuned right yet.

That is cool you got some flights in today.

Nick