JPEE

Mark,

Thanks for posting the link to Nicks radio.



Nick,

Those mods and upgrades to your flight log sound really cool. While it sounds like a lot of work, it also sounds like fun and accomplishments ahead!


John,

I see he flew this morning at 7:00 a.m. at the club field and had a good morning. While you only flew 2-500s and 2-600 flights, the sky was blue and the air was cool and a good time was had by all!

He got his new GOPRO today, YIPPEE. Man that thing has a frigging "how to manual" the size of the Baltimore white pages LMAO. He was able to get the camera charged, upload the needed current firmware to make the new LCD backpack work and take two "test" videos in the yard. He was brain was fading by then. And that is only 20% of what that camera will do. There will be a couple of more hours needed to get a full understading of the cameras bells and whistles. And just maybe........ it might get mounted for a fly over the his house tomorrow. Rain is scheduled for Sunday[]

JPEE

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

JPEE,

It sounds like 'he' had a really good time flying. Wouldn't have been cool if you could be there huh?

Glad you got a chance to get some flights in and more importantly had a good time.

Wow...looks like you are having a blast with your new 'toy'! Can't wait for the house flyover video. Bet your still going over the manual...but at least it's not as huge as Glenns was for his new computer. [X(] However...I'm sure its still quite in-depth. That's the problem with new technology...those techy guys have to simplify it for the rest of us commoners...and that usually means lots of pages.

Well guys, I had the chance to take my son to Kennedy Space Center on Friday for the day. What a blast it was. We got to take the tour that takes you around the Vehicle Assembly Building, then to look at the shuttle on the pad (if there is one...and there was...Atlantis...and its the very last one to go on July 8). We even got to see some gators lounging in the water along the road. It was a very great time and the weather even cooperated...I don't think it got above 90 with a nice coastal breeze for most of the day.

Also, last week the shuttle Endevour landed...at 2:30 AM...and yep, I was outside to see if I could hear the double sonic booms. My wife thought I was loony.

Nick,

Are you treating yourself for having such a good year in school...a new radio? Any idea when your getting it? Is that a Logitech 2100 on your Gaui? I had one on my original 450 and it was a fantastic gyro.

Cool idea on the monitoring log...I think many of us keep something similar to keep track of our batteries. Your just taking it to the next level.


Mark

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Just checkin' in.....

Not much going on here, I had to work yesterday, so I missed the MHA Fun Fly[&o]

Hopefully there will be some video posted on YouTube, and I can also call a buddy that went, and see how he enjoyed it.

I never did get to fly yesterday, working Saturdays usually poops me out too much for flying later.....but today looks like it might hold some promise...not too hot, not much wind....so later on, I'm going to try to get the MCPX out for a few flights....

Hope everyone's weekend is going great!

Glenn

evdreamer

John,

Yeah, I am having a lot of fun with my flight log program. I will definitely be taking more programming classes. I am thinking about getting a second major in computer engineering. It uses a lot of electrical engineering classes and is popular with electrical engineer students at my school.

That is good you are enjoying your GOPRO.

Mark,

That is good you and your son had fun at the Kennedy Space Center.

"Are you treating yourself for having such a good year in school...a new radio? " Sure I will go with that. I have had my DX7 for three years and I think it is time for a more advanced transmitter. I also like the cool factor and hopefully won't burn anymore engine parts with the telemetry. UPS said it should arrive Wednesday. I got my telemetry system yesterday along with some EC connectors. I installed an EC3 connector on one of my regulators and I like it a lot compared to the Deans connectors. I plan on picking up my blades for the Velocity at the post office tomorrow. Yeah, I have the Logitech 2100 on my Gaui.

I was using Microsoft Excel for a long time, but I like the format of my program better and it gives me something to do over summer.

Glenn,

Sorry you missed the fun fly. I wonder if Bobby Watts showed up?

Did you get to fly today?

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hey guys,

How was everyone's weekend?

Mine ended with some Sunday evening flying with a guy I met at the local field...crazy thing was he lives in the same subdivision and we never knew. I showed him the underconstruction subdivision that I fly at and off to it we went...and it was a great time. He's got a BeastX FBL 500 and is starting with forward flight so its kinda cool to give pointers and encouragement. I also found out that he recently got an mcpx after trying out mine...another one hook, line, and sinker! Just had to share my excitement.

Mark

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

I did get 6 flights in with the MCPX last night, it was a great evening for flying, nice and cool, and not much humidity, a bit of wind.

Didn't break anything and made a bit more progress, a little at at time...

Nick,

Your new radio should be real cool, you'll have to let us know how you like it.

Hopefully the telemetry works well for the engine temp, so you can keep tabs on it.

I havn't talked to anyone yet that went to the fun fly, but Bobby was probably there, it's local for him (lives in Baltimore area) and has been there the last 2 years, I'll find out before long when I talk to Mike, who went...

Mark,

That is cool that you have a flying buddy there now...should be a lot of fun...

Is that the same guy you went flying with last time?

Chalk up another MCPX sale for Blade!


Glenn

JPEE

Hello Mark,

Glad you at least got hear the Shuttle come in. What a blessing to be able to share things like the Kenndy as Dad and son.

His eyes must get big seeing the exhibits. Hey your luck is getting better week by week it seems. First you met a noob and now a guy

that lives in your sub division, how cool is that! ! Now the fun starts because with your knowledge of both the 500 and mCPx he and you

really have things in common…………sweet.


Glenn,

Dang it Glenn, I hate it when I hear you had one of your 6 day work weeks, I know you hat it more.[] As you do, rest on Sunday so you ready

for Monday. I hope you enjoyed the 6 flight’s, that should have primed the old thumbs for ya.


Nick,

A second major, YIKES ! If you can do it... computer engineering and computer programming? well they kind go hand in hand classes go

hand in hand, that would really benefit you in the future.

Very cool on the telemetry system coming in, yer…. gonna have some fun now.



For myself, I have been playing with the new camera, man this is work I tell ya. I caught a mild cold from the grandson on Wed but kicked

this morning. I just hat when they come ah runnign GRANDPA and I say, R U sick, YEP Gramps I GOT A COLD. to late for me by then.

But I did feel good enough and have time to make “as Mark says� 5 yard hovers with the 600-2 and camera trying different things to get the “waves�

out or as the technical term goes JELLO or in lay terms “rolling shutter effect� out of my videos. I have made good progress but more testing

is needed. I am really hoping for this gray and drizzlie weather to leave us tomorrow so I can take her up. The sad part is, the videos will of the

same dang dirt hole river bed I fly in. I am lucky to have it but I HATE IT. You guys have green and I have rocks and dirt to fly in, depressing.

BTW I haven’t even tried to edit a MP4 video yet, something else to drive me crazy I suppose. With that said my few video’s are long and

sloppy but I am interested in the final results for the future.


JPEE out!

UPDATE WITH VIDEO
This video was shot with the new improved sling I reworked last night . While boring to watch it was for, clarity, my flying back to scale so you

don't get sea sick making nearly level turns. In the beginning there were some minor adjustments made on throttle and trim but then I was pretty

happy with this final test today. My buddy Bob was standing buy to help. There is not sound of voices as the closed GOPRO case prohibits that.

GoPro set at 720 HD 60 FPS in a sling under a 600e TREX head speed at 90%
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWkG0qPX648[/youtube]

evdreamer

Mark,

That is good you enjoyed flying this weekend.

John,

Your video looks really good.

I finally have enough code written for a useable flight log program. I have a menu to view the Nitro flight log and the electric flight log. Then I can add info about the electric/Nitro model and info about the flight. Then I can go through and view both flight logs.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

JPEE,

Wow, that video looks excellent !! Super clear, no vibrations, and great detail as well....very, very nice indeed!

Looks like your investment will pay off well for you...



Not much new here, went flying the MCPX last night, and had a few little mishaps...ended up not breaking the tailboom, but weakening it enough to require replacement....well, since I CA'ed it in place pretty good last time (I think the boom hole in the frame is a bit wallowed out, it had a loose fit), I had quite a mess trying to use the heat gun to get it out...in fact, I never did really get it out until I basically destroyed the frame...

No biggie, I have a new frame....but when I was looking stuff over, I noticed the elevator servo has a few teeth missing on the driven gear....

I looked online, and NO ONE seems to have these things...Horizon says available LATE JULY....[X(]

I put myself on the mailing list for one at Readyheli, they are supposed to email me when they get some in.....looks like the MCPX is grounded for a bit...[&o]

Back to the 450's I guess, and the hassle of finding a place to fly, it's always easy to find a place to fly the MCPX!!

Glenn

jroo

Nick,

A few questions on your flight log program. How are you capturing all the data? What language are you writing it in?

JPEE

Hey Guys,

Lately my desktop computer has been really been running its heat sink fans in high gear. So I took it outside this morning and broke it down and boy oh boy was the insde dusty! I blew it out as well as I ran a small

brush over all of the circut boards. You could eat out of this sucker now. The upside is, the computer is now so quite I have to look to make sure it on. Did the laptop while I was at it to and surprising it was 98%

clean. I must say I am careful where I use it. I generally make a habit before I set it down on a surface to wipe it off so the dust wont be sucked up (don't tell Judy I said that). I would help dust myself if I wasn't

afflicted with "heli wrist syndrom", I just can't grip a dust cloth LMAO.


Thanks for the complements on the GOPRO video. As I said, it was nothing to look at other than I got the camera steady and to show you guys how well it does. Now that I have the sling mastered I need to cut it down

in size to make it lighter. I have relocated the Pro camera verses my other HD and there is now room for me to make that change and cut of some weight. I flew with the sling with a 90% flat throttle curve

(flat curve? oximoron)LOL and the pack came in at a fair temp. I had started at 70%, 75% up to 90% seeing how the heli would handle and how the battery would come in. Once I get the elusive belt for 600-1 with the

bigger motor that will make a big difference too. But for now this works. So here I sit looking out the window at gloomy grey skies for the week. I know I know, what am I crying about compared to what you guys have

to deal with. But I want to get out and now get somewhere where there is nice scenery.


Nick,
Your really coming along on your flight logs, wow both electric and nitro menu's, your an animal!


Glenn,
Man I am sorry to hear about your beloved mCPx taking damages and the repairs that didn't go well. But like me with my needed belt, "WE" are on the waiting lists. lol


Safety Lesson

Bob my buddy and I are sitting at the field bench with our heli's. The way the light was hitting the 450 as I was running over it was to my face. Bob was on the other side of the table with the sun to his back. As he sat

there and watched me work the sun passed through my servo arms (white platic Hitecs) and he could see a crack in them both just beyond the ball. The crack was from the next holes and coming back to the ball YIKES!

Something I did not see while I was going over the heli. Yesterday, Bob was was trying to hover his standby 450, old faithful and he was having trim issues. He played with the gyro and other stuff and then came to me

and said fly this sucker. I said set it down and I'll giver a spool up. But before I could take his radio I looked down and could cleary see one of this flybar paddles had slipped and was hanging downward about a 1/4 turn.

In checking it, it was safely on so it must have gotten bumped in his truck or something. We got it level and off he flew smooth as glass. The moral here is, WOW what a second pair of eyes can see that get past us.

JPEE

From Chopper on his other thread I thought all of you mCPx fliers might like this:
Tip of the Year.... Haven't had one of those tip things in quite a while.

Pretty simple, I just never thought of it before.

I was having a heck of a time getting those tiny screws in the swashplate on the mCP X. Screws kept falling on the table and they're just to small to do the job with your fingers. Smaller than a "BB".

I put the smallest drop of "Instant Glue" on the tip of my screwdriver, making sure there wasn't a big glob on the tip. Then put the screw on the tip of the screw driver and let it set for 10 seconds or so... Whala, screws are in.

Quick and easy, nice and squeezey.

evdreamer

Glenn,

Sorry about the mCPx servo gears being back ordered.

James,

My program adds new data by prompting the user for the info. Then saves it to a text file. Once there is data in the text file it will load it into the program for viewing. It uses a simple CLI. I programed it in C. I only have 4 months of experience with C, so it is a simple program.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Well, Idid a little research, and found out that the MCPX servo gears are the same as the MCX, MSR, and some planes as well....the servo itself is different, but the drive/driven gears are the same.

I found some on eBay, and got them coming, but probably not until next week....that's OK, as HOT as it is here, I'm in no hurry to fly anyways....it was still 93 degrees at 8PM tonight here!

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Glenn

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Alright guys...been a bit busy on other fronts so will try and get caught up.

First off, JPEE...who is the guy in the red shirt in your video?? Did you see after you put your heli down (in the beginning) he's doing some kind of wavy arms chicken dance in the background?! Had me rolling.

I was amazed at the quality of the video you took...it looks very close to some of the aerial video's taken to make the Discovery Channels Planet Earth series...very impressive with the results. I can tell that you have been practicing a lot with your scale flying b/c I don't think I could fly that smoothly and controlled as what I saw in your video. Well done!

Yeah, I don't think many of us realize how much crud gets sucked into our computers just from daily use.

Nick,

I'm glad you have someone here (james) that can speak the same language as you...I have no idea what code language CLI is. But as long as you can make your projects work with it that's great. BTW, congrats on pursuing your computer programming degree also...double major man.

How has the transition been for your 600 going back to flybar? Major difference or just subtle variances?

BTW guys, my flying bud with the FBL 500 did let me take his 500 up to try it out this past Sunday, to get a feel for what a FBL feels like. I was nervous so did most of my flying relatively high but his heli (and me ) performed quite nicely. The flips, rolls, and inverted hovering were solid with little correction needed...I was surprised and impressed. Plus he had his cousin (he's got a downed 450 right now) there so I had a bit of an audience...something I am not used to at all. That will take some getting used to!

Glenn,

Major bummer on having your mcpx down due to a broken servo gear...I heard of some guys trying to rotate it out of the way but the servo uses the entire 360 of the gear and so any missing teeth will cause a bind. But hey, congrats on finding a suitable replacement for it...did your LHS have the gears for the mcx or msr? Might be a faster way to get back in the air while waiting for ebay one's.

Glad to hear Dave's doing better...I bet he was referring to the MH metal swash...those screws were stupidly tiny and a dang pain to loctite. I think I used a small pair of needlenose pliers to get my screws started then used the screwdriver to finish them. And no, it took several tries to get it to work. I also folded a sheet of paper at the ends...sorta a cheap mini paper catch...so to work in that way when the screws fell they wouldn't bounce onto the carpet and be forever lost.

Since I've been flying my 550 more now I decided to go ahead and do some work on it...first thing was to replace the tail slider with a brass one...seems there's been some reports on HF of the metal bushing having fatigue due to the painting process at the factory and some have failed in flight. So that was first on my list. The second was to replace the stock flybar paddles with some yellow KBDD one's and see what they feel like. Hopefully a test flight tomorrow morning before the sun really warms up. I also regreased the tail and main shafts, as well as oiled the 600mx bearings, seemed like a good time to do them.

In the meantime the guy who I helped set up his trex250 a few weeks ago asked if I could help him out on Saturday. Seems he needs some help to get over his fear of his new heli...he's tried some hovers on his own but some of the heli's actions have gotten him nervous to fly it so I'll check it out. I think we'll mess around with his settings so to tame them down a bit. He also wound up getting an mcpx...man, I should contact Eflight and see about getting a commision.

Well, that's about it down here. Been scorching hot every day but have noticed if you get out before 11 its bearable...and this is only June right? JPEE, could use some storm clouds down our way...would you be so kind?

Mark

evdreamer

Glenn,

That is good you could improvise to get some servo gears.

Mark,

CLI is short for Command Line Interface. It isn't a programming language. You enter commands to get the computer to do what you want like DOS and Linux. GUI is Graphic User Interface like modern operating systems use.

My flybar 600 seems to fly a little better than the FBL version. I didn't notice much of a difference. I always had to add corrections with my FBL system.

I didn't get my transmitter today. I left a couple minutes before the UPS guy came. My package required a signature and they usually come in the evening, so I wasn't expecting them to come in the afternoon.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Nick, that CLI sounds like what we use at work with our hospital software...you have to memorize all sorts of key strokes to navigate through different screens. Hate it coming from a window's based system where point and click took you right were you wanted to go.

Didn't know if you saw Finless did multiple video's in his review of the Aurora 9 radio last year: [link=http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=223607]Video's[/link]

Since you have a bit of time on your hands waiting for the UPS guys again today.

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Thanks for the link. I didn't see he had videos for the Aurora 9.

Hopefully the UPS guy comes soon, since I have to leave for work in a couple of hours.

Nick

evdreamer

Guys,

I just got my new transmitter. It feels great to hold. I tried setting up the basic stuff without the manual, but some of the options I am going to need the manual for.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Nick, congrats on your new transmitter. It does look very nice!

Battery update for mcpx owners...Hobbyking has the Turnigy Nanotech's for Eflight replacements...see [link=http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=17808]Link[/link]. I see they are $4.99 but currently on backorder...surprised? There's a thread on HF but nobody has got them yet to try them out...will have to wait and see what the consensus is: [link=http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=312417]Thread[/link]

Mark

JPEE

Nick,

Great news on the Aurora 9 arriving! Enjoy it my friend

Guys, thanks for the kind words on the video. Now I NEED some clear blue skies to use my rig.

Right at this minute the sky is 98 blue as we have had the June gloom here for days. The Weather Channel shows full on Sun starting next Monday, oh boy

John

evdreamer

Guys,

I just finished the conversion on my Velocity to the Aurora 9. I just need to zip tie everything now. The telemetry system was a pain to figure out. The instructions were pretty useless and didn't have complete/non-existant wiring diagrams. Luckily I didn't fry anything trying to figure out where to connect everything. Now I can see the Voltage of my receiver battery and the temp of my engine. The battery Voltage has an alarm when the Voltage gets too low, but the temp doesn't. Finless had some pretty neat tips with this transmitter. So far I am very impressed with it. I didn't notice any dead band in the gimbal pots like the article Mark posted was talking about, so that is great. There is a heli fun fly I plan on attending tomorrow along with Huckfest at my field. I heard that there is going to be a pro heli pilot putting on a demo at my field. However, I will be in a different town for the heli fun fly during the demo. Hopefully I will see him when I come back.

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Nick,

Glad you got your new transmitter all set up, but it sounds like a couple of snags....but the end result should be well worth the effort.

Have fun at your fun fly tomorrow, and I hope you can catch the pro pilot for some more action when you get back too, that would be cool!

Glad you didn't have any dead zones in the gimbals on your TX.


Guys,

My MCPX review got published!

It was nice of Rob to post it in their club's newsletter, he did a nice job of editing it down a bit, for clarity and space reasons....

Maybe it will influence some of the plane guys to try a heli, who knows??

http://www.freestateaeromodelers.org/

Hope everyone is having a great weekend...mine started out right, got my ASE test results back Friday....passed with flying colors! Not perfect scores, but not too bad....

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I went to my heli fun fly today and had a blast. I got some more test flights in with the Velocity and they had electricity, so I brought my charger and 600. There was one guy who really liked to do autos and was good at them. He did an inverted auto, which I have never seen in person. I thought I leveled my swash, but the heli kept drifting to the left. I just added some right trim to get by. Then I found out my temp sensor wasn't touching the head, so I am going to use my RTV and hold the sensor to the head. There were also a couple of plane pilots crashing the event.

Later I stopped by Huckfest at my field. The parking lot was packed with trailers and cars. There were a lot of huge planes. There is a pond at my field and they had three large planes dipping their rudders into the pond. One guy wasn't so lucky and his plane fell into the pond. I did get to see one of the demos by the pro pilot(Jeff Pfeifer) and his flying style is a lot like mine, low to the ground and a lot of piro moves. He is also a really good airplane pilot. My club rented some flood lights and an industrial generator, so we could fly at night. I ended up taking my 600 up for a night flight. That was fun. Jeff gave me a compliment about my flight, so that was cool. He is a really down to earth person. There was also a group of 6 pilots that had foamy jets and that was cool watching/hearing all of them fly at the same time.

That is cool Rob published your article and that you passed the ASE test.

Nick

evdreamer

Guys,

I just got done testing the Logitech 2100 gyro on my 450. I used a method that I don't normally do to setup a gyro. I went into rate mode to find the right pitch setting for the heli to barely rotate without rudder input. I was suprised that my 450 needed a lot of pitch to keep from rotating with my current HS. That is probably why my tail was blowing out with the spartan. I increased my HS by 400RPMs and that seemed to help. I was doing full pitch climbouts and the tail seemed to hold, but the true test will be doing a full speed backwards hurricane.

JPEE

Hello Guys,

Well to tell you the truth I have had a few tough days on the 600's.

As I started working on 600-1 again my little world fell apart. First, I got stuck when I got to the tail and there are no belts to be had anywhere. So growing board I did in fact install the TT

that I said I wouldn't. But when I got the tail servo on that's when it went bad, I could not get it to work. So I started swapping gyros, servos, rx's with 600-2. By the time I was done, nothing

worked. I checked my "step-down" 5.1 and it was putting out nearly 10 volts as the diodes took a crapper. So I grabbed the one off of my 500. Badda bing the servo now worked! I started

putting things back together and figured tomorrow I'll go to the LHS and get some step-downs. Ok I bought 4, two to use and two for standby. I got 600-2 all back together, the servo worked

with the new step-down (the other one went back to the 500) then I tried to hover and the tail is chasing and doing 360s and I don't know why. So swapped 611 gyros and then servo was dead

again. DRATS! After I came back in and starting going through things it got worse if that is possible, then nothing worked again on either heli (tail wise, the servos were dead). Two days of

working with this and I am no where. But I stuck to it and here is what I found today.

1. Some of the factory "5.2 step-downs" are internally wired backwards! Of the 4 of them, 3 will make the servo work on 600-2 with the plug colors matching, white to white yadda yadda yadda.

But, the 4th one must have the servo plugged in backwards on the color match, black to white! Now this is for the Turnigy tail servo that has worked very well for me since the build.

2. Now with that variable in there, I also found that all of that above is 180 backwards to the Futaba servo! On that servo, 1 of the step downs was right color wise but 3 needed to be plugged in

backwards to make the servo work!

So 600-2 is done on the bench and ready for a spool up tomorrow to see if I can stop her from spinning on the ground. Then when that's done I can stuff the wires back in the frame.

600-1 is setting on the bench it's system is working too, but I don't have the head on and some other stuff on yet so that's a few day off.


Glenn,

Congratulations on being "Published". I read the article top to bottom and can only say, how many times have I told you what and excellent writer to you are? many times! You nailed it there

my friend. It is also wonderful news to hear you passed your ASE test with flying colors, you are the MAN!


Nick,
I am glad you got to both fun fly's. Sounds like you the 600 pretty well bugged out. That's cool you met Jeff and got some "personal time" with him. That is a great news to hear he has been

able to be a star and yet be hospitable and an all around good guy. And boy oh boy a complement from him, now that's cool


John