Aframomum

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Hi guys...new page!

Glenn, only 3 techs now? I hope management is on the ball trying to hire new crew to help you guys out...winter is nearly here and that means sick days...they better get their act together! []

Glad your still tinkering with your new iPhone...any buying plans for Black Friday (yeah, I know its still a ways off but still )?

Nick,

Do you have a spare router on hand to replace yours before the 'magic' disappears?

I bet your looking forward to Thanksgiving holiday for a break from school...sounds like your in full gear now. Cool deal on the online tutor...I remember spending many hours in the library either between classes or after to do my studying...nice you have something you can do at home.

Yeah, I don't think things are going to be any easier...but hey, where would the challenge be if every semester was easy? Hang in there, before you know it you'll be done and then the real fun begins! Actually, I find the job aspect much easier then the school part - school they cram a broad range of stuff into you whereas the job focuses on a small part, and usually when you leave work there's nothing to take home.

JPEE,

Naw, you'll definitely have your 700 done before me. I don't even have all my parts together yet. Have you had the chance to try out your new nifty lightweight generator?

Scott,

Nice to have you drop in...I think you were still posting when I first started in this thread way back in 2009.

Well, my heli arrived yesterday and I'm still overly excited.

The packing was good and there was no damage, so that was a plus. I have to say I was a bit hesitant getting a used heli but this deal was really good and the seller had excellent feedback, so I gave it a chance and feel good about it.

I've been spending a lot of time searching through the MSH forums on HF just to get a better handle on this heli and the build. Seems they did some upgrades to the original model when Finless did his build vid so trying to catch up on the changes. I think the biggest change for me (besides the belt) is that the motor pinion has the one-way bearing and that the belt loops around it, so no gear meshing to the main gear to set up.

Right now though I need to get my Castle ESC and 2 more Futaba servo's for cyclic (decided to use the 1 S9650 from the EXI - saves money plus its a decent digital servo)...haven't figured what to use for the tail yet (everyone points to a full size servo for CG and tail authority though)...have several choices to go through first. Going to keep the flybar for a few flights so I can get a feel for it before switching over. Probably will hit the hobbyshop on Tuesday to get the 2 Futaba servo's so I can start the installation...the design is just like the 450 Pro in the servo orientation...nice since I'm familiar with it but at the same time a PITA to do any servicing.

Oh yeah, one last thing...we got a new addition to the family...of the feline sort. Her name is Cinnamon and she's a 3 month old mini terror for Ginger. Glenn, so much for the furniture now!

Take care all,

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

I don't have a spare router, but I am looking for a new one.

Yeah, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break. I have to work on Thanksgiving, but I get that weekend off.

Your new heli looks good. That is good there is no damage.

It sounds like you will be busy with the new cat.

Nick

JPEE

Hello Glenn,

Nice as always to hear from you! I wished it had been better news however, I am sorry they are working you so hard[] With that said, I hope your bottom line has increased substantially Yes we love the new Glenn, but we are signing up for the iPhone class at the local Apple Store so we can get a good had on what this puppy will do. I did take some picutres lastnight at my grand daughters sweet 17 birthday party at night in house and they are crystal clear, I was really taken with their quality.

Mark,

Congratualtions on the new heli. That frame looks to be like Fort Knox with blades. The heli looks super heavy duty and well built yet simple as you seee it all layed out on the table. The cat's well what can I say, I am glad they are having fun of course. They are so mischievous aren't they, the little fur balls that they are.


Nick,

Sorry to hear about your router pooping out on you. I watch sites for closeout routers and the last I got is a Linkas or some spelling like that......... and I got it for $22.00 I also keep a working back up router in the box "just in case". They come in handly.
Sorry about your school work, man I don't know how you do it being entirely honest. That you can be a straight "A" student, work, and still eek out some time for your hobby is incredible...... to me. You are to be congratulated Nick.

Me,

Its been tough, dont wanna cry in my beer but this 700 is killing me. Doing a FBL is like learning another language "to me". A few mistakes here and there that required me to unscrew a piece or two and then reset is all. But not having a Finless 700e build video (he has a nitro) has added to the this making it a bit difficult too. Then I found a guy on HF who sent me pictures of his build for the placement of the VBAR and Kontronik rx and such. But because I am running an Airtronics rx I have to bridge everything that to the VBAR so that is tough too. I did find a guy here who had his built by some friends just so I could see how they ran the frame wires and battery series extensions. So that has helped a bit but today I faced the linkages from the servos to the cnc wheels. Well low and behold they have to be epoxied together per the manual. So there I am gooping and trying to screw this stuff together before it sets and get it right, there is NO RETURN on this one. It came out clean I must say. BUt when they say you get one change boo boo scary scary I say[X(] So it has been a challange along with so much other stuff going on in our lives at this time. I am sure glad I am not in hurry to fly this *****(*&%^&$*(U)IU(*Y()_ thing LOL.

I just ordered from EBAY two (2) NIB 750 watt server power supplies to series up for my monster 24 vt power supply to feed my 1000 watt charger. See what I mean, I am stretching myself between the heli, building ppower supplies, a new radio that could control the shuttle, I am OLD and feeble..... whew maybe a bit crazy too LMAO.

It is quite cool and rainy looking here and will remain that way for this week until the next storm comes in at weeks end. Take care ya all.

evdreamer

John,

That is good you are enjoying your new iPhone.

I got a new router yesterday. So far it is working great. I messed up the wireless settings in my laptop when I was trying to get it to work with my old router. I couldn't undo what I did, so I just restored my laptop from a previous restore point and all is good again.

Sorry the 700 has been a steep learning curve, but it will be worth it on the first flight.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi guys,

Caught something going around at work so been down and out for most of the week...haven't even looked at the heli since Sunday. Beginning to feel a bit better so that is a step in the right direction.

JPEE,

Sorry the FBL programming is a bear...Vbar is programmed using the computer right? You do know when all is said and done that thing is going to look spectacular!

Going to hit the sack again.

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Sorry you aren't feeling good.

Yeah, the Vbar is programmed through the computer or an optional handheld unit.

Nick

JPEE

Hey Guys,

Nick, I hope that new router is burning up cyber space!


Mark, sorry to hear your under the weather, man that sucks bigtime[]

Yes you are right on the V-BAR, everything is done on the laptop or as Nick said, with that hand held jobber. They are also making a new blue-tooth attachment for your iPhone too. That will make be able you tune your heli without carrying a laptop. All you do is zero out everything in the radio, no mixing CCPM, no swash mix, no center your servos with sub trim, never adjust outside radio trims as that "has" to be done in laptop. The only things you can adjust are your gyro, pitch and throttle curves in the radio.

I will say this, this puppy is pretty big. The heli is done.......... but tomorrow I want to run over it all again and go through the V-BAR just to make sure all is well. My maiden is scheduled for next Tuesday and yes! there will be video

My GEN-ACES have been problematic! One has a bad cell and won't charge over 3.9. All of the others finish at 4.20, 4.20, 4.19, 4.19, 4.21, 4.20 as an example which I am not happy with at all! ! [:@] To make things worse, they have a discharge ohm resistance of 5-6 ohms and when charging they show 10-12 ohms resistance[X(] My year and half old Turnigys have less than that, not happy at all. I am debating going to Hobby Partz in person on Monday and having a face to face, or better said a "field trip" LMAO

Here are a couple of pic's of the wiring, and boy is there wiring as you know Mark from your FBL 550.

Take care

evdreamer

John,

That is great your 700 is done. You did a good job making the wiring look neat. Sorry about your battery.

Nick

JPEE

Nick, what's going on back there?

Thanks, worked hard to get everything in and still keep it neat and tidie. I just discovered a little problem, my VBAR is countering in reverse when I lean the heli like with ailerons. So my friend is coming by tomorrow and we will try to figure that out. I tried everything I could tonight.
I must admit I am getting a bit excited

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi guys,

Feeling better now so thanks for the well wishes...hate being out for such a long time and getting absolutely nothing done for an entire week...blah. [:'(]

JPEE,

That 700 is a piece of work, congrats on finishing the build! I bet the wiring was difficult but in the end the extra effort was well worth it. Soon you'll have the little ins and outs fixed and have that puppy maidened.

I was wondering when they were going to have some type of connection so you could use your phone for programming...today's phones are becoming miniture computers anyways. I think they have an app that you can use to 'listen' to the sound of your blades and determine headspeed just by the sound? I know some guys on HF that can get the headspeed of a heli on a video just by the blade sound...crazy awesome.

Your GenAce issue is a bit disappointing...I hope you are able to get some decent customer service for them as they seem to have such a good reputation for the price...I'm wondering a bad batch perhaps?

Nick,

Glad to hear you got a router for your computer. Early restore to the rescue aye...been there and done that for sure! Hey, do you only have a few days of class this week...Thanksgiving week? Enjoy it as I'm sure you will.

I got a bit of work done on my 500 today...basically tore the head apart to clean, check, and regrease the thrust bearings. Also checked the dampers and shafts...everything seems in good shape so that's good. There are a few things I want to replace during the rebuild...mainly the belt and the rollers that the belt goes over...seems the old plastic rollers can warp over time from friction so there are metal ones available now.

Other than that not a whole lot going on.

Mark

evdreamer

John,

"Nick, what's going on back there?" The usual, work, school, and homework. I just finished up a calculus project with my partner today. I almost caught up on the rest of my calculus HW. I finished my physics HW yesterday. Then I have some electronic HW that I will probably work on Wednesday.

I remember setting up the Vbar on my helis. Everything has to be setup just right or it won't correct in the correct direction. I hope your friend and you can figure it out. That is good you are testing the swash corrections before you take it up.

Mark,

Wednesday is my last day at school this week. I celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday, since I will be at work on Thursday and can't celebrate it with my family then.

That is good you are feeling good enough to work on the 500.

Nick

JPEE

Nick,
That there is some heavy duty homework there mister! Sorry you had to celebrate TG early but hopefully you were with your family.

I am waiting for my buddy now. I have tried and tried to program the Kontronik and it just keeps running away from idle to wide making me have to close the throttle down. I also for safety I tied it down with two cargo straps I use in my pick up for lashing things down. With this thing SAFETY FIRST

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

JPEE,

Sounds like you are very close to a maiden/hover there, sir...congrats...I hope that you and your friend can get those last minute details figured out, and you can give it a whirl today!

I agree, you are taking a lot on at once....new radio, new V-bar, new heli, new ESC.....just take your time, and procede with caution!

The heli looks great, very nice job on the build, and the wiring looks very nicely done as well...

Be sure to get some video, it's a moment you won't want to forget...I know you've been waiting for a long time for this moment...

Nick,

That is great that your break starts tomorrow...sorry you had to re-arrange you schedule around work for your Thanksgiving holiday with the family...but at least you do get that whole weekend off...nice...

Cool on the new router, and good thinking on the restore point to get back your wireless settings...

Is your new router an "N" router? They are faster, and usually more reliable connections than the older "G" routers....

Mark,

Sorry you were under the weather...glad you are feeling better....does working at the hospital give you any advantages as far as meds and supplies go?

Cinnimon looks very cute! I have to ask...how did Ginger take the new addition to the family?? I would love to have a second cat...but I REALLY don't think TIGER would allow that...[X(][X(][X(] I have a feeling lots of fur would be flyin'...

Yeah, we are down to 3 techs....which can be good....or bad...depending on the workload...so far it's working well...we get kinda busy at times....then like today..we are dead slow...so that would be even worse with more techs....so it's just about right with the 3 of us...most of the time...



Not much new here...haven't been flying...and probably won't until next spring...I need to get all my batteries out, and put them in storage voltage....hopeufully, my interest will be sparked again in the spring...after a long, cold winter...

Some guys here at the field have been having radio hits with their Spektrum radio equipment...has brought a couple of helis down, and hard...not sure what is going on...but they are all in an uproar over the Spektrum radios....not sure if it's the radios, or some sort of interference on the 2.4 Ghz bands in the field area....doesn't seem to be affecting the Futaba guys though...

Hope you guys have a great week....


Glenn

JPEE

Hi guys, I got my maiden flight done about two hours ago and all went well. There was a couple little things that needed adjusting before I took off but I'll explain all that tomorrow I'm physically and mentally drained. But it was a success and there is a video that I'll put up tomorrow. take care JP

evdreamer

Glenn,

I think my router is the N router.

I have read on the forums that some fields can't use 2.4GHz stuff because it brought down their aircraft too. Then when they went back to FM there wasn't any problems.

John,

Congrats on the maiden.

Nick

JPEE

Hi Guys,
The 700e maiden came off pretty well. There was a last minute change in the wiring. We found out we had to swap the elevator and aileron leaving in the receiver leading to the VBAR. We had the heli FBL responding as it should but the guy that knows the most looked it over and said no, you must reverse those two wire. You don't question or argue with the top dog at the field, you shut your mouth and listen. Funny how well that works LOL. During the brief flight with old 600 batteries (not wanting to use my new GENS ACES just in case!) we had to modify the head speed a few times and now are at about 1750. That too will tweaked next time out. The video is for editorial is not the best. I tried cut out all of my head turning around me talking to my two support guys, it is what is. I did lift up and down a few times to raise the throttle because you have to start up the heli at full head speed at mid stick, then governor takes over. "Listen" and you will hear the heli spool up and then come down in rpms before I lift. I was a bit afraid to set the throttle at spec because one day I saw a guy spool up and then he started doing 360s on the pavement and tore off his tail blades. So I just took it easy and kept ramping it up as you will see with moving up the radio throttle curves.
You will hear a growl when we hiked the head speed to where it should be and we talk about it. When I landed we found the tail servo CF rod "hanger" that goes back to the tail had slipped on the boom and the metal insert that was CAed to the CF rod had slipped out of the hanger travel length, thus letting the CF linkage rod vibrate in a big way in the hanger hoop.
I only had the one battery tray made up so that was it for the day.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2v2Wjd_Xu0[/youtube]

evdreamer

Guys,

The weather was pretty good today, so I did a quick flight with the F450. I also wanted to see what it was like to put power poles on the motor and ESC wires, so I did that with my F6.

evdreamer

John,

Very Coooool. Are you using the ESC's govenor or the Vbar's govenor? How does it compare in flight to your 600?

Nick

JPEE

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the comps! I am using the gov in the Kontronik. I only had that short flight so I cant say anything other than the handling is totally different, it is all fast! We are going back on Friday, the three of us will fly and I'll have my two battery sets ups made for two consecutive flights and then recharge at the field. I know I need some more tweaking. But she is very close!
I do love the Kontronick let me tell you, it really has a spectrum of things it can do.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

JPEE,

A HUGE CONGRATS for your 700 maiden!!!

In the beginning of the vid where your friend is standing next to it really puts into perspective just how big it is...I was like wow that's a big mama! All that work and figuring out the new equipment payed off big time. It was very nice and I was a bit on edge watching you do the liftoffs after each adjustment. Once again congrats on the flight.

BTW all...

Happy Thanksgiving!

(don't worry Nick, I also have to work today so your not alone in the turkey day workforce. )

Mark

JPEE

Thanks Mark,

It was a good day for sure. Thanks for kind wishes, your next for your maiden dont forget!

Have a wonderful day with your family and enjoy life today.

JPEE

OOPS, sorry to have just re-read the post and that you and Nick both are working today. Take you two.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

JPEE,

Wish you also a wonderful day today with the family.

Can you put in some expo to soften the cyclic response a bit or is there an adjustment in the Vbar for that?

Your right, now I need to get on the ball and get my heli finished and maidened.

Nick,

Did I hear you right and you put powerpoles on the batt/ESC as well as the ESC/motor sides? Did you remove the bullet connectors that normally come on the motor? Did you use the 30amp or 45amp? Just curious.

Mark

JPEE

Mark,

I cut down my % in the radio of what my sticks would do. I dont want to call it "expo" but it kinda is, but in these new radios I can cut down by percentage my stick motion in "any" direction separately. Example, left tail 50% right tail 95% if I choose. This radio is incredible and as Glenn pointed out more and more people are haveing Spectrum issues. Right now everything i the radio is at 100% except I did cut down the tail throw to 55%. The only thing you can change in the radio is the throttle and pitch curves, all other adjustments are made in the VBAR. I was affraid I might do a piro be accedent which is why I cut down the tail. But I think I posted I am sold on Kontronik and VBAR for everything I keep to fly in the future. I will be selling off my 120 CC whenever it comes back from CC and I will be selling off my 3GX NIB as they are still getting about $120 to $150 for them sealed.
Now that I know the VBAR and Kont electronics I dont see the need to confuse it with having like a 600 with 3GX and have to remember how to handle two systems.

evdreamer

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Mark,

Sorry you have to work today. Work was pretty slow for me today, so that was enjoyable.

Yeah, I have powerpoles on both sides of the ESC. Yeah, I removed the bullet connectors. I used the 45A connector on the ESC wires and the 35A connector on the motor wires, since those are smaller. I had some bullet connectors on my ESC for another motor and they were too short for the Scorpion connectors. That made part of the motor connector exposed. It worked for a long time, but that exposed part was really close to a CF plate and the metal boom. That was a short waiting to happen, but I made sure the connector never touched those parts. I really dislike soldering thick wires, so this was an easy fix. I crimped the connectors on with the ESC and motor still attached to the heli, so it was kind of hard to get the crimper in there. I spooled it up last night and there wasn't any problems.

Nick

JPEE

Hi Nick,
I just read about you changing your wire connectors and I did the same. I used EC fives on every thing on the 700 and they are quite large but yet they are easy to come apart. I put them also on my old 5000 packs for the 600. I took a test flight the day I made my maiden as well with the 600 and ran it as hard as I could and the battery was much cooler and I think that most of my hot battery issues rather than the bigger NEU motor but rather the deans connectors on every thing. So I think everything will work out with those larger connectors and cut down a lot of problems I have had in the past.

Glad your day was a light one. I hope Marks is the same.