casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Those drums ROCK! My drum instructor and I were making this song and he had the biggest vdrums set out there for around sixth grand. I got to play them and those thing were awesome. Not too thrilled about the price though

bell1684

No doubt..Roland makes some great stuff but they are expensive as heck. Since i live in a condo having a set of acoustic drums was out of the question so the vdrums were a perfect option, plus they are really easy to record and you never have to tune them. I still enjoy playing real acoustic drums though..nothing compares to the dynamics of a real hi-hat and real cymbals.

rbiasi

I love vdrums! I used to have a full kit, but my wife complained about the space it took up. So now I've got a Yamaha D-55 which is fine for midi stuff...

One thing I forgot to mention about RC World International. When you look at their web store it looks like you need to pay $4.75 shipping for each part. But if you email them a list of the parts you want they'll email back a quote with a shipping rate for the whole order (I think it's $4.75 for the first part and $0.25 for each additional part).

Also, I mentioned that I usually get orders in 4 days or so, but I'm inCA. You guys would probably get things even quicker on the east coast (Jag is in Ohio, RC World in NY). And both guys usually get the orders out within 24 Hours. Unlike Happibuy who seem to take weeks. With my last Happibuy order I emailed them around 2/20 complaining that I didn't get it. I got an email a few days later that it shipped on 2/22! I had placed the order on 1/28!

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Yeah, that's the plus about electronic drums, you can play anywhere anytime and record your own songs.

By the way just in case you guys don't know, there's a place on helihobby.com where they have tons of heli videos:

http://www.helihobby.com/html/rc_hel...rs_videos.html

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

I downloaded the simulator from the ebay seller who I want to buy my HB from. Does that stuff really help? Have any of you guys tried it?

bell1684

Ive never seen the simulator that came with it..neither of mine did. I have Realflight G2 and have been using that for a while so I wasnt dissapointed that I didnt get the one for the HB2.

I think I remember hearing on another forum that it was the same as FMS but I cant say for sure.

If/when you get it running Casipak I'd love to hear how it is.

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Yeah, I think it is the same as FMS. The maps are pretty small but decent enough to practice but so far, I've only tried to fly there using my keyboard which I think is a lot easier than using your TX, but when I get my HB, I'll try it out with the TX and see how it is.

I downloaded it from the ebay seller "solaa". He had it right in his auction. He has a fixed price auction with around 30 to 90 helis available for $155 plus $35 shipping. He gives you the simulator cable and then a website for the FMS.

How's Real Flight G2? Does it have realistic wind conditions?

By the way, did you HB come with heatsinks? If not, what's a good place to get really nice ones?

onesillyhatch

My Feedback: (1)

Ok I have got my heli off the ground a few times and chipped the main blades on the edge (still flies). The heli is a little shakey on lift off, be ready to correct it. It loves to drift left and I take off with a slight right lean. People complained about not having enough power to lift, but I just bought some plastic non holed golf balls, and used some little metal rods I had laying around and made some training gear. I am still able to lift off with no prob. It took me a little reading on how to adjust the proportion to get my tail to stop spinning though. You ABSOLUTELY must unplug the battery before you adjust the proportion, this isn't 100% clear in the instructions at least on first reading.

People say as beginners don't get this heli, get a FP, I disagree. Play around with some sims and you should be fine with some training gear. Be patient and don't expect to hover on first try. Also when you get the main blades the fold in right away and its very hard to break anything on this. As long as you shut the power off like right away the tail rotor just stops spinning when you hit that. I have to admit this thing is pretty durable surprisingly.

I'd say buy is from solaa. Shipping is super fast. Plus its in America so if you have issues you can actually do something about it, but I doubt that you will.

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

On my jabo, I had these same...complications. I just adjusted to them and I flew. How did you fix the tail motor problem? Are you using lipo batteries because I was told that if you use them, the grund effect goes away. No wobbling when trying to take off.

onesillyhatch

My Feedback: (1)

I used only the Li po's. The heli still goes all over the place and is worse when I put the training gear on it. Its not horrible as long as you are used to the controls.

I was curious, does anybody sell brushes to replace the tail motor's, I haven't opened up the can on the tail motor but can they be replaced? This may be cheaper than buying new tail motors every few weeks?

bell1684

caspiak
Neither of mine came with the heat sinks, although I have been thinking about picking up a set to try them out.. ive seen them at www.deeteeenterprises.com for like 6 or 7 bucks (cant remember exactly how much).

Ive been happy with Realflight G2..its been a great learning tool and has probably saved me a few bucks in crashes. I havent tried the G3 version but im really not interested in spending the money to upgrade..would rather save it & spend it on heli parts.

onesillyhatch
As you get more stick time with your HB2 and get the trim dialed in better you'll find it is more stable on lift-off...I can get mine to go basically straight up with just a little lean to the left. Ive given my HB2 a few good smacks on the ground and will agree its a durable litle thing.

Good question about the replacement brushes..never heard of it.

cptsnoopy

I took the tail motor apart on my walkera df4. i am sure it is a much inferior motor but about the same size? all I can say is that I wish a had a large magnifying glass to look through. working with the brushes makes me think of microsurgery. the weird part was that I did not see anything wrong so I put it back together again. for whatever reason it started working???

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

What I am not getting about the lipos is the flight time. On a regular Nimh, I just fly till it discharges or until the motors get a bit too warm. Is it the same on the lipo or is it different?

Onesillyhatch, I never thought of replacing the brushes. I don't know about replacing them. They are pretty small so it might not be as easy. When I had my aerohawk and my tail motor dies, I just bought a tail motor from another heli it worked fine.

Bell1684, have you tried flying in real flight using your keyboard? If so, does it seem really easy because for the FMS it sure is.

bell1684

Casipak
No you definitely do not want to run a lipo all the way down like the Nimh..general rule of thumb is for the 11.1V lipo that came with my HB2 you wouldnt want to run it down any lower than i think 9.0v or so... Lipos are subject to damage when they get overdischarged and can be subject to possibly blowing up when recharging.

Although alot depends on your flying style and what type of maneuvers you're doing, i generally fly for 10-15min at a time of hovering, FF and basic circuits and my lipo usually never drops below 10.0V..besides the motors are usually pretty warm by then and I am usually ready for a break anyway.

No, ive never tried realflight via the keyboard, only using the USB controller that came with it. Ive heard that FMS is relatively easy to fly compared to realflight, but still useful as an orientation tool. I really do recommend buying realflight especially if you plan on trying more advanced manuevers with your HB later on..it will definitely save you $$ in the long run..and its fun too!

BTW how does your aerohawk compare to the HB2? Just as fun?

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Actually, I sold my aerohawk a while ago because it was defective and the seller was in China. They wanted me to send it back and pay for shipping for around 50 bucks and I just didn't see that happening. It was overall, a bad seller. Then I bought a jabo II helicopter and that was a million times better, everything was in great condition and I learned most of my flying on that.
Recently, I saw that great deal for the CP HB for $190 with shiping. That's how much I spent on my jabo and this is a great deal so I don't want to pass it up.

I really don't know much about lipos so how do you determine how much it has discharged?

bell1684

The cheap DC Lipo charger that came with my HB2 basically fried when i plugged it in for the first time so i went out and bought an AC/DC charger (Vision Peak Ultra by Dynamite)..I paid ike $80.00 for it at my LHS and it works great. It has a digital Voltmeter built into it that displays what the current charge is. I wasnt comfortable using the cheap DC charger anyway with all the bad things ive read about overcharging/discharging Lipos

Any voltmeter will do..you can pick them up cheap pretty much anywhere (radio shack, wal-mart, etc) for like $20-$25... I highly recomend getting one so you dont run the risk of overdischarging & possibly ruining your pack & burning down the house[X(]

I came close to buying an aerohawk a while back but now im glad i didnt..im plenty happy with my HB2's.

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Nice helis!
I don't know if I can pay for a new charger but what if I get that voltmeter and use it along with the charger that comes in the auction?
I think my brother made one. He used to like to do this kind of stuff so I might have one lying around somewhere

bell1684

That will work..check the voltage of the batteries before & after your next charge & after you fly each time. Try to avoid going below like 9.5v before recharging. Since you havent been able to monitor how low you have been up to now, keep a close eye on the battery while you are charging and touch it every 5 minutes or so to see if it gets warm at all..unlike other batteries they shouldnt get warm at all while charging..if they do disconnect the charger immediately and monitor the battery for at least 30 minutes in an area away from anything flammable. If the battery every begins to swell up or gets warm during charging look out!

The lipo that came with my first HB2 started getting warm during charging after about 3-4 flights & i havent used it since. The lipo that came with my 2nd HB2 has worked fine. Just use common sense with your Lipo and you'll be fine.

batfalcon

Hi all,

Everything you need to know about batteries is at [link=http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm]http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm[/link]. ALL YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED if you show patience and read this through out.

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Bell1684,
thanks for the info on the lipos. People say that with the regular nimh that comes with the HB, the heli lifts around 4 ft and that's it. I flew my jabo with 2 8.4 volt nimhs and it did just fine. Could this be the balsa blades?

Batfalcon, thanks for the link. I'll try learn more about batteries.

bell1684

Could be..havent tried mine with anything but the Lipo's so i cant comment .

There is also alot of battery info over on RcGroups.com as well as a couple of good HB2 threads if you're bored and looking for more info. I like to review them when my batteries are charging or im stuck at work (like now)[&o]

loserbaby

I am learning with my HB2 and aside from a few sets of blades, both motors, a tail boom, etc.... I like it, now if i can get better control of this darn thing.

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Who did you buy it from?

Bell1684,
When I forgot, who did you buy your HB from? Was there anything wrong with the swashplate?

bell1684

Bought one from hobbyjapan2000.com (i dont recommend doing business with them) and the other from Dennis at deeteeenterprises.com (I definitely recommend doing business with him).

I didnt or havent had any problems with the swashplates separating as has been reported by plenty of other people (knock on wood i dont start having problems tonite!)..even so, if it did/does separate the fix is very simple.

Sounds like you're still on the fence about making a purchase Casipak....

casipak

My Feedback: (3)

Yeah I am but I found many more auctions on ebay. This guy sells the 3d HB with everything I need to fly. He doesn't have any batteries or chargers and the cable isn't included. However, the final price is around $100 to $120. All I would need is a lipo and charger. I think that would be cheaper than the heli with two batteries and cable since the battery is useless-nimh. I probably won't use the simulator too much,but I can buy my own cable. Where can I get a decent lipo and charger? I don't want anything too fancy but maybe a charger that can automatically tell me the voltage of the batery? I'll try to search more on ebay.


here's the heli auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...963836075&rd=1