dunkonu23

That's the problem, isn't it? Once it's built, it's built. Iknow back when I was crashing a lot, I thought I liked fixing and setting up my helicopter more than Iliked "trying" to fly it. I'm certain I'll want somethng else to build once I finish this kit. That would be a bad move family wise.

Scott

dunkonu23

My build progress. The head assembly is done. The frame is ready for electronics. Now, I have to learn the DX7 so I can do the servos, head setup, and ESC programming (what are the defaults, btw?). So, this is a good holding point. The biggest "pain" so far? Sanding the edges of everything in the frame.

Electronics wise, I think I'm going to use the stock ESC for a bit to see how I like it. Imust admit I've become a bit spoiled in programming by using a Castle Phoenix 60. Ihave another one that if I don't like the stock ESC, I'll just pull the one out of my BH500 (it has a BEC) and use that in the TRex 500 esp and put the spare Castle in the BH500. That's really looking forward, though.

So, it's all good so far.

Scott

OrganDonor

For Me, Flying is fun but the highlight of helicopters is most definitely the build. I do a fair bit of that with the crashes I have. I don't mind so much coz pulling it all apart and rebuilding is good fun.

Turned up at our flying field this morning expecting the usual 5 or 6 guys, but hell no, it was a packed house. We had 10 heli flyers and 3 of them were great 3d topguns. One those two guys setup me TX and there isn't words to describe how good it is to fly now. I thought to myself when he started I hope this makes a difference that I can notice but the huge difference is unbeleivable. Put all 5 packs through and had the best day, so good I had to share it.
Cheers
Organ out

noobflyer01

i'm thinking about the trex250 for my next project. i always wanted a micro heli that is 3d capable.

dunkonu23

Noob, a couple of people were flying the 250 at the Midwest Fun Fly a couple of weeks ago. They were very stable and quick. I didn't see any 3d out of them, butI'm certain after watching your videos, you'll be stick banging!

Scott

PS Ialmostordered a 450 pro super combo last night.

Fly To Chill

My Feedback: (20)

dunkonu23

Anote on my 500 esp build. First, it's almost done. Skids and boom supports and it's physically done. I'm going to put the skids and boom supports on after I install the receiver and gyro.

The note;

The JR 3500G servo doesn't fit into the stock servo mount. It's just a tad small. What Idid and it seems to work well is to file out the original mounting holes so they are longer, leaving about a milimeter between the servo cutout and the elongated hole. Doing it this way precludes using the antivibration mounts. I looked around online and could not find anything that would be 100% compatible. So this is the way it is for now. Hopefully someone reads this and has a solution, even though what I did should work fine. Ido have some carbon fiber and could make another mount.

So that's it. :-)

Scott

PS Just found this for the JR Mini tail servo: http://www.readyheli.com/Custom_Heli.../chp-t5024.htm, ordered.

noobflyer01

almost time for her maiden flight.   i'm anxious to hear your report Scott.      May the heli gods be with you.

OrganDonor

Most of the guys I fly with now including myself, though I haven't fitted mine use full size servos on the rudder. They have more torque and work alot better. They are all 3D flyer so I got one for mine on the chance I would move on to 3D in the not too distant future.

Food for thought Dunk

dunkonu23

Thanks, Noob! Iam almost there. I spooled it up minus blades in the house today, just to hear it. It sounds awesome!

Now comes the part I've been dreading: Gyro setup. I've watched the video on Helifreak, but for the life of me Idon't get it. Ican't get the gyro to go into rate mode unless I lower gain. Switch position be da*ned! Ihave it setup (or at least I think I do) to use the gear switch. I'm thinking there are two positions in the gyro autosense menu that should correspond: 0 and 1. But they don't.Ican manually lower gain andthe gyro will switch, so Iknow it's hooked up right. So, I'm a bit stuck.

Scott

dunkonu23

Organdonor,

Ordinarily, I would agree with you about the servo size. But... the 3500G is recommended as a tail servo for the TRex 500. Depending on which page you read on Bert Kammerer's site, he either uses a 3500G or a 3400G. That's how Idecided on my tail servo. So, we'll see what happens, once I get this gyro stuff sorted.

Thanks, though. I do appreciate your suggestion and if things don't work out with what I have, rest assured I'll spring for something bigger.

Scott

Skarn

Hey bro, Don't dread gyro setup...it's a breeze! Seriously, the 401 is the easiest gyro to setup.

The helifreak vid does not setup the 401 using gear switch, it is using the gyro sense menu. Using gyro sense, you can tie gain to either the Flight Mode switch or the Rudder/DR switch. I prefer the F. MODE switch.

But there really is no reason to have it go into rate mode via a switch after you have everything set up. That is unless you plan on flying in rate mode. Go back and watch the vid and set it up exactly like it says.....there is also another vid by Jermo using a DX7 if that's what you have.

But to sum it up:


In transmitter setup, set GEAR>GYRO

- Get out of setup mode and go into programming mode;
- In your gyro sense menu set it to:

AUTO F.MODE

Then set the gains you want for your different flight mode settings...a good starting point is to set all 3 to 72%.

If you haven't done this already, temporarily lower the gain to below 50 so it goes in rate mode....then get servo arm at 90 and center the slider. Once done, set gain back to 72% and have fun

Good luck,
Skarn

noobflyer01

skarn i believe dunk is using the spartan 760 gyro on his rex.   i have never used the spartan gyro so i cant be much help on this one, sorry[]

and i dont own a dx7 either.    but i'm sure there is loads of people that uses this combo that will chime in.   post your question on the helifreak trex500 forum too and see if someone will chime in.   you'll get a huge smile once she's in the air.

luckily my gyro setup was one of the easiest i had the pleasure of doing.  the align gp750 gyro doesnt have the programming abilities like the spartan but you gotta love simple setups that's instant gratification.   Isnt there some kind of programming interface that comes with the spartan?

dunkonu23

Yep, it sure does, Noob. I rewatched the Finless video on setup and that took care of things. I do have redo it, though because I have too much pitch in the tail blades and not enough throw. So... that will happen.

Now, this is aCCPM setup issue. I set the links to within .02 mm of the directions and have the swashplate leveled. I thought this process would go quickly because I can do my BH 500 in my sleep, but it's not. I'm having issues getting the mixer arms to be parallel with the flybar cage at 50% throttle. Servo arms are at 90 and like I said, the swashplate is level. I've pretty much cranked down as far as possible on on the long link going to the long side of the mixer arm, but while it's close, it's not spot on. I'm going to re-watch the Finless video'son CCPMsetup and go from there. I'm clearly missing something.

Scott

dunkonu23

No maiden flight today. That will happen Thursday.

Here's what Ifound, thanks to the Finless video's of the TRex 500 build, with CCPMsetup and I don't know if this happened with anyone, but here goes:

1. The links from the servo's to the swashplate were too long from the manual. The manual states from center to center, it's 50mm. Mine were 50.02, 49.98, and 50.03. With the links at stock length, the washout arms were not level at all. I had to shorten the links from the servos to the swash significantly. Finless states in his video that he had to shorten those same links to 17.5mm (gap measurement). I kept shortening the links until the washout arm ends were level with each other. That came to 18.80, 18.89, and 18.78 mm.

2. After leveling the swash plate, I had to shorten the links from the swash to the mixer arms 4 and 2 turns respectvely in order to get the mixer arms level with the flybar cage.

After all that, I checked pitch and it was perfect 0 pitch at 50% collective. No interaction at high and low collective.

Istopped for the night after this. It took a long time to get this done, but I think it's going to be worth it. My fingers are super sore from twisting ball link ends, man they're tight.

Anyway... :-)

Scott

noobflyer01

glad you figured it out on your own scott.  that skill will go a long ways for future builds.  yep i too had to shorten the linkages to get the mixing arms leveled.   let's us know how your maiden flight goes.

dunkonu23

We got back from our day trip a little sooner than planned so I was able to get the gyro setup. Thanks for your support, everyone. It helped a lot! Y'all are great!

So... I should have been able to maiden the helicopter tonight, but no go. The blades that came with the helicopter just won't teeter properly. In fact, they didn't teeter at all. Center of gravity is more than 3mm apart so... the blades are bad. Of to a hobby shop in the area tomorrow and get new blades.

That's about it for now.

Thanks again for all the support, guys. It's truly appreciated and Ihope that one day I'll be able to return the favor!

Scott

dunkonu23

I just completed the maiden flight of my TRex 500 esp. I used the Radix 430 blades I got for after I got used to the helicopter, but hey... Wow! Super stable 3 minute flight in winds gusting to 15 mph. It was nearly perfect, but I had to lower the gyro gain and will have to do so again as I have wag during pitch pumps. The tail does return to a stable state after leveling out. All in all, a very successful, very exciting first flight! More details and build pictures to follow later in the day.

Thanks again for all your help, guys!

Scott

Skarn

Great job bro!

Skarn

dunkonu23

Thanks, Skarn!

Do you guys think Ishould start a new thread for the build pictures or should I just use Noobs thread? I just don't want to hijack this thread anymore than I already have, but if Noob and the rest of you think it's okay, then I'll post pictures with comments here.

Thanks!

Scott

noobflyer01

just because i started this thread does not mean its my thread.  its everybody's thread to post comments, pictures, videos, anything.  feel free to post pictures here.  i'm just as excited about your maiden as you are.  Its just an amazing experience to build and maiden a trex500esp.   and i'm glad you had a successful first flight.  I've had many successful maiden's with align helicopters.  everyone i've built to this point had flown flawless until of course i crash them.   i think this is why they are so widely cloned.

OrganDonor

No way man, put your pictures up. this thread has turned into our trex 500 talk now and I am hanging to see the first video dunk.

dunkonu23

Thanks Noob! It was completely amazing. I mean, with the exception of the tail wag (which I'm fixing after this), it was perfect. I'm so blown away. I'll be posting pictures later today. I've got some work to do on my new helicopter!

Oh... Ihave a new site to talk about, too. It's local to me here in Michigan, but these guys are great! I talked to both of the owners for about 45 minutes. They don't have their storefront ready yet, but they're taking online orders. Their site is http://www.experiencerc.com . It's helicopter only. Like I said, both of the guys are really nice. I picked up my new blades and they clued me in to the ThunderPower Pro Power 30c 2200mah battery. It's a bit on the expensive side, but its much smaller than the Turnigy's Ihave and it will charge a 4amps. Please note that Ihave no connection at all to ExperienceRC other than the fact that I'm an extremely satisfied customer!

Off to solder connectors, then work on the the tail. I'm moving the ball down at least one hole on the arm. I'm also going to reprogram end points.

Scott

dunkonu23

Here are my build pictures:

They're not really in order but kind of give you an idea of what I did. There are some mods. First, is the tail pin as Noob suggested. Second, I decided to use Heim Joint's Chinese weight modification since I had a lot of problems with my BH500's tail. The ESC is installed under the battery tray. Also, I moved the motor wires to the holes in the front of the bottom tray. Today, after the pictures were taken, I moved the tail linkage to the most inside position on the servo arm to eliminate wag. I haven't been able to test it yet because we have 30mph winds going on here. I didn't really follow the directions when I was doing the frame. I didn't put the bottom tray on until I was almost done. I wanted to run the wires on the inside of the frame to keep them pretty much out of sight. Also, the step down regulator is placed under the receiver tray. The receiver is held down with Scotch fastners which are similar to velcro, but are plastic.The Scotchfasteners make it easy to unsnap the receiver and move it for maintenance. In such tightspaces,velcro is a pain. If you toucha sidewith the other side, it sticks.Not so with theScotch fasteners. I used the Scotch fasteners to hold the battery, as well. The gyro is mounted using the stock parts: Foam, metal plate, and double sided foam tape. The wire from the gyro to the receiver is held down with double sided foam tape. It's looped as it is because the manual wants about 2 inches of cable that does not touch the frame. I coiled the servo wire because there just didn't seem to be good way to hide it. Oh, yeah... the elevator servo uses a home made spacer (that's shown in the picture... that's what Finless suggested in his Nitro 500 build videos, so I did it. That's about it!

baurwin

heres a little sunday flying with the T500 this last weekend.

[link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJHjHIR5vYo[/link]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJHjHIR5vYo[/youtube]