I have to say I have never read anywhere from any experienced heli pilot that ever said a pitch gauge was more than a rough tool. In-fact I've read a few stoies about people who don't even use them they just sight it all in then go to the field and see how it flies and change it on the spot.
I've only been flying helis for a total of 5gal of fuel now and have never had any help with setup or flight training other than a Sim and this forum. I can now put my Venture at 8' in a hover and take my hands off the control to swat a bug and the heli don't move (unless hit by wind ), but I guess what I'm saying is that this is one good heli. I now have heavy glass blades on the heli and have 4gal through it and it shows ZERO sign of ware.
Not to mention Horizon Hobby stands behind their products better than ANY one else in the industry. I can't tell you how many times my self or some one at the field dropped a radio or cooked a receiver all by their own doing and Horizon fixes it for FREE, they just sent me a new receiver because I thought mine was acting funny, I received it before I had even sent the other one off. As it turned out I just had a servo wire rubbing against an electric motor and there was nothing wrong with the receiver.