thanks gordthebiker, I've double checked, the 3rd dip switch is to the right.

So should the heli main rotor rotate at all at the lowest throttle position? I have an impression that it should not, but mine does... actually it looks like its at full speed, and i've basically tried everything, including pushing the throttle fully up and fully down, playing around with other control as well... etc, but still no luck.

I'm thinking maybe i've a faulty "circuit board", which sort of combined the receiver, mixing, and other things together in one.