jroo

Pics of the 250 wiring job.

JPEE

Jreue,

Very very nice indeed! Mucho clean-o. That little bird is really pretty, in a manly way There's a few hours work for sure!


Well as embarrassed as I am to share this information I hope it will help others in the long run. To be very clear, I look the heli over before I fly it every time I go out.........nearly. Today I did a scrutinized visual preflight on my 500. To my surprise I found one missing screw from my tail box, one of my boom struts to the frame was backed out and on the side, that boom strut was starting to back out. Lastly, I found one of my canopy posts has backed out a bit too. I went over "every" screw and laid a driver on it on the heli and found no more maintenance issues. Honestly I am shocked I did not catch any of this on my daily checks at the field. I guess the distractions of all the guys being there pulls a certain amount of my attention away. But no more! The moral of the store here is PAY ATTENTION!

I spent an hour with the camera today as well. I turned off auto "everything" I could find after reviewing the book and I think the "problem" for me is... is still auto focuses! When I wave the camera out the window it focuses, when I then swoop it down to my desk, it works a bit and then re focuses on printed materials. So that's why in flight is going in and out, it is working overtime so to speak. This may never work for me and new camera may be needed, DRATS!


JPEE

jroo

I believe I figured out my pitch problem. I triple-checked every setting in my TX and then rechecked the head. This pitch gauge has been misleading me all along. I have an E-Flite pitch gauge and was using the little tiny pitch gauge adapter that came with the 250 set. Well, the adapter does not mesh perfectly with the e-flite one, and it would actually give false readings.

After close analysis, I found my mid stick pitch was -2 and -4. Low was like -13, and high was only around + 7/8.

I rechecked my swash level, and sure enough, I need 2 turns out on my aileron.

So, after it's all said and done, I rechecked everything again, and I have a level swash and -11,0,+11 on both sides.

I did the best measurements I could using this *whack-ass hybrid pitch gauge, but I have a micro pitch gauge coming from HeliDirect this week. Then I can finally get a more accurate reading on this thing.

I'll do a test flight tomorrow and let y'all know how it turns out.

night.

JPEE

Jreue,

What a great catch! It is funny this subject came up. Friday I was helping my buddy with his heli. I asked him for his pitch gauge. He gives me this "low brand name" pitch gauge and I laughed. I grabbed from tool box my Align gauge and again told him to throw that thing away. The right tool for the right job, that's the ticket!

Again I am glad you nailed your pitch issue.

JPEE

JPEE

Hi Jreue,

Can you tell me where you got that double looped velcro for your battery try. I have that under my Fatube 611 on the 600 and it is so much better than the fuzzy and looped standard velcro. My buddy is just finishing his 600 and we want to mount his 611 gyro with that same product.

THANKS

jroo

JPEE,

I believe i just had it laying around; not sure where I got it from. I'm not quite sure what you mean by double-loop velcro, as opposed to just regular velcro though.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

James,

Your 250 really looks great...the wire braiding blends in nicely. Have you taken any video with your keycam yet?

Good luck on your test flight tomorrow.

JPEE,

Nice catch on your loose screws....

Seriously though, not fun seeing parts hanging...at least you didn't catch it while doing a flyby. [X(]

Sorry your having so many issues with your heli cam...is there anyone that has a similar setup using the same camera as you...might be able to get some tips. Helifreak has an Aerial Videography Forum, [link=http://www.helifreak.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53]Here,[/link] that you may be able to find some problem solving tips for your camera. At least you won't have to go at it alone so to speak.

Guys, need some input on BEC's since I've moved up in heli size...read a lengthy article over on HF about the amp draw of all digital servo's on a heli and how they can be pulling quite a bit more than the typical internal bec is rated for...any idea's for an external BEC and how to determine what amp size I'll need? Just being a bit concerned with possibly smoking an ESC in the future.

Thanks,

Mark

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Looks like I may have answered my own question after doing a bit of searching...really leaning towards the CC BEC Pro...looks like a bit of added security to give the Align ESC a break. Looks like it'll fit right behind the ESC on the side of the frame.

Plus since I'm only running 6S on this I don't think I'll have to worry about the failures that the guys running 12S are randomly seeing.

So what do you guys think? Good idea or not?

Mark

jroo

bah. tried to upload pictures of my new loot but the file upload seems to be hosed again.

JPEE

Hello Mark,

I honestly can't help you much on the BEC issue beyond the little I know. I have been flying my 500 for two years now with no ESC issues. When I land the ESC is warm at best, the motor of course is hot. I upgraded my 500 some three months later to Digital MG Hitec Servos. Of course as you have been reading and know there are plus's and negatives of course to having a BEC. The BEC and extra battery are extra weight, however in my opinion the 500 has so much power I defy anyone to say they feel the difference of that weight. What I don't know is how you can feed the rx with a BEC when there is only one wire from the present ESC.........what do you do with the throttle wire??? Am I remembering the wiring right? My understanding is, you must use a ESC w/out a built in BEC before you can do what you speaking of, I think? Make sense? In theory it is a good idea but, is it really needed and here is an example. What if your radio and rx have a brown out? what if the BEC fails just because it is an electronic, what if your ar7000 breaks down and won't receive? For all..........your going down. So the question is, are you really lessoning your chances of a failure going this route.

Thanks for the suggestion on my camera issues. I could go to HF or somewhere but it is not the rig it is the "constant auto focusing" that can't keep up with the motion in HD. Later tonight I will post my heli flight and my buddies maiden when I used that same camera but stood there what a difference.

Jreue, man I am sorry your getting the boot on your uploads.
The velcro product that holds my Fatuba 611 brain on the heli uses a velcro that is like what you think of when you say velcro, nylon loops that stick to the felt side. But this stuff is wide loop fabric on both sides and when pushed together they inter lock like sliding your fingers from one hand into the other hands finger. No worries........

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Not much new here, more snow on the way tomorrow, 3-5 inches, they say...

JPEE,

Hope you can get your camera issue straight, or find a different one that doesn't do the weird focus thing....

James,

Your 250 wiring looks great, gives me some motivation to do the same on my 450's some day... what I had planned to do is to have the braid and material on hand, and do it as a part of the next rebuild (s)...

Mark,

I have researched BEC's before, and was on the fence for awhile, but never did go that route...and so far, knock on wood, have had no issues...not even with the cheapo Eflite ESC's....

All 3 of my Align helis have been fine with their stock ESC's, which seem to do a good job, and I've not had any issues yet....

I kinda go by the old rule "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" ....

But I agree also that a BEC can be a good insurance policy...I've just never personally (yet) felt the need...

Let us know what you decide....

Time for some Sopranos...

Glenn

jroo

Today i received an order from HeliDirect.

KBDD 40mm neon orange tail rotors
MicroHeli carbon/aluminum anti-rotation bracket
XTreme micro pitch gauge

The tail rotors look great with the new canopy.

The anti-rotation bracket is awesome! Finally, my canopy posts are secure. The stock bracket on the 250 is plastic with machine screws from the canopy post screwing into it. They are relativly short, and do not produce a secure canpy post at all. The new bracket has an aluminum base and carbon fiber bracket. Now the canopy posts can screw and loctite into an aluminum base.

I used the new pitch gauge on the 250, and man, i'm DEAD ON. -10,0,10.

So now the bad/lame news.

So with all the new loot, I wanted to take a new pics. Remember, I bought this new anti-rotation bracket so the canopy posts would be secure? Now my new canopy is having a very hard time fitting. Looking at the canopy holes, they are symmetrical by any means. One side is drilled high while the other is low. A twisting effect now happens when attempting to attach the canopy....Its really tight, even without a battery...

I opened a ticket with helidirect; explaining the issue and sending pictures. Hopefully they can help out.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Good morning all,

Glenn...flying into BWI at noon today...and greeted with snow and freezing rain, yeah!

JPEE,

The CC Bec that I'm looking at is an external one so no extra batt needed...it uses the main battery. See link: [link=http://www.castlecreations.com/products/ccbec.html#]BEC Pro[/link] (seems I'm also having problems uploading a picture ) The only thing is I have to disconnect the internal BEC from the stock ESC by not plugging in the red wire from the stock ESC. The BEC wiring diagram shows it much better than I could explain it.

James,

You may have to try loading one picture at a time using the BETA method...unfortunately sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.

Congrats on the new KBDD tail blades...you'll love the look of them in the air.

Gotta run now,

Mark

jroo

HeliDirect responded to my support ticket, and are sending a replacement canopy today

JPEE

1/26/11
8:35 a.m. Calif

Guys

James, HD did the same thing for me when I explained my new Fusno canopy had cracks in the paint. I hold them as one of my premiere vendors. Congratulations on the new parts! We all love to see those packages hit the front door don't we. You will love the orange KBDD tail blades, I have them on my 500 and they do show up and really help with orientation. I hear you on the canopy posts. When I just did that work on my 500 that was one of things I may have not mentioned but my posts had worked loose too. I filled the holes the best I could with CA and screwed them back together. Even more great news on the pitch gauge, you'll love it! Again yesterday with my noob we were doing a maiden on his HK600. His pitch gauge would not fit over his blades LOL so he turned to me and said, can I borrow yours

Mark, thanks for the explanation and the link on the BEC and ESC conversion, makes perfect sense on to accomplish the task. But I still hold my opinion from the get-go that asks, are you really getting the insurance that you might be looking for, and as Glenn mentioned "If it ain't broke..........??"

Glenn, Judy and watch the news every morning and take note of the weather across the nation. We feel for you guys back there. On our iPhones we have you and Nick's homes daily weather in there along with some other friends that we breeze through a few times per day. We are scheduled for 81 degrees today! with 35 mph winds. I'll take the heat and tolerate the winds over the cold for these old bones.
Your right on the camera, it is a great piece of work for standing and taking HD videos but it simply does not like the heli. I am not sure what my next step will be. My noob is buying a FPV set up and we will start playing with that here in the next 90 days so I may wait on my rig. I did make a video yesterday but even with the 600 the distance you can fly away and come back to yourself is very limited so you have to take many shots and cut and edit. With the FPV I would be able to look through the head set and then fly far off for great and better videos. We will start the FPV with a slow flying plane like a piper cub. They fly forever (long batt life) and are expendable ( not the fpv equip) and "forgiving" unlike having the rig on a heli, at least until we got good with it.


JPEE

evdreamer

James,

Your 250 is looking good.

Mark,

If you are still thinking about going flybarless a BEC or regulator would be a good thing to have. I have a 6A regulator on the Velocity and 600. It has a big heat sink and that gets hot when I do 3D with a flybarless setup.

John,

That is good your pre-flight check payed off. Better finding that on the ground than in the air.

I had a heat wave yesterday. 40 degrees.

I have been busy with homework. I never had this much at my old school.

Nick

JPEE

Nick,

If your not doing homework (crashing) then your not (learning) in both cases..... lol

JPEE


EDIT: I forgot to say, I flew the 600 for 5 min in idle-up and temped it twice without the camera sling.

Flights 1, 2

Motor 123, 114

ESC 98, 95

6s Pack 89, 94

choppersrule

Hey Mark,

Here's some information for you on External Becs. I used an external bec and seperate battery for it on my T600. And they do provide some insurance. I've read several horror stories where the main battery or ESC had failed, and yet with the external bec and seperate battery, the heli was able to land without damage.

http://myrcguide.com/index.php?topic=17.0;wap2

Dave

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Well, what seemed like a few inches of snow has turned out to be a nightmare!

Only about 6 inches of snow, but it's wet, heavy snow, and with the wind, has brought down trees and power lines...

I've been listening to the scanner, and there are power lines laying in roadways, transformers exploding,fires, a regular DISASTER!

I've got a kersene heater fired up, and tried to use my backup power supply to get online, but the cable/internet is down as well...

The way it sounds, it may be quite some time before power is restored...

I'm on my last lifeline to the outside world...the iPhone!! LOL...

Mark, hope you didn,t get hit as hard up there...

Talk to you guys later...gotta save some phone power!

Glenn

JPEE

God Bless there Glenn,

I know over the years you've been through this before, but weather like that is no joke! You be real careful over there my friend.

John

jroo

Got home today and there was no wind at all and 70 degrees. I hit the football field with the 450 to see if I could get a couple of flights in.

This was the absolute best flight I've ever had. I was, for the first time, doing some real flying, not just holding on for dear life. heh. I has traversing the entire length of the field back and forth; just doing simple circuits. For me, that's huge. I been into this hobby now for a little over a year, and have just been taking it really slow. Recently, I've been spending an enormous amount of time on the simulator practicing the basics; side-in, nose-in, circuits, hurricanes. I was of course a little shaky while flying, but about a minute or so in, I really let loose and just had fun. I'm just now getting to the mindset of 'have fun' rather than 'don't crash'.

I've heard Bert Kammerer, Bobby Watts, and Finless constantly say 'Get the basics down first...' I'm really trying to do that, and it's starting to pay off in dividends!

Have a good one!

JPEE

Great news James! It is always nice to blow through some packs "without" the stress but rather just being one with the heli if that doesn't sound to corny.

As a side note, my buddy was flying his plane last week and got all shaky for some reason and he yelled to me "take the sticks"! So I had him get level and took his radio and landed for him. He thought it was his adrenaline was going off or something.

Golly Bill, I have tired to push myself from time to time and I too have had to come down due to my thumbs shaking so bad, and that more than three years of flying.

All in all I am happy for you man.

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

James,

Glad to hear you are getting alot more comfortable now....remember when just hovering was a major accomplishment? It's so nice to be able to look back and see how far you've come, I know it is for me....great job!

Well, the power came back on at about 4PM...thank goodness...they were saying some people won't get their power back until late Saturday...[X(]

What a mess this was...at least I didn't get hung up in the traffic jams, since I'm .7 of a mile from work....some people spent 10 HOURS getting home last night....as in 2-3AM!!

Anyways, things are back to normal, and normal has never felt so good...lol!

Glenn

JPEE

Hey Glenn,


What's normal in Baltimore?


I wonder how Mark did back there?

rotarydoc

Hey JPEE,

NORMAL is having heat, lights, and a working TV set and computer!

I wonder if Mark got in a mess up there? Wasn't he headed for PA somwhere? It was probably worse up that way...

There are still trees coming down on wires, just heard it on the scanner....oh boy...so far so good, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!

Glenn