Dezynco

How the heck do you program the radio!!! I don't quite understand how to set up the throttle and pitch for my Hitec Eclipse 7 and ECO 8. I know that the heli is supposed to be at it's optimal head speed and at relatively neutral pitch, with the left stick at center. I can't figure out how to "throttle up" then change the stick to collective. The manual is written as if I already understood all of this!!! Can anyone help???

midi0101

Well, in short...you need to set 2 modes

1) hover mode --> here you need to program the pitch from about -3 degrees (throttle stick down) to about +10 degrees (full throttle). that is the setup you want to start with (practicing hovering, etc)

2) 3d (aerobatric) mode --> here you program 0 degrees pitch with the throttle stick in the middle +10 (or more) with throttle stick forward -10 (or more) with throttle stick backward. the throttle curve should (could..5 point curve) +100 +80 +60 +80 +100 (looks like an U.

having said this.....all the values are approximate and depend on your personal style. Also, start with hover mode and do not even think about 3d mode until you can hover stable in place, go into forward flight (slow) and bring the helicopter back to a hover in the same spot as before.

Just my $ 0.2

credence

My Feedback: (2)

I'm guessing what you want is full throttle with seperate collective, in other words, aerobatic mode. If you're new to helis, you're better off leaving throttle and CP linked.

At any rate, if you want full throttle at any given mode on your eclipse 7, you need to set your throttle curve somewhere in the range of 100 90 90 100 or whatever you prefer, or you can do 100 straight through, this way, you're at about 90% throttle in hover range, but full throttle at high and low extremes. When in this mode, your motor will spool up to full speed so be very careful with it and make sure you know what you're doing! Also, in this mode, you want your pitch curve to be at 0 degrees at mid stick instead of -3 at low stick.

Also, make sure that this is only done for the aerobatic modes, and you use a linear throttle curve in 'norm' mode. This way you can bring your motor up to speed and then switch to 3D mode, instead of hitting 3D and jumping your motor to full throttle right away, potentionally stripping your gears, knocking your blades out of whack, etc.

Use the reccomended angles in the manual to start with for basic flight. -3 low stick, +5 mid +10 high. Throttle curve depends on the motor and cell count your using and so I can't really tell you what to use. Tachometer is very usefull for figuring out optimal headspeeds in this case.


The eclipse manual gives you a good base to start with for throttle curve, then you can work it from there (I think it's something like 0 23 54 75 100).
In norm mode, the collective is mixed with the throttle, so as you increase power, you increase collective.

-pkh-

My Feedback: (2)

Given you're a beginner... forget 3D mode for now... you want a normal mode and an "idle-up" or "throttle-up" mode.

Here's what I have set for my Raptor 50 and Venture 30:

Normal Mode:
-2 to +10 degrees pitch
slow idle to max throttle
adjust curves to get fairly constant head speed from hover to full throttle, and I think most guys set it to hover between 1/3 and 1/2 stick
In this mode you can drop the left stick all the way down, the engine idles, and the blades should spool down stop (or at least be able to be stopped with you hand on the head button)

Idle Up Mode:
-2 to +10 degrees pitch
adjust curves to get constant head speed over the entire range
In this mode, you always have a high head speed, and dropping the left stick all the way down will actually push the heli down into the ground a little with the -2 degrees pitch.

I flew my first heli in normal mode for a long time, then decided to program an idle up mode... it's much more responsive... I wish I'd done it sooner. 3D mode will be dangerous for a newbie to have until he's ready... anything below 1/2 stick will drive the heli straight down... hard! I make sure I inhibit any modes that I don't intend to use... so you can program in a 3D mode for future use, just inhibit it, so if you accidently flip your TX into 3D instead of Idle-up, it won't take effect, and you won't pummel your heli into the ground when you try to set it down!

Dezynco

OK so I guess what I need to do is something that's a little different from my simulator. The SIM has the stick in the center, with positive and negative pitch. I figured that that's what I needed to do to have mine set up correctly. What you all are saying is to set up a "NORMAL" mode which has a slightly negative pitch at low stick, with the throttle at about maximum speed somewhere around center, then go positive pitch above center stick. Am I correct?

I wonder if I can do that on the SIM also. I'm using a previous version of Ikarus Aerofly Pro, which has the Eco 8 in it.

credence

My Feedback: (2)

Correct.

If you try to go the way the sim has it setup right now, you may end up damaging parts in the long run. The problem with the mid-stick collective setup is that if you get into hot water and kill your throttle like many do, you're not actually killing throttle, but applying serious ammounts of negative pitch, effetively driving your helicopter into the ground with a tremendous ammount of force, which will most certainly break something.

Theres no reason why you CAN'T use a 3D idle up mode, but if you're learning, I wouldn't reccommend the setup.

Dezynco

Whew!! I was beginning to think this was like Japanese Arithmatic. It's starting to make sense now!! Thanks for the help!

Tanner Hall

My Feedback: (1)

keep zero pitch at mid-stick regardless of how much negative you're running. otherwise, you'll have a harder time adjusting to 3D down the road. always setup the mechanics for a symmetrical curve, e.g. -10 to +10 . then, if you're a beginner, use radio programming to reduce the effective pitch range to about -2 to +10. zero pitch will still be at mid-stick.

credence

My Feedback: (2)

I've never thought about it like that Tanner, that's actually a good idea. I think i'll start doing that aswell. It's never a good idea to in-grain bad habits, eh?

Do what Tanner said, Dezynco, and set mid stick to 0 pitch, but low stick to -2 or 3 instead of -10 as if you were in 3D mode, that would work alot better for adaptability, I think.

Thanks for the tip Tanner

Dezynco

Hooray!!!
I think I've got it now!!!! Just need to fine tune everything and she'll be ready to go and crash!! Thanks for the help!

credence

My Feedback: (2)

Dezynco, make sure you're using the progammable mixer if you're using the 90 deg swashplate on the eco, because the Eclipse 7 doesn't have 90 deg swash setup, only 120 and 180

Tanner Hall

My Feedback: (1)

de nada.

Dezynco

?????????????????programmable mixer!!!!!!???????? I wondered about that. Now I'm almost back to square 1......

Dezynco

I think I've got it. I used the 120 degree swash and reversed channel 1 & 6 to move in the same direction as the elevator servo (channel 2). Now all servos move up or down at the same time with the collective stick. Sound OK?

Dezynco

Seems to work, hovered the Eco8 on the first attempt!!! Havn't "crashed" yet! My head was starting to swell until I was fiddling with the radio and let the heli tip over (sitting on the ground with the blades running) and stripped the main gear! T$#@^*^*^*&$6432654&*^

Anyway I've got a new gear on the way!!!! Thanks for all the help!!

Dezynco

Seems to work, hovered the Eco8 on the first attempt!!! Havn't "crashed" yet! My head was starting to swell until I was fiddling with the radio and let the heli tip over (sitting on the ground with the blades running) and stripped the main gear! T$#@^*^*^*&$6432654&*^

Anyway I've got a new gear on the way!!!! Thanks for all the help!!

credence

My Feedback: (2)

Dezynco, the 120 swash, while it works, does not work properly. Because of the geomotry differences in using 120 swash, if you raise your collective, and move your elevator servo, you will see the other two servos move a small ammount, lowering collective, this will make the helicopter raise or drop whenever you give forward or backward commands, which is not desireable.

Read this article to set your self up with a 90 degree swash setup:
http://www.dream-models.com/eco/radio-eclipse7.html

It's pretty easy, you basically just slave the elevator channel to the pitch channel using one of the programmable mixers in the 180 degree swash mode.

Also, when setting mixing ammount for the programmable mixer, make sure you set 70% on low stick, and 70% on high stick for your throttle (just move the stick to low and high and set it for both) otherwise your elevator servo will "jump" as it goes from low to high which will make the helicopter lurch during flight.