ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

Hi! im a newbie member, when it comes to heli's, and have a question for all you vetern electric heli guys! heres my story..... i recently bought on flea-bay, a Falcon 3D, after reading alot of reviews, ect, decided on the falcon. Anyways, i was corresponding with a fellow forum member, and he said he had the CPD-4, and showed me video, ect. i like the idea. so i ordered one yesterday from FMA Direct, now this morning they tell me there out of stock, and it will take 3 weeks to fill the order. thats no big deal, but now i am considering upgrading, right off the bat to the FS8CP, as it says it will work with CCPM heli's, and after some thought, i figure i would probably get more use out of the FS8CP.

i asked a question on the shark 450 offered by ART-TECH, if the CPD-4 would work with that system, but can't seem to get an answer...... here are the specs on the art tech shark 450 rotor head design:

120 degree CCPM system

so, will the cpd4 work with the shark 450, as it does with the falcon 3d, or should i get the FS8CP, as it should work with both heli's? lets put it this way, if the CPD4 will do the job on both the Falcon3D and the Shark450, then ill stay with the CPD-4, but, i have time now to change my mind and upgrade......

you see, i plan on getting the Shark 450 from a local canadian dealer this winter, as many of the parts are the same as the Align Trex 450...... so i will probably saty with that platform for a good while.....

sorry for the long winded post, but i just want to get all my ducks lined up in a row, so im ready for spring!

what do you guys think?

AirmanBob

My Feedback: (14)

I use the CPD4 on my Heli-Max MX400 Pro and I love it...it's magic I swear.
It's mCCPM by the way. Seperate servo for pitch...

But, no, I don't think the FS8 will work on your Falcon 3D unless you can
change it to eCCPM.

At any rate, don't let anyone talk you out of trying one. They are awesome.
There's some people on here that have never even seen one, yet alone use
one, but they love to bash them....

You need to set up your heli to hover nicely BEFORE you install the co-pilot
or the co-pilot won't work right.

Then, as you learn to fly better you can turn the sensitivity down on the
co-pilot. If you have a 6 or 7 channel radio you can even turn the co-pilot
off in flight.

I'm not familiar with the Shark 450 but be sure you can find parts for it
easily, because sooner or later you will crash.

Good Luck,
AB

ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks for the reply Airmanbob!

that clears fa few things up for me..... and in part, i just rechanged my order to FMADIRECT for the cpd4! i was under the impression the fs8cp would work with both eccpm and ccpm..... so, ill just get the cpd-4 and install it on my falcon 3d, and when i get the shark450, ill get a separate fs8cp for it!

and yeah, i know the heli has to be spot on before the co-pilot is installed. ill make sure thats the case.

and as far as people bashing co-pilot.... giver, i dont care what they say. i live over a hundred miles from my LHS in the middle of bum%$#@ nowhere, i dont pop into the city more than 4 times a year mostly.and there is no-one around here that has an electric heli that can teach me anything... so just running down the street to get parts isnt going to happen. throwing a hundred bucks into a co-pilot is nothing to me, if it will ease the learning curve a little. and i know it will pay for itself in no time.

well, itll be 2 weeks or so till my falcon arrives, and 3 weeks before i get the cpd4, im also looking for 2 extra lipo's and some other tidbits such as mainblades, blade holders, ect.....

ill be set up in a month..... ;-)

thanks again AB, and ill be back with more questions on the cpd4 when im getting set up!

ginnz.

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

Slow down dudes...

What is CCPM and eCCPM? did you know that it is the same thing? Did you also know that the FS8 is the system that WILL WORK with CCPM helicopters?

You are getting confused here. there is only two (2) types of swashplate mixing on helicopters, mechanical and electronic. The mechanical is the one where a single servo drives the different flying functions, one servo for pitch, one servo for aileron and one servo for elevator. The other type of mixing is the commonly referred to as CCPM or eCCPM (electronic mixing). This is where three (3) or more servos are connected directly to the swashplate and all of the three servos combined producce a change in pitch, aileron and elevator.

The CPD4 WILL ONLY work on machanical mixed helicopters and WILL NOT work on electronically mixed helicopters (CCPM).

The FS8 is capable of decoding a CCPM (electronic mixing) because the FS8 is a system that incorporates a receiver and a sensor while the CPD4 is only a sensor.

I have not installed my FS8 on a helicopter because I don't need it. But I have it installed on a plank for the people that ask me to give them an introductory flight or to teach them to fly planks. The FS8 is great.

Rafael

ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

[quote]ORIGINAL: Rafael23cc

Slow down dudes...

What is CCPM and eCCPM? did you know that it is the same thing? Did you also know that the FS8 is the system that WILL WORK with CCPM helicopters?

You are getting confused here. there is only two (2) types of swashplate mixing on helicopters, mechanical and electronic. The mechanical is the one where a single servo drives the different flying functions, one servo for pitch, one servo for aileron and one servo for elevator. The other type of mixing is the commonly referred to as CCPM or eCCPM (electronic mixing). This is where three (3) or more servos are connected directly to the swashplate and all of the three servos combined producce a change in pitch, aileron and elevator.

The CPD4 WILL ONLY work on machanical mixed helicopters and WILL NOT work on electronically mixed helicopters (CCPM).

The FS8 is capable of decoding a CCPM (electronic mixing) because the FS8 is a system that incorporates a receiver and a sensor while the CPD4 is only a sensor.

I have not installed my FS8 on a helicopter because I don't need it. But I have it installed on a plank for the people that ask me to give them an introductory flight or to teach them to fly planks. The FS8 is great.

OHHHH, thanks! now i see whats up. this pretty much clears it up..... but will the FS8 work with both types? where the cpd4 only works with mechanical? im getting closer to a clear picture!

BTW, please bear with me.... as im a noob. ;-)

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

Yes, The FS8 will work with both types of helicopter mixing. The best part is that it has a failsafe setting that you program to your liking. I have tested the failsafe on my plank and it works perfect.

Rafael

AirmanBob

My Feedback: (14)

I e-mailed FMA and asked them if the FS8 would work on an
eCCPM heli AND/or a mCCPM heli.

They said YES, that it would.

Wow...color me surprised. I didn't know that. So the FS8
would be a great all around co-pilot. You could use it on
ANY model aircraft. Very cool....

Maybe I'll get one of those too....

AB

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

Didn't I say that already?...

It says so right on the page for either system.
FS8:
[link]http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=1768&section=29[/link]
CPD4:
[link]http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=1489&section=20[/link]

Rafael

AirmanBob

My Feedback: (14)

HUH..??

AirmanBob

My Feedback: (14)

bump

TramStop45

Hi guys, i just bought the fs8 with the crystal for the receiver but it seems that the receiver doesn't receive the signal from the TX. I'm using Futaba 6EXH and already changed the modulation to ppm but still get nothing. Do i have to change the crystal on my TX with FMA crystal too ? The crystal on my TX is standard Futaba crystal.

Taz

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

I'ts been so long since zi set up mine that I really don't remember how to do it anymore and I don't have the manual in front of me as I'm at work now.

DO NOT change the crystal on your TX, it solves nothing. Let's get down to basics...

What is the transmitting frequency of your TX?
What is the receiving frequency of your FS8?

If those two match exactly, did you read the manual to find out how to match the pair? I'll try to find an online manual to refresh my memory.

Rafael

ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

i git my CPD-4 yesterday! and USPS tracking says my Falcon3D is at my parcel service today...... :-) what timing.... i checked Fed-Ex tracking, and my Shark450 is supposed to arrive today also! so its all arriving on the same day. yikes. i hope i dont break anything today......

TramStop45

Finally i got my receiver working, but now my gyro just went dead [:@]