pthompson24
02-22-2007, 12:08 PM
Hi all,
I received the AP2000i yesterday and I couldn't wait to get it installed on my T-Rex 450SE. I didn't have much time to do it though due to obligations so that was frustrating but I'd say the install went pretty well in that short period of time. In an hour and one half I had it all hooked up and mostly working on the bench but there was a lot of head scratching needed. Having read though these threads a lot over the past few days helped.
When I got home from my obligation I worked feverishly another hour and 1/2 getting it ready for a test flight. Much of that time was trying to figure out a way to control it with my DX-7 radio. What a pain it doesn’t have a slider to use for this. So I ended up with two switches controlling Cal and two levels of gain.
I’m an impatient person so I tried a little flight in my living room and on the low gain setting it was flying pretty well even though I’m not sure if will even do any stabilization while indoors. I made the mistake of trying the high gain setting and lost control of it so the blades hit the carpet and took out the IR sensor in the process. Bummer! I picked up the pieces and it looks like I may be able to tape the sensor back together but don’t know yet if it will still work as it was past midnight and I had to go to bed.
I really wanted to ask questions on this board during the install because I ran into quite a few sticky places but between remembering posts and tinkering I got it. The fact that my 120 degree swash plate setting SR-3 did not match the picture in the manual exactly (reversed front and rear) didn’t help. I was really stuck then I remembered a post where I had to reverse two of the physical server connections to change it. Makes sense now but it would nice if it was in the manual.
I wasn’t sure how to get my gyro working either (plugged into the AP2000i) since the light came on solid on my 401 but it didn’t do HH anyway. I had to find a post from Angelo that the trim setting would adjust it. I never would have thought that because the Trims did very little with the servos themselves… I almost couldn’t center my servos because the trim was so limited.
I can’t wait to fine tune the install, get the sensor back on the mount or get a new one if I have to, and give it a test flight outdoors this time. I’m just too impatient and always get myself in trouble this way but that’s just me.
My thanks go out to everybody who posted about this device as it’s really complex for a new person like me (started from scratch mid December) but I’m learning quickly by stubbornly and impatiently pushing ahead. :-)
Angelos, I especially thank you for all your posts and support. You could probably write a book about this device and still not answer all the questions a new person will have but your willingness to participate here is a big reason I went with the AP2000i.
-Paul T.
I received the AP2000i yesterday and I couldn't wait to get it installed on my T-Rex 450SE. I didn't have much time to do it though due to obligations so that was frustrating but I'd say the install went pretty well in that short period of time. In an hour and one half I had it all hooked up and mostly working on the bench but there was a lot of head scratching needed. Having read though these threads a lot over the past few days helped.
When I got home from my obligation I worked feverishly another hour and 1/2 getting it ready for a test flight. Much of that time was trying to figure out a way to control it with my DX-7 radio. What a pain it doesn’t have a slider to use for this. So I ended up with two switches controlling Cal and two levels of gain.
I’m an impatient person so I tried a little flight in my living room and on the low gain setting it was flying pretty well even though I’m not sure if will even do any stabilization while indoors. I made the mistake of trying the high gain setting and lost control of it so the blades hit the carpet and took out the IR sensor in the process. Bummer! I picked up the pieces and it looks like I may be able to tape the sensor back together but don’t know yet if it will still work as it was past midnight and I had to go to bed.
I really wanted to ask questions on this board during the install because I ran into quite a few sticky places but between remembering posts and tinkering I got it. The fact that my 120 degree swash plate setting SR-3 did not match the picture in the manual exactly (reversed front and rear) didn’t help. I was really stuck then I remembered a post where I had to reverse two of the physical server connections to change it. Makes sense now but it would nice if it was in the manual.
I wasn’t sure how to get my gyro working either (plugged into the AP2000i) since the light came on solid on my 401 but it didn’t do HH anyway. I had to find a post from Angelo that the trim setting would adjust it. I never would have thought that because the Trims did very little with the servos themselves… I almost couldn’t center my servos because the trim was so limited.
I can’t wait to fine tune the install, get the sensor back on the mount or get a new one if I have to, and give it a test flight outdoors this time. I’m just too impatient and always get myself in trouble this way but that’s just me.
My thanks go out to everybody who posted about this device as it’s really complex for a new person like me (started from scratch mid December) but I’m learning quickly by stubbornly and impatiently pushing ahead. :-)
Angelos, I especially thank you for all your posts and support. You could probably write a book about this device and still not answer all the questions a new person will have but your willingness to participate here is a big reason I went with the AP2000i.
-Paul T.