Bergen EB setup... making sure I didn't mess this up :)

[rccardude04]

I just wanted to run my setup by everybody, especially since I'm still somewhat a noob and you guys are pro :)

Gasser EB
MS Composit 80cm (800mm)
Futaba 9C (pcm) with Deans antenna
JR DS8611As on collective and cyclic, DS821 on throttle, and GY611 on the tail
JR 4500mAh NiMH receiver pack/jr heavy duty switch

My questions are...
I have a DX7... Would I be better off using that for the 2.4ghz compared to the 72mhz of the 9C?
If I do choose to keep the 9C on there, I've heard that the Deans antenna may be an issue. Should I switch to the Revolution one for sure before flying it?
Is that 4500mAh receiver pack going to be enough? I know I'll get enough flight time, but I've also read people saying that NiMH is a no-go for helicopters. Why do they say that??
Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to send this expensive thing into the ground on the first time out :)
-Eric

[rccardude04]

I would also like to ask (forgot when I made the original post)...

Battery monitor? I was thinking about getting another Gem 2000 like I got for my Raptor 50. Anything wrong with that?
-Eric

[cbergen]

Here's a suggestion to kill 3 birds with 1 stone.

We offer a system called a pow'r back'r that supplies 2 ea 1800 Mah Nicad packs, 2 ea switches, a regulator, AND a battery monitor.

It gives you plenty of flight time, A battery monitor, AND it gives you some more weight in the nose that you will need anyway.

You could also run rbort's generator for long flight times, it also can be ordered with a power LED or some such nonsense :lol: , but you will still need to add weight in the nose.

[rccardude04]

How much does that system run?
I've never really liked NiCds all that much though. Why does nobody seem to use NiMH batteries?
Thanks for the quick reply :)
-Eric

[cbergen]

We sell the pow'r back'r for $120.

The few times I have heard people talk about Nimh's is that they tend to drop off fairly quickly. But I could have misunderstood.........

[rbort]

My system is a little more costly than duel batteries at $120, but its an unlimited amount of power and you can fly as long as you have gas to burn. No more battery worries, just like your car, gas and go.

You can see it by clicking on my homepage. There are many people now using this and each and every one of them loves it! Chris makes the mounts for it of which I have one is stock (Chris I need more!). Look at my website and read all about it then let me know if you have any questions.

-=>Raja.

[rccardude04]

A local guy checked his 2700 NiMH on a battery checker at 5.3v. He took off then crashed it because of battery failure not very long thereafter. I guess they checked the voltage and found that it had dropped to 4.7 in that very short time.
I guess the NiMH would be okay as long as you kept track of the time it went and had some sort of monitor then?
I'm seriously considering the generator but that's a lot of coin right now :D
-Eric

[rbort]

That doesn't sound right...even at 4.7v he should have not crashed from a dead battery. If the crash was due to this, when he went to check the battery afterwards it will be hard pressed to come up past 4 volts on the checker. Maybe he crashed from something else? Bad switch, wiring, something disconnected or other cause.

The generator is kinda pricey, but its not really any more cost than a duralite battery system for example. The difference is that it is unlimited in power and another excellent benefit is that it gives you power redundancy, so if the battery or switch was to fail or get disconnected, you would still be able to come in and land in 1 piece on generator power only. Do a search here and on RR and you will find stories of people who had failures but were saved by the Jewel. 1 crash from a dead battery will cost more than the generator system!

Anyway, just food for thought. :glasses2:

-=>Raja.

[rccardude04]

The generator also has a built in regulator of sorts doesn't it? Once the pack voltage gets to 5.4 it stops pushing current through the battery and it basically just runs the servos, correct?
-Eric

[rccardude04]

How many do you have in stock right now? I have a friend that is also interested. We both have Gasser EBs and would need mounts as well.
Any kind of deal on 2 at a time? :D
-Eric

[rbort]

I have two in stock at the moment, one stock, and one unbuilt so can be with or without some options. I have 1 Bergen Intrepid mount left, Chris bought back one from me today for a heli he is building for a customer and I mailed another to a fellow in NJ. Waiting on Chris to make some more next week and resupply me. I do have 4 observer mounts in stock -- I know that is not what you want but in case you have an observer you can use one for.

Yes the generator has a built in regulator at 5.4v. You are correct once the pack reaches 5.4v it stops drawing current and the battery sits in standby mode as you fly the heli on the generator. If the engine quits for some reason then it goes to battery pack.

If you buy two I'll find a way to give you some deal on them!

-=>Raja.

[rccardude04]

What kind of "options" do you offer? I looked at the site but it looks like you'd rather deal with people directly rather than letting the site do the work, which I think is quite refreshing :)
My friend is the one who will probably order them. We will definately need 2 mounts for the gasser though. I guess we could go through Bergen for the mounts though if we had to. Of course, if you don't have them I guess Chris is probably out too :D

I actually kind of thought about trying to find an alternator/generator type thing when I saw that shaft wasn't being used for anything. This would take care of all my power concerns.
-Eric

[rccardude04]

Oh. I'm paying attention. I see them on your site. What's the LED do exactly?
I'd probably just toss a Gem 2000 on there so that if something happened, I would at least know the voltage is low.

Also, Chris, what do you think of my antenna? Somebody told me that I should be using a revolution instead of the Deans. I have it servo tape/ziptied to part of the lower frame towards the front. It points upwards towards the head. Any thoughts on that one?
-Eric

[rbort]

I have 4 options that I currently offer with the generator including the related mounts for different airframes.

1) remote charge indicator LED. This LED glows when the generator is making power and will not light from the receiver pack. When you start the heli you can look at it and see that you are making power. In the evening you can see it lit in a hover, but its not bright enough to see when you fly away during the day unless you like twilight flying!

2) bench power up plug. You can use a wall power supply in the range of 6.5v up to 25v to power up the heli using the generator built in regulator. This is for people who like to work on the heli setup all night adjusting servos and programming the TX without worrying about the battery pack dying.

3) c-volt digital battery voltage display. This is made by i4c products and is a nice unit in an aluminum case that you can stick on the side of the heli to see RX battery power level. When you start the engine and throttle up slightly, you can see the voltage rise as the generator is making power and peg somewhere in the 5.35v range while in flight. I am currently out of stock on those (had 4 on Sunday, all gone by today) and ordered some more yesterday so I'll have more by Friday.

4) Mounts for the Spectra-g, Minair 1005 gasser, Bergen Intrepid, Bergen Observer, Century Predator, Vario Acrobatic. Out of stock on Spectra-g mounts with some on order.

Oh yes, Chris is out of stock on the mounts, that is why he bought one back from me today. But he will have some more next week when the machine frees up and he can cut some more, so you can get some from him direct or from me when he sends them to me.

Hope this helps,

-=>Raja.

[rbort]

Oh yeah, you can certainly use a gem or a voltwatch either in conjunction with the remote charge indicator led or skip over it all together. Also same thing if you use a gem or voltwatch its a cheaper option than the c-volt digital display but some people like lights while others like numbers.

I have one complete generator in stock with no options with a Bergen Intrepid mount if you want that ready to ship and can go tomorrow.

-=>Raja.

[rccardude04]

I'll have to talk to my friend since he's the one with Paypal (supposedly) and see what he wants to do. I would like the LED but I'll make sure he's as committed to this as I am. If he's not, I'll probably send you an official order pretty soon. This looks like more and more of a good idea the more I think about it, LOL.
-Eric

[cbergen]

I put a revolution brand antenna on EVERY heli I build and fly. Period.

[MarkWebber]

What, no deans? :dontknow Seriously, I had Greg tell me to stay away from Deans on the gassers. A guy on RR is asking why and, admittedly, Greg didn't say specifically.

[lperagallo]

I use rborts jewel generator on my EB and its great :noteworthy I have the Bergen mount and it didn't take long to install. In fact it took longer to grind out the canopy to get the generator to fit. I run NIMH batteries and it keeps them at 5.4 volts. They are 4500 mah and before the generator I got six flights on them without any issues. Now I check them every once and awhile on the field and I've never had a problem. With my DX7, I fly all day without worrying about charging anything. It sure is nice. I wish I could put a generator on my Raptor 50, instead of charging it every four or five flights.

There was a question about using the DX7. I've had mine since December and I've not had a problem with the radio. You can go six hours on the TX. While it's only 7 channels, it does everything I need. The antennas are "under the hood" so to speak so they don't get in the way and you don't have to worry where to place them. It is also supposed to be glitch free. Before the DX7 I used a Deans antenna and had a wire break where it goes into the antenna. It was still in place, but every once in a while it broke contact and put me in failsafe. Took me a while to figure it out. I did only by accident when it fell off as I was carrying the Heli into the garage to continue to look for the glitch.

I am, of course a big fan of Spectrum and the DX7. :D

[MarkWebber]

I'd like to get a generator on my R50, too. Seems I have an issue with battery life while running 3 gyros. :roll:

[rccardude04]

So I'm thinking my best bet right now would probably be to dump the deans antenna and either go with a revolution or the DX7. Personally, right now, I'm leaning towards the DX7. There's a little bit of work I'd have to do with setting the throttle/pitch again, but I think it'd be worth it to not have to worry about the radio at all. I'd still have my profile saved in the 9C for when the FASST comes in. Of course, on the other hand, the Revolution would be easier/quicker to install and I would be able to just swap receiver/module for the FASST upgrade.... hmmm... I'm nice and lost right now lol.

As for the generator, it sounds like a wonderful idea and I think I'll be doing that even if my friend doesn't want to.
Thanks for all the help everybody! This is an awesome forum.
Any other advice/setup tips?
The only other thing I can think of right now is, should I really run one of those huge futaba wheels on my tail servo? I see it in the instructions but I'm not sure if it's really necessary. I get a little over 100% limit right now.
-Eric

Edit: I gotta ask... 3 gyros???

Mark... I'm talking to you on runryder :D Autoeject, right? LOL *it's a small world after all*

[cbergen]

A little more reading for you on tail servo setup.....

http://www.helifreak.com/viewtopic.php?t=19351

[rccardude04]

Alright, so it's not as big of a deal as I'm trying to make it out to be. I actually read through that yesterday and didn't really see anything specific about the servo horn size.

I absolutely LOVE your tail setup advice. It makes perfect sense. I saw something similar on Futaba's site about setting it up, but they recommend that you use the tail pushrod to get rid of the tail's drift. I like the setup on this gasser better because you can have equal throw on both sides. Makes sense to me. I know that you would theoretically get an equal piro by doing it futaba's way, but I like my stuff to be at 90 degrees whenever possible.

I should probably just put the revolution antenna on it, order a generator, and go fly it. These final checks always get to me though. Even on my little T-Rex 450, I always make sure 90000 times that I'm doing it right. I guess that might be a good thing though eh? :)

Thanks again,
-Eric

[MarkWebber]

Hey, maybe someone else might think your beating the dead horse with your questions but I think it's best to have all your question satisfied rather than make a mistake that costs you.

3 gyros=flybarless :D

[cbergen]

Install the ball on the smallest wheel that comes with the servo per the manual. Set the ball either straight up or straight down as shown in Figure 1. Install the servo screw. Double check the servo screw; ensure that it is installed!

Might read through it again!! :lol: :lol: