Very pleased with the new King V2! Anyone else?

[phred]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone can give me a listing of the items needed to fully kit out a HBKII if I decided to buy a bare bones kit?
I would like to be able to do it all for under $500 (Aussie dollars - almost parity with USD).
I note Helidirect have a bare bones kit (no tx/rx) for about $79US).
It's hard trying to find all the right parts in the right location to get it all at once.
I need a new TX'er for it (thinking about Futaba EX6 for $219). But what about the Receiver and servo's? I read one post where someone recommended Hitec HS55's and a 50. But then someone else said they didnt fit so well and the gears stripped easily after a crash. So is there anything else better (but still not expensive?).
What receiver would one get?
I was thinking of the basic Headlock Gyro (Esky EK2-0704A - isn't programable nor has remote gain variability), so is the GY240HH any good for this?
Someone else recommended a 2200mah Li-po batter (20c or 25c) as a battery.
What sort of ESC do I buy and a batter to go with it?
I also thought for a motor the 400DH with a 9 tooth pinion would be ok?
As for battery charger I was looking at the Imax B5 or should I fork out extra $'s for a Estation BC6?

As you can see so many questions.

What else would I need. I'm a newbie to this and I actually would like to get enough to get me going with a quality build and a few spares for the inevitable crashes.

Cheers,

[borocouncilman]

First of all, it's much more expensive to go the route that you're going with the ARF. It's just as expensive to buy these items for the Honey Bee King 2 as is the T-Rex 450. If you already had the bulk of electronics, the ARF is an easy decision, but it sounds like you're starting from scratch. With that, I would lean towards spending the $150 on the RTF version.

The dirty little sercret here is that you're going to be spending between $400-$500 to get that ARF in the air. Mind you, this is stuff that you can reuse if you're staying within the hobby, but if you're dropping that kind of coin, you might as well buy a T-Rex 450SA ARF motor/esc combo for $269.

You've stated that you're a newbie and programming and trimming the helicopter's CCPM setup and tail rotor is going to be a formidable exercise. There are no finless videos for the Honey Bee King 2. The community support isn't nearly as strong as the T-Rex.

With all of that, if you still want to go HBK2 ARF as a newbie. Here is how I would go.


RADIO
Single most important purchase that you can make. Providing that you don't throw it to the ground in anger, it will survive every crash. For electric helicopters, a 2.4Ghz setup is the only way to go -- you'll be glitch-free. I'm particular to the Spektrum DX7 MicroHeli edition. It comes with servos and receiver that you can actually use in a micro/mini helicopter. You can use it with anything.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM2722

For $339, you've got radio, receiver, and 3 servos done in one shot.


GYRO
My E-Flite G90 does a perfectly fine job of holding my HBK2's tail. It's light, cheap, and features remote gain adjustment and digital servo support. You need to pay attention to the servo orientation so that you don't have a lot of stiction. Check out these photos for a good servo setup.

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=45849


ESC
If you're a newbie, pick up the cheap ESky ESC for the brush motor included with the ARF. I've got one on EBay and the auction ends tonight. For a newbie, you can get away with the stock motor setup. When/if you go brushless, I'd lean towards the E-Sky motor with someone elses controller. The ESky BL ESC programming options are limited and didn't even initially work for me. Save yourself some aggravation and pick up the brush motor ESC for starting out.


BATTERY
It really depends upon your setup brush/brushless. If you're going ARF, you'll also have to buy a charger and a way to balance the battery. I like the Flightpower batteries at the moment.


Again, it really doesn't make sense to go with the ARF unless you've got some of the support equipment and electronics hanging around.