Several Newbie Questions on the Heli-max AXE CP

[Fitz]

First, thank you for these forums! Great stuff!

I just bought my first helicopter less than 10 hours ago so I'm dripping wet behind the ears. I intended to spend $62 at Walmart on an Airhog and came back home with a new Heli-max AXE CP. (Why throw away $62 I'd wished I had towards something better in a week, right?)

My questions: (Thanks in advance!)

Should I run the batteries all the way down before recharging?

Should I wait until the battery pack is cool before charging it again?

If you let charged batteries sit for a couple of days, do you guys top them off before using them?

I've seen some posts about Simms. What do you think of FMS? (Now that this new purchase has put me on a tight budget)

Is there a USB adapter I can use with my controller for FMS?

Is this an option?: http://www.heli-world.com/detail.aspx?ID=8912

Thanks a lot guys!

Fitz

[F1Atom]

Batteries: NiMH: No you don't need to run them down all the way. Just fly until it can't get off the ground then shut it down and charge. Yes, you must wait until the batt is kool before charging.

As far as letting a fully charged batt sitting for awhile, it depends. For a fully charged Lipo batt you can wait a week before charging it. Most of the time you just check the voltage and if its good grab it and fly. For NiMH, I think you may have to top it off after a couple of days because NiMH does loose their charge after awhile.

The FMS sim is pretty kool and yes they do sell an adapter. I am not sure about the AXE CP radio. You have to check and see. Here is a suggested website: http://www.helidirect.com/index.php?cPath=134
See if these will fit. The option of your looks kool too.

Good Luck!

[Fitz]

Thanks for the reply, F1Atom!

I asked three people at the hobby store who fly RC Helicopters since I posted the question about NiMH batteries. The expert (owner) told me today what you did. There seems to be a lot of confusion about them. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm sure I going to find these forums a really helpful place.

I haven't had any luck finding a USB adapter for my radio, but again, the owner of the store where I bought the AXE CP told me that the radio is actually made by Futaba. I'll keep looking.

Fitz

Fitz

[F1Atom]

Sure, no problem. And yes you will like this forum. Its very helpful.

[MattBP]

For FMS and the Axe CP radio; grab a Square-6 adapter from Tom:
http://stores.ebay.com/Toms-RC-Simulator/Simulators.html

Works great for me.

[Fitz]

Thanks for the tip, but I already bought one of these for half the price ($24.95 FMS FLIGHT SIMULATOR USB INTERFACE)
http://www.centuryheli.com/newitems/electronics.html

Fitz

[BarracudaHockey]

Buy a spare battery or two, the battery that comes with it only lasts 4 minutes or so. Or better yet get the reccomended lipo and a cheap charger, it will last 10 minutes or so.

[kgfly]

FMS is free and OK for getting started but you will need something better once you can hover. ClearView is only $40 ( www.rcflightsim.com ), worlds better than FMS and about 80% as good as the market leaders (Phoenix, Reflex/XTR, RealFlight/G3.5) which cost 5 to 6 times as much. That Esky USB controller will work just fine with ClearView.

I disagree with Andy, If you do upgrade to LiPo don't get a "cheap charger" as IMO it is a waste of money and potentially unsafe. Get a high quality integrated balance charger like a CellPro4s ($75) or eStation BC6 (~$150). These are the two best entry-level chargers currently available.

[BarracudaHockey]

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHNW5&P=SM will charge those little lipos just fine.

If you are going to move up at some point, then get a decent charger.

[kgfly]

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHNW5&P=SM will charge those little lipos just fine.
Different strokes. IMO that is a totally inadequate charger because:

* Max 1A charge rate (too slow for anything over ~1200mAh)
* No display = no information about pack/cell voltages, no information about recharge mAh
* No balancer

So you cannot monitor your recharge in order to set/adjust your flight times for the 80% rule, cannot properly maintain your packs for maximum lifetime and are at higher risk of damaging cells and puffing the packs due to imbalance. Since it does not monitor individual cell voltages you are also at higher (but possibly still low) risk of a fire induced by overcharging one or more cells.

Since the Cellpro4s is only $75 it only has to save one or two packs to more than pay for itself. It will charge 3s at up to 4A and 4s at up to 3A, and because it is an integrated balance charger with individual cell monitoring can safely charge most packs at 1.4C and can charge packs hot off the heli. It provides complete information about the charge process, the pack/cell voltages and the total recharge mAh. On top of all that, to me the peace of mind that the much safer charger provides is well worth the small extra cost.

[BarracudaHockey]

Good point. But if you are going to be adding a small lipo to a cheap helicopter, it will do the job.