View Full Version : A tip for new people that I learn the hard way
va3sax
10-09-2007, 10:29 PM
DON'T POWER THE ELECTRIC HELI WITH THE TRANSMITTER OFF
it tends to do strange things...I think I was going to ajust something so I throttled down and switched of the transmitter so I wouldn't waste power and the thing jumped into the air an was wiggling the tail. anyways I'll always make sure now not to have the battery connected unless the TX is running
Neppo1345
10-10-2007, 11:55 AM
Yup, thats why you're always supposed to power on the tx before the rx...
A valuable lesson indeed.
Mercuriell
10-14-2007, 05:48 PM
You do need to think about your radio / servo / ESC settings in case of loss of signal and program them to power down the heli due to loss of Tx signal - this could happen momentarily due to signal shielding by ibstruction or else soemthing a bit longer lasting like your trannie battery falling out !
kgfly
10-14-2007, 06:33 PM
If you have your failsafes properly setup this shouldn't happen as the throttle should go to zero. Still with legacy FM radios you are right, for maximum safety it should always be Tx on first and off last. With 2.4GHz radios where the failsafe has been configured and tested, it is less critical since there is no chance of random intereference or another Tx generating a false command to your heli.
aucmax
10-17-2007, 10:29 PM
I am a newb and I gave my Trex 600 a little throttle stick test after programming the ESC. Everything was fine. From reading forum advice, an E heli should have the throttle-hold set to zero.(and I did just that) OK.. So I decided for the keck of it to move the throttle hold switch (G) on my Futaba 9C towards me and the heli went into full throttle. I panicked and switched off the TX, but still FULL throttle. I had the heli weighted down without main blades installed yet. I managed to disconnect the lipo without being admitted to the ER. Does anyone know why this occurred?
kgfly
10-17-2007, 10:36 PM
You probably need to reverse your throttle channel. From what I have seen, this is almost universally required for all Futaba Tx and all ESCs (except maybe Futaba-brand ESCs but they are rarely seen).
Next time do NOT switch off the Tx, just flip the ThrottleHold switch back to the other position.
You could possibly make an argument that if you have the failsafe set on a 2.4gHz system, it's safer to switch off the TX, because then if you accidentally brush against the collective lever / throttle-hold you can't set it in motion again.
K
HeliEdje
10-20-2007, 12:29 PM
You could possibly make an argument that if you have the failsafe set on a 2.4gHz system, it's safer to switch off the TX, because then if you accidentally brush against the collective lever / throttle-hold you can't set it in motion again.
K
Explain????? I do not understand.... IMO there's no difference in this situation with a 2.4 gHz TX!!
j bomb
10-20-2007, 02:17 PM
I agree, the F/S works the same on a PCM system as it does on SS, and yes the throttle channel probably needed to be reversed in this guy's case.
You're right - as I understand it there's no difference between this for a PCM/2.4ghz system.
K
kgfly
10-20-2007, 09:00 PM
There is a huge difference between legacy FM radios (PPM or PCM mode) and 2.4GHz radios. Due to the different technology, unlike FM, it is virtually impossible for any Tx other than the one bound to the Rx to cause the servos to move. So not only is it impossible for random RF noise to cause glitches that might activate the model, but it is impossible for signals from another Tx to activate it either. This immunity to external sources causing unexpected activation of the model is a major safety improvement over legacy FM radios and it can indeed be argued that it is safer to leave your Tx off until you are ready to fly for the reasons described in the post above.
j bomb
10-21-2007, 10:40 AM
OK, I see your point now, I stand corrected.