Lost signal on Blade 400?

[BruceW]

Today I test flew a Blade 400 for somebody and had it up for about 5 minutes when it seemed to loose signal and just drift in to the ground. Just before it happened the DX6 tx started beeping and I thought it was a timer but it appears that was when the signal got lost and it either reboots or locks out. When it hit the ground, throttle hold would not work and nothing could shut it down except unplugging the heli battery. Also, we tried to reproduce the situation afterwards and when we turned the transmitter off, the Blade just went to full throttle and we could not get communication back and had to unplug the battery (on the heli) to shut it off.

Since I'm not familiar with the Blade 400, is it possible to rebind the RX to some other position than throttle off?

Has anybody else had this happen?

Is there an issue with lost signals when the antennae is extended and pointing straight at the model (it was only about 30-40 feet away)?

[14rcheli]

I just got the Blade 400, flew it a few times and the next time I got ready to fly the receiver had became unbinded from the transmitter. I finally figured it out, I accidentally hit the trainer button (bind button on mine) before i turned on the transmitter. It does state it in the manual on how to rebind it and I did that. Everything works fine now!

[carlo_the_wonder_frog]

when you point the antenna directly at the model that is the worst reception possible. point the antenna away from model for better results.

[BruceW]

when you point the antenna directly at the model that is the worst reception possible. point the antenna away from model for better results.

I knew there would be some reception lost but this should not have been 100% lost signal at 30-40 feet away.

The Blade is now being sent back to Horizonhobby for further analysis. The LHS owner mentioned that there seemed to be some problems with it right out of the box. More followup info to come.

[carlo_the_wonder_frog]

If the BEC voltage falls below 4.8v I think the receiver may reboot, same problem with the 2.4 ghz spektrum receivers.

[BruceW]

That was one of the theories I had also. Not sure why the BEC would have gone below 4.8V though since there were no hard maneuvers at the time but maybe it was just a bad ESC/BEC. Hopefully Horizon finds something wrong with it and sends out a new one. The guy that owns it definitely did not want to fly until the radio issue was figured out.

[JimLerch]

Since I'm not familiar with the Blade 400, is it possible to rebind the RX to some other position than throttle off?

In general, no, but there is this little bit of fun:

If you take a stock DX6i and a Blade 400, turn the transmitter on and let it initialize, then flip the throttle hold switch ON, then connect the flight battery to the heli, when you flip the throttle hold switch OFF, the heli WILL spin up even with collective all the way down.

Reason (as best I can tell is)


Throttle hold OFF, collective all the way down, Collective trim centered, 0% sub-trims = 10% output on throttle channel
Throttle hold ON + factory setup = 0% output on throttle channelWhen you initialize the engine speed controller with throttle hold on, when you turn throttle hold off the speed controller goes to 10% throttle.

I "fixed" mine, by changing the throttle curve for throttle hold so its at 10% instead of 0%. This way I can initialize the heli in throttle hold, and not have to worry about doing something stupid before I get a chance to start flying.

[LockMD]

If you take a stock DX6i and a Blade 400, turn the transmitter on and let it initialize, then flip the throttle hold switch ON, then connect the flight battery to the heli, when you flip the throttle hold switch OFF, the heli WILL spin up even with collective all the way down.


I do this all the time just for safety as well as after landing engage throtle hold before approaching it. Mine has never spun up on its own upon turning off throtle hold left stick 0% and throtle trim 0%

[Dilbeck]

Hey james great reply because it happen to me on the kitchen table and i did not have a hold of it when i fliped throttle hold off and KA BOOM! Lucky i got a hold of it quickly and shut it down. Then fixed that 10% problem.

[LockMD]

oh maybe its cause my throtle curve is like this 0-0-50-75-100.