Infro- That’s what started it all!

[MaXThReAT]

Hello,
So this is my first post in an RC forum. I though since all I fly right now are E-Flite copters this would a good place for my first post and introduction. 27/yo Systems Management Expert for a high-tech T&M R&D Company. Soon to be SME-BPA combo guy. I’ve been out of the RC game for some time, I think the last RC I touched was an RC-10 car about 13 years ago. Since then I became enveloped by PC’s, PC gaming and allot of hardcore hardware and accessories. I’m definitely not pulling out of PC gaming, there’s lots of good stuff coming but I just haven’t been playing much. Most games coming out were made for consoles and 15+- year old people and just ported over to PC for a quick buck. Crysis was fun and ran great but it was a far cry from FarCry. Anyway, due to my PC game addiction I headed over to a local MicroCenter to pick up a copy of UT3 for PC. They didn’t have it but on my way out I saw it. A Mini Mosquito RC Helicopter.

So… that’s what started it all… a little $30 Mosquito 11/14/2007. I have always been interested in RC heli’s but never thought I could fly one or afford one. I took that Mosquito home and flew it about 5 times before one of the blade rings broke on a crash and it was finished but I was not. (Ha… I think about that now, a crash, more like a gentle bump against the floor.) MicroCenter had a large rack of all kinds of cheap coaxial copters. A Walkera 5-5b would be next. It was fun but very unfulfilling and I didn’t like the throttle on the right. I had heard of the Blades, the Blade CX. I researched and decided the CX2 was what I wanted next.

CX2-
Heli & Extra Blades. Flybars and a Motor Heat sink.
All Aluminum- Swash Plate, Xtreme Upper Bearing Housing, Xtreme CNC Extended Upper Head w/shaft, Lower Rotor Head and Xtreme Blade Grips w/Xtreme Blades. M3 CF Boom/Skids. Two DN 900mAh 10C Batteries. 180 BB Motors, Upgraded shortened Flybar.
Total CX2 Spent= $486.31
Just picked up the new ESPH1000 CF boom kit in the pic.

At some point in Dec I decided I was ready for a CP heli. I should have thought more about this one but I picked up a CP pro. Watching vids and looking at ability and cost it seemed right at the time.

CP Pro-
Heli & Crash Kit.
G90 Heading lock Gyro, Training gear set, flybar weights- still unused.
Replacement blades-many, Carbon Fiber main and tail blades, Pitch gauge, tracking tape, another crash kit, Main shaft and drive gear, better needle nose pliers, two Spindles, another crash kit and extra power supply for the charger.
MicroCN Heli Main Gear w/Auto-rotation Hub and Main Shaft, Deluxe Main Blade Holder W/Precision CNC Head System.
Total CP Pro Spent= $872.83

After all that it’s not doing good. CNC head was way to twitchy for me. It eventually stripped the points off the tiny screws that attach the CNC head to the main shaft. I think they just didn’t line up right with the holes on the main shaft and while I was tracking the blades the head came loose from the shaft, no thread lock either. I was probably lucky it didn’t come flying off because at that point I had the auto-rotation hub and CF blades on. It hasn’t been attached and I haven’t got it flying right since. I’m sure I’ll ask about it soon, I might take to the LHS and see what they say. I think that’s also part of why I’ve gotten sucked in so bad. I have an awesome LHS less than a block from my house. Great guys, nice flying and driving areas and very experienced people. Except for one guy, I don’t like him, he talks down to customers and thinks there is only one way, his way. It’s just a franchised RC Hobbies, http://littleton.rc-hobbies.com/but they’re great, except for that one guy. So after weeks of reading and tweaking and crashing the CP to the floor I needed a more stable heli to learn on. I had to wait a bit but as of a week ago I’m now a proud owner of a Blade400. As well as a Triton2 and balancer. I was at the LHS about to buy downgraded blade grips with different slower mixing for the CP and I simply could not stop myself. I received G4 as a gift for Xmas and was getting pretty good and all the replacement parts were cheaper for the B400 than the CPP, I couldn’t not. The B400 is…wow I can actually fly it. Not a single whack or crash, very stable…knock on wood, I intend to keep it that way. I bumped the GY to 68.5% No Expos, some sub-trim and I love it. I can’t wait to take outside on a nice calm day when I’m ready.

Anyway, now here I am, $3k later because of a Mosquito. Love the site, it’s better than others that lack such a nice forum code base. PLUR to everyone and FLFMR. Now to the reason for post, I have questions.

Lipos-
1. If I don’t finish a battery should it be discharge before a full charge?
2. I know its okay to leave a charged lipo for days, is it okay to give it a charge boost before use after days of sitting? Is it needed I don’t have a working meter right now?
3. Is it better to charge it and let it sit or let it sit then charge it? Days.
4. Should I balance with every charge, before after or during?
5. I’m picking up a ThunderPower Prolite 2100mAh unless there is better to be had for the B400, 2200mAh?
6. I need a PSU for the Triton2 I have lots of PC PSU sitting around with well over 3-amps. Any directions on modding a PC supply for a charger, I can rig it to power up without a PC but the rest? Or any good cheap 3-amp+ PSU suggestions?

CX2-
1. What more can I do to it? I’m binding it to my DX6i next week. It’s seen more air than all my others combined and I’m actually able to do a nose/tail down funnels with it.
2. I picked up the Xtreme canopy and it doesn’t seem to fit, should I bother modding it or is there a better one or am I doing something wrong?

CPP-
1. To bind it to the DX6i & DSM2- AR6100 or do you think better will be needed?
I can’t wait to use Expos on it and really dial it in.
2. Should it be that hard to hover?
3. Best tail mod period?
4. Best fitting digital metal gear servos I can get throughout?
5. I can’t find a replacement for the little mounting screws for the MH CNC head? Do I really need to buy a whole new head or can I use a paperclip or another type of pin?

B400-
1. GY401 and Digital metal gear servos are a must it seems, next week. I honestly don’t mind spending, what are the best fitting digital metal gear servos I can get throughout?
2. I noticed if I power on the Tx flip the throttlehold and power up the heli spins as soon as the TH is off. I think I read in the manual it lowers the throttle curve to meet the TH basically. After the CPP and CX2 I’m not accustom to hitting TH on a crash. I’m sure I’ll do autos, should I get accustom to TH or not yet?
3. Why TH and a throttle cut button?
4. Carbon Fiber Blades- Which, When and How? Tail too?
5. I see some rub off rubber on the tail belt drive pulley, normal?

General-
1. Have I lost my mind? I can't stop.
2. If I’m doing tight flips and rolls and some nice 3D in G4 can I really expect to in real life? Sometimes I think the heli’s don’t feel real at all.
4. Best G4 Additions?
5. Did I forget anything?

Sorry for the novel, took a while to write actually. I’m glad to be here and finally getting into a hobby I have wanted to get into for years. Anyone in CO hit me up, I need a Heli buddy.
O and Pics & vids. I look forward to meeting you all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUy2AE18qYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkOMQU8r2ew

[heyjack8]

very nice and it took awhile to read as well...i'll try and keep this short...i have had my cz2 now for about a month ( addicted ) after multiple crashes and trips to the hobby shop to replace my first package of upper and lower blades.....up graded landing gear and also went to Xtreme tail finally have control as long as the bird tail is facing me having trouble flying it back to me because all stick movement is backwards but i'm getting there.....also bought another battery to replace what i think are junk stock e-flites ...a mega power with one flight on it so far see.... i noticed you upgraded your upper and lower blades with new grips and blades very nice ...my question is this if possible do the upgraded blades and grips make that much of a difference the way your cx2 flies? those blades also seem to have more pitch than the stock blades i would think that more pitch would drain battery faster as well but what do i know....any way since your obviously a writer if you can explain the difference the you think it made i would appreciate it....gee how many questions was that....lol...

[Skarn]

Welcome to the addiction!

I too went your route with the CX and then Blade CP. Was VERY frustrated with my CP....then I got a TREX 450 SE v2. Man what a difference! In retrospect, I should have just skipped the CP and gone right to the TREX.

Anyway, to answer some of your questions: (caveat: I've only been flying heli's for a tad over a year so I'm not an expert)
- I never discharge my lipo's if I still have some left.....I simply recharge them and
have not seen any problems.
- I always throw them back on a charger to get them "back up to 4.20" just prior to
flying if they've been sitting for a while.
- Best tail mod for the CP? I have a dual tail rotor setup....I like it but my bro-in-
law just put the direct drive tail mod on and I have to say it's awesome!
- Always use throttle hold. In a perfect world, just before a crash, flip throttle hold
on. Of course we don't always do it that quick....I do it by instinct now as soon
as it hits something.
- A sim is great, but NO, you won't be able to do the same things on your sim as you do on your real heli! At least I can't....I can do nice 3d, inverted hover, etc. but on my real bird, I am just starting to do loops. The pucker factor comes into play here though!

Lastly: YES, you have lost your mind! But haven't we all?

Skarn

[DebianDog]

Trust me when you get a solid helicopter you are gonna feel like a PRO :YeaBaby:

I have flown several CPP's and every time I do I think, "Wow... anyone that can hover and fly this well is the man!"

[Buzzkill]

Like many of you I too started with the $30-$50 toy helis. CX2,CPP,Trex 450SE V2, Gaui 200. I've never been so happily addicted ! BTW, if you want trex like flying in a CX2 sized heli check out the Gaui 200. It's my favorite bird !

[fogger]

IMO: sell the blade cp. you're just throwing good money after bad and it'll never fly like the b400 anyway. Keep the cx to play with orientation training in the living room :)

We put hs65mg's in my buddies b400. They are plenty fast, and hard to kill. You can get DS285mg's if you want digitals, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra money.

Try just putting a 9650 on the tail before going all the way with a 401. I think the stock gyro is good enough to last a newbie quite a while, it's just the stock servo that is crap.

Get used to using TH. It is a requirement for bigger machines for safety. Throttle cut is for nitros to kill the motor. TH on nitros brings you to an idle. TH on electrics works like throttle cut on nitros, IE zero throttle / motor off.

Other than that good luck, and spend as much time on the sim as you can stand.

-Fog :)

[MaXThReAT]

Hey,
Wow, Sorry I couldn’t reply sooner. A giant crane about a block away from my place knocked out all the phone lines taking my DSL with it. Quarter end at work also and I’m front line support. I got to push the button to book a three million dollar contract because it was having system related issues.
Thanks for hitting a few of those Skarn. Good Info. I'll hold off attempting any real 3D until I'm solid with all of the basics. I want to get it up there and see what I can do... but until I don't have to think about what I'm doing but when it's just instinct. I still crash in G4 but I try to start every flight with the thought that it’s a real heli and if I crash it, it’s the cost of a new one, it helps.

heyjack8, Thanks for the comments. When I installed the grips and blades I already had a carbon fiber tail and 900mAh 10C batteries just to let you know. The B&G really did make a large difference. They were night and day from stock, very stable. The stock motors loved them and I didn't notice any decline in flight time if anything I think it goes longer because less power can be applied. I would say it does put a little tiny extra strain on the motors at100% but being such a small heli and blades the stock motors performed almost exactly the same but it’s hard to tell in the long run. Later I picked up the 180s and since have been thinking about going back to stock. The stock ones almost seemed quicker to respond and change speed. I broke in the 180s nicely too. Maybe I’ll install a new set of silver brushes. The extra lift/pitch of the blades is perfect IMO. If you watch the CX2 video at about 2min, before the first crash, I just start throwing it around. At almost full speed forward and backwards I stopped inches from the wall I might have nicked the picture, brought it back and stopped it on a dime. That was all one battery 8m plus rest time. Adding the shortened flybar later really makes it act more like a real heli, allot more counter steering is required to stop it.

DebianDog, yeah the first time I hovered the B400 in the video I could not believe how easy it was to control compared to the CPP, even with training gear on. I’m looking forward to picking up a 401, from what I’ve read it’s ganna be a night and day difference. Can the G110 be used on the CPP?

Question. Is my G90 gyro better than the G110 you think, the G110 is still cheaper and kind of aftermarket or is it just smaller and lighter?

Fogger
Thanks, good advice. I do want to keep the CCP though. Once I get control of it and put the CNC head back on its size will lend well to my confined space. Spring can’t come soon enough for the B400, lots of time to dedicate to G4. I’ve started using the throttle hold over the past 4 packs and I’m getting very used to it and I like being able to just flip it on and have a good idle and it’s just safer. It sounds like maybe the DS285mg's are good and will fit well. I need to start looking for a good tail servo too. I almost don’t want to mess with anything since it is pretty dialed in right now but I know it will be even better. I want the same very solid performance to learn on and when I ready, to really throw it around. How do most of you hold your TX? When I started I just naturally used my thumbs I noticed many pros pinch.
Anyway thanks for the replies for sure. I might pick up a AR6100 for the CPP this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes.

[HELINHAWAII]

I’m actually able to do a nose/tail down funnels with it.


Funnels with a CX2...never even heard you could do that! Would deffinately like to see it!

[MaXThReAT]

Funnels with a CX2...never even heard you could do that! Would deffinately like to see it!

It's definitely possible, I don't have an outdoor camera right now, just my little 4yo USB webcam. I'm trying to get a friend to loan me his new HDD camcorder or come over and film some stuff for me but weather sucks and he's very protective of his cam.
I can do it in my small indoor flying area but I'll need to practice more to feel okay.

I got my CX2 binded to my DX6i and all setup. I must say, WOW, I didn't know a different Tx could make such a difference. I've been flying my CX2 since about 11/21 almost every other day 2-3 times a day so I know how it normally feels and I have to say the DX6i is so much better than the stock Tx. Maybe they have Expos built in to the stock Tx but it just feels more responsive, quicker and for some reason much more stable. I haven't even bumped the servo travel to 125-150 yet. The thing that baffles me is I had to lower the Gyro quite a bit and it's more stable than it's ever been now. I don't get this, how is it possible?
Was the stock Tx’s signal that dirty? How can a new TX make a gyro-controlled heli more stable? Does it keep the servos centered better?
Anyway I'm getting an AR6100 for the CPP and some DS285MG's for the B400 but I'm still looking for a good rudder servo that's a perfect fit that doesn't create any binding or need for any major mods, if anyone knows please do chime in.
I'm also in the market for some better servos for the CPP, I was planning on asking at the LHS tonight but if anyone knows of perfect fit servos for the CPP I would love some suggestions?

[MaXThReAT]

Still looking for some help. I wouldn't ask if I couldn find the answers myself.

1. I need a PSU for the Triton2 I have lots of PC PSU sitting around with well over 3-amps. Any directions on modding a PC supply for a charger, I can rig it to power up without a PC but the rest? Or any good cheap 3-amp+ PSU suggestions?

B400
2. I see some rub off rubber on the tail belt drive pulley, normal?

3. Is my G90 gyro better than the G110 you think, the G110 is cheaper and the G90 is kind of aftermarket or is it just smaller and lighter?

4. I'm also in the market for some better servos for the CPP, I was planning on asking at the LHS when I get a AR6100 for it but if anyone knows of perfect fit servos for the CPP I would love some suggestions?

Edit: Well I'm not happy. I just got back from the LHS and no GY401, no DS285MG's, no AR6100 and no CPP tail motors :thumbdown: . All I was able to get my hands on was their last DS3400G and add-on pack 1 for G4 and no suggestions for servos for the CPP. They did have an AR6200 but I don't think I'll use the range it provides for just a CPP. O-well. I wait.

[HELINHAWAII]

1) Try googling this- pc power supply to 12 volt bench supply

Third to the sixth links are really good for telling you how to convert your old psu to a good 12v unit. I've done this and it works like a champ.

2) Sorta normal...they do wear over time. Use your best judgement. Better to replace a belt before it snaps. It's no fun trying to land a heli that piro'n 3 times a second.

3) Sorry can't help you there.

4) I saw some HS55's in someone's CPP. Those little blue servos are kinda unmistakable

[MaXThReAT]

Awesome man thanks a bunch that's exactly what I needed. I was searching on PC power supply conversion, mod, charger and wasn't coming up with anything good. That search nailed it with the "12 volt bench supply:"
I'll keep my eye on the belt. I haven't had over 15 flights yet, just hovering really.
I had not seen the HS55's they look pretty good and using a DX6i I don't think I'm going to need to worry about modding it to reverse polarity, again thanks HELINHAWAII.
I really hope my LHS gets allot in today, it's their shipping day, we'll see. If anyone wants me to, I can take pics and vid of servo and GY401 install?

[Saibot]

Hey MaXThReAT, nice to see you here - knew you'd get sucked into this place eventually.
I still run the stock servos on my Blade CPP myself. I rarely crash it now and those servos are pretty cheap, so I don't mind just replacing them when needed. I just spend enough money on the Blade to keep it airworthy since I have the T-Rex to play with.
Not sure what the belt on the Blade 400 is made of, but a lot of people use R/C car shock oil on the T-Rex belt (including me). Might be worth a look. Definitely keep an eye on it - I know from experience that losing the belt in flight is no fun.

[MaXThReAT]

Hey Saibot, good to see ya here. Yeah this place is really great, packed with really good info and some helpful people. I've been so sucked in by this hobby it's awesome really. I'm going up to the Wing over the Rockies .

(Rocky Mountain Aeromodeling Expo)
See RC and model aircraft exhibits, flight demos and more at the 4th Annual Aeromodeling Expo from 10 am to 4 pm, Saturday, February 9, 2008. Regular museum admission rates apply.

From what I hear it's one of the largest ever.
Hope to see some good flyers and maybe some of you there.

[Kindling Maker]

Sorry about not posting in a while but we have been real busy and I have not had time to do anything but sleep eat and work. My section is down to two people and it is getting crazy over here. I am glad to see new names in this place. Maxthreat I started with a buddy who got me into it now i have a CPP, aCX2 with all the mods, and will soon have a B-400 and if things work out a SKYLIFT, my hooch is filling up with parts and helis. The weather here has been bad for the past 4 months and not conducive to flying. Who ever said it doesnt rain or get cold in the desert needs to be shot. the weather is getting better so I will start flying my birds soon, the Sim is great but it is not the real thing. I will post more later.