HH Gyro on Blade CP question

[Skarn]

Hey all,

I finally decided to get a HH gyro on my Blade CP. I seem to recall someone saying once installed to turn down the stock 4in1 gyro all the way. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Skarn

[rabidguineapig]

Yep, make sure you turn down the 4 in 1 gyro, the electronics will get confused if you don't.

[skunkworx]

So once you turn down all that stuff, how do you get the darn thing to work? I tried putting my 401 in mine and the light just kept blinking and wouldn't hold at all. Any tips? Thanks!

[Red Baron]

I have had a Blade CP for almost 2 years. It is the most expensive and frustrating "toy" I have ever purchased! After countless crashes and bills for parts my wife just shakes her head when I continue to fuss with this "Bird." My son flies 60 size nitro copters and the first time he flew the Blade he handed the radio back to me and said it was a piece of crap!

Please bear with me for a few more minutes. A year ago I bought and built a TREX SE and purchased a Spektrum DX7 package because part of the problem with the CP is the Transmitter/Receiver (4 in 1) combo. Cars driving past my house would drive the thing nuts! So to make a long story short I nervously set out to fly the TREX after the build (using Finless Bob's great directions)! It was a piece of cake, it didn't fly anything like the Blade! It is rock-solid to fly although it had an Align gyro that liked to drift. However learning to fly a Blade successfully will make you a better pilot on most any "real" heli.

Continuing on....I figured the Blade just needed Spektrum radio equipment to help it out. (I don't work for them but have been in the electronics profession and a radio technician for years and this is one sweet system). My next step was to purchase AR6100 receiver for the Blade. I read many posts and determined that the 4 in 1 was not needed, since the "4" is the receiver, "3" is Gyro, ESC, Mixer. So I bought a 3 in 1 unit and installed it in the Blade. No more radio glitches but still erratic tail operation. (And the 4 in 1 can be disassembled into a 3 in 1 by adding some wires or moving pins on the circuit board if you want to install a different receiver, see links at end). So I scoured the Internet for information regarding things I had done, wanted to do and was unsure of. There is a lot out there if you want to take the time to find it and I will attach all the links I have viewed at the end of this novel.

Next I decided the Blade needed a "real" gyro. So I bought a 401 for the TREX (man is that gyro great) and decided to put the Align Gyro on the Blade CP. (Here is where it gets interesting and is still a work in progress). I carefully reviewed numerous posts, mounted the gyro on the back of the two rear servos, plugged the gyro input wires into the rudder channel on the AR6100, connected the rudder leads of the 3 in 1 (esc input) to the Align gyro, the gyro sensing lead to the Gear channel on the AR6100 and left the tail motor plugged into the 3 in 1 as it was. I left the gain and proportional settings where they were on the 3 in 1. Last Saturday night I went out in my back yard (15 degrees, snow) and decided to test fly it. The battery was probably about 3/4 charge since I had been adjusting the conversion in the kitchen with the main rotor blades removed. For the first 10 minutes it was like a new bird! I didn't even need to keep my thumb on the rudder! Then something happened....it flew forward started turning right (my backyard is small and there is a huge lilac bush). When it was about to hit the house I killed the power and did a nose in crash onto the hard-packed snow but only broke one of the main rotor blades, one side of the Superskids tail wing and bent the main shaft ! I took it back inside and began rebuilding. I re-checked the wiring between all the components and recharged the battery. The next night (weather was windy and stormy in the daytime) I again set out for a test in the back yard. This time I turned the gain (gyro) and proportional mix pots fully left (off or minimal). Took off, tail didn't seem as solid as the night before but still an improvement. There was a slight wind blowing but nothing more. I tried giving it some rapid climb commands and the tail would wag quite a bit before resetting. So I tried turning up the gain on the 3 in 1 to where it was (I marked it in Sharpie). After a few minutes I experienced a similar problem as the night before; nose down, right hand turn (this thing is quite skittish even in light winds) and the poor light, small flying area and obstacles are no help, plus "CRASHING AGAIN" kept flashing through my mind! Consequently this time it was headed for the lilac bush, no snow there, I tried to flare and chop power and it went nose in and turned to the right, this time breaking the Superskids front mount, rear landing gear, and one blade. Plus the main shaft was bent again. (By the way, the Superskids system is an engineering marvel. When the tail struts, tail wing and landing gear and skids are mounted, you have a super sturdy truss-like design that keeps you from breaking fuselage, tail booms, and E-Flite skids and I have the bills the for the latter to prove it! Also (I just learned this), if you looked at the Superskids tail wing it is thinner on the side the rotor blades approach from so that if the blade clips it in a crash, that side of the wing can break and save the tail boom)!

I went back inside and my wife raised an eyebrow and muttered something when I showed her the results of my latest experiment gone awry! I have again researched everything, theoretically with the 3 in 1 gyro gain and proportional turned to minimum, the separate gyro should be able to control the tail rotor through the 3 in 1 tail ESC. (As long as there is no signal from the 3 in 1 gyro conflicting the separately mounted gyro). Many others who have done similar conversions use a separate ESC for the tail rotor and maybe that is why. I am in the process of rebuilding this again and have ordered some new Superskids. I guess I love a challenge or maybe I'm just a martyr for the Blade CP!

Below are all the links I have viewed throughout this process. Some are more useful than others, but all make good reading! For good info on the 401 check out Finless Bob's guide on the Helifreak site.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=445989
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396008
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/converting-blade-axe-cp-helis-to-run-in-seperations/2619846053
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=508553&page=2
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=767951
http://www.helitown.com/BladeCPPage2.htm
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLH1039
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5280859&postcount=53
http://www.runryder.com/helicopter/t220710p1/
http://www.helihobby.com/html/separate_electronics.html




Red Baron

Blade CP and many broken pieces but still experimenting! (I guess it's kind of like a crash test dummy for helicopters)!
Intact TREX 450 SE
Both flown with Spektrum DX7
Satisfied user of Phoenix flight sim

[z_man_95]

I've seen several mentions of letting the gyro acclimate to the change in temperature.