401 first flight adjustments

[shaggybirdman]

well ran 2.5 packs threw my new trex. i have 1 concern though. when she gets light on her skids she gets a bit of the shakes in her tail. then it turns into a vibration in the hole heli. maybe better put as the shakes. maybe not, but it sure is a problem. i'd be afraid to pop her in the air after her shaking. i did something wrong, or something. i'm at pack 4 in Radd's flight school, so actually trying to fly is still a few packs away.

i didn't have my training gear with me, so i didn't try to get her in the air. the directions for the gyro talk about setting the sensitivity, but neither of the pots is labeled sensitivity. i adjusted both pots, but got the same results.

we need setup up videos that are more aimed at the no0b like myself. i totally appreciate the available videos very much, and they got me ready to learn, but there is a need for final setup of the 401 gyro ounce your actually trying to get it in the air for the first time, and more info on helping ounce it actually takes flight. like what to look for if the tail spins, and such. i can't believe i'm the only one that would like a video that shows how to do the pot adjustments to get the heli into the air. most of the videos, are more geared to people that are closer to, or are hovering. maybe i missed info in the videos, or something, but we need something to cover that first flight,

so what should i check to get rid of the shakes?

[istandalone]

main and tail blade tensions? balance on both?

[newbie to heli]

Is this a new Heli? Crashed? That shaking you are talking about seems like a main, or feathering shaft or both may be bent. What kind of gyro are you using? I don't think the gyro would cause the shaking like you describe. The gyro will cause a wag if not set right. I am kinda new at this stuff myself, But I know all about the shafts after replacing them several times from crashing....

[MarkD]

The pots on the 401 are for setting the end points of the gyro (now youv'e moved it you will have to set up the tail throw again) and the other pot is for delay when using a non digital tail servo (set to zero for a digital servo).

Sensitivity is set using the gear/gyro channel on your Tx NOT on the 401. RTFM and you would know this

Two questions

1: What radio is it
2: What is your head speed/throttle curve

The shakes usually occur when spooling up due to the blades not settled to their COG whilst spinning. If the head speed is to low they won't settle and the head will be out of balance. When they get up to speed the shaking will stop if the rest of the bird is setup correct

[Skarn]

Like the others have said, the gyro won't cause vibrations/shakes like you describe.

As far as the video's, the Finless GY-401 video is for a complete noob. I knew nothing about anything when I started, but after watching the vid many times, I set mine up perfectly 100% from my first flight. I've never had to adjust my gyro again since that initial setup. The video does talk about adjusting the POTs and as Mark said, they have nothing do do with your gain. You adjust your gain sensitivity by your radio. Since you did mess with those, you need to go back and watch the video and set up your 401 again.

As far as your vibrations, are your blades tracked and balanced? Has this been crashed at all?

Good luck!
Skarn

[shaggybirdman]

oops! sorry but forgot the tech info.

dx7
6100e rx
S9650 on the tail
no crashes first spin up yesterday
tail throw is fine now with current gyro settings.
checked the feathering shaft by spinning it with a allen driver. other side grip
has no movement.
eye balling the fly bar it looks to be straight.
the radio now needs charging. doing that now. will a low battery make things
change in the radio?

yes the video is for a no0b, but there is there is nothing about what to do when the heli doesn't act right after being setup as per the video. maybe i'm expecting something different, or too much, or whatever, but that's why i'm asking now. all the video's are fantastic to say the least, and not implying there not. i'd never have been able to set it up by myself without them.

here is another oddity. the radio will change the gear switch from gyro to gear all by it's self. when i do the short cut to bring up all the menus the gyro menu is gone. i have to goto it's screen, and reset it again. do i have to turn off the radio, and turn it back on to save it?

sorry if it sounds like i'm complaining, but i'm just confused, and aggravated that my heli is doing stupid things that i programed wrong. i'm sure it's just my no0bness, and misinterpreting what i'm watching/reading. all everyones help is greatly appreciated.

[shaggybirdman]

The pots on the 401 are for setting the end points of the gyro (now youv'e moved it you will have to set up the tail throw again) and the other pot is for delay when using a digital tail servo (set to zero for a non digital servo).

Sensitivity is set using the gear/gyro channel on your Tx NOT on the 401. RTFM and you would know this

Two questions

1: What radio is it
2: What is your head speed/throttle curve
not sure what the head speed is. throttle curves are as Jermo has in hid dx7 setup video.

The shakes usually occur when spooling up due to the blades not settled to their COG whilst spinning. If the head speed is to low they won't settle and the head will be out of balance. When they get up to speed the shaking will stop if the rest of the bird is setup correct


the shakes start when she gets light on her skids. i reballanced the blades.

now i have another problem. i only have hh mode on the gyro. i can't turn it off. i'll have to run threw Jermos video again. Finless uses a futaba in his video witch makes it hard to setup my dx7. trying to figure out the menu to use in my dx7. i wish he would make the same video for both futaba, and dx7 or show the menu for both radios in 1 video. well off to rewatch the video.

[shaggybirdman]

well it seems to be the way i balanced my blades. i reread the directions on how to do it again, and found out i put the tape at the end of the blade, and not at the COG point. now the shakes are gone. i did find i had the direction set wrong. how interesting to see the girl try, and pirouette in place.

now why can't i turn off the gyro? i could yesterday, but now i only have hh, and no rate mode. i spin up the motor, and get a bit of tail drift. no problem. add a bit of rudder, but now it wants to keep moving the other direction unless i give it just a tap in the opposite direction. is that normal?

[shaggybirdman]

ok i figured it out. now i have rate mode, and hh mode. now i'm happy :)

[Skarn]

Cool, glad you figured it all out!

But remember, you really never need to put it in rate mode anymore. Leave it in HH mode and go fly!

Skarn

[shaggybirdman]

Cool, glad you figured it all out!

But remember, you really never need to put it in rate mode anymore. Leave it in HH mode and go fly!

Skarn

hh mode isn't the ticket on the ground. that's where i'm at at the moment. 3 more batteries, and i'll be close to trying to lift off. Radd's flight school student here. i'm on battery 4 currently.

[Skarn]

hh mode isn't the ticket on the ground. that's where i'm at at the moment. 3 more batteries, and i'll be close to trying to lift off. Radd's flight school student here. i'm on battery 4 currently.


You don't need rate mode even when doing Radd's. Keep it in HH mode and never look back!

Skarn

[shaggybirdman]

the tail won't stay put though. i correct, but have to do a quick bump to stop it from swinging the other way. rate mode works better for me while on the ground. hh for in the air.

[Leaf Blower]

oops! sorry but forgot the tech info.

dx7
6100e rx
S9650 on the tail
no crashes first spin up yesterday
tail throw is fine now with current gyro settings.
checked the feathering shaft by spinning it with a allen driver. other side grip
has no movement.
eye balling the fly bar it looks to be straight.
the radio now needs charging. doing that now. will a low battery make things
change in the radio?

yes the video is for a no0b, but there is there is nothing about what to do when the heli doesn't act right after being setup as per the video. maybe i'm expecting something different, or too much, or whatever, but that's why i'm asking now. all the video's are fantastic to say the least, and not implying there not. i'd never have been able to set it up by myself without them.

here is another oddity. the radio will change the gear switch from gyro to gear all by it's self. when i do the short cut to bring up all the menus the gyro menu is gone. i have to goto it's screen, and reset it again. do i have to turn off the radio, and turn it back on to save it?

sorry if it sounds like i'm complaining, but i'm just confused, and aggravated that my heli is doing stupid things that i programed wrong. i'm sure it's just my no0bness, and misinterpreting what i'm watching/reading. all everyones help is greatly appreciated.

Shaggy,
When you use the GEAR=GEAR setting to set the Gyro using endpoints, the Gyro menu disappears. It does however allow you to use the Gear switch to switch between. When you reset it as you said you did- well- it changes which switch it uses to switch between HH and Rate Mode on the Gyro. It will revert the system back to either using the Throttle Hold switch ( which if set up will turn off your motor- a pointless endeavor.) The other option when using the Gyro setting is to tie it to Flight Mode. Newbies should likely refrain from using IDLE-UP initially as more damage can be sustained in a crash - so I'd avoid tying it to that mode especially. Spektrum should have allowed the user to pick other unused switches, but in their "infinite wisdom" - they didn't.

Choices with the AR6100E and the DX7 with respect to gyro's are:
1) Set Gear channel to Gyro. Have Gyro menu to change values. Default is to tie the switch to Rudder D/R aka Throttle Hold switch.
2) Set Gear channel to Gyro. Have Gyro menu to change values. Change mode to F.Mode which ties it to the F.Mode switch aka Idle Up switch.
3). Set Gear channel to Gear. Change settings using the Travel Adjustment menu changing the Gear endpoints. Switch is using the likely unused Gear Switch. Pilot has no Gyro menu.

[shaggybirdman]

well i opted to setup as gear gear with no gyro setting in the radio. this leads to another question that has bugged me since last season trying to hover my shuttle.

i thought (a very dangerous thing for a no0b) that hh mode would keep the tail from moving, but it doesn't. talking about my nitro shuttle, 401, futaba 7C heli. my trex seems to do the same thing. i get it in the air, in hh mode, and the tail still moves. isn't hh mode supposed to keep the tail in one spot, and let the heli get pushed sideways? like i say i'm a no0b with a no0b question. am i expecting too much from the gyro, or do i have it setup wrong?

[MarkD]

If the tail is still moving in hh it could be one of a few things

1 - there is still a command being input to turns ie a trim. It only has to be 1 click to make a difference
2 - you still have REVO mix enabled
3 - You haven't run thru the quick setup. Flick the rudder back and forth a few times this will reset the neutral point of the gyro in hh

I always set up my gyros to hover steady in normal and THEN setup HH. I've never had a problem with drifting doing it this way

[shaggybirdman]

If the tail is still moving in hh it could be one of a few things

1 - there is still a command being input to turns ie a trim. It only has to be 1 click to make a difference
2 - you still have REVO mix enabled
3 - You haven't run thru the quick setup. Flick the rudder back and forth a few times this will reset the neutral point of the gyro in hh

I always set up my gyros to hover steady in normal and THEN setup HH. I've never had a problem with drifting doing it this way

is the quick setup what finless uses in his videos? that's how i got her setup, but my shuttle was setup by my lhs's heli guy.