Spektrum AR7100R Overview and Setup

[creightoncarr]

A pic of the whole beast will be nice too?

Robert

Sure:

[Finless]

DAMN! That heli looks like mine ;)

BTW... I had NO TROUBLE with my AR7100 sensor picking up the cracnk shaft.. I noticed you could NOT mount it on the bottom area of the motor as there is a "ledge" on the back cover that caused a problem with the sensor fitting on the YS. So I mounted mine on the side. Doesn't matter which side but that gave me NO false crank readings.

Bob

[torkboy]

DAMN! That heli looks like mine ;)

BTW... I had NO TROUBLE with my AR7100 sensor picking up the cracnk shaft.. I noticed you could NOT mount it on the bottom area of the motor as there is a "ledge" on the back cover that caused a problem with the sensor fitting on the YS. So I mounted mine on the side. Doesn't matter which side but that gave me NO false crank readings.

Bob

Sounds like its Ready to Rock and Roll this weekend!

Well see what the Aurora posses Bob to try out when he gets it flying....believe me it begs you to be naughty to it :D

[Finless]

YEP! IT's DONE BABY!

I am finishing editing the videos now....

Sunday is ON and I cant wait to see you all out there!

Jason, I lost your phone number... can you PM it to me please...

Bob

[creightoncarr]

DAMN! That heli looks like mine ;)

BTW... I had NO TROUBLE with my AR7100 sensor picking up the cracnk shaft.. I noticed you could NOT mount it on the bottom area of the motor as there is a "ledge" on the back cover that caused a problem with the sensor fitting on the YS. So I mounted mine on the side. Doesn't matter which side but that gave me NO false crank readings.

Bob

Paul Beard said it had been tested with the YS engine and they had no problems during their tests. What's weird is that the only other person I know using a backplate sensor with the YS SR, besides you, had the same problems I did. After moving the sensor away from the backplate his started to work fine. I wonder why it seems to work on some engines and not on others (or maybe some sensors work and others don't).

I guess what it seems to boil down to is that you should try it first touching the backplate. If that works, great. If not then try moving it away from the backplate.

[torkboy]

Its on like Donkey Kong :banana:fly

[Finless]

Creig, I dont know why either... I Emailed Paul when you first brought this up and it took him a day or 2 to resepnd be he said... "I am unaware of a problem with the YS SR and it has been tested!"!!!

So I have to ask... Did you mount yours on the bottom near that ledge in the back cover? If so that may have been the problem? I did at first and it didnt work hardly at all! Then I moved it to the side of the engine and it worked perfectly!
My video of how I mounted it will be up soon for the Avant Aurora...

Bob

[fiveoboy01]

Based on this quick test, it looks like the Multigov will work with the backplate sensor :thumbup:

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51013&stc=1&d=1213170177

THAT is frickin awesome. Hopefully someone will flight test this to confirm. No more tiny sensors and magnets!

[creightoncarr]

Did you mount yours on the bottom near that ledge in the back cover? If so that may have been the problem?
My video of how I mounted it will be up soon for the Avant Aurora...

Bob

That is where I first tried to install it as it was the best for for the wire routing, but I saw immediately it would not work there because of the lip. After that I tried on both sides and on the bottom without the ledge. Same results in all three positions. Paul said:

"Rotate the engine a few revs so that it can 'learn'. The SENS LED should toggle correctly after a few revs."

Unfortunately that didn't work for me or the other guy I know. I'm not bothered as it does seem to work now with the way I have it positioned. Just thought my experience and solution may be helpful so some in future that may have similar problems.

[ZephanRC]

...I no longer have a DX7 so cant do a vid on it... Sorry ShinOBIWAN but it WONT be hard to figure out. Use GEAR channel and see my custom mix video for getting it tied to the condition switch. That is in my Trex600N videos with the Curtis ATG. Gyro will have to be on AUX2 and you will have to use travel adjust.

Bob

I have watched the Trex600N video and the Curtis ATG setup with custom mix for a third rpm rev limiter setting, but that uses the GEAR channel tied to the "F.MOD" (3 postion switch) and a mix to get a setting in the mid switch postition. I don't see on the DX7 how to get the GEAR channel tied to the F.MOD switch.

[TooLy]

I have watched the Trex600N video and the Curtis ATG setup with custom mix for a third rpm rev limiter setting, but that uses the GEAR channel tied to the "F.MOD" (3 postion switch) and a mix to get a setting in the mid switch postition. I don't see on the DX7 how to get the GEAR channel tied to the F.MOD switch.

You can't chose F.MOD under Gear channel in the input select menu.
In order to use 3 rpm modes in DX7 with AR7100R you can set this by using 3 mixes.
Follow this video :
(I know the video is in hebrew but just watch the way the guy set the 3 rpm modes throught the menu, you just need to choose gear instead of aux2)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YpMJT6OSueE

[noste500]

You can't chose F.MOD under Gear channel in the input select menu.
In order to use 3 rpm modes in DX7 with AR7100R you can set this by using 3 mixes.
Follow this video :
(I know the video is in hebrew but just watch the way the guy set the 3 rpm modes throught the menu, you just need to choose gear instead of aux2)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YpMJT6OSueE

I have just set mine up as above. ( to flight mode switch with normal as 0% ie; off )
Does it matter that if the other 2 settings are both + within the range?
Is the rev limiter just looking for the travel signal amount %

I have
0 normal
+60% idle 1
+ 70% idle 2

Are these ok?

The above settings are my start point and won't be used untill motor is tuned and broken in,

[creightoncarr]

For those who are using the AR7100R receivers, I would recommend checking the antenna on the receiver itself to make sure it is still attached the board and not just being held in place by the rubber boot. I have two of these receivers and after a couple of flights on them the antenna has broken free from the board on each. I was having strange problems with the servos jumping around in flight that I could not seem to recreate on the bench - until I touched the antenna. I opened the case to discover the antenna was not attached to the PCB. So I pulled the other receiver and checked it. Neither one of my AR7100R's has more than ten flights on them. That solder point seems especially weak and there is very little, if anything, there to protect from vibrations. As both of mine broke I would be surprised if others don't have this problem as well. I only hope you catch it before it's too late.

[warpspeed]

Well there's the first fly in the ointment. Wonder what else will crop up. I've been holding off for this very reason-I can solder well so it hasn't been anything more than an annoyance for me as of yet, but it's obvious Spektrum's quality control hasn't gotten any better.

Maybe a little thing like an antenna being correctly attached to a receiver isn't that high up on their priority list.:thinking

[creightoncarr]

Yeah, I consider myself pretty handy with a soldering iron as well. Unfortunately the solder point for the antenna is sandwiched between the two outer boards with only about 2mm of room between each. If it were on one of the outer boards it would be an easy fix. As is, without de-soldering and removing the entire upper board, I don't see an easy way to go about it.

[warpspeed]

Agreed. Looks like you're at Horizon's mercy, although from what I've heard their customer service is not bad. Hopefully they'll have replacements to you asap.

Nonetheless it's a PITA you should never have had to deal with in the first place.

[ppridday]

The big issue is that you probably won't know you have a problem until it is too late.. :(

Paul

[ZephanRC]

You can't chose F.MOD under Gear channel in the input select menu.
In order to use 3 rpm modes in DX7 with AR7100R you can set this by using 3 mixes.
Follow this video :
(I know the video is in hebrew but just watch the way the guy set the 3 rpm modes throught the menu, you just need to choose gear instead of aux2)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YpMJT6OSueE

I followed what he did here in the video, but it got me thinking. I think I found a good way to only use two mixes (Mix-1 and Mix-3) and still leave Mix-2 to the throttle-cut mix that Finless described using the GEAR switch.

I'm not good at doing videos, but maybe I can describe it....

- In the system menu/[INPUT SELECT] set the GEAR channel to "GEAR". (AUX2 can be set to "GYRO" to do your gyro gains)

- In the the [TRAVEL ADJUST] menu, set the "GEAR +" to say 90% (this will be your rev limiter setting for Stunt 1 mode). Set the "GEAR -" to 0%.

- In [PROG.MIX1] set... (leave GEAR switch in up/0 position), GEAR->GEAR, SW: F-NR, RATE: (top one) to say -10%. This will be the rev limit for the Normal mode, percentage below the Stunt 1 mode setting. This can be set to -100% to turn off the rev limiter in normal mode.

- In [PROG.MIX3] (leave MIX2 for throttle cut mix) set... (leave GEAR switch in up/0 position), GEAR->GEAR, SW: F-S2, RATE: (top one) to say +10%. This will be the rev limit for Stunt 2 mode, percentage above the Stunt 1 mode setting.

The only "drawback" to this is that if you flip the GEAR switch to the down/1 postion while in any flight mode, it will disable the rev limiter, but this could actually be a good thing as long as you know this.

[creightoncarr]

I picked up a third AR7100R today. I'm going to pull it apart and squirt some hot glue around the solder joint before installing. We'll see if that provides any better protection.

[creightoncarr]

Well, a little messy, but hopefully it will help.

[JodyJ]

Now, will opening them up and glueing the wire void the warranty?

[skijones007]

This may be a stupid question, but can the 7100 RX be used on electric helis?

[fireup]

This may be a stupid question, but can the 7100 RX be used on electric helis?

Yes, the non-'R' version is for electric because it does not have a Rev. limiter option. You can also use the 'R' verion, you just won't be using that feature for electric.

[skijones007]

Does the ESC plug into the throttle slot as usual, and do I have to run a separate battery for the receiver? The instructions on the Spektrum web site aren't clearon this.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Don

[fireup]

Yes throttle works the same as usual and Rx gets power from the same pack that runs the servos.