Waiting for my 550 to show up, it's agonizing....

[Drew816]

Ok, it should have been here last week but you know how that all goes; so I'm hoping it will arrive today. The waiting is enough to drive you MAD!!!! :arggg::bawl:arggg::bawl:bawl:arggg::thumbdown: Still waiting on my servos to arrive too, what is UP with the mails?!?

In the meantime tuning T-Rex 450's and finally got one of them sorted out, the other that I'm likely to sell once the 550 is up and running I can just NOT figure out where the vibration is coming from in the head. Can you ding and put out of round the bearings in the bearing blocks? Maybe I have slightly bent the headblock? I don't know, very odd, but the vibration is there on spin up and she flies pretty good regardless, but you can see it's not right if you know what I mean.

Happy Flying!

[Jungle Bob]

Head dampers! Rex's are renowned for chewing the head dampers which is why most people upgrade them to Youngbloods etc, check those first, then your feathering spindle. If you have had an accident or even a tip over then you may not even be able to detect a slight distortion in your feathering spindle, swop it out and try again

[JaggedEdge]

Mine was shipped last Wednesday and its killing me too!!
I hope I get it soon or I'm bound to make my 4th order from readyheli in the last week.:bomb:

Even worse one of my flying buddies has a 550xes pro with cf frames. Great to see it fly and all but I WANT MINE!

[Drew816]

It ARRIVED!!! Pics to follow, honest; MAN this sucker is big in comparison to the tinnie winne T-Rex 450! ;)

Ok, what is UP with the length of the servo control rods. What should they 'measure' once the ends are installed? I put in the DS821, the big wheel JR servo and the manual has no total distance specified so it's like a guessing game. Yeap, looked at the Finless vid's and he doesn't say either (that I saw anyway, maybe I missed it)?

Overall I'm impressed, she was in great shape out of the box but I of course took her down, loctite, loosened stuff up, etc, etc.

Help please and pics to follow, I can't WAIT to get this monster in the air!!!

Oh, Dampers for the T-Rex, I'll give that a shot; thanks for the tip!

Happy Flying!

[jayrok1018]

I'm no pro with this bird, but I noticed this in my build as well, and the best solution I came up with was:

Get the arm to the swash positioned level, and ensure your servo is centered.
Fit the wheel on the servo, then test-fit one link.
Make sure the arm to the swash stays level. This link should fit on the other ball smoothly too, test fit, make sure the arm is still level.
Use that link for the measurement to make the next.

(1-4 as per finless' build vids)
Do this for each servo (mine weren't exactly the same)Hope this helps, I'd be happy to hear other suggestions too though!
~!JR!~

[mjdee14]

For the tail rod...just start with the tail arm perpendicular, the slider in the middle, then form there on you will have to test fly and adjust to get a neutral hover. I don't think i ever saw any measurement of any sort given.

the other servos are in the manual.....depending on if your using the offset or not.

[Mikej]

For the swash servos the links should be the same length as the middle of the servo to the middle of the pivot of the lever - see pic below

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51794&d=1213692381

[jayrok1018]

MikeJ - Would that work with the plastic mixer arms too? Looks like you're using the CNC mixer arms, they don't have the offset that the plastic ones do.

[Mikej]

MikeJ - Would that work with the plastic mixer arms too? Looks like you're using the CNC mixer arms, they don't have the offset that the plastic ones do.

Jayrok,

Yep - the links are still the same lengths as the centres, and everything still stays parallel

Here's a quick drawing to show how it works - all links are the same length

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51796&stc=1&d=1213703014

[kahn10]

the principle remains the same...... if your using blank servo wheels especially.set your transmitter up with 0 25 50 75 100 pitch and throttle curves no subtrim.then dead center your throttle stick and depower. you can then fix your links to your mixer arms and with the rear(elevator?) arm dead vertical and the ball dead straight in the servo wheel end use a small drill bit to make a pilot hole for the ball positions on the servo wheel.same applies to your pitch and elevator(hell lets call em left and right)mixing arms with the upper rear surface of the arm being dead horizontal.if you manage to do this accurately you end up perfectly mechanically in trim without having to use subtrim:)apparently a good thing......just like those pics:lolol

[mjdee14]

The offsets work just fine....you just need to make sure they are both the same length.

Check at several positions and ensure they both swivel easy...and one is not binding up. Of course you also have to have both holes drilled correctly on the servo wheel..or you can buy the ready made CF offsets fro rediheli.

The need for offsets has been beet to death on other threads...some say yes, some say no..Gaui designed it that way and many agree it helps the geometry.

[jayrok1018]

riiiiiiiiite... okok... I just double checked my links and they work out the same way. Guess like a lot of things there's lots of techniques to arrive at the same goal. Good stuff!

[Mikej]

Jayrok,

Just seen your sig - I was running DS821's all round until recently but changed my tail servo to a Hyperion Atlas DS20GMD - it has improved things a lot http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=77073

Cheers,
Mike.

[jayrok1018]

Hey Mike, thanks for the 'heads-up' ... I've actually ordered from BP with great success (though I'm in Canada) a few times. Was there anything else stopping you from getting the HDS-277 Digital Servo 2BB MG JR/Hitec?? From what I understand if anything I should be going to an analogue tail servo or upgrading to a 401? Rumour has it (or at least as I've read), that the gy240 is poo with a digital servo? :confused:

[Mikej]

Jayrok,

Nope - it was justthe fact that BP wouldn't ship to dear old blighty.

Cheers,
Mike.

[Drew816]

Ok, got the servo arms all straightened out; the Center to Center of the Servo to the Armature was REALLY what I needed, THANKS! Took a little fiddling but got them all setup.

Now I've never claimed to be a genius when it comes to electrical stuff, I watched and REWATCHED the electronics video from Finless in which he shows his Y Connector/Adaptor setup going to the ESC. I thought I followed this pattern but of course it no workie, workie. What the heck did I do wrong, what goes where and how? I knew from the looks of this it "shouldn't" work but I kept looking at Finless's video and that's what it looks like he did to me?!??

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/DSC03263_small.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/DSC03264_small.jpg

So here's the build so far...

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/Drew816s_550_Gaui.jpg

THANKS and Happy Flying; or in my case, building instead of flying! ;)

[mjdee14]

Ok, got the servo arms all straightened out; the Center to Center of the Servo to the Armature was REALLY what I needed, THANKS! Took a little fiddling but got them all setup.

Now I've never claimed to be a genius when it comes to electrical stuff, I watched and REWATCHED the electronics video from Finless in which he shows his Y Connector/Adaptor setup going to the ESC. I thought I followed this pattern but of course it no workie, workie. What the heck did I do wrong, what goes where and how? I knew from the looks of this it "shouldn't" work but I kept looking at Finless's video and that's what it looks like he did to me?!??

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/DSC03263_small.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/DSC03264_small.jpg

So here's the build so far...

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/Drew816s_550_Gaui.jpg

THANKS and Happy Flying; or in my case, building instead of flying! ;)


Drew....what is the "y" connector you have in the first pictures.....your using a "t" on the bottom....it is a series conn or a parralell conn can't see the way it's wires.....

Are you trying to wire in a BEC? show more of the items your are trying to wire....

If the y hooks into both batteries it's looks like it should work. do you get any power at all to the servos? the ESC may not arm if the throttle channel is reversed...try putting at hig throttle....(UNHOOK THE MOTOR) and see if it arms then...

Just can't tell enough by the pictures...

[Mikej]

It's hard to see from your photos, but I think that you have your connections wrong on the black lead from the ESC - your red from the ESC is correct, but the black from the esc should go to the other orientation tab on the second Deans connector - i.e. if on the red wire from the ESC your are on the "A" tab, and the blue cable is on the "B" tab, then the blue cable goes to the "A" tab on the second connector and the "B" tab on the second connector goes on to the black from the ESC

[Mikej]

Hopefully this might help
http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51843&d=1213733103

[Drew816]

My pictures SUCK!!! I would swear that how you're describing is how I did this; and I'd go to plug in the second battery and ZAP. In hindsight I don't think this was a "...you just shorted the circuit you moron!" zap, maybe it was just "HEY, I'm now 22.2 volts so watch out!" but it was enough to question my wiring. I'll be out of town for the next few days so I was in no 'hurry,' I just needed to get the ESC and BEC up and running with at least one battery to do the servo setup (thanks again for those details!).

That's what I suspect it was, I KNOW I wired this the way you're describing; I just chickened out plugging in the second battery; ya know, blowing up all the electrics on my new build didn't appeal too me too much so I thought I'd check! ;););)

As for the servo arms, the longer arms from the #6 Servo (left front) were TOO long so I had to cut them down just a little bit (and this was with moving positions around on the servo wheels, etc, etc). No biggie but an additional hassle. I of course had to loosen up all the ball links a bit, funny all the one's on the head feel great but the one's you have to assembly were very tight.

How tight do you bolt up the motor to the gears; hard to tell just how loose or tight it is in there but I checked and rechecked and it's messing well so hopefully it's good. A lot different then a T-Rex 450!

We're getting there, thanks again for all the assistance and guidance!!

[Mikej]

You always get a spark when you connect the second battery - it's like "I'm ready to GO !!!" :fly:fly:fly:fly

[Drew816]

Well there you go, that's cool actually but now I'm bummed I undid all my wiring work! :o

Thanks for everyone's assistance; while on travel I'll be reviewing the Finless videos in detail to be ready for the next steps.

Happy Flying!

[Drew816]

Back from my business trip tomorrow, I can get some more work done on the Gaui; HORRAY! Time to re-watch the Finless videos.

So is there anything to setup on the stock 50a ESC? Does it only have those couple of functions listed in the VERY short explanation in the build manual? I can see upgrading the ESC in the future, Castle 65 or 75 I would think (since I'm using a CC BEC on both my other Helo's and will be getting a Castle Link thingie).

Happy Flying!

[mjdee14]

The stock 50a has a nice soft start and yes only has a couple of programable functions....but so far I am very pleased with it.....

I also have castles with the "thingie" but I just don't want to spend the money for one....I also picked up a used Align 75a that I'm going to use in my CF Z30 powered ship.

[mysticmead]

if the soft start in my align 75 was any softer it'd take all day to spool up :D the first time I spun it up I thought it was broken because it took so long to get to speed...not at all like my 450 that spools up in less than a second