New to EP200 need help/advice.

[Armour Nut]

Hello,I have just registered and this is my 1st post.I only found this site by chance.I have been looking at posts but there is so many and i am new to CP heli`sI need a bit of advice for starters to get me going.

I have been using a twin rotor heli(Hirobo)for some time ,I know these are easy to fly and stable BUT it has been great for me to learn oreintation.

I wanted to progress to a larger machine but my LHS only has larger helis.I want to stay indoors at the present time so the EP200 is the correct size.Reading posts here i have realised that the EP is not easy to fly and not a good first heli for novice.But the parts are cheap and i do not mind any down time it is all part of the hobby.

I got the heli second hand BUT it has very been fully built or flown.It is a EP200SE with all metal head parts and silver frame.It came with 3 HITEC hs45,1 HITEC HS50,Fut 401 GY,CASTLE 10AMP THROTTLE,Gaui red motor,2 cell 800mah lipo.

The heli was dismantled and i have buil it with manual for help.Here are my first 2 possible probs.

When instaling the hs45`s i can not get the servo rods to line up verticla in all plans,posts i have seen here mention they shold be.
The blades i have are plastic(soft)Will these lift the heli.Read they must be carbon?
At the moment i will be happy to get enough lift to be head height to get the feel of things.

Once i know if the parts i have will at least fly i will have to read up on pitch curves etc.The heli came with a spectrem 7 radio.Can anyone point me to a good post on pitch/throttle etc setup.

[stoatnchips]

Well, it sounds like you have a good set of equipment... just need some fine tweaking. The only thing i would say is the CC 10A controller maybe a little under rated once you have progressed from Hovering.
Watch Bobs 450 series of Videos for help setting up the cylic/CCPM they are a must for anyone new to CP helis. Next, if your asking about getting servo horns level, links vertical and a 7mm gap and mid stick, then you will need a spare links pack and cut down some longer liks. The Kit as standard has links which are just too short. The Foam Blades work much better than you think they will.... and are a must for a newbie to CP Helis... your gunna crash and these blades should last a few impacts. Get your self some Blade CX2 training gear too.

I can only share my DX7 settings.... but you may need to change the curves slightly as i'm not sure about the CC ESC or kV of this "Red" motor and the reversing maybe different if your not using a Ar6100 and the Hitecs...

EXP
Aile +30
Elev +30
Rudder +20

Channel Rev

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
N N N N N R N

Swash Mix

Aile -53
Elev -50
Pit -50

Throttle - Norm/ST-1/ST-2

0, 55, 80, 95, 100

Pitch - Norm/ST-1/ST-2/Hold

40, INH, 60, INH, 100

I don't use stunt 1 or 2 yet and mechanically set the pitch up from -9 to +9. I then found where -2 degs was (40% stick) and set this as my first point on the curve... that way i get a range of -2 to +9. As you start, you'll only be hovering and only use a stick range between about 60 & 80% so as long as this range is linear you'll have no worries. Others may suggest differently, especially for the throttle curve but remeber.... the smaller the motor, the less efficient it is. Thats the reason for the curve i chose.

[freefall]

I got a ep200 has first heli.It was hard at first but keep in there.

[psindrup]

When instaling the hs45`s i can not get the servo rods to line up verticla in all plans,posts i have seen here mention they shold be.

1) With a linear pitch curve, place your throttle stick it its centre possision.
2) Make sure your servo arms are at 90 degrees (horizontal) - use sub trim if nessesary.
3) Adjust the links so you have 7mm between the top of the frame and the bottom of the swash plate.


The blades i have are plastic(soft)Will these lift the heli.Read they must be carbon?

Forget that they are soft. They fly great.
(Carbon blades are not available for the Gaui 200)

Peter

[small.planes]

just a little trick I use, set the TH pitch curve to 50% flat across the board, that way it doesnt matter where the stick is. you can switch between TH and normal/Idle up to check the travels, knowing that the adjustments you might need to make are at 50% :thumbup:

Dave

[stoatnchips]

Dave... thats just about as simple as it gets!!! kinda pi55ed that i never thought of that one!!:thumbup:

[Armour Nut]

Thanks for the help guy`s.
I have the DX7 radio unit and i am trying to understand the Normal,st1,st2 and idle up functions,This is all new to me and to be honest i am a little confused.

[eyeflyhelis]

Aile -53
Elev -50
Pit -50.

i have mine at
Aile -90
Elev -85
Pit -60
using the hs45 servos
and also use travel adjustment screen for gyro instead of gyro screen
gear (ch5) 40 / 50

[eyeflyhelis]

just a little trick I use, set the TH pitch curve to 50% flat across the board, that way it doesnt matter where the stick is. you can switch between TH and normal/Idle up to check the travels, knowing that the adjustments you might need to make are at 50% :thumbup:

Dave

agree & disagree 50% on norm but st1 (80) st2 (95) other wise your headspeedwill be to low when you do a hard climb out it will turn your tail 90*
but more importantly 0* pitch must be set to 50% on all 3 modes that way when you flip into idle up it wont go ballistic

[stoatnchips]

First of all are you happy with what pitch & Throttle curves are?If youre coming fom coax.. then ther is probably a lot for you to pick up...If you are, then just think of Normal & idle up as just 2 different sets of curves that you have pre-programmed. Normal is usually used to fly and idle up for doing tricks or 3d. Stunt mode is just another name for idle up... depends on TX manufacturer. Stunt 2 or Idle 2 is just yet another pre programmable set of curves that some Txs have... perhaps set for inverted flight or whatever you choose.
Just start with programming Normal mode... and if you understand what Dave said... you could program stunt 1 mode for the following:

Throttle & Pitch to both be:
50, inh, inh, inh, 50

that way, you only need to switch to stunt 1 on the TX (top left switch) when you set up the links on your head.... its then guarenteed to be central stick ;-)

[stoatnchips]

i have mine at
Aile -90
Elev -85
Pit -60
using the hs45 servos
and also use travel adjustment screen for gyro instead of gyro screen
gear (ch5) 40 / 50


Am thinking of moving to the Hitec... If J-Heli ever reports back on weather its worth it ;)

I was wondering what the distance from center of the hole is to the ball link?? 90 & 85 seem quite high... are you going for +/-11 or 12 on the pitch range too by using 60?
thanks
Stoat

[J-Heli]

Am thinking of moving to the Hitec... If J-Heli ever reports back on weather its worth it ;)

Yes. It definitely is worth it! The blue birds were good enough, but the hitecs are wonderful. I'd definitely go with the hitecs. The Spektrum DSP60s work great too.

[small.planes]

eyeflyhelis,
Setting a pitch curve to 50% across is only whilst your setting up the head, if you get it right that is 0 degrees, and it wont fly like that anyway ;)
after setting the links up then you set a 'normal' set of curves in the TX. What it saves you from is having to fiddle with the TX sticks to get them in the middle when trying to establish the Head setup.
Incidently my pitch curves are something like (dont have my DX7 at work):
TH and Normal: 30 inh 50 inh 100 - give a small amount of -ve pitch,
and Idle up 1 and 2 0 inh 50 inh 100 - symetrical -ve and +ve pitch.
Throttle curves are something like:
Normal: 0 85 85 inh 100 - give a spool up then basically flat, with a slight lift,
Idle up 1 and 2 100 inh 85 inh 100 - symetrical V curve. - Im not doing anything even close to 'sport flying' yet, so not maxed out these, or tweaked number 2.

The top halves of my normal curves match the top halves of my idle up ones, which is a *good thing*

I fly in idle up 1 mostly, use normal to spool up then flip into idleup, or bring into the hover then flip into idle up. When flying outside its good to have -ve available to bring it back down after the inevitable wind ballooning. Im not doing any stunts yet, but idle up is not a scary thing, and not something to be avoided until you can do stunts IMHO. Just keep your finger on the TH switch, dont slam down the stick when its going to crash :thumbup:

Dave

[eyeflyhelis]

eyeflyhelis,
Setting a pitch curve to 50% across is only whilst your setting up the head, if you get it right that is 0 degrees, and it wont fly like that anyway ;)

who says? i have 7 helis all are 50% stick input = 0* of pitch
a helicopter will hover with 0* of pitch in ground affect. i run = + &- curves. in fact many people ask me to help set up their helis and all but 1 prefer them this way so far.

+/- 12.5* of pitch and 8* of cyclic, no weights on the fly bar and its fast as all heck. only problem is on 2s dn's and eflite (both 10c) it loads badly, 2s tp (15c) was much better but still lacked punch; going to 3s as soon as it gets here since i tried 3s 1350mah (15c) but it was to heavy.

& i now lost the dang link for the tail blade to pitch arm so that in the mail also - bummer :oops:

[eyeflyhelis]

btw im liking the hs45's and im at center hole in my heavy arms (makes a straight 90* line to swash)

[psindrup]

eyeflyhelis,
Setting a pitch curve to 50% across is only whilst your setting up the head, if you get it right that is 0 degrees, and it wont fly like that anyway ;)
Dave

who says? i have 7 helis all are 50% stick input = 0* of pitch
a helicopter will hover with 0* of pitch in ground affect.

Dave said across - meaning a pitch curve of 50-50-50-50-50

I don't expect that it is that pitch curve your friends are happy with. :nanabobo

Peter

[eyeflyhelis]

Dave said across - meaning a pitch curve of 50-50-50-50-50

I don't expect that it is that pitch curve your friends are happy with. :nanabobo

Peter
when i say across i mean all 3 modes - norm, st1, st2.
as you put it the way Dave said across i interpret that differently - straight curve- in nitro that is how we set the gov in some applications
a linear curve would be from 0-50-100

[small.planes]

I thought Id said it plainly enough here:

set the TH pitch curve to 50% flat across the board, that way it doesnt matter where the stick is.
(Emphasis added)

Guess it shows that people read different things from the same words <Shrug>

Dave

[psindrup]

when i say across i mean all 3 modes - norm, st1, st2.


On the pitch curve? That would be damn hard to fly with! :happyd

Peter

[Jetleaf]

He said he set it like that for SETUP only.