Favorite FBL choice for year 2015

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by Coco66

And I hardly understand why they set up an FBL unit at all... buy BNF, then.

But the Neo knows which direction positive pitch is without an extra setting. I'm not saying that is hard to do correctly, but it is another place to store redundant information that allows a person to make a mistake in the first place.

It's just like external governors. I can't tell you how many people I know who wrecked their helis on startup because they didn't have the spinup transition set properly. The blades folded and destroyed the boom and blades and caused other damage.

I personally use Kontronik ESC's internal governors because they always spin up well and just work great. Should I not setup a FBL controller because I prefer that simplicity ?

BTW at the speed cup I saw a few people (not using Kosmiks) manually spin their blades before flipping out of TH because of the hard kick they got during spinup.

[Thunder Fighter]

To the OP question, I like to try and fly several different FBL controllers as I find it leads to a better understanding of how they work, how easy they are to setup and tune and I can judge their improvements against each other as they update their firmware each time.

I currently have VBar's (5.3), Brain/Ikon's, SK720BL and Neuron's. In the past I did have a couple of BeastX's but when the updates slowed down I got bored and sold them.

I think they all fly well and are easy to setup, some need more tuning and others are very good straight away, but it can be different depending on model size as well.

I do like using my Android phone and BT to tune them at the field, so I am probably going to sell my Skookum and Mikado are making things difficult by only supporting the Vcontrol and PC for setup and tuning, having dropped BT support. So at this point I don't see myself going for a Neo. I also prefer to use FBL systems that have a built in E governor, which has left a few of the controllers off the list until recently, so I may have to give them a try as well.

I am enjoying the new entry, the Neuron, I have found it was very close on setup with the first model I put it on, the cyclic feel is right where I like it and the rescue function (although I don't really use it) has been excellent in the testing I have done.

The Brain/ikon usually needs a bit of work to get the tail sorted, especially on smaller Heli's, but the cyclic is nice although a little on the Fluid/Flybar/vivid side for me but it can be mostly tuned out.

The Vbar is still the one others are judged by, but the gap is getting very narrow now, it still is the one that works well straight off the bench and usually needs very little tuning to get a great flying Heli on any size.

The Skookum was lagging behind in feel, but has improved greatly with the last major firmware update, but the limitation of only 2 banks and no wireless tuning means it is currently on the shelf and may go up for sale before it gets fitted to another Heli.

The feel of a FBL system is very personal on what you like, most can be adjusted at least someway towards your preferences but many people either don't bother, find it too complex, or don't have experience (or flying skill) to do it.

These are just my random comments, and different people will like different controllers for very different reasons, e.g. Price, setup, feel, complexity, tuning, etc. The advice I generally give people when starting out is to get one that the people around you are familiar with, that way you will get a lot of support and generally be successful early on. Once you have gained some skill then go and try a few others that appeal to you on features till you find the ones you like, but remember with updates they are often leapfrogging each other.

//Dennis.

[Xfreak3D]

Thanks Dennis great post.. have u tried a spartan?

[Steve Joblin]

I haven't read through all these posts yet, but I do want to give a shout out to the new kid on the block, the EZNov Neuron! Super small, super easy to set up, super performance, super price!!!

[shawnlh]

#8. Futaba CGY750

[Thunder Fighter]

Originally Posted by Xfreak3D

Thanks Dennis great post.. have u tried a spartan?

No, not yet, I've been waiting for the E governor to be sorted. It and the Spirit are a couple I've been waiting for them to get the gov sorted on before I try them. Maybe when I sell the Skookum I will grab one of them and give it a try.

//Dennis.

[Xfreak3D]

I thought the v3.08 latest update has very stable version?

[LinusLarsson]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

It's just like external governors. I can't tell you how many people I know who wrecked their helis on startup because they didn't have the spinup transition set properly. The blades folded and destroyed the boom and blades and caused other damage.

I personally use Kontronik ESC's internal governors because they always spin up well and just work great. Should I not setup a FBL controller because I prefer that simplicity ?

BTW at the speed cup I saw a few people (not using Kosmiks) manually spin their blades before flipping out of TH because of the hard kick they got during spinup.

You're attacking a strawman here. This isn't true for all external governors, and not a problem that can't be solved for all governors, perhaps harder if you need to run ESC in airplane mode. The V-Bar uses the ESC softstart and kicks in governor once a certain headspeed is reached. A shitty softstart is an ESC issue and not an external governor issue. My Castle ESCs spins up as slow or fast as I want it.

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by LinusLarsson

You're attacking a strawman here. This isn't true for all external governors, and not a problem that can't be solved for all governors, perhaps harder if you need to run ESC in airplane mode. The V-Bar uses the ESC softstart and kicks in governor once a certain headspeed is reached. A shitty softstart is an ESC issue and not an external governor issue. My Castle ESCs spins up as slow or fast as I want it.

I probably should have been specific. Most of the time I've seen this with YGE's. At the speed cup some people had the 320A 14S and 16S version.

[Laughingstill]

That can be fixed in setup as well...

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by Laughingstill

That can be fixed in setup as well...

It seems a lot of people have issues with it. I heard a number of people saying that YGE's kick a lot on startup, including those using VBar systems.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that this stuff isn't automatic or as simple as using an internal governor.

[newbheliusr]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

It seems a lot of people have issues with it. I heard a number of people saying that YGE's kick a lot on startup, including those using VBar systems.



I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that this stuff isn't automatic or as simple as using an internal governor.

I use yge in my x5 and 7 and the vbar gov, and Never have I seen what you are describing. Setup properly it does a very nice soft start.

[Laughingstill]

YGE did have an issue with soft start, a year ago. It has been fixed since then soot someone is having that issue they can send it in for the new firmware if they have an older ESC, or if they buy new they are ok...

[oliver1071]

Originally Posted by Coco66

Come on, ONE pilot experiencing that thing ONCE... and most probably it's just vibes...

Have you continued to follow that spirt thread https://www.helifreak.com/showthread...=710551&page=2

They really should take the troubleshooting offline because the explanations don't instill confidence in the system. I wonder if all rescue systems suffer from the limitations they are talking about?
I would hate to mess up the zero just by walking to the flight line or laying the heli on it's site after initializing on a level surface or no stick input for a given time.

I guess it's a great feature that the VControl shows you the level of rescue at any given time so you could check what it thinks is level at anytime.

[CZorzella]

Originally Posted by oliver1071

I guess it's a great feature that the VControl shows you the level of rescue at any given time so you could check what it thinks is level at anytime.

When you said VControl, you really meant to say VBar NEO, right?

[oliver1071]

Originally Posted by CZorzella

When you said VControl, you really meant to say VBar NEO, right?

I did mean the Vcontrol. I don't think the Neo will show the rescue level on any TX other than a VControl. I would imagine it shows in the software? Maybe never looked. But that wouldn't help at the flight line.

[mkovalcson]

nm...

[oliver1071]

Sorry to keep bringing up the Control on a FBL discussion it's just hard to separate the two. They are basically one cohesive system I really wouldn't do one without the other.

[CZorzella]

Originally Posted by oliver1071

I did mean the Vcontrol. I don't think the Neo will show the rescue level on any TX other than a VControl. I would imagine it shows in the software? Maybe never looked. But that wouldn't help at the flight line.

Oliver, your information doesn't seem correct!

Originally Posted by Larry227

I have two Neos and using my DX8. I have Rescue on the bind button and moved the button over to underneath the FM switch.
To initiate rescue I push the button and release it immediately. The heli rights itself and gives positive collective to ascend. How much positive it gives can be adjusted. I left mine at the default value of 60.
To end rescue you simply move the throttle/collective stick. That turns it off.

If you want to over ride it with elevator or aileron you can do that you just have to move the sticks to their extremes. It's almost like having 80% expo or something. But it won't actually exit rescue mode until you move the throttle/collective in one direction or the other.

I haven't tried hitting the button again to see if that stops rescue.

[CZorzella]

vbar NEO setup with DX9

vbar NEO setup with DX9 (9 min 20 sec)

vbar NEO rescue test with DX9

vbar NEO rescue test with DX9 (0 min 51 sec)