FlyMentor Setup By Ivor Hill PLEASE READ FIRST!!

[Orangephoner]

ok THANK YOU SO MUCH
i took the FM off and did that test. if the post above is correct( i think it is) only one servo at a time is moving.
and then i re wired the FM and now it is blinking really fast green
so now the next step in this is to plug it in and do the computer stuff correct?

[Ivor Hill]

Originally Posted by Orangephoner

ok THANK YOU SO MUCH
i took the FM off and did that test. if the post above is correct( i think it is) only one servo at a time is moving.
and then i re wired the FM and now it is blinking really fast green
so now the next step in this is to plug it in and do the computer stuff correct?

Yes that is correct. Follow the set up instructions.

[Orangephoner]

ok so im going to set it up tonight on the computer.
but i would just like to make sure one more thing.
where does everything plug in to the FM from the servos
like which spot 1, 2, 3 , 4, and 5 on the FM does the elevator, Aileron, and aux/pitch and tail plug into? i just want to make sure i have it right.
thanks
christian

[Ivor Hill]

Not familar with the SR but I think the elevator servo is mounted at the front, so looking at the heli from the rear.
The servo that controls the right hand side of the swash connects to port 1 on fm.
The servo that controls the left hand side connects to port 2.
The elevator ( front servo ) connects to port 3 and the tail servo connects to port 5.
If you follow the instructions in the first post it is explaind there.

[batman72]

Sometimes you have to play around with the port mappings as different receivers work differently with FM and also the way how your servos are mounted on the heli. You can't go wrong connecting the servo to different ports, BUT most importantly you must ensure you plug your servo wires in the right direction in FM.


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[Orangephoner]

My biggest problem is the heli program won't recognize my device it always says no device and kds link not found . But the wizard says the kds link with successful

Christian

[batman72]

Please note that a successful install of Helibal does not mean the drivers were installed correctly. When you connect the FM USB cable to the PC with the FM controller connected, the bottom left side of Helibal program should read connected IF your windows driver has been setup correctly. From where I am reading it looks like your drivers are not setup correctly on Windows XP. Are you using Windows XP 32 bit or 64 bit? There is a difference in the installation drivers. If all else fails, you might want to consider getting the KDS Flymentor programming card which Hobbyking is selling.

Do refer to my post#291 on this thread on the driver setup on the previous page. View device manager in control panels in Windows n see if your Virtual Communication port has an exclamation mark on it.


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[Orangephoner]

If I got the programming card would that skip the computer process? And would it be easier. Cause I'm willing to pay if it will work easier and better.

Christian

[batman72]

With the programming card, you do not need the PC at all. The FM controller connects directly to the programming card via the supplied USB cable with the card. This card or box is used for the purpose of configuring FM on the flying field. It really saves you the hazzle of all the driver problems faced in Windows.

Here is the link.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ing%5FBox.html


Programming it is almost similar to the screens in Helibal. You can still use Ivor's tutorial to set up your FM with it. Go to Hobbyking's website n read up on it before ordering one. Cheers

[Ivor Hill]

Often the problem is that people close the found new hardware box instead of telling it to find the driver. If you did this delete everything and install again.
Also go to device manager and check the port number, if it's a high number change it to a low one, 3 is common.

[joshd]

Help ? , I have set up this unit on 3 helis ,all trex 450 v2's but i am trying now to set it up on a 450 pro and i am having problems , i have all the wiring set up as your suggestions.
I can get everything to work properly with the trans moving the swash in the right directions but i can not get the balancer to respond correctly , it always tilts left when i want right , i have reversed the aileron over andf over but it only seems to reverse the trans response not the mentors response , i have tried differant servo settings but then i get a simular responce , i get the aileron responding correctly but the elevator is wrong ,i reverse the elevator but again it changes the trans response but the mentor still goes wrong way ,
why can i set this up on other helius but now its difficult , I have ordered another flymentor and i will try it again unless you can give me some hope.

By the way when its working correctly its is a wonderful help. i can not fly with out it yet.
Josh

[Ivor Hill]

Originally Posted by joshd

Help ? , I have set up this unit on 3 helis ,all trex 450 v2's but i am trying now to set it up on a 450 pro and i am having problems , i have all the wiring set up as your suggestions.
I can get everything to work properly with the trans moving the swash in the right directions but i can not get the balancer to respond correctly , it always tilts left when i want right , i have reversed the aileron over andf over but it only seems to reverse the trans response not the mentors response , i have tried differant servo settings but then i get a simular responce , i get the aileron responding correctly but the elevator is wrong ,i reverse the elevator but again it changes the trans response but the mentor still goes wrong way ,
why can i set this up on other helius but now its difficult , I have ordered another flymentor and i will try it again unless you can give me some hope.

By the way when its working correctly its is a wonderful help. i can not fly with out it yet.
Josh

First of all you must get the swash moving correctly when you tip the heli by useing the servo reverses under the servo tab.
The stick directions come after and are adjusted under the control tab and this does not effect the settings made under the servo tab.
If you get the swash moving correctly in aileron when you tip the heli but elevator is wrong when you tip the heli then swop the servo connections on ports 1 and 2 on FM and set servo directions again.
This will correct the problem.

[Orangephoner]

so i just mounted the fly mentor but when i power on my heli sometimes my receiver light dims. and im getting the red and green light on the FM but when i plug in the FM gyro and CCD camera the light turns off on the FM. and the ESC is getting really warm..
is it drawing to much power? any suggestions?

[Razoredge]

Sounds like you have something plugged in backwards and get a shortcircut. Check directions at all connectors.

[batman72]

That's weird. Did u plug in the CCD n Gyro correctly? On top of the FM controller there are color codings indicating the direction of the colored wires for CCD n GYRO. By right you should have already plugged the Gyro n CCD wires before turning on the FM as it needs to detect both Gyros n CCD as part of initialisation. Check the manual that came on the CD of the Flymentor. It shows you what the green n red LED status represents. If I am not mistaken, no light means FM failed to initialise becoz it failed to detect CCD or Gyro during startup. Just check the manual n make sure your wires are all setup correctly.

[Ivor Hill]

FM will initialize with or without gyro and or camera connected.
If you have no LED then either there is no power, a short, or a faulty unit. From what you have said so far I would say you have a short and have damaged FM, sorry.
FM does not normaly get hot if it is wired correctly, if the servos are connected the wrong way around it will start to get hot and if left like that for any length of time then FM will be damaged.
It sounds like a short and you need to find it, but make shure the servo's are plugged in the correct way, black negative wire outside, lined up with the letters USB.

[batman72]

I've successfully repaired my heli (after 2 weeks since the major crash n waiting for parts), and also during this period, I was able to flush my Turnigy 9x tx to that of ER9X firmware. Initially, setting up the Tx was hard, but after going thru the online ER9x manual and also a short tutorial on how to setup ER9x for helis, it was a breeze setting up this tx.

Let me share my findings on how to setup ER9X with FM here. I am also using this space as a backup storage in case I accidentally deleted my settings from the tx.

The most important of setting up FM is again the swash mixing. By default ER9X does not come with any mixing to each of the 8 channels provided by the Tx. So here are the steps.

This tutorial is with the assumption you know how to navigate thru the different menus on ER9x. This setup was done on the HK450GT PRO from Hobbyking, using a Mystery 40A ESC, Turnigy 2218 motor, HKT900 Servos, Turnigy 9x Rx and build in gyro of FM.

Step 1
~~~~~
1. Goto Setup Menu 03: Setup a new Model for your FM. I called mine FM450.
2. The rest of the menu settings can be found in the manual and not important in setting up FM.

Step 2
~~~~~
1. Goto Curves Menu (7/10).
2. Set the following throttle curves
-------CV1 => -100 -15 0 50 100
-------CV2 => -100 -100 -100 -100 -100
3. CV1 is for your normal throttle curve. If you want to use a 9 point curve, goto curve 9 and above.
4. CV2 is for your throttle cut switch. That is why all values are negative 100.

Step 3
~~~~~
1. Goto Limits Menu (6/10)
2. Set all limits from -100 to 100.

Step 4 (most important step)
~~~~~
1. Goto Mixer (5/10)
2. Follow the following settings:-
CH1 100% AIL
CH2 100% ELE

CH3 100% THR C1
R 100% THR THR C2

CH4 100% RUD
CH5 100% P2 ON
CH6 100% THR
CH7 100% P3 ON
3. CH 5 is the tail rudder gain which is assigned to Hover knob on top right of Tx.
CH7 is to control the gain for FM to be in Balance or Position mode. This is assigned to Knob PIT TRIM which is on the left of the Tx facing you.
4. If you do not know how to setup the above on the mixer, go read the ER9x manual.

Step 5
~~~~~
1. Now plug your FM into the computer and configure following Ivor's guide. If the servos are reverse, just reverse their direction from Helibal.
2. It is up to you if you want to setup EXPO/DR on your Tx, I have done mine to provide 3 level of sensitivity for the servos and throttle which is assigned to the F.MODE 3 way switch on the right of the Tx.

If you are still confused on what I am writing above, you have to read the ER9x manual. Your knowledge on the ER9x is too shallow if you do not understand the above.

My next experiment would be to find out how to setup FM to work with ER9x for inverted flight. Although I am not a 3D pilot, I was just thinking of finding it out whether it is possible to do invert flying on Flymentor. I heard people have done it, but I don't really see how I can really set this up correctly on FM. Anyone has done it before, please provide suggestions or tips.

As for the first few test flights, the heli flew awkardly in hover. Then it started to do rock n roll moving forward and backwards. Well, to solve it, I loosen the main tail blade screw a bit (blade grip too tight) and that solves the rock n roll.

After hovering with 5 Lipo packs, the heli has broken in and was flying pretty steady and FM was working like a charm. I could virtually let go of the cyclic and throttle stick and the heli stays put. I have this time, arranged the wires of the servos properly, as my previous crash was caused by some lost of control from Tx to Rx due to overlapping servo wires over the Rx antennae. With the Mystery 40A's SBEC @ 4A, 5.5v, I am pretty sure FM and the Turnigy Rx and all Servos are receiving healthy current and voltage. The beautiful part about the mystery 40A is it is small enough to tuck right under the battery tray inside the body of the HK450GT PRO. Now I can mount my Align Canopy properly into the heli. I would suggest anyone to go buy that ESC, smallest I can find and has super soft start. I love it.

I can't wait for this weekend (tomorrow) to fly my e-circuits again. I got a total of 9 Lipo packs which should last me around 1.2 hours of flight time using a 11T pinion (yes I downgraded from 13T).

[Jayray]

Hello Ivor. I have a problem, I hope you recognize it. I have a 450 with flymentor and turnigy 9x TX. I think it's a setting in kds software. My heli will hover at full throttle about 8 inches off ground. I can not get any higher then that. Everything seems appropriate I think in the TX settings.do you recognize the problem?

[batman72]

Sounds like you don't have enought pitch. Did u measure your pitch at full throttle using a pitch gauge with the motor cable disconnected? At full throttle u shd be getting about 10-11 degrees positive.

Do this, put your throttle stick midway on Tx. Then adjust the elevetor settings under servos tab in Helibal until your servo arms r horizontal. By right this shd be around 0 to 2 degrees pitch. If u have negative pitch, it seems your servo arms might be out of alignment.

[Jayray]

Originally Posted by batman72

Sounds like you don't have enought pitch. Did u measure your pitch at full throttle using a pitch gauge with the motor cable disconnected? At full throttle u shd be getting about 10-11 degrees positive.

Do this, put your throttle stick midway on Tx. Then adjust the elevetor settings under servos tab in Helibal until your servo arms r horizontal. By right this shd be around 0 to 2 degrees pitch. If u have negative pitch, it seems your servo arms might be out of alignment.

Did that all servos are at 90 at mid stick, had a experianced flyer take a look at it he said he thought it must be in the kds software settings. What do you think? Thanks for the help.