Help with 360 CFX

[toadiscoil]

Hi all. I have read some posts regarding this but I was hoping a fellow Helifreak'er can help me out. Has anyone had the experience with a 360 CFX? This will be my first ever CP heli (gasp) and I have ordered it yesterday. It seems like everybody wants one or Horizon Hobby did not make enough because it was backordered so I got it from Helidirect and I also could not find the stock battery so I ordered a Venom with the right plugs so I do not have to solder. I wanted a Pulse since I have read good comments about it but I am not ready to solder yet. I come from a 200 SRX background, completely redoing it with AL and CF parts so I know my way around servo setup, and overall connections. I know CP's are quite a bit different, so just looking for some advice on someone who has needed to tweak the 360 CFX. I will likely use the D/R to limit the amount of play on the swash to tame it down. Any more tips or advice or points to other posts welcome! Thanks in advance!

[Ron_R]

Download the manual for the ar7200bx online and read it. Then go through the settings on the Heli once you get it.

The ar7200bx has two ways to tone things down. I believe the factory default is in "Sport" mode which is a nice tame setting and has all the D/R and expo dialed in already. The other option is put it in "Transmitter" mode and dial in your own D/R and Expo. I have 2 ar7200bx's, one on a Goblin 500 and the other on an X3 an they are both in "Sport" and fly very smoothly.

Make sure you check all the screws are loctited before you lift off.

The other thing you can do is to get a Castle Link so you can change the head speeds on the ESC. I believe the ESC is a CC Edge 35, so you can lower the head speed with your PC.

[Russell Harding]

You have a lot to learn. Dual rate will not limit swash movement on a FBL helicopter.

It may or may not limit the roll rate (can't recall the stock settings for the 360).

Good luck. Go slow. Test setup with blades off. Make sure you know how to properly test control and gyro correction directions before maiden. Hopefully you have a sim.

[Spielco]

Doing the same thing here. Just got a 360cfx and is counted as my first real birdbird. Only owned blade micros. I'm in love with hope hope you find the same. I was able to get help getting all my transmitters setting done with a local expert. He did make some changes from what the book called for. Biggest change I noticed was in the 7200 where we tightened up the tail. It was real sloppy before nope it stops on a dime making my flying much smoother.
Best of luck enjoy your newest addiction

[toadiscoil]

So, took a quick peek at the manual but it seems like it has gain dials. I have not received the heli yet (two more days to go it seems!!) so I wanted to know if toning down on the dials will help with "taming" the heli. I have logged some hours on Heli-X but on a Goblin 380 but after I almost wrecked my 200 SRX in real life switching it to Expert mode seems like I have some more to learn on real life. I have been having trouble trying to get SAFE to work right on Beginner and Intermediate, as no matter how much I adjust the servos and swash links, it always wants to bank side ways. Then I do a Trim Flight and SAFE over-compensates and goes the other way. I managed to get a nice hover on Expert turning on SAFE and behaving more like a CP (sans the negative pitch) but when I swapped in and out of Intermediate/Expert it banked again on Intermediate and over-compensated switching back to Expert. Thankfully it was just a broken tail rotor.
So will the gain dials do the trick you think? Thanks a lot for the tips, that was very helpful!

[Ron_R]

Originally Posted by toadiscoil

S
So will the gain dials do the trick you think? Thanks a lot for the tips, that was very helpful!

Don't mess with those little pots on the ar7200bx until after you fly the Heli. Leave them at "0", or put them there if they moved during shipping.

Please review the manual thoroughly before messing with any of the settings.

[Imzzaudae]

Hello.

Watch these videos first then you will be able to adjust the transmitter and tame the helicopter.

Blade 450 X Setup Tutorial: Parameters Menu Adjustments (10 min 12 sec)

Blade 450 X Setup Tutorial: Dial Adjustments (3 min 40 sec)

AR7200BX How To Complete Initial Setup Guide (19 min 48 sec)

Make sure you watch this one!

AR7200BX Parameter Menu Setup Guide With Governor Settings (16 min 18 sec)

As you are a newcomer, I'd suggest you set your swash maximum
5 deg of Aileron and Elevator maximum throw.
10+ 10- deg maximum collective!

Transmitter mode settings .
If you chose to us transmitter settings
Aileron DR 60 Expo 30
Elevator DR 60 Expo 30
Rudder DR 100 Expo 0

Throttle Curve Normal mode
0 40 80 80 80

Pitch curve.
Normal mode with Pitch maximums +10 and - 10
25 45 65 75 100

This should give you a nice tame flying helicopter!
Just relax and breath. If you can fly the 200 well. You will be ok with 450X it's a very nice flying helicopter. Just relax and give yourself lots of time to get used to the power and speed.

Ron

[Russell Harding]

I'm going to say again you have a TON to learn.

The gain settings are for the flight controller behavior control loops - the flight controller has to be configurable to work on $300 RTF helicopters that weight 1lb up to 13lb 700 sized competition machines.

That is one thing that should be set properly from the factory.

As mentioned above, read the WHOLE manual (yeah, all 60 pages or whatever) and read up on terms you don't understand. These are really complex machines, both electronically and mechanically.

All the parts of the helicopter are re-configurable (motor controller, flight controller, receiver, transmitter, servos), so they don't always play nice together and they need to be setup. In your case the helicopter will be fine, but the transmitter part will need to be setup and verified. Take your time and don't go spinning dials until you know what they do.

[Imzzaudae]

I would agree 100% with Cod3Medic!

You must study diligently. Make sure you understand what your working on, check double check and triple check every function. Once you spool up and it starts doing the funky chicken, it's a little late and very expensive.

[toadiscoil]

Wow that was some overwhelming read through the AR7200BX manual! I think I got most of it, of course I am not familiar with how the heli will react if I play around with those. The first part of setup should already come pre-programmed. I hope the heli is aligned or I will keep it grounded for a significant time while I get it right. It seems like to start off if the model is well built from the factory would be to set Parameter option B to Normal. I think this will give me what I am experiencing on Expert/High Rates on my 200 SRX. Or I can set it to Transmitter and seems like that way I can try to play around with D/R and expo settings. I did note that Normal sets low rotation, but high expo, so the stick will be more responsive but give less maximum angle? I just want to make sure I am understanding this. I will keep on practicing on Expert on the 200 SRX in the meantime. I am able to fly it fairly well on a "Sport" type flying on a field but on Intermediate/High Rates still with SAFE helping me out. I am hovering at low altitude when I swap to Expert and have SAFE off. It seems like also the manual suggests to quickly pull up on the throttle to get it off the ground quickly or the heli will tend to bank. This is also what I see on the 200 SRX trying to lift off on Expert.

[Russell Harding]

I'm glad we got you closer to knowing what you don't know!

look back to my first post. Control directions, gyro correction directions, and throttle are the critical things you must verify after binding to a new transmitter.

We can help if you have specific questions.

I'll leave you with this youtube playlist I made: (Watch on the youtube site and it will auto-play at the good parts)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...RF0LTnAMZNDA7X

[toadiscoil]

All the posts here have helped me tremendously. I managed my first short hover without a crash! I tweaked the D/R by using the transmitter setting on the AR but I don't feel a lot of difference. I read that D/R does not affect FBL but thought it would if I set the AR to transmitter. Should I just stick with the lowest "Normal" setting? The thing is powerful! A little collective will get you a long way! Should I tweak the pitch curve to decrease also the overall power so that it is smoother? I started off with the Spektrum setup downloaded from their site. That seemed to work fine with throttle hold and modes already on where I probably would have put them myself.

[Imzzaudae]

Try this.
Normal mode,Throttle curve.
0 60 80 80 80

Normal mode Pitch curve.
25 45 65 75 100

Aileron and Elevator DR switches position 0
Aileron DR 50 Expo 30
Elevator DR 50 Expo 30
Rudder DR Expo 100 INH

Aileron and Elevator DR switches position 1
Aileron DR 65 Expo 30
Elevator DR 65 Expo 30
Rudder DR Expo 100 INH

This Throttle curve will give you lots of head speed, Pitch curve will make the collective much less sensitive but still give you some reverse thrust.

Aileron and Elevator DR
Switch position 0 will give you a very soft Aileron and Elevator feel
Aileron DR 50 Expo 30
Elevator DR 50 Expo 30
Rudder DR Expo 100 INH Very solid rudder
While your just learning.

Switch position 1 will give you a little more Aileron and Elevator Authority as you gain experience.
Aileron DR 65 Expo 30
Elevator DR 65 Expo 30
Rudder DR Expo 100 INH

For a much more aggressive feel
Switch position 0
Aileron DR 75 Expo 30
Elevator DR 75 Expo 30
Rudder DR Expo 100 INH

Switch position1
Aileron DR 85 Expo 30
Elevator DR 85 Expo 30
Rudder DR 100 Expo INH

Stunt Mode
80 80 80 80 80 throttle curve
Use the Same Pitch curve in Idle up. No upside down!
Same Aileron and Elevator and Rudder DR and Expo

Should help you lots .

When you feel more comfortable.
Normal mode Throttle.
60 100 100 100 100
Stunt mode Throttle
100 100 100 100 100

[Ron_R]

He can't change the throttle curves without getting the Castle Link so he is stuck using Gov mode IIRC. It's a Talon 35 on the 360 CFX.

[toadiscoil]

Now that you mentioned modding the 360 to add SAFE, I have read about the POD and the issues with lack of strength on the tail motor of the 200 SRX (which I also have). Is that because there is not enough power going out to the tail motor and that is why a secondary ESC is being added? If that is the case, wouldn't just a beefier ESC do the trick? Finally, is SAFE on the receiver or on the ESC so if I swap out the ESC would it remove SAFE or not? And how hard would it be to reprogram the ESC if I swap it out? This would help me gain experience in modding. I think I will keep the 360 on Normal for now in stock probably just the landing gear and the canopy mounts instead of plastic, carbon/aluminum.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by toadiscoil

Now that you mentioned modding the 360 to add SAFE, I have read about the POD and the issues with lack of strength on the tail motor of the 200 SRX (which I also have). Is that because there is not enough power going out to the tail motor and that is why a secondary ESC is being added? If that is the case, wouldn't just a beefier ESC do the trick? Finally, is SAFE on the receiver or on the ESC so if I swap out the ESC would it remove SAFE or not? And how hard would it be to reprogram the ESC if I swap it out? This would help me gain experience in modding. I think I will keep the 360 on Normal for now in stock probably just the landing gear and the canopy mounts instead of plastic, carbon/aluminum.

200 SRX and 360 CFX are VERY different.

The 200 has a dual ESC as the one unit runs 2 motors (at different speeds) and provides a BEC current for the RX and electrics. It has a throttle input/bec output a rudder input a main motor 3 pole output a tail motor female servo plug output and a power input. There is no programming instructions for this ESC.

The 360 uses a CC Talon 35 to run just the main motor and provide 5.5V BEC to the electrics. It has battery input (6S preferable), motor output and a throttle signal input (BEC output).

Safe is in the RX (not the ESC). You do not want to replace the AR7200BX with the AR636H. AR636H is programmed for a FP helicopter that does not use pitch (collective) input.

Swapping the ESC on the 200 will not remove safe, but you need either a dual ESC, or 2 ESC's (2 motors). If using 2 ESC's remove one of the power wires from either the throttle or the rudder connections (dualing BEC's is bad news).

Just from the questions asked, I'd recommend keeping the 360 stock as you suggested. If the 200 tail is having problems holding, I'd first look to ensure the tail prop is slipping on the shaft at all.

[toadiscoil]

Help! I don't know if I can damage my collective/swash servo. I have flown one pack on a nice low altitude hover to get started and so far so good, minor force landing a couple times but no damage. I read through the AR7200 manual and I changed the Parameter Setting B Control Behavior but I don't know if I changed the Setup Setting B Swash Frequency. I looked on the manual and found the servo part number but the AR7200 servo reference does not list the Hz frequency so I don't know how to fix it if I messed it up. The heli flew fine but I set the Control Behavior and changed the D/R but nothing happened so I went back to the manual to move it to Normal when I noticed I might have entered the wrong menu level. As a side note, is there a setup file that maybe I could get if I buy the USB interface to restore the settings or at least a script for the 360 I can check the menus to ensure the setup is right?

[Ron_R]

My memory is failing at the moment, but there is a way to revert back to the factory default settings of the ar7200bx and start fresh again.

You should be able to tell what settings you are in by the color of the lights and whether they are flashing or solid as per the ar7200bx manual.

Assuming the servos are the Spektrum H3020, the swash frequency is 200Hz and for the tail it should be set to 1520 at 165Hz as per the ar7200bx set up guide.

[Russell Harding]

Factory defaults are not 360cfx defaults.

I don't think there is a way to revert for an rtf heli.

[Ron_R]

Originally Posted by Code3Medic

Factory defaults are not 360cfx defaults.

I don't think there is a way to revert for an rtf heli.

Actually, it is very likely that the factory default is indeed the default for the 360 CFX for the unit that comes with the 360 CFX. It is exactly that way with the 300 CFX. They did that specifically for this reason.