Installing the AR7200BX on the Thunder Tiger 325 Mini Titan

[Rotater]

I have not seen anything about this posted here before so I thought I would post how I setup my TT Mini Titan 325 with the AR7200BX in case it might be of use to someone else thinking about doing the same.

I ordered the Thunder Tiger Mini Titan E325 V2 450 size Flybarless Helicopter for $320 from Tower Hobbies, it came to $270 with the Tower super saver discount which I thought was a pretty good deal for a quality heli. This is the Flybarless ARF version with the motor and speed controller but no servos and no 3 axis gyro.
I decided to go with the Align servos that are used on the Trex 450. I got a good deal on them and I have had good luck with Align on my 3D planes. 415M on the collective and 425M on the tail.

I picked up an AR7200BX that was used on a Blade 550X for a reasonable price.

Since it comes preassembled there was not much to put it together. The Align servos fit perfectly in the existing mounts. I installed the motor controller under the frame between the landing gear legs as it fit real well there and was easy to get at. I installed the BX in the recommended location at the back above the tail boom. As you can see in one of the pics I had to cut a small part of the frame away for clearance for the antenna wires.

The holes for the linkage balls in the Align servo arms were very close to the distance recommended in the TT instruction manual, 12.5mm on the collective and 10.5 mm on the tail.

Setting up the BX and the control linkages was a bit of a PITA. Learning each of the setup steps took awhile. I went through everything twice to make sure I had it right. It is a bit of a learning curve but once the purpose of each of the steps is understood it is not very difficult. For me that was one of the reasons for this project, learning to setup a flybarless controller.

To get it flying and as a starting point I used the recommended settings for the Blade450X in my DX6i Tx.

Here are the settings I used;

Spektrum DX6i

Swash Type – 1 servo 90 deg.
Throttle – N
Aileron – N
Elevator – N
Rudder – R
Gyro – N
Pitch – R

Throttle Curve
Norm - 0%, 40%, 60%, 70%, 80%
Stunt - 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%
Norm - 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%

Pitch Curve
Norm - 30%, 40%, 50%, 75%, 100%
Stunt - 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%
Norm - 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%


AR7200BX

Blue Solid – Heading lock mode

Setup Menu;
A - Blue solid – Horizontal
B – Blue solid – 200Hz
C – Blue solid – 1520us
D – Blue flashing – 333Hz
E – Adjusted as required
F – Red solid - Normal
G – Adjusted as required
H – Red solid – 120deg
I – Red solid – Ail-N, Elev-R, Aux1-N
J – Blue – 6deg
K – Adjusted to 10deg
L – Blue - Adjusted as required
M – Blue solid - Normal
N – Red solid – Normal

Parameter Menu;
B – Blue solid – Transmitter
All others set as default.


The heli flew perfectly on the first flight. Lifted off nicely into a stable hover. Quieter and smoother than my 300X. There is a very small amount of tail wag which I think is from flexing in the tail rotor pushrod as it is very thin for its length.

I need to do a bit more tweaking to get it the way I want it to be but I am very pleased with it so far

[nickyd]

quick thoughts here...

not sure strapping fbl controller cables to boom is a good idea vs tail wag.

check all tail linkages are free for the tail wag. I doubbt the pushrod is the problem even though i replaced mine for a carbon one

[larryjax77]

fairly soon ill be going fbl, this setup you have is it worth it $ wize? also I see you have a c/f frame. is it better than my mini titan v1 one piece plastic frame? it just seems like the plastic one would be stronger. I just d/k . thanks for any info on this, larry...

[Digger1973]

Larry the cf frame is the v2. Some like it more than v1 and others like the v1 plastic more. As far as fbl goes I think I can speak for Nick aswell on this one that the skookum Sk540 or Sk720 work flawlessly. I just came in from another 10 flights on mine. Love how it feels and flies.

[nickyd]

You may speak for me regarding the Skookum units. They transform this heli from great to bloody amazing.

V1 frame is cheap, strong and easy to work on. Looks better than the V2 in my opinion too

[Digger1973]

The only issue with a mini titan that I found was having to replace the bearings every 250 flights or so lol. I changed all mine once in over 300 flights (289 logged flights). Very durable heli with good quality.

[jhamel]

Originally Posted by Rotater

I like how you cut the frame to accommodate the AR7200BX antennas. I wasted a lot of time trying to get the AR7200BX antennas to fit through the frame hole. I should have just done what you did.

This is mine.

[Rotater]

Originally Posted by larryjax77

fairly soon ill be going fbl, this setup you have is it worth it $ wize? also I see you have a c/f frame. is it better than my mini titan v1 one piece plastic frame? it just seems like the plastic one would be stronger. I just d/k . thanks for any info on this, larry...

I did not save any money as my final cost was $510 and a 450X goes for about $500, but that was not my intention. I wanted to try a MT and wanted to get the experience of setting up a flybarless heli for myself.

[jhamel]

Originally Posted by Rotater

There is a very small amount of tail wag which I think is from flexing in the tail rotor pushrod as it is very thin for its length.

Make sure that you have the tail servo configured, so that it is pulling the tail rod with a right rudder command. This configuration minimizes bowing of the tail rod.

[jhamel]

Originally Posted by Digger1973

As far as fbl goes I think I can speak for Nick aswell on this one that the skookum Sk540 or Sk720 work flawlessly.

I would be interested in seeing a picture of how you mounted the Skookum and where you mounted the satellite.

[nickyd]

hope this helps...

[Digger1973]

Mounted mine the same as nick.

Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 2

[Rotater]

Originally Posted by johnahamelv

Make sure that you have the tail servo configured, so that it is pulling the tail rod with a right rudder command. This configuration minimizes bowing of the tail rod.

Yes, that is the way it is setup. thanks for checking. After a bunch of flights the wag seems to have disappeared.

[jhamel]

I am glad that the tail wag issue went away, so hopefully no longer an issue.

However, if you have the TT kit, my TT was way too long relative to the boom. I needed to reduce it by 11mm. My Dremel slipped and I ended up reducing it by 13mm, but...

[Mikimra]

I recently purchased the mini Titan kit with motor and ESC, and was undecided whether to go with the Skookum or AR 7200BX.
Well, from all I have read about the Skookum, I would still need to run a tail gyro and separate receiver, or at minimum, a satellite RX.
Needless to say, I opted for the AR7200. Not only because the one unit does it all, but also because the price was right.
I bought a wrecked 300x on EBay for less than 150 bucks. All the electronics were fully functional. So I'll use the 7200 and all the servos in my Titan. The servos are the same ones they use in the 450x so I see no reason they wouldn't work in the Titan. I figure I'll use the 450x setup for the Titan also.

[nickyd]

just for info, no external tail gyro is required for the Skookum.

[jhamel]

The original Skookum 360 was a 2-axis gyro. The thought at the time was that pilots already owned their favorite tail gyros. Since then, several self-contained 3-axis units have been released to include the blue SK-720 followed by the SK-540, and now the latest black SK-720. However, the Skookum units require an antenna device (Spektrum satellites, Futaba S-Bus, receiver, etc.).

The AR7200BX works fine for on the miniTitan. The miniTitan is 30mm wide wall-to-wall, and the AR7200BX is 28.56mm wide.



So, you can install the AR7200BX with a gap on either side.



I consider the AR7200BX ideal for these smaller helicopters where room is tight since the unit incorporates antennas, so it keeps wiring to a minimum. However, the AR7200BX was not designed with the miniTitan in mind. You'll have to do a little modeling to make the AR7200BX antennas fit correctly.

[Twincam]

I've got 2x V1 Titans converted to FBL & the older frame is definitely more AR7200BX friendly. One my the titan e325's is actually built around the Sonix CNC fiber frame kit but wit titan running gear and the other titan e325 is the first CP heli I ever bought ages ago. Going flybarless with the beastx system has made both heli's. Also have a Trex 450 DFC & 500DFC . All 4 helis running Beastx.

[Robster4807]

First thing I noticed was that the servos do not line up under the swash plate and the linkages are very angled. Same problem I had when installing Spektrum servos. I had to put 2.5mm carbon fiber shims. I think you should do the same to have a correct servo alignment.
Second... Why not just turn the AR7200 around? I have an Ikon and this is what I did. The wires can fit up pas all the tails drive mechanics. The Ikon allows for various mounting positions. I assume the ar7200 would have mounting position settings also.