traps for young players - 450X BeastX (Hitec Servos)

[sosman]

While I was rebuilding my 450X and setting it up I tried to make some notes around the BeastX setup menu. It may not be super comprehensive and most of it should be completely obvious to the experienced.

WARNING: settings apply to Hitec 5065MG and Hitec 5084 servos

http://brewiki.org/pics/heli/450X/450XMenus/

There is a personal learning experience behind each of those warning boxes

[steveap1]

When I first did it, I got stuck on J until realized I had skipped the first step. Little things can be important...

1. Move the rotor blades so that they are parallel to the tail boom.

[Coco66]

Sorry Sosman, you got Step G wrong, AFAIK.

When you enter the Step, you select a servo, it gets electronically centered to the "last known good position". You put on the horn as close as possible to 90 degrees and you micro adjust with elevator servo. Then you do the same for second and third servo.

The reason is... if you don't do it like that you are never using the setup you did the previous time - means you don't use the micro adjustments. So if you level the swash with led off, when you then select a servo everything changes again.

So you have to level swash after you micro adjusted the third servo, ndwhile IT IS TILL SELECTED. And then, 0 pitch. After that, leave the step with servo still selected.

[EEngineer]

Step G, item 2 is wrong.....

When entering Setup G, no servo is selected as mentioned....but with no servo selected, the position of the servos is their center point.

At this position, you should ensure that the servo arms are at 90 degrees(or as close as the arm spines can achieve).

Some use the Blade leveler...I use a tripod leveler(more accurate), and I also level the swash at full pos./neg. collective as well as at mid-collective mechanically. But that's a different subject.

For leveling the swash at full pos./neg. collective, remove the rotor head and use a tripod leveler. Move the collective to either full pos. or full neg. and twist the links independently to achieve a level swash. Now move the collective to the other extreme. Check for level swash.
Typically, the swash will still be level, since you have now corrected for link geometry.

From this point on, you will NOT twist the links independently.

For leveling the swash at mid-collective, select the servos in turn to achieve a level swash.
Do not twist any links independently.

Also, ensure that your follower arms are parallel with each other. If they aren't, your swash is either too high or too low...depending. To achieve proper swash height, twist ALL 3 links in the same direction to either raise or lower the swash as needed.

Now, marvel at how your swash stays level...from full pos. collective...through mid-collective...to full negative collective. Re-install the rotor head.

For 0 degrees pitch at mid-collective, use the blade foldback method to ensure the tips are equal. Adjust grip links as needed.

Rotate the rotor head, making sure the blade tips stay equal. If they don't, then you have some aileron/elevator interaction. The key points are at the 0, 90, 180, 270 compass points.

At 0 and 180 points, there is no elevator contribution...so select the aileron/pitch servo and tweak gently as needed.....Similarly, at the 90 and 270 points, there is no aileron/pitch contribution...so select the elevator servo and tweak gently as needed.

Now your head is set up as best as it can be.

Always exit Setup G with any servo selected.

If you fubar any of the Setup steps, remain calm.......and simply perform a factory reset as described in the manual, and the AR7200BX will default back to the OEMized AR7200BX factory settings.....which BTW, are different from that of a generic AR7200BX not made specifically for the 450X.

FWIW

[sosman]

Alright so let me try to understand this. I assumed getting it mechanically as level as practical before selecting each servo and doing the fine tuning via the tx would be the best starting point.

I know you guys have explained it in detail but I am still confused - I must have missed something.

And the tips about getting level at full -ve and +ve collective are very handy, I didn't even consider that. Gotta love this forum.

[EEngineer]

Originally Posted by sosman

Alright so let me try to understand this. I assumed getting it mechanically as level as practical before selecting each servo and doing the fine tuning via the tx would be the best starting point.

I know you guys have explained it in detail but I am still confused - I must have missed something.

And the tips about getting level at full -ve and +ve collective are very handy, I didn't even consider that. Gotta love this forum.

Leveling the swash mechanically at full +/- collective is a limitation of the AR7200BX....for instance, the Mikado Mini-V setup software allows you to adjust it electronically.

Before selecting a servo, the servos are at their neutral(center) position.....but you can't get the servo arms on exactly 90 degrees due to servo arm spline alignment....you get the 90 deg. closer be selecting a servo.

FWIW

[sosman]

Originally Posted by EEngineer

Before selecting a servo, the servos are at their neutral(center) position.....but you can't get the servo arms on exactly 90 degrees due to servo arm spline alignment....you get the 90 deg. closer be selecting a servo.

My notes could probably be clearer but my intent was get things as close as possible in the neutral position before adding in the fine tuning offsets with the BX. When I went through this last time, it just so happens that the mechanical setup had the swash just schmicko and I naively bypassed the servo adjustment stage, leaving in the previous (now wrong) offsets.

[sosman]

Originally Posted by EEngineer

Step G, item 2 is wrong.....

When entering Setup G, no servo is selected as mentioned....but with no servo selected, the position of the servos is their center point.

At this position, you should ensure that the servo arms are at 90 degrees(or as close as the arm spines can achieve).

I get it now I swear being a newb at anything temporarily fries your brain so you can't even comprehend basic instructions. I think I fixed the description of G and added a handy hitec BX setup table vs stock.

http://brewiki.org/pics/heli/450X/450XMenus/

The title of the thread should be "traps for young players - RTFM"