Okay folks, here we go with my Compass E
XO 500 Build Thread.
First, a little background information.
Many of you know that I was involved in testing (not because I'm a great pilot or anything like that, I just live close to Steve McFall of Experience RC) the "zero" build of the Compass EXO 500. I learned a lot of things about the model during that build. I'm going to pass every tip I have to you during this build.
I hope you find this thread useful. I will be very thorough as I have in other builds here on HeliFreak. Having the experience of building an EXO before, I do not expect this thread to be as long as that as the Chronos 700.
So, with that out of the way, let's get going!
From time to time, I'll be taking pictures of the manual to better illustrate what is going on with a particular step.
These are the electronics I'm going to be using for my Compass EXO 500. From bottom left to bottom right they are:
Hobbywing programming box;
MKS 9780 High Voltage Tail Servo;
MKS 9767 High Voltage Cyclic Servos (three, each);
Scorpion HKIII 4025-1100 Brushless Motor;
Hobbywing Platinum 100 V3 ESC; and
Spartan Vortex VX1e
From my experience building the test model, I recommend setting servo centers first. This is because installing the post screw will be very difficult if you wait to do this step later. Plus, if you do it now, all you have to do is attach the balls to the arms when your kit arrives. As of right now, my kit is in the Pontiac, MI post office.
NOTE: This part assumes you have programmed correct servo frequencies into your FBL unit, basic ESC setup, and assumes you have performed basic transmitter setup for your model. If you haven't done that yet, please do it now.
So now, we start centering the servos!
Here, I have my servos out of the packaging and the arms/fastening screws laid out.
Because I'm using a Spartan Vortex, the connectors on the unit are numbered. So, starting with the elevator servo, I number each servo to its corresponding location in the Vortex and swash location.
If you look down on the helicopter with the tail pointed toward you, this is the left front cyclic servo position. I numbered it accordingly.
This is the right front servo connector, numbered.
Next, I laid out the servos in their proper positions with the output spline properly oriented. Visualize tipping the three cyclic servos to the left and rotating the elevator servo to the right. I taped the two front cyclic servos together so this process can be seen better.
Here, I have powered up the Vortex, bound the receiver, and entered the menu on the DataPod for servo trim. Starting with the elevator servo, I placed the servo arm on the splines as close to perpendicular to the case (90) as possible. Don't worry that it's a little off center at this point.
Note that when the elevator servo is installed, its arm faces to the rear of the helicopter. We'll also install the balls on the servo arms in a later step.
Here, the servo is centered and the arm is perpendicular to the servo case, in its proper position. I used the servo trim function in the swash setup of the Vortex to adjust the position. I had intended to use the RDLohr servo centering indicator for this step, but it did not arrive in time. I highly recommend using this tool as it give you a better visual representation of center. Later, before installing the servos, I'll use this tool to recheck servo centers.
Next, we clean all the fastening screws in solvent. I use 99 percent isopropyl alcohol for this purpose.
Using blue thread locker...
... install the fastening screw to the servo arm and spline shaft.
Here, I've placed the front cyclic servo arms onto the servo splines and oriented the arm in the proper position as close to perpendicular (90) to the sides of the servo. It looks like it will require only minor trimming.
Here, I've made trim adjustments to the servos center and the arms are now perpendicular to the cases of the servos. Using the steps above, clean, thread lock and install the fastening screw to each arm/spline shaft.
Next, we start on the tail servo. Here I'm holding the tail servo so you can see the orientation of the output spline shaft --this assumes the tail boom of the helicopter is to the left. So, the output spline shaft is to the rear of the helicopter.
This is how the servo will be positioned inside the helicopter. The output splines are to the rear. In this orientation, the servo arm will point to the top of the picture.
I've placed the servo arm on the spline output shaft as close as possible to center in this picture. Next...
... I've used trimming in the Vortex to make sure the arm is pointed perpendicular to the side of the servo case. At this point, install the fastening screw to the arm and servo output splines as shown earlier.
When the tail servo is installed, this will be its orientation in the inner frame.
In order to protect the servo leads I installed heat shrink tubing over the leads for the front two cyclic servos.
I cut the heat shrink tubing so its length is approximately 55 mm from the start of the servo connector.
I'll be installing heat shrink on the elevator servo lead as well, but not until later when I know the exact length the lead needs to be--it will be bundled to that length.
I wasn't happy with the way I routed the tail servo lead in the test model, so I will be investigating that as well as heat shrinking that lead if necessary in a later step.
Next up, we'll start showing you what's included in the kit and then we'll start building! That will likely be Monday or Tuesday this week, depending on mail delivery.
Scott