iKon + DX18 setup problems

[wsucnc]

I have been flying a 450 3-D for 3+ years now. About 18 months ago I noticed I had nearly enough spare parts to build a second one. So I began building my first scratch built. I am using a micro iKon with a Tarot DFC FBL head, HiTec HS65MG servos and a HS5065MG tail servo, Talon 35 ESC, Spectrum satellite rx, and a Microheli CF frame.

At first it would spool up smooth, then shake violently soon as it left the ground. Everything was balanced right so I was advised to turn down the gain which I did. Shake was gone but it didn't go the way I told it . I tied down the 3-D to see what the blade disc did with different input and it did just what I thought it would. The iKon heli moved the rotor disk down in front and about 15° left instead of straight in front like the 3-D when I moved the right stick up. I noticed that the control arms on the FBL head is ahead of the blades and the FB head arms are behind. I made a 15° adjustment in the software and now the blade disc dips down straight ahead when the right stick moves up.

However the servos have always seemed to return awefully slowly, too slow to really fly right. One thing that may be causing problems is I'm flying this bird with a DX18 and I've been flying the 3-D with a DX6i. The number of ways you setup up a DX18 are overwhelming and I may have something set wrong in it. After reading in the other iKon-450 thread that some birds fly with almost default settings, I don't see how or else I'm doing something way out of whack.

I've been on other threads, even started one or 2 on this subject over the last 18 months and I'm still not flying. I know about how easy it is to get the servo numbers mixed up but that's not the problem. Maybe some of you can help get me on the right track.

[meowguy]

Here are some videos that may help you.

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=750467

I installed a mini on my 450 and it works great. It was my first iKon install and I had to learn on this one so it naturally took some time to work through it.

Make sure you have the proper mounting orientation selected and that the transmitter is setup properly on the the transmitter page of the app.

[Waxxingibbous]

I'm also doing an ikon build, I noticed at the end it tells me to tilt the heli to ensure its attempting to correcting the right way. I noticed mine to be slow, returning to center or fighting to keep level....upon reflection I chose the lowest cyclic servo settings at first ( I didn't want to burn them up on the first go around) now that I know my cyclic so take 200hz I'll set them to high performance which should address how fast these servos are reacting.

I think you should look at mounting direction(make sure it's the same as the software option you choose)

Look at option for servo settings (look up your exact servo specs)

And make sure the ikon isn't moving on whatever sticky you used to mount it on the frame....it needs to be firm and not move when you shake the heli. Vibration can cause that oscilation as well as too high cyclic gain.

Keep me in the loop on what works for you

[BrokeDad]

Try ServoDatabase for specs.

[wsucnc]

I know the iKon is orentied the same as I tell it in the software. I can look at cyclic servo settings to see if I can speed up the servos that way. I have used info from the servo database for my setup, I should probably double check. I have stripped the gears in one of my HS-65MG servos. Now I have 2 working 65MG's but I also have 2 working 5084MG's. So I need a new 65MG or a new 5084MG. I know one is analog, one digital. Getting a 65MG would be easier but isn't the digital 5084MG a better choice? If I remember correctly the 5084 is out of production so I may not have this option.

[Waxxingibbous]

The ikon software says you should use the same model servos or at least they need the same voltage/speed to be setup properly,


You can't have a mixture of servos
Go all digital Same model servos exact

[wsucnc]

Not talking about a mixture. I'm saying I need to buy one servo to fly, a 65MG or a 5084MG. That will give me a set of 3 identical servos to use.

[wsucnc]

I will buy a HS 65MG to replace the one that's damaged. Then I will be able to post some of my settings. I'm thinking about starting with a fresh model in the DX18 and going back to default settings in the iKon. Some of you have been able to fly with nearly stock settings, with program and firmware updates installed, maybe I can too.

[Diogenes]

Originally Posted by Waxxingibbous

The ikon software says you should use the same model servos or at least they need the same voltage/speed to be setup properly,


You can't have a mixture of servos
Go all digital Same model servos exact

This, all of the cyclics need to be the same. I'd fear even trying to use different ones with the same settings.

I use the Ikon on all of my models > 180 size and they work great. Even have an old v1 on my Gaui X5 that I still fly at least once a week.

[Waxxingibbous]

Gotcha well I hope it works when you get the servo in

[wsucnc]

I got all three HS-65MG servos installed. Same problem persists. When I move the cyclic stick to full travel left or right, up or down the servo moves as it should but when I move the stick from full and then back to center the servo crawls back to center taking as long as 2 seconds. I created a new model in my DX18 so none of my previous settings in tx are causing this.

[jrman83]

When setting up the Ikon, are you getting all of the proper movements in the software on the transmitter setup page? I think it is panel 5.

Why was the 15 degree adjustment needed? Was this some type of compensation going from the FB to FBL head? Little confused there.

[wsucnc]

I tied down both the FB and FBL heli's to watch the movement of the rotor disc when the cyclic stick is moved. The FBL iKon heli wasn't flying the direction I told it to by my stick movements. which was confirmed with this test. The FB heli had the rotor disc dip down straight in front and up in back when the elevator stick was moved forward. Same thing when stick was moved side to side. However the FBL iKon heli rotor disc moved lowest in front and a little left about 15° off center. Same with side stick movement and I attributed that to different geometry of the FBL head having it's controlling arms ahead of rotation vs. the FB controlling arms trailing blade rotation. A 15° adjustment cured this problem but I wonder why I'm the only one who's dealing with this issue. Maybe I have something wrong in the head to swash geometry.

But servos being so slow to return to center is really the bigger problem at the moment. I should probably post pix and a video of the motion problem.

[jrman83]

So everything moved in the correct direction in panel 5 of the Ikon setup?

Arms trailing the blades is a typical Blade setup. When you go positive in pitch the swash will go down. Have you tried hitting the "reverse" option on one of the FBL setup pages where you account for this? I forget which panel it is, but it is specifically for models like some Blade models where the arms trail the blades. I wonder if hitting this would fix your geometry issue. I can't get to the software from work and tell you specifically where that is in the setup. It may be the same page where you select what swash style you have. Or possibly you already have that box checked?

[wsucnc]

So that has been part of my problem all along. The swash on the FBL iKon heli should act opposite of what I'm used to with the 450 3-D because the control linkage is leading instead of trailing the blades. FBL swash goes up, heli goes up. FB swash goes down, heli goes up. Same with cyclic swash movement. I can correct this easily. Thanks jrman83.

Now if I can figure out why servos are so sluggish to return to center, I may finally get to fly this bird.

[jrman83]

Do you have a battery hooked up when you are checking this? USB alone will not provide enough power for servos to act normal, but may give them some movememt.

If you do have a battery hooked up, what voltage is your BEC set to and what is the operating voltage range of your servos?

Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

[wsucnc]

I have always used a battery + USB connection when setting up the iKon. The BEC voltage I can't tell you right now. It's a Talon 35 and I cant locate the board that lets me communicate with USB to PC. However page 5 setup reports servo volts as 5.6V and page 4 says 4.7V min, 8.5 max. I have had the TX set up and working fine per page 5 of the setup.

[jrman83]

Need to figure what the operating range of your servos are, all of them, and then select a voltage in your BEC that maximizes their ability, generally speaking. So you pick the highest voltage you can to give the greatest speed and torque. You need to find your castlelink.

Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

[TR450ZS]

Sounds as if you are testing the servos with the self level feature activated in the Ikon

[TR450ZS]

Also, what version of firmware do you have on the Ikon?
The latest version will allow you to click one setting to change to the Blade type of swash.: swash up heli down.
see attached image, you need to check the box that says "reversed pitch" . Its easy to miss this < I have drawn a red arrow to high light it.