Align APS Review.

[1fastt2]

Spent the last 2 days of my life making sure absolutely everything was perfect. Followed the instructions 100%, did not skip one thing. All pre flight checks went fine, vibration was in check Here is the reward, This unit as far as i'm concerned was $887 thrown in the trash. This Trex 700e was absolutely perfect. Flown many times and performed beautifully with the 3GX until now. I am so absolutely disgusted words can not describe. If I could punch Align in the face I would.

[aviator493]

Holy crap! That really sucks.... What happened that caused the crash? That's a lot of money to for that damn system.

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[1fastt2]

I got her into a nice stable hover about 30ft high (yes I know I should have tested ALOT higher). Flicked the switch to activate the position hold function, she took a direct path right at full pitch to the ground. All I had time to do is to hit the throttle hold which did help from making it worse. A sad day in my flying experience.

[aviator493]

Again, real sorry this happened. I was half tempted to try one but I hear you have to have 3gx and I have 750... A guy at our field is using heli command and loves it so far. Hope you get some answers from Align/Assurance. Maybe you can return it?

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[1fastt2]

I thought about that, but you know all they're gonna say is that it wasn't set up correctly. Unfortunately in this hobby nothing is the manufactures fault.

[aviator493]

Yeah... Keep us up to date if you contact Align. Interested to see how they handle this...

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[1fastt2]

If I do I'll let my boys over at Hobby Hut take care of it. They have done nothing but support my endless journey of spending money so Im sure they will do me well.

[Stumblebee]

Man, that is some truly ugly stuff. I at least, feel your pain. At least we are getting feedback from real users spending their own money.

Originally Posted by 1fastt2

Here is the reward, This unit as far as i'm concerned was $887 thrown in the trash. I am so absolutely disgusted words can not describe. If I could punch Align in the face I would.

[nightflyr]

Very sorry to see this , I do hope you manage to get the repairs done quickly.

[1fastt2]

I will rebuild her. Unfortunately it's not going to be for a few weeks. I looked over the damage last night, Luckly there was no frame damage, head looks to be ok and the tail assemble are all still good from initial inspections. Obviously I wont know the full extent until I get her all torn apart.

[nightflyr]

I am planning on giving the APS system a go also..
Just completed modifying the 3GX case to remove the chrome plating.
Perhaps its best to hold off for a while considering what you experienced.

[1fastt2]

Well honestly I think I gave myself a false sence of security, although it did take me about 5-6 hours worth of setup and another 3-4 hours worth of install. Everything went smooth and worked the way it was suppose to making me think this thing was gonna work right away. I'm extemely meticulous when it comes to my heli's and everything had to be perfect before I even attempt to fly. I've always had very good luck with maiden flights and didn't expect this to be any different. Yea well, live and learn. Its a hobby right. hahaa

[nightflyr]

Unfortunately there are no promises in this hobby...

Been reading quite a bit on this platform ...as with all others.. it appears to have some quarks to it as well.

[Sambuka]

Sorry for your loss, that really blows. I run a Helicommand hc3sx the bailout and stabilization work flawlessly and are just brilliant but it doesn't have a position hold like your APS and no GPS return. Hope you get it working well once you've rebuilt. Surely must work well when setup right.

[R_Lefebvre]

Sorry about your loss. I've experienced many of these myself while programming Arducopter.

I'd be curious to know what the setup steps are like. What can you do to simulate if the system is going to do what it is supposed to do, before it's in the air? Is there a computer interface, or just those little pots on the box?

[mhoebrec]

Originally Posted by 1fastt2

I got her into a nice stable hover about 30ft high (yes I know I should have tested ALOT higher). Flicked the switch to activate the position hold function, she took a direct path right at full pitch to the ground. All I had time to do is to hit the throttle hold which did help from making it worse. A sad day in my flying experience.

This comes from a thread in the Align 3GX forum:

1) During DIR set up on the 3GX unit, when it says to set Aileron Limit be sure to move the Aileron stick right. I moved mine left and the result is that when you flick to APS the heli inverts real quick. Ail Lim is basically setting the Gyro Direction as well as the Aileron limit, so by setting it left rather than right it made the heli correct in the same direction it was moving - just like a reversed tail gyro does. Made for an interesting maiden session yesterday

[vojta]

Terrible, how everyone is willing to accuse Align without any little hint what could be the true cause of the precious heli crash.

Most probably inversed pitch compensation.

can you describe your RX-3GX-APS connection (power supply)?

Align's APS manual:
"Pitch curves under APS flight mode and GPS flight mode must be set to 0/50/100 diagonal straight line. This will allow APS to precisely make altitude correction, and execute pilot commands. Incorrect pitch curve settings will result in unstable and non-precise control of the helicopter."

what type of RX?

what switch you flicked to switch the position hold function on (its channel, functions, preset values, ...)?

what about required 30 seconds of "quiet" flying before switching APS mode on?!?!?!

APS is missing inverted stabilization, compared with Helicommand HC3-SX .

APS is missing altitude improvement prior to stabilization during bailout, compared with Helicommand HC3-SX .

cf. https://www.helifreak.com/showthread...=430941&page=3

[vojta]

Align's APS is a very nice toy.

Very useful for Aerial Photography .

Useful for beginners to take-off, hover, and land. .

Unusable for sport or 3D flying, in its current incarnation. It's bail-out function is horrible .

[nightflyr]

I realize this comes after the fact but perhaps it may help you out..

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvuDICQEJbo[/ame]

[1fastt2]

I've watched all the vids, thanks though. I've been running through in my head of the setup directions mhoebrec posted about. Although I can't recall if I did make that mistake im pretty sure the heli wouldn't have flown nicely even in 3GX mode if I did mess it up. However that will be my focus when I rebuild.

vojta - Were you looking for my Tx setup?