Beta tester's impressions

[caralmar]

Since Art let us comment on our impressions of this unit, I'd like to share some thoughts on it from my 35 flights on it so far on my 500ESP.

To begin with, the setup is very similar to the SK360 setup. Don't make the same mistake I made and reverse a servo on the radio! All servo trimming and reversal is done on the software. This was the only hiccup I had and cost me a set of blades and two of Bob's beautiful blade links on the I2 head because I pitched forward when I lifted off.

There is a much improved "view" that lets you verify orientation, leveling, and pitch while the heli is safely on the bench. Obviously, I missed something there! LOL

The unit uses a standard USB to plug into your PC. In my case, I'm using a ThinkPad T61p and when I plug the unit in, it kills the external mouse. I just unplug the mouse and plug it back in and it works fine... no biggie, but no clue why it does this.

The USB port supplies power to the unit AND the satellites, so you can use your radio with the unit powered on without having to power on the ESC. Very nice feature!

OK, but how does it fly???

Well, this is where the thing really shines, and I guess its where it counts, right? I've got 400+ flights on the ESP and my heli has never flown better than the last 30+ with the SK unit. I maxed out the control rates to give it crazy agility. I can literally forward flip the heli like you would when you flip a coin up in the air! Ask Art, he's seen my flight logs! LOL

My heli rolls at a rate of 360 deg/sec, giving it uber fast roll on a dime corkscrew ability. Couple this with Bob's fantastic slop-less I2 head, and a new 500M powerful motor, and you've got a VICIOUS heli!

The best part is that using 100% flat throttle for 6 min still consumes less from the battery than my old 500L motor with the flybar Align head. The heli feels MUCH lighter and flys like it as well.

Inverted flight is solid as well. Its easy to hover in place in all orientations and also quite wind resistant. I flew my heli in 25mph winds and gusts and I was pleasantly surprised to see how it kept the nose at a slight angle in fast forward flight, even with the wind.

At first, my tail setup was wagging a lot. This was due to excessive vibration from my mount location (tail boom mount). I moved the unit to the bottom tray and that helped a lot. I also dialed down the gain a bit and the tail is solid. I did a few fast backwards circuits today and was not able to get the tail to blow out. Weird how I was trying to break stuff... but I guess that's the deal with beta testing something.

The bail out functionality has been hit or miss for me. I know other beta testers have had good results with it. Perhaps I still have too much vibration with my heli to have consistent results with it and I know they're still working on refining that.

Ok, that's enough for now... hopefully this helps folks who have been hungry for news!

Some pics of my 500 VICIOUS beast!



This pic shows the unit in the tail boom mount position. I since moved it to the bottom tray as the next pic shows.



Green zeal mount to reduce vibration.


And lots of slack behind the unit as well.



In closing, I just want to say, THANK YOU Art. You've given me a brand new heli and now dozens of amazing flights! Thanks for the 24/7 support you give all of us on this as well.

Take care!

Carlos.

[trickfrog]

Thanks for the initial report-

[bjosko]

Hi Carlo.

Thank you for your nice little review.
I can’t wait to receive my own SK720, hopefully at the end of this month. It are going into my 450 PRO, the FBL blades and head are already laying on the bench , waiting for “The Master In Command”.

- hey wait, that should be me !

I can see you also have some hassle with vibrations in a T Rex 500, I am not unfamiliar with that, have a look around in threads about other brands FBL-units, and you will notice that they all could have vibration-issues with that heli, even if you would think that it would be much worse on a nitro.

I can see you have used both Zeal and foam-tape, it might also be too loose and “swampy”. Some of the nitro-guys are using only Zeal and the Align Velcro Vrap or similar around their FBL unit.

Me and a club mate have both used some of this stuff under the sensor : http://www.readyheli.com/Spartan_Fla...p/src03468.htm
- and placed the sensor on top of the tail gear block with success. The key here are the metalplate, that might be too little for the 720, but the idea are free to experiment with.

Please chime in, more beta-tester, we are hungry for every little details !

[Heli-RND]

Bjørn, there is a metal plate in the package .. for that reason

[blade strike]

I have not had to use the much tape to have a vib level of 2-3. I have sk720/servo tape/ then 2mm 3M foam tape.

I did try a to use a strap and it didnt hurt nor help anything!

[caralmar]

If you look closely at the picture of mine, you will see that there is a metal plate between the zeal tape and the foam tape. Blade Strike, can you take a pic like I have of mine of the mounting? I may rip out the zeal and replace it soon... What's weird is that the vibration is all over the place with mine. I have flights where I never get the warning, except maybe once or twice, and then other flights, the warning is constant for at least half the flight. I can't explain why.

I'm willing to try anything though! Certainly throwing more time and money to the problem should fix it right? Like our economy I say!

[blade strike]

Originally Posted by caralmar

If you look closely at the picture of mine, you will see that there is a metal plate between the zeal tape and the foam tape. Blade Strike, can you take a pic like I have of mine of the mounting? I may rip out the zeal and replace it soon... What's weird is that the vibration is all over the place with mine. I have flights where I never get the warning, except maybe once or twice, and then other flights, the warning is constant for at least half the flight. I can't explain why.

I'm willing to try anything though! Certainly throwing more time and money to the problem should fix it right? Like our economy I say!

Yes I can when I get home tonight... IMHO sometimes to much tape hurts under high cyclic moves... I had this problem on other fbl.

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by blade strike

Yes I can when I get home tonight... IMHO sometimes to much tape hurts under high cyclic moves... I had this problem on other fbl.

Thanks a lot. Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing myself. However, other than the bailout feature, my heli flies incredibly well, so I'm hesitant to mess with it again. It was interesting... I flew a pack with the 500 and then went up with the 600 and thought there was something wrong because the 600 was so lazy to roll! I may have to give the 600 the SK and I2 treatment as soon as hobby funds permit!

[blade strike]

Originally Posted by caralmar

Thanks a lot. Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing myself. However, other than the bailout feature, my heli flies incredibly well, so I'm hesitant to mess with it again. It was interesting... I flew a pack with the 500 and then went up with the 600 and thought there was something wrong because the 600 was so lazy to roll! I may have to give the 600 the SK and I2 treatment as soon as hobby funds permit!

Yes the sk720 makes the 500 fly like a 450 on crack or can make it fly like a coax... Really nice unit!

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by blade strike

Yes the sk720 makes the 500 fly like a 450 on crack or can make it fly like a coax... Really nice unit!

You now owe me a new keyboard, cuz I just spit out my coffee all over this one... a 450 on crack! LMAO!!!!

Yes, I thought my 450 Sport was a quick little bugger until I maxed out the control rates on the 500. I'm considering dialing them back down a bit. While its a blast to do crazy stuff with it, its harder to time maneuvers and be more precise.

[Slyster]

Carlos.. I was fighting odd wobbling weirdness on my 550... especially in flips and high collective mopves... and I was using Zeal. I switched over to just one layer of foam type tape.. and it's perfect now! That Zeal (unless strapped down hard) really is too gooey and flexible. I'd try that.

This is with the vbar but that's irrelevant I think in this case.

Thanks for the news!

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by Slyster

Carlos.. I was fighting odd wobbling weirdness on my 550... especially in flips and high collective mopves... and I was using Zeal. I switched over to just one layer of foam type tape.. and it's perfect now! That Zeal (unless strapped down hard) really is too gooey and flexible. I'd try that.

This is with the vbar but that's irrelevant I think in this case.

Thanks for the news!

I'll give it a try. Thanks Slyster. Where is your vbar installed? I had just one foam layer on the boom block and that was really bad vibration on the unit. Tail was all over the place. Tail and cyclic are locked in with the unit on the bottom tray, but I still register high vibration and that kinda kills the self-leveling feature.

[Slyster]

Up high on the top.. 1" or so behind just in front of the main shaft... again different heli so not an option for the 500

[rickn816]

Originally Posted by bjosko

Hi Carlo.

Thank you for your nice little review.
I can’t wait to receive my own SK720, hopefully at the end of this month. It are going into my 450 PRO, the FBL blades and head are already laying on the bench , waiting for “The Master In Command”.

- hey wait, that should be me !

I can see you also have some hassle with vibrations in a T Rex 500, I am not unfamiliar with that, have a look around in threads about other brands FBL-units, and you will notice that they all could have vibration-issues with that heli, even if you would think that it would be much worse on a nitro.

I can see you have used both Zeal and foam-tape, it might also be too loose and “swampy”. Some of the nitro-guys are using only Zeal and the Align Velcro Vrap or similar around their FBL unit.

Me and a club mate have both used some of this stuff under the sensor : http://www.readyheli.com/Spartan_Fla...p/src03468.htm
- and placed the sensor on top of the tail gear block with success. The key here are the metalplate, that might be too little for the 720, but the idea are free to experiment with.

Please chime in, more beta-tester, we are hungry for every little details !

We can "measure" the vibrations using the flight recorder.

I did some testing. I removed all of the blades and ran the motor with the heli on a carpeted floor. Using stock gears.

Then, I replaced the stock gear with the MicroHeli main gear. The vibration levels dropped to 1/2 of the first test. I was pleasantly surprised. When you are looking for vibrations, look for EVERYTHING that rotates.

Rick

[rickn816]

Originally Posted by Slyster

Carlos.. I was fighting odd wobbling weirdness on my 550... especially in flips and high collective mopves... and I was using Zeal. I switched over to just one layer of foam type tape.. and it's perfect now! That Zeal (unless strapped down hard) really is too gooey and flexible. I'd try that.

This is with the vbar but that's irrelevant I think in this case.

Thanks for the news!

There is a ton of discussion in the V-Bar forum about the best tape to use. Take a look.

Rick

[Slyster]

I used the Mikado tape btw.. but I think the BEST is the Spartan but it's sold out everywhere

[t2o]

On my Swift 16 I mounted the 720 above the boom on the tape that came with the unit. I normally read vibration levels of 2~3. The bailout works every time for me and I have been checking it often.

For Bail-Out, You still need to have your normal orientations down pat. The heli will take the shortest path possible to level flight once you hit the switch. It may "pop out" noise in, left, right, however; it will still have momentum. One of my favorite tricks is to put self leveling on ~70% and then try to make it fly inverted. So far the score is... the 720 wins!

The other stuff I have noticed--> Much easier than the 360 to find the sweet spot--> The tail rotor comp is perfection. --> The tail is far far far superior to a GY401--> This little box is more than the sum of it's pieces, there is some little bit of magic in there that is hard for me to quantify.

My confidence has quadrupled and I am doing tic-tocks and hovering inverted at will. I think this is mostly because the tail is so good that I have lost all fear that it might step out. And I have the switch just in case.

I ordered a second one straight away for my 90 Predator

[joseyu]

It seems to me that some of you are using 2 Spektrum remote receivers for the SK-720 and I am wondering if that is absolutely necessary or just an extra safety net? Will it work with just one remote receiver? Or is this question heli size dependent? Any input will be appreciated because I have a unit on pre-order and I am trying to get all the necessary parts before the beast arrives. THanks!

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by joseyu

It seems to me that some of you are using 2 Spektrum remote receivers for the SK-720 and I am wondering if that is absolutely necessary or just an extra safety net? Will it work with just one remote receiver? Or is this question heli size dependent? Any input will be appreciated because I have a unit on pre-order and I am trying to get all the necessary parts before the beast arrives. THanks!

I only have one satellite. I was testing out my heli the other day and flew really high up to test out the bailout feature. The heli reacted by banking hard left and since I was on IDLE2 and climbing when I flicked the switch, it just took off. By the time I flicked it back I could barely see or hear the heli!

It was a tiny dot out really high up in the sky one neighborhood over from where I started. I thought for sure I had lost the heli and started moving the sticks and it responded! So by trial and error, I figured out what orientation I was in and then just pointed her towards me and brought her back. It was nerve wracking to say the least, especially because I knew I was getting low on batt power and it was sooo far away!

You know you're far when all you see is one tiny dot and you can barely hear it!

I think 1 satellite is plenty! I would never fly that far away on purpose and so far I haven't had any issues with this setup.

Having said this, I think my next ReadyHeli order will include a 2nd satellite... but not for range, but rather redundancy in case the first one decides to not play nicely while in flight.

[Slyster]

wow.. quite a story.. I should have been more aggressive last night (in my too far away crash).. I really think I could have saved it.. but I kindof froze