Flymentor - Flashing red light

[rjmachy77]

I'm not going to put the FM back on until tomorrow. I heard from a Friend that they fly at a local park every Wednesday. I'm going to check it out.
I have one more question for you. I bought a swash plate leveler a while back. I gave it a try and noticed that when I give it full throttle, the the elevator is about 1/8" lower than the Aileron and pitch. It's even on all three points with no throttle.

[pril250]

The best way is to level the swash at mid point ie zero pitch and not at max neg pitch then the error will decrease hopefully to insignificant. Throttle and collective are on the same stick direction but are different functions. How is your pitch curve set and is it linear.

[rjmachy77]

I don't know anyone who flys. I set everything up myself from just reading manuals. I know I have a lot to learn. All my settings I got off a site a while back, so I really can't answer you question. Right now at this point, I can run out a full battery hovering. Thats about it. That was the reason for buying the FM. Sorry

[pril250]

I understand but can't teach you everything in one or ten posts.........you will need to read a bit more and spend some time on Youtube watching a few heli setup and principal videos.

[rjmachy77]

Here are the pitch curve settings. P5 75% - P4 60% - P3 47% - P2 36% - P1 24%

[pril250]

That may be suitable for your current flying style but for setup purposes it needs to be 0%,25%,50%,75%,100%. Then the servos should center at 50% and the blades and flybar paddles should be level at zero pitch by mechanically adjusting the relevant rods.

[rjmachy77]

Thats one big problem I have been having. 9 out of 10 videos on the FM and basic helicopter set up are for the Spectrum. There is very little with Futaba radios. For this reason, I am considering buying a DX7.

[pril250]

That is what I am saying, if you understand the principals you could do it with any radio set. If you want to do it like a parrot then you may come unstuck as your flying improved and your knowledge remained without liftoff. Ultimately the choice is yours.

[rjmachy77]

I understand what you are saying. I don't know if you read my first post or not, but I haven't touched a Helli in over two years. I do want to make sure the FM is working properly, only because if there is a problem with it, I don't want to wait two or three weeks to return it. Once I'm at that point, I don't want to waste any more of your time. I have a couple of DVDs I bought at the beginning. I need to take a couple of days and sit down with a refresher course. Right now I think that maybe there is something wrong with the FM. I'm going to contact the place I bought it from tomorrow and see what they say. Thanks again for all the help.

[rjmachy77]

One quick question. On the FM channel 3 is empty. What would that be used for?

[pril250]

Not sure what you mean. Port 1,2&3 on FM are elevator, aileron and pitch servos. Port 4 is for a forth servo and not relevant.

[rjmachy77]

I have my manual in front of me right now, and it shows 1,2, and 6.
Port 3 is open.

[pril250]

you should count from the bottom.

[rjmachy77]

I am counting from the bottom. The FM is marked next to the ports. And regardless of witch way you count, those are the numbers in the manual.

[pril250]

Don't know what you looking at! I am off to bed, good night.

[rjmachy77]

Good night

[Ivor Hill]

Originally Posted by rjmachy77

I have my manual in front of me right now, and it shows 1,2, and 6.
Port 3 is open.

Not sure what you are looking at but I can only assume it's the reciever because FM only 5 ports.
The sticky at the top on the section explains how to connect the servos to FM and it's the same for all makes of TX/RX's.
I wrote the sticky because the manuel is poor please read and follow it.
Looking at the heli from the rear the servo that operates the left side of the swash connect to port 1 on the FM moduel. the servo that controls the right hand side of the swash connect to port 3 on FM and the servo that controls the rear of the swash connect to port 2 on FM. Hope this helps.

[rjmachy77]

You are right. I had everything hooked up correctly, but when I was talking about it and looking at my manual, I was mixing the FM and RX. In my defense, it was late night.
On the FM port 4 is empty.

[rjmachy77]

Hobby King wants me to return it. I guess I do have a bad unit. Shipped it out today. I want to thank you guys again for all the help.

[pril250]

Will wait till you get the new one (may take a few weeks) and hope the next one works ok, no reason why not.