HK600GT review/build

[Azalin]

Thanks.

[Jonnyheli]

Hi Erwin, great job on the build. A great build guide too!

This has got to be one of the most detailed build posts I have seen.

You've made it clear that you get what you pay for. If I bought this kit, I would have struggled a lot. I might not have even got it finished. Actually probably not finished it. Compared to the Align kit's I have build this is very bad. Every single screw and bolt fits perfectly with Align and I presume all the other expensive kits.

However, if you are experienced like yourself then this is well worth it. There wasn't too many major problems for a person like yourself and you've ended up with a functional 600 a fraction of the price of a better brand of heli. Where's the problem there?

Nice one.

-Jonny

[Azalin]

Hi,
I need some recommendations that electronics for 600GT. Like b. motor, ESC and gyro. And also a receiver for Spektrum DX7. Some people says AR 6250 will do with a 600 size heli.

[redbird300]

We have the HK600 almost finished, and did the final setup last weekend, we hope to fly it next weekend, depending on the weather. Just a little test run on a turntable for now, looks pretty much OK. Curious how it will behave in the air.

[Azalin]

@redbird300
It looks really nice. I hope you have a good first fly.

What electronics did you choose? ESC, B.Motor, tail servo, gyro?

[redbird300]

Well, in fact this is a "budget experiment", to see if we can get a fairly cheap but reliable 600 in the air. Or not. We used parts that we already had laying around, or rather inexpensive new parts. We got an align 600 motor, 4 Spektrum DS821 servos, a Turnigy ESC and a Logitech 2100 gyro. We'll see if that servo wil be good enough for the tail, if not I'll replace it.

[Jonnyheli]

Im feeling confident about this one. It looks really nice in that picture.

-Jonny

[Azalin]

Originally Posted by redbird300

Well, in fact this is a "budget experiment", to see if we can get a fairly cheap but reliable 600 in the air. Or not. We used parts that we already had laying around, or rather inexpensive new parts. We got an align 600 motor, 4 Spektrum DS821 servos, a Turnigy ESC and a Logitech 2100 gyro. We'll see if that servo wil be good enough for the tail, if not I'll replace it.

I think the servos you have mentioned, that coming with spektrum TX. I'm planning to use the same servo's. I also have a Spartan DS780 gyro. No ESC and motor yet.

I'd like to know about your first experience with this parts.

[redbird300]

I suspect that the DS821 is a bit slow for a tailservo. We did a testrun on a lazy susan today, and the tail stops well, but not really dead hard. But good enough for a first testflight next weekend, that's sure. The heli behaved well, and Erwin and me double and triple checked everything. Weight is 3200 grams ready to fly. 1837 RPM at 85% throttle when standing on the ground, with a pack had been running for a minute or 2 already. Measured with HeliPort 0.17. So that's perfectly according to the estimations. Temperatures are all normal till now.

Gonna be a fun weekend, getting this and the Acromaster in the air at the flying field. The vid was recorded with a cellphone, and quality is rather low, sorry.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o05nebMid60[/ame]

[Azalin]

@redbird300
Looks very nice.

BTW what turnigy ESC exactly you are using?

[B2TheEYo]

Looking good guys... Do some tic'tocs..

[redbird300]

Originally Posted by Azalyn

@redbird300
Looks very nice.

BTW what turnigy ESC exactly you are using?

Tz85A - Turnigy Brushless ESC 85A with 4 A SBEC
BTW, it doesn't have a good softstart, open the throttle slowly and you're fine.

[redbird300]

Originally Posted by B2TheEYo

Looking good guys... Do some tic'tocs..

No thanks Mike, I don't wanna end up destroying it during the first flight, I keep the tictocs for my Atom and Logo for now. Common sense, you know. I never crashed a heli during a first flight, and I intend to keep it that way. If everything runs smooth and stable, and if power consumption is OK, and after a double check on the heli after the first flights, we'll see what it can handle, not before.

[Azalin]

Originally Posted by redbird300

Tz85A - Turnigy Brushless ESC 85A with 4 A SBEC
BTW, it doesn't have a good softstart, open the throttle slowly and you're fine.

Thanks for the tip. Are you recommending this ESC?

I don't have these components yet:
ESC- probably i will buy a cheap 100A Turnigy
B. Motor- Turnigy again
Receiver for DX7- I think i will decide for a AR6250.
Pals
6S Batt's

Components i have:
Gyro- Spartan DS760 SMM AVCS
Servo- 4 x DS821

What do you think?

[B2TheEYo]

Originally Posted by redbird300

No thanks Mike, I don't wanna end up destroying it during the first flight, I keep the tictocs for my Atom and Logo for now. Common sense, you know. I never crashed a heli during a first flight, and I intend to keep it that way. If everything runs smooth and stable, and if power consumption is OK, and after a double check on the heli after the first flights, we'll see what it can handle, not before.

Raf, wheres your sense of humor?

You'll find doing things with the 600 is more "effortless" as you don't have to fight it, they just bite and flow when you get to do some maneuvers. Just give yourself some head-way from the ground to get comfortable to how she handles.

[redbird300]

Originally Posted by Azalyn

Thanks for the tip. Are you recommending this ESC?

I don't have these components yet:
ESC- probably i will buy a cheap 100A Turnigy
B. Motor- Turnigy again
Receiver for DX7- I think i will decide for a AR6250.
Pals
6S Batt's

Components i have:
Gyro- Spartan DS760 SMM AVCS
Servo- 4 x DS821

What do you think?

No, I don't recommend this ESC, though it seems to work fine (besides the hard start), and some people seem to be pleased with it.
Remember that this heli is a (budget) experiment for us, and it will be used as a testing platform later on, we already have the torque tubes to fit on, and will measure the difference in power consumption, just for the fun of it. It might even become a one bladed experiment one day, Erwin did this before on a Belt CP, and it still flies. Or a scale project, who knows. So don't take this build too serious, it's our way of having fun. Just two guys who love to experiment and mod. It was never intended to be our everyday flyer.

I don't have experience with your parts, the Spartan will be excellent of course. Don't know about the servos yet, should be OK for sportsflying. And I have a rather expensive taste when it comes to electronics for my other helis, so that's not the kind of thing you wanna hear, I guess.
If you intend to use this heli a lot, then I would invest in good electronic components, but in that case the attractiveness of the cheap HK600 kit is definately gone, as it will cost you almost as much as a higher brand 600. Think about ESCs from CC, Scorpion or Kontronik, servos like Futaba BLS series or similar, etc...

[Ber60]

Just to keep you guy's up to date , we did swap the main and auto-rotation gear for a align gear. the original a-gear whas to warped

[B2TheEYo]

The center hole was offset on the fears face I heard by 2mm on some of them.

One wild gear mesh.. tight than nothing as it turns..

[redbird300]

The HK600GT was tested for the first time at the field today by Erwin and me, 4 packs, no crashes.

Very stable on cyclic, a but of drift on the tail at first, and clearly not enough holding power in the tail for agressive movements. But it flies around rather well, nicely controllable, smooth and without surprises. Credits to Erwin for this.

Did a half backwards flip in the end, punched the collective completely negative to see how it would behave, and the tail was everywhere, lol. Guess we need a better gyro and/or tailservo. The 0,2 sec/60 degrees Spektrum DS821 looks ok for cyclic when sportsflying, but is way too slow for the tail. Well, we had them laying around anyway, it was a nice test.

Anyway, we're happy with the result, it is as hoped for. No pics or a vid, sorry, that will be the case a next time, we didn't have the time. We flew the Logo, Furion, Acromaster, one bladed Belt, CopterX and the HK600 and talked with some other club members, it was a busy afternoon, lol.
The 600 hovers at 1898 RPM in normal mode with a 0/50/85/92.5/100% throttle curve. Align 600M motor/1220 kv and a 14 tooth pinion now, the 15 tooth pinion might be a bit too much to handle for the ESC. And we didn't want to put too much mechanical stress on the heli for the first flights. Power consumption is only around 500mAh/minute flying around and (trying) a few tictocs. Conclusion: it's an OK heli for the money, when doing a carefull build, and having enough experience to anticipate possible problems. Reliability ? Only time will tell.

[B2TheEYo]

So you did Tic-tocs after all..

Great stuff guys, the conclusion is fair! Should we expect to see the 600 beef'd up and pushed harder as a main bird now?