Co-Pilot 2 with BeastX

[cbarneg]

I have used the Co-Pilot 2 on my Blade 400 and it preforms wonderfully. So good, that I decided to add another unit to my Trex 500 (flybarless with a BeastX).

On my first flight with the Trex 500 BeastX-CoPilot combination, it appeared to operate as expected. But on my second flight I was just getting light on the skids when it abruptly heeled to the left. It was not pretty.

After the repair I tried again, a little more tentantively on spool up. Again it started to twitch side to side. I disabled the Co-Pilot (Co-Pilot off, auto trim = 0, but still wired in) and the machine was again stable (hover, a few circuits, etc). I went through this process a few times to make sure it was repeatable.

Has anyone used the BeastX and Co-Pilot combination successfully? I am not sure if possibly I have some gain issues in the Co_Pilot? or maybe a voltage issue? (Because the BeastX works fine by itself, this would seem to eliminate any vibration issues.)

[n6nev]

take off with the cp2 off, after a smooth hover then turn on the cp2, to be sure that the hover remains the same,.... if not use the hand held programer to change,.... use 3m 4011 tape on the beast, it works for me I have a 500 and a 550 on cp2/beast and both are fine.......

[jperkosk]

If you're taking off with CP2 activated then it may be sending to BX a cyclic correction signal while spooling up; when this correction signal is large enough BX will tipover.

Same thing aplies to spooling up any FBL heli: there should be no cyclic input until the heli is light on the skids.

Always take-off with CP2 off, then you can flip it back on and all will be well again.

[nightflyr]

How are you powering your electronics?
Suggest using a separate BEC wired to either your main battery or use a flight pack.

As stated DO NOT attempt spool up with the CPII active, engage it only after you are in the air .

[cbarneg]

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions. I will try the simple stuff first - you know, I was going to try getting her up high and turning CP on, but after the episodes on the ground I was scared. I will give it a shot this weekend.

And the more reading I have done, I am becoming suspicious about the power system. I noticed in the BeastX manaul it does make a statement regarding the power draw of the FBL systems, and even in the pre-flight check on the CP it does pay attention to brown-outs. So there may be something to that as well. btw - in the pre-flight, what really does the CP brown out check really tell you? I mean, if there is going to be a power drop it will happen in the air, not before you spool up wouldn't it?

But first the easy stuff - get her up in the air first. Thanks again, and I will let you know how it goes.

[cbarneg]

It is true that the BeastX and Co-Pilot can play well together!

I just came in from a very successful set of test flights. I am not really sure which solution ultimately fixed things, but I think that the voltage to the BeastX was my problem in the end.

Rather than go to the expense and complication of a second power source though, I tried the low tech solution first. It occured to me to re-program my ESC to output a higher voltage to the electronics. I put it to the top end (6.0 V) which I believe was the same as the upper limit for the servos. Out on the field I turned off Co-Pilot, got her up ten feet or so, and turned Co-Pilot back on. No rapid tipping! The Co-Pilot performed as I had seen on my first heli and kept my Trex 500 with the BeastX quite solid. Now I can start doing some tuning with some confidence that I am going in the right direction.

Thank you for the feedback and encouragement!

[yepe]

guys need your help on wiring setup of cp2 and beast x

[nightflyr]

basic setup is as follows..

Rx>>>>>CPII>>>>>FBL(BeastX)>>>>>Servos

[n6nev]

Originally Posted by yepe

guys need your help on wiring setup of cp2 and beast x

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=383638
read post # 6

[Lampe1977]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

basic setup is as follows..

Rx>>>>>CPII>>>>>FBL(BeastX)>>>>>Servos

Is it possible to go through the "Quick Set-up" on Co-Pilot with BeastX connected?

[nightflyr]

yes

[Lampe1977]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

yes

Thank you

[n6nev]

delete message

[Lampe1977]

I may be a little dumb here, but can't make it work....

When in quick setup, and it asks me to move ELEV CYCLIC slowly back, doing so does nothing on the programmer, but cyclic on the helicopter move as it should. Moving throttle (in pos HOLD) from mid-stick down, makes it save the command.

[nightflyr]

Where do you have flight behavior setup on the beastX?

Do you have any D/R or EXPO set?

[Lampe1977]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Where do you have flight behavior setup on the beastX?

Do you have any D/R or EXPO set?

The flight behavior is in transmitter mode, and I do have som Expo around mid-stick.
(This is Futaba 14MZ transmitter I'm using). The heli flies well without Co-Pilot engaged.

[nightflyr]

Setup with out D/R or expo and make sure you are selecting the correct radio flavor in quick set

[Lampe1977]

Thank you, nightflyer
But it didn't work. Think there is some strenge mix up in the co-pilot, even it just has those three single cables from BeastX, it wil not recognize moving elevator back. Even thought it just do that... strange....

[Lampe1977]

Here is my settings for all three units, if someone sees something wrong here...

[nightflyr]

In what order are the components??

S/B
Rx>>>>CPII>>>>BeastX>>>>>Servos

My setup works perfectly.

Also check polarity on each unit