Copycat 500 build

[robbancs]

It looks like, while many of you are thinking of/building a 500 after/skipping the 450, I'm the only one progressing to a 250 CP. Or most of you have already done that?

It's much cheaper though, for sure!

Maybe I should start a new thread called 'Bee guys gone 450 gone 250'

[Oldladypilot]

Originally Posted by Steemo

You have no idea, it gets worse each time I fly her.

Have you started setting up pitch curves and throttle curves on your Tx?

Yes I have set it up the way Finless Bob said to. I'm keeping in mind what you said about zero pitch for the first high speed run with the blades on, and also keeping a list JMD gave me as a guide to refer to for the first flight.

I'm still trying to understand all that stuff, it's easy to follow someone else but I want to fully understand each function.

I still need to get the head set up correctly. I only have 2 days off every other week and only 1 in between so I don't have a lot of time.

[Steemo]

Originally Posted by robbancs

It looks like, while many of you are thinking of/building a 500 after/skipping the 450, I'm the only one progressing to a 250 CP. Or most of you have already done that?

It's much cheaper though, for sure!

Maybe I should start a new thread called 'Bee guys gone 450 gone 250'

I built a 250 after my 450pro, it ended badly. Wind + 250 =
I could rebuild her quite cheaply but so far I haven't had the heart to. Poor little bird she was so cute and small yet so vicious and energetic if you weren't careful. RIP

[PauloG]

Originally Posted by Steemo

I built a 250 after my 450pro, it ended badly. Wind + 250 =
I could rebuild her quite cheaply but so far I haven't had the heart to. Poor little bird she was so cute and small yet so vicious and energetic if you weren't careful. RIP

I have 2 Blade CPs sitting on my
shelves. I live in FL and wind here is a killer. With the 500 I don't have to worry about it as much.

[Steemo]

Originally Posted by Gladiator

I have 2 Blade CPs sitting on my
shelves. I live in FL and wind here is a killer. With the 500 I don't have to worry about it as much.

Hehe, I live on the coast too. Windless days are rare, also loving my 500 for the same reason.
I'll prob rebuild the 250 once my collective management gets better. As it was at the time of the crash any gust would result in the poor thing po-going up and down from me over/under compensating the collective. She ended up 50ft+ up after a couple of big gusts and I couldn't bring her down in a controlled way even in id2

[Steemo]

So after getting approval from the leader of the opposition (wife). I have just done the unthinkable...
I hit the buy button on the 500EFL kit along with a whole boot load of spares and extras.
I never thought I would be the sort of person who could justify spending $1000 in one hit on any hobby at all, I was wrong.
Anyone reading this who thinks it wont eventually happen to them, I give this advice.
Get out while you still can
Who am i kidding The fact that you are in a 500 build thread reading this means it's already too late for you

[hydmech]

Originally Posted by Steemo

So after getting approval from the leader of the opposition (wife). I have just done the unthinkable...
I hit the buy button on the 500EFL kit along with a whole boot load of spares and extras.
I never thought I would be the sort of person who could justify spending $1000 in one hit on any hobby at all, I was wrong.
Anyone reading this who thinks it wont eventually happen to them, I give this advice.
Get out while you still can
Who am i kidding The fact that you are in a 500 build thread reading this means it's already too late for you

[Oldladypilot]

Originally Posted by Steemo

So after getting approval from the leader of the opposition (wife). I have just done the unthinkable...
I hit the buy button on the 500EFL kit along with a whole boot load of spares and extras.
I never thought I would be the sort of person who could justify spending $1000 in one hit on any hobby at all, I was wrong.
Anyone reading this who thinks it wont eventually happen to them, I give this advice.
Get out while you still can
Who am i kidding The fact that you are in a 500 build thread reading this means it's already too late for you

Congratulations Steemo!
I'm really happy for you! Hey, you only live once right? Have fun while you can. It's only money!

To your wife for being so understanding!

On another note; what servos did you get for your 500CMT? I'm considering what to get for my TrexGF.

[Steemo]

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...969&aff=517643
Blue arrows, they have been doing me well. Very strong and fast. Little pricey but if the mg930s are still on back order there aren't many other good options. the hks 9257 looks great on paper but nearly every review I could find states they are rubbish.

Yes my wife is awesome

[Oldladypilot]

Steemo, I just found your post on what you ordered back on page 11. The 930's are in stock at HK, and they also have the blue arrows. Would either of these be okay for the tail also?

[JettaManDan]

Originally Posted by Oldladypilot

Steemo, I just found your post on what you ordered back on page 11. The 930's are in stock at HK, and they also have the blue arrows. Would either of these be okay for the tail also?

930 should be fine for the tail..i';m hearing reports that anyone wanting ot do any real aerobatics..inverted flight and so on that the 930's are not up to it..just not enough torque...if i ever get to the point of trying anything beyond normal flight i'm going to upgrade mine...

[Steemo]

+1 on what jmd said however if you are going to spend $14-20 on so tail servo, I can not speak highly enough of the Power HD 3688HB they are apparently a high quality clone of the futaba 9257. I run them on both my 450 tails and they perform perfectly. So if you are going to use the 401 clone gyro again try the clone of the servo that was made to work with it.

Not to mention metal gear servos are by no means essential on the tail like they are on cyclic, go for the highest speed and the best accuracy in a plastic digital servo (2-3 kg torque) and you will be able to run higher gain ok your gyro without tail wag compared to a slower higher torque MG servo like the 930. And DMG servos make a hell of a racket when attached to a gyro.

Why not just use the orange HK servo again. I'm getting a great tail hold out of it for such a lite price.

[Oldladypilot]

I was planning on using the Detrum GY48V gyro I got on sale. But if I place an HK order I may throw in another 401.

I know the orange servo is good since you guys are using it with good results, but I stripped the gears out on mine real easily so I want metal gears.

Besides, orange doesn't match my color scheme!

[Steemo]

If that's the case then the blue arrow would be best. It's much faster than the 930.
Generally when it comes to the tail servo faster = better. The blue arrows also run at 1520/333 which is the most precise frame rate that our hobby servos can run

[Oldladypilot]

Okay, so I'll get 3 930's and a Blue arrow, use my Detrum gyro and either my AR6100e receiver or an orange HK receiver.

BTW; I'm not getting the soft start I want with this Turnigy ESC. Is that anything you can make better by adjusting the throttle curve?

No matter how easy I advance the throttle it jitters and jerks it into a fast spin....hard on the gears.

[PauloG]

Originally Posted by Steemo

So after getting approval from the leader of the opposition (wife). I have just done the unthinkable...
I hit the buy button on the 500EFL kit along with a whole boot load of spares and extras.
I never thought I would be the sort of person who could justify spending $1000 in one hit on any hobby at all, I was wrong.
Anyone reading this who thinks it wont eventually happen to them, I give this advice.
Get out while you still can
Who am i kidding The fact that you are in a 500 build thread reading this means it's already too late for you

Nice Steemo!!!!

Wow... I want one of those too

Congrats!!!

[Steemo]

Originally Posted by Oldladypilot

Okay, so I'll get 3 930's and a Blue arrow, use my Detrum gyro and either my AR6100e receiver or an orange HK receiver.

Sounds like a good setup, are you going to use the same power train?

Originally Posted by Oldladypilot

BTW; I'm not getting the soft start I want with this Turnigy ESC. Is that anything you can make better by adjusting the throttle curve?

No matter how easy I advance the throttle it jitters and jerks it into a fast spin....hard on the gears.

I left my ESC on default settings and it spins up fine with the following:
Norm
T/C: 0,65,75,75,75
P/C: 50,50,66.5,83,100
Id1
T/C: 75,65,80,80,80
P/C: 45,50,66.5,83,100
Id2
T/C: 85,80,75,80,85
P/C: 0,25,50,75,100

I just start in Norm and slowly bring the left stick slowly up to 25% then flick the tx into id1. The spin up from 0 - 65% goes smoothly for me.
I don't trend to fly in id2 yet but I like to have it there just incase.

[Steemo]

Originally Posted by Gladiator

Nice Steemo!!!!

Wow... I want one of those too

Congrats!!!

Thanks Gladiator,

You should do it

[Oldladypilot]

Originally Posted by Steemo

Sounds like a good setup, are you going to use the same power train?

I left my ESC on default settings and it spins up fine with the following:
Norm
T/C: 0,65,75,75,75
P/C: 50,50,66.5,83,100
Id1
T/C: 75,65,80,80,80
P/C: 45,50,66.5,83,100
Id2
T/C: 85,80,75,80,85
P/C: 0,25,50,75,100

I just start in Norm and slowly bring the left stick slowly up to 25% then flick the tx into id1. The spin up from 0 - 65% goes smoothly for me.
I don't trend to fly in id2 yet but I like to have it there just incase.

My trex comes with an Align ESC and motor....so that's what I'm using.

I'm getting ready to go to work so I'll check my tx settings when I get home in the morning.
I don't understand what you're saying about start in norm then flick to id1. I'll have to see what that is. Still foggy on all the tx settings and switches.

I ordered those servos and an assortment of heat shrink and mesh. HK is out of the 401 gyros.

[Steemo]

Most Tx's (yours included) can have 4 different sets of pitch and throttle curves operated by 2 switches.
Your flight mode switch has 3 positions, Normal, Idle 1 and Idle 2.
You Throttle hold switch over rides the flight modes and is usually set to 0 throttle with it's own pitch curve.

Rather than use a soft start in idle I use Normal mode to spin up from 0-65% Thr and 0 pitch using bottom 25% stick movement. I then use the flight mode switch to switch to Idle 1 where the Thr is never below 65% even at bottom stick so I can have a little negative pitch to help bring the heli down in windy conditions while still maintaining head speed. Idle 2 is even more extreme and usually uses higher Thr and more negative pitch for 3d flight, as I said I rarely use this mode.
Thr hold is useful for crashes, auto-rotation and for safety when powering up.