450 3GX is driving me crazy

[Skyskipper]

Now, I believe I'm reading the instructions correctly and I have viewed countless videos. I wire the 3GX to the receiver. ESC BEC voltage is supposed to go into the 3GX's throttle position. Do I need an indepentent BEC voltage to put into the receiver's throttle position? The purple signal wire does not power up the 3GX. It is not a voltage carrying wire because it is very thin like the other control surfaces wires. All the control surface wires are just one signal wire. Including the throttle wire to the receiver. The receiver works just fine without the 3GX.

Any suggestions??

 

[Smoggie]

I always ran satellites when i used a 3GX... But as I understand it if using a standard receiver you need to run the three wire (black/red/white) lead that should have come with the 3GX between the 'battery out' port on the 3GX to any spare port on the receiver. This is what takes power from the 3GX to the receiver because the signal wires don't carry power.

 

[murankar]

The easiest way to get the 3gx to work is to replace it with an iKon or what ever other gyro you want. A Spartan vortex would be a great option also.

 

[Skyskipper]

That's not really a solution. They get good reviews and most of the cons are about setting them up. Once they are programed,they work fine. I'm going to try to just running satellites.

 

[murankar]

Actually it is a solution since align no longer supports the product. That unit is riddled with issues from eating a heli during spool up to the tail giving out while flying. I would not trust any airframe; even an HK frame to that gyro. Tony had many issues with his after shooting the setup videos. Just remember that Align dropped that product.

 

[Tony]

What URI said is true. After I shot that video series, things went dowhill quickly. I updated to teh newer versions and had mass issues. I tried going back down still with mass issues. The more I tried, the more it just didn't want to work. And as stated, Align just dropped the gyro without warning.

As for running only satellites, you never mentioned (or I just missed) what Tx you are using. You must use a 7+ch Tx in order to use only satellites. with only satellites the gyro gain is on channel 7 or aux1. With a standard Rx your gyro is channel 5.

 

[Smoggie]

I have to admit that I also found the 3GX very 'hit or miss'. I've used a few of them in the past and usually they performed 'ok' once you got to grips with the not very intuitive setup.. But sometimes they would be nothing but trouble, from tip-overs to sloppy gains, to pitch up in flight. You don't realise how poor the 3GX is until you try something different.

 

[holtneil]

I second that I had 2 x 3GX and I followed Tonys videos and I had tail kicks ,tip overs so I binned them even the super cheap Kbar is 100% better sorry to say

 

[Admiral]

Sad but true what they are saying, I had 3 x 3GX and persisted far too long, wrecked far too many helicopters before I gave up. They would be flying OK and the all of a sudden you picking up pieces, AR7200BX's are great and the newer model even better I believe.

 

[Skyskipper]

What did they replace it with?

My TX is a Specktrum D7..

 

[murankar]

Then you can use anything that accepts satellites. iKon beastx Vbar/kbar, spirit, Spartan vortex. If they do not accept the sats than just use a Specktrum rx. Specktrum radios are the mist widely used next to Futaba so touching have any issues.

 

[holtneil]

Hi mate if you want self levelling and bail out then the spirit pro is the cheapest that does this and its really good , they have a dealer in the USA and they work great with spectrum sats

 

[callsign4223]

What did they replace it with?

My TX is a Specktrum D7..

They replaced the AR7200BX with the AR7300BX. To my knowledge the only difference is that the AR7300BX supports high voltage servos. Otherwise they are identical.

 

[Smoggie]

They replaced the AR7200BX with the AR7300BX. To my knowledge the only difference is that the AR7300BX supports high voltage servos. Otherwise they are identical.

No, that's not quite right.
Both the AR7200BX and 7300BX have been discontinued. The 7200 is replaced by the AR7210BX but no direct replacement has been announced for the 7300 yet.

FWIW.. The 7200, 7300 and the new 7210 can all work with HV servos, no problem at all. The only difference on the 7300 is that it had a dedicated high current connector to hook up to your battery or BEC.

 

[Erfan]

How about the gPro, is that as well? It seems that they are not bundling it with the combo packages anymore, should I try to get rid of mine and perhaps get another Ikon?
I have some issues with it now, not sure if its the gyro or the heli... I had it on another 450 and it behaved really nice, everything was locked in but then I don't fly that crazy...

 

[murankar]

That is no longer being offered either. I wouldn't go with an Align Gyro period. There arrest better alternatives out there.

 

[Smoggie]

Align appear to have given up on FBL controller manufacture and gone with the BeastX on their combos. I never tried the Gpro but I've seen mixed reviews, some say it flew fine, others had problems, but you tend to get that with any FBL as a lot of the problems are user error.

 

[Dougf]

Hi all,this is my first time asking a question on any forum,so any mistakes sorry.I am a total newbie to helicopters,I can't even fly them but I enjoy building them.I have purchased a 3GX and am fitting it to a unfinished 450GT,I have downloaded the software but I don't know what the little switch is for on the dongle,the dongle light doesn't light up and the computer doesn't seem to recognise it.Am I doing/not doing something,it's driving me nuts!

 

[Tony]

Welcome to RCH. We usually ask that members create their own threads when asking a question, but I also understand what it's like being new to forums. No worries.

The switch on the dongle does nothing, as far as I can tell, with the 3GX. I think it did something with the 3G though.

You are not going to like the 3GX, it is not beginner friendly at all. But maybe you got lucky and got one of the good ones, which is rare. DO NOT run any of the version 3 or 5 on it. 4 is very hit and miss and I highly suggest version 2.1 over any of the others if you have to use this gyro.

You need to bind this gyro with your Tx. In other words, the gyro needs to see that your Rx has signal. If you are using spektrum, and you are only running one satellite, plug the satellite into port 2. Port 1 doesn't work by its self for some reason on most of them. If you are running two satellites, then you will be fine. If you are running a separate Rx (which you have to do with a 6ch Tx), then just bind that to your Tx and connect all of the little wires to the 3GX and it should power on.

Connecting it to your computer should be as simple as plugging it in. I have a complete video series on this gyro that should walk you through everything you need to know about it.

Just click the link below to go to all of my videos. From wiring to parameter menu's, it's all in here. And the very first article will have all of the links to the different versions of the software and firmware. Again, I would use 2.1 if I were you.

Rc-Help - 3GX How-To

 

[Smoggie]

Yep, lots of people conclude that their 3GX is 'dead' because it acts like it's dead until you bind it to a receiver.


The 3GX can work ok once you get to grips with it but you would probably save yourself a lot of hassle if you grabbed yourself a cheap 'Kbar' FBL controller. the Kbar is a clone of the Mikado Vbar which until quite recently was pretty much the 'gold standard' in flybarless controllers. The Software and setup process for the Kbar/Vbar is MUCH easier to get to grips with than the 3GX and it flies better too.

You can get a Kbar for about $25.