500 Derek's Trex 500 hover test

[Derek]

Ok...Last weekend, Tony was kind enough to spend about 3.5-4 hours teaching me how to set up the metal rotor head on my 500 in place of the stock head with plastic bits. We got my 500 to the point that it just needed to have the blade tracking checked and dial in the gyro settings.

As awesome as it was...no blade tracking was necessary at all! I'm not kidding! Tony....we done good!!!

However, I'm struggling with the gyro settings and a tail wag. For those of you that don't know...I'm using a Spektrum DX8 and the Align GP780 gyro that came with the heli. I started with Pos 0 at 50.0. The tail wag was horrible. I raised the settings to 60.0...the tail wag was worse. Ok...dropped the settings to 40....the wag was not as severe, but still present. 30....still better but still there. 20...even better yet but still there. Got down to 9.7 and it was better, but still there. 6.6 on the settings and the tail would sway. i don't know how to describe it, but here is a bit of video.


Despite the fact that I didn't get the tail to hold very well, it did fly and it was so much fun to have this 500 back in the air, instead of just sitting on my shelf. I love the metal head. The whole heli is so much smoother and notably quieter. What a treat!!!

Any suggestions on what to do about the gyro and the tail wag???

 

[breeze400]

Did you power down the heli in between adjustments? Sometimes you have to do that for the new settings to take place.

 

[Derek]

No, Sam, I didn't power down the heli in between adjustments. I wasn't aware that this was a possibility. I will keep that in mind for next time.

I did get a comment, on Youtube, from two people that I trust pretty well. Both were saying to check the ball link on my tail servo. Both people said that the ball link should be on the inner most hole of the control horn. I had the ball link on the outer most hole. I did make the change from the outer most hole to the inner most hole....reset the gyro settings to 50.0 and tried again...still have a wag.

Unfortunately, I have run out of daylight. I probably could try some more, but I just don't feel comfortable with the lack of light. This will have to wait until my next day off...Monday and Tuesday.

But....I can consider this a huge success, from a certain point of view. No more training gear and no damage on these test hovers. I'd say its been a great day!!!

 

[breeze400]

Cool. I know on the NAZA and ikon you have to cycle them off and on for any new settings to take hold.

 

[Derek]

Even though I would think that is a hassle...it's also probably a good idea, just to make sure that everything has been reset and restarted.

 

[Westy]

hey dude! good to see yo got it in the air.....

what Gyro are you using .... excuse my ignorance?

Depending on your Gyro .... could be vibration...... should not wag on rate mode ... should just drift like a weather direction thingy..... (can't say the word or I might get banned

how far is your servo control rod from the servo servo horn screw?

 

[Derek]

I'm using the Align GP780 that came with the Trex 500 Super Combo.

I suppose it could be a vibration issue, but I'm not thinking that it is vibrations that causing my issues. When I was flying/hovering my heli last year, I didn't have any tail wag and I've not changed anything with the gyro. I just don't know.

You asked, "How far is your servo control rod from the servo servo horn screw?" I don't understand what you are asking.

However, even with the tail wag...it was awesome to have my 500 in the air today. Just awesome!!!

 

[Westy]

Suggestions....
re calibrate and set up your gyro .. and I would disconnect the tail tail control rod and make sure the tail is not binding .. as in my Tail Tips in the Heli beginner section.

 

[Derek]

hmmm, re calibrating the gyro, eh? I'm gonna need some instruction on how to do that. is there a tutorial or something online that I can find? Well, I'm sure there is, but would you know quicker than me searching?

 

[Westy]

https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&r...=bQr8XtXOpYFby-EvhoLPTw&bvm=bv.46471029,d.dGI

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Just so you can make sure it is all still as it was set .... may be the Delay feature is set to red (for small 250,450 heli) instead of Green (500,600,700 class)

 

[Derek]

cool! I'll look into that when I'm done on the sim.

Thanks Westy!!!

 

[Tony]

Congrats on 1400 posts!

Okay Derek, time to take you back to school bro lmao. There is a difference from "wagging" and "hunting". In the video, the tail was hunting. Very slow and soft movements. When it's almost shaking the heli apart, that is wagging lmao. It will scare the living hell out of you.

What the guys said on the video comments are exactly right and it's the FIRST THING I thought of when I read how low you were going on the gain. Move that ball to the inner hole on the servo arm. That will make the servo travel farther thus softening up the tail response. But also allowing you to raise your gain.

After you move that ball, the next thing to do is put your gyro either on the gyro mount (where you have your Rx) or put it on top of the tail boom. I think being right under the main shaft may be affecting it. Don't argue with me, just try it and see what happens. Worst case, you will be out a bit of double sided tape.

Other than that, it looked good. Loved that echo off the other houses lol.

 

[Derek]

Yeah! 1400 posts! I've been around for a while, lol.

"Wagging" and "Hunting"....got it! I had quite a bit of "wag" earlier but then I lowered the gain super low and then became "hunting."

I have moved the ball link to the inner most hole. I'll move the Gyro and see what happens. I'll try to test it again tomorrow before work, but I can't promise anything. Worst case, I'll try it out on Monday-Tuesday when I'm not working.

...and yeah...that echo of the other houses was AWESOME!!! It definitely got the neighbors attention, lol.

 

[Tony]

well yeah, it sounds like a turbine starting up lmao. Scares the hell out of people.

 

[Derek]

lol..I know...IT'S AWESOME!!! My friend came over a few weeks ago with his 700e.....OMG!!! it sounded like my house was lifting off, lol...what a sound!!!

 

[Tony]

One thing that I think is affecting the tail is the lack of sensing from the gyro. I'm wondering if it needs to be mounted behind or in front of the main shaft. Make sure your gain wire on your gyro is in the gear channel of your Rx. In your Tx, you should not have to go below about 25% minimum. 60% on the DX6i would equate to 20% on the DX8. So what you had it at before on your 6i, just to your previous number minus 50 times 2 to get your value that you should start with on the DX8.

 

[Westy]

yeah the first time I heard a 500 ... I was very impressed .... I was expecting it to be like a little 450 since i was used too the big 600 (not that big) ..... and man did it sound cool!!

 

[Derek]

yeah the first time I heard a 500 ... I was very impressed .... I was expecting it to be like a little 450 since i was used too the big 600 (not that big) ..... and man did it sound cool!!

Yeah, for sure! I'm surely not gonna 'knock' the 450's at all, but the 500's have a deeper tone to them. I love that sound....especially in my backyard so the noise can echo off the houses, lol.

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Ok, Tony! I did double check and the tail servo goes to the Gyro and the black, red, and white wires from the Gyro goes to the RUD on the Rx and the yellow wire from the Gyro goes to the Gear on the Rx. So, that part is fine. I even double checked that all servo leads were pressed in still and that none of them had worked their way loose. No problems there.

My Gyro is about 1.5" behind the main shaft. Based on what I've read about using Gyro's on planes...the gyro is most effective at the point of pivot. So, if my gyro is 1.5" behind the main shaft (the point of pivot)...it's probably not at the most efficient location. Right?

 

[Tony]

Well, I'm basing all of this on all of the helicopters that I have seen and built. Most had them on top of or under the boom mount, or like my 600N, in front of the main shaft on the top. The 450 I built did have it on teh under side, but that was a 3GX and not the 780. I have heard some bad things about the 780 and almost everyone suggests the 790 over the 780 every time.

Any thoughts of going flybarless? You know you want to hahaha.

 

[Derek]

You can bet that I want to go flybarless...but it's just not in the forecast anytime soon. I have to finish some of my current projects (Albatross is one of them, of course) and I have a deal that I made that I am going to stick to. Flybarless will come...sometime. Maybe I'll get the parts and pieces for flybarless at IRCHA in August. I dunno.