Spektrum DX7 and Blade 230 S

[Boulder53]

Greetings. I recently got a Blade 230 S that I plan to fly with my existing DX7. I got the DX7 about 2 months ago when I got a Blade 200 QX (quad), but for that model I managed to find a pre-fab setup file and really didn't understand the transmitter setup tables in the model's manual. I haven't found any setup files for the 230 S, but that's ok since I want to understand the programming and this seems a good place to start.

I watched several of the videos on the DX8 and DX9 here in the articles section. They were a tremendous help in understanding how the setup tables in the book relate to the transmitter menus but there are a couple of things that are still escaping me on this setup. Surprisingly the D/R & Expo and throttle and pitch curves were easy to set up after watching the videos. But there's one tidbit in the tables that I can't sort out.

At the bottom of the setup table (for each model radio) there is a short paragraph that says:
Panic Mode Operation
Bind / I Button
Pressed = Panic Mode On
Released = Panic Mode Off

The first question is: Do I need to set something up in order for this to work? I certainly want a working panic mode button, but I didn't find a place to make this setting. I would think I would need to associate switch I with a transmitter channel or something, but maybe not.

The second question is: When I went through the table, I set up the Frame Rate in the System Setup to be 11 ms as called out in the setup table. But when I actually bound the copter to the DX7, the voice told me that it bound at 22 ms. I just verified that 22 ms is saved in the Frame Rate. Is this a problem? Should I try to force it back to 11 ms? (I guess that's 3 questions)

Thanks for any insight you can offer.
Rick

 

[trainrider06]

Hi Rick, I have a DX8, so there should be similarities. Actually I think they are all the same, it's just we gotta find where to change/setup things!
I'm pretty sure you'll need to designate a switch for the safe mode to be activated.
I believe to do that is in the mode where you turn off the transmitter, hold down the top of the scroll wheel and turn on the radio....not sure though if that has the scroll wheel or not.

As far as frame rate, I saw somewhere where Tony was talking about that....
Sorry I am not much heli here for ya...

 

[Boulder53]

Thanks for the reply Rodney. Yes, the setting table says the bind switch will turn on panic mode. It's the only momentary contact switch I have, so that's fine with me. The question is, what do I have to set up in which menus to get that button to work? Or is it just part of the helicopter (as opposed to plane) defaults that are automatically in place?

The transmitter talks to the copter at the 22 ms frame rate. I can move servos by moving sticks (with throttle hold turned on!). I'm just wondering if I'm missing something important or useful by not being at 11 ms.
Rick

 

[D.O.G.]

Thanks for the reply Rodney. Yes, the setting table says the bind switch will turn on panic mode. It's the only momentary contact switch I have, so that's fine with me. The question is, what do I have to set up in which menus to get that button to work? Or is it just part of the helicopter (as opposed to plane) defaults that are automatically in place?

The transmitter talks to the copter at the 22 ms frame rate. I can move servos by moving sticks (with throttle hold turned on!). I'm just wondering if I'm missing something important or useful by not being at 11 ms.
Rick

Digital servos must be used on 11ms. I keep mind at 11ms and DSMX. Hope that helps.

 

[Boulder53]

Thanks for the reply D.O.G. I went back into the Frame Rate menu in the DX7 and set it to 11 ms (and DSMX which was already there). Then I followed the instructions in the book for binding - bind plug in the receiver, power on receiver/copter then hold the bind switch and power up the DX7. And the sweet little voice in the transmitter says "Binding... DSMX 22 milliseconds... Telemetry... Bind complete". The receiver lights stop blinking, the servos wobble and it all looks good. Except for the 22 milliseconds bit.

If I go back into the System Setup menu in the DX7, it now says "11 ms When 11 ms is selected"... etc. So the radio says it's at 11, but the voice message during the bind process said 22. I'm not sure which to believe and I don't want to burn anything up.
Rick

 

[trainrider06]

I think the problem of burning servo's up would be if you were running non digital at 11ms, the digital servo's though running at 11ms I think would just be a bit slower from what I understand...

 

[Boulder53]

Just to be thorough I updated to version 1.01 and installed the latest language svx. The screen still says 11 ms but the voice still says 22 ms during the bind process. I've done this 10 or 15 times, before and after the upgrade and the results are always the same.

 

[murankar]

That heli maybe able to only do 22ms. My 180CFX is bound at 22 ms and it flew fine. I think the 11 and 22 ms is how fast the receiver can receive data from the radio and has nothing to to with how fast the servos work. The servos were designed to work with the rx/flight controller so I don't think you will need to worry about burning them up.

 

[trainrider06]

I cannot remember for the life of me what it is, but I think your right murankar.

 

[murankar]

I hope so because its a SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess). One thing I do know is that a gyro set to digital servos when you have analog you will burn up the servo.

 

[trainrider06]

I'm pretty sure he's safe at whatever setting he has with the digital servo's.

I don't think I even own anything with the analog servo's on it anymore.

 

[Boulder53]

I took the whole works up to my LHS yesterday to have one of the heli experts check out my DX7 programming. He verified all my setups matched the tables in the 230 S manual (a nice confidence boost). And he said that the Bind switch is "automatically" set up to turn on Panic Mode. (Apparently the receiver knows that when it gets a bind signal with no bind plug, it means "go to Panic Mode".) He also said I would be ok at 11 or 22 ms since the copter uses digital servos. The Frame Rate screen in the DX7 still says 11 ms. Today I'll try binding with some distance between transmitter and copter. All of my bind attempts were with the two less than 3 feet apart, and some posts I've read say that squirrely things happen if they're too close together.

The bad news is that I had the copter off the ground for less than 5 seconds before it crashed and I shredded the tail rotor blades. I got some replacement blades but now it's too windy to fly. Oh well, I guess it's my turn to learn patience.
Rick

 

[Boulder53]

It's still too windy to fly but I took the rig outside to finish the setup. I verified that the Frame Rate screen says 11ms, and then re-bound from about 30 feet away. The voice still said "22 milliseconds". But everything else worked as expected.

I powered everything down and removed the bind plug, then powered back up. Everything synced up and I flipped on Throttle Hold and backed away. I was about 30 or 40 feet away and went into Range Test and punched the Bind Button. I was able to move all servos with Throttle Hold on. It seemed to pass the range check with no problems.

Usually it calms down near dusk around here, but not tonight. Guess I won't get a chance to play again until tomorrow.
Rick