General Pitch question

[treff]

Hi all.
I am setting up the pitch on dfc 450 and I find with a swash setting of 60 I am getting over 30 degrees of pitch both ways.
I have altered the pitch setting to 45 in the swash mix to get 10degrees up and down. I now have Ail -60, Eli -60 and pitch -45. All at zero pitch, set at mid stick and IU. My question is this do I have to equalize the two -60 numbers so that they all read -45?. Appreciate any input or suggestions
that you may have. Cheers and thanks in advance.

 

[Tony]

The swash AFR (or "SWASHPLATE" menu) is for individual collective or cyclic movements. The "Pitch" is for the collective where the servos are all going up and down together. The AIL and ELE are for the cyclic. So no, you do not need to make them all the same.

 

[treff]

Thanks very much Tony. Almost ready for the first test flight with the new DFC head upgrade so I am very interested to see the difference between
flybared and dfc I hope it will be more stable. Cheers

 

[Tony]

Stability on a FBL heli is all about the gyro. If you have a good gyro, you will have a stable helicopter.

 

[treff]

Thanks again Tony. Using the 3gx at the moment but I think I dropped the ball by installing version 4. Some say it works good other say they have problems.
At the moment I do not know helicopter as not left the ground lol. but Align still have it on their site for down load so there can not be to much wrong.
Thanks again for the help especially the videos on the 3gx, brilliant. Cheers

 

[Tony]

The issue with 4.0 is with the tail. 3.1 is pretty solid, but it wants to tip over when it's just sitting on the ground. I have not done much testing with 4.0 though. I did have it on my 600, but didn't like it at all. Ended up putting the AR7200BX back on it.

 

[Slobberdog]

You would be better off putting 3.1 back on it Treff, mine worked great with 3.1 but the tail on 4 is a nightmare, have tweaked it to work near enough correctly but it still feels not right,

I have been told by an align rep that I should go back to 3.1 until they resolve the issues with V4,

Giving this is new to you I would say go to 3.1 as this is tried and tested, but as Tony has said don't leave it on the ground spooled up for long or it will tip.

 

[treff]

Thanks for that info Kev. I will give it a quick go on the version 4 and if I find problems will go to 3.1. I will refit training gear
to have a go. That is when the weather improves lol. Cheers

 

[treff]

Another problem I have come across is that I can not get zero pitch. I can get close to within a couple of degree but no more. If I adjust
the three push rods of the pitch,ail and ele then I loose my centre for 12 degrees up and down. I'm probably missing something simple. It's
been a long day LOL. Thanks for any replies. Cheers

 

[Tony]

First, you need to set your Tx to mid stick at 50% pitch curve. Then, adjust the blade grip lengths to get 0º pitch at mid stick. Then, check your full positive and negative. If you have more positive, then lower the swash, if more negative, then raise the swash via the 3 swash to servo links. Once you do that, you must then go back to mid stick and set your 0º once again. Keep doing this until you have it perfect, or within .5º of each other.

 

[treff]

Thanks Tony. I have done all of the above, it is just that I have run out of adjustment to get zero pitch at midstick
If I adjust the pitch, ail, and elevator anymore I can not get equal amounts of pitch. I can not get the dfc head rods short enough to get zero pitch and get
10 degrees up and down. I can get close to within 3 degrees but not zero. Cheers

 

[Andydrew1964]

I have been trying to set my pitch and spent time trying to adjust everything but didn't realize that the tx had to be in idle up mode , once I realized this I finally got it , WoW! ... I have a perfectly level swash and perfect 0 at mid stick and 9.7 negative and 9.8 positive .... I hope this is right and am looking forward to flying in the morning with the new settings , hope it makes a diff , and BTW sorry Tony I'm on my ipad and can't suss out how to add degrees lol

 

[Tony]

Hey, I would rather you do what you did there than put an "*" in there hahaha. Sounds like you have it licked (you know, licked, sussed, same thing haha). Let us know how it goes with VIDEO!!!!!!!!

 

[Andydrew1964]

Ha ha yeeh Tony lol , I'm a little bit nervous to be honest , as a beginner u buy a heli that's deemed RTF and with some adjustments to the tx ect managed to get if hovering and doing gentle circuits but after purchasing a pitch gauge and swash leveler it was so far out of adjustment that I don't no what to expect in the morning , hoping it's all gonna go good

 

[Andydrew1964]

Hey Tony how comes I get different pitch readings depending on where the blades are ? And what is the best place to have the blades when adjusting the pitch and how far down the blade should the pitch gauge be ? Thanks bro

 

[EyeStation]

The blades should be straight out the left and right for setting your collective pitch. I would probably suggest sliding the gauge closer to the frame than the center of the blade to eliminate any possible drooping from the weight of the gauge.
Good luck, and take your time.

 

[Andydrew1964]

Thanks Eyestation , I've been adjusting things for a couple of days now and it flew ok this morning but I felt it should be more stable! So carried on adjusting , now I can get the perfect 0 pitch -10.1 +10.2 but only with both blades in the same position , ie with the blade pointing out to the right , then I have to swing the left blade round to point out right also , they are both perfect like this but if I leave the left blade pointing left or even swing the right blade to the left the pitch is wat of , I fact I don't even get full adjustment with the blades pointing out to the left.??? Confused big time

 

[Tony]

I ONLY adjust my blades that are sticking out the front of the helicopter. Never from the side. I do this because I can calibrate my pitch gauge on the frame, and the only place that will give me the correct reading is right there in the front of the helicopter.

 

[Andydrew1964]

That's both blades out the front Tony yeeh!

 

[Lee]

Thanks Eyestation , I've been adjusting things for a couple of days now and it flew ok this morning but I felt it should be more stable! So carried on adjusting , now I can get the perfect 0 pitch -10.1 +10.2 but only with both blades in the same position , ie with the blade pointing out to the right , then I have to swing the left blade round to point out right also , they are both perfect like this but if I leave the left blade pointing left or even swing the right blade to the left the pitch is wat of , I fact I don't even get full adjustment with the blades pointing out to the left.??? Confused big time

If you are getting uneven pitch from the left to right hand side, then it could be that your swash is not level in the aileron axis. This would cause you to be able to set it up perfectly on one side and not the other. This could also be the case for front to back, if the elevator axis isn't level.
Double check you swash is perfectly level. Its the only thing that could cause this, unless something is bent in the head.