General Setup New DX8 With HBK3

[Corruptt]

Hello everyone,

I have had my HBK3 for a little while now, and recently just purchased a DX8 to use with it. I have done some research online as how to go about doing this, but I haven't been able to find anything that is clear cut step by step. My first problem is that I've read I start out with all servos at at 90 degrees using sub trims, and then level out the swash plate by adjusting the servo linkage. Is this correct ? I haven't figured out how to get the 3d F-Mode to work properly yet, the throttle curve for it is good but the pitch curve is killing me. Do any of you guys know were i can find some information on this or able to help me with it?

Thanks

 

[stokke]

Seeing that you've owned it a while, I guess you've also flown it before?
If this is the case, then this should be relatively easy.

Just to be sure, you could measure the three links between swash and servos.
They should all be the same length.

When centering servos, all expo, D/R, servo-travel, etc. should be default (0%/100%).
Put the Radio F-mode in Idle-Up1.
The Idle-Up1 pitch-curve should be perfectly linear 0-25-50-75-100 (diagonal).

Center your throttle/pitch/rudder stick.
Adjust servo sub-trim until all three have arms at 90°.
The swash should now be level. To make sure, use the zip-tie trick.
After this comes pitch set-up with a pitch gauge...

You'll have to elaborate on the F-mode problem I think..

- - - Updated - - -

BTW: MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG MOTOR BEFORE DOING THIS. LOL

 

[Corruptt]

Thank you for the info, it helped immensely. I think I've got it mostly set up now with the DX8. The F mode was just something that i hadn't visually seen before but understand it now. Other then that yes i have flown it a few times but not to many due to weather conditions. Hoping the DX8 will be much better then the e-sky it came with lol. The pitch curve for learning purposes mainly, should it be say 45% 47% 50% 75% 100% or should it be more of a 50% 60% 70% 80% 100% ?

 

[breeze400]

Your first curve is good. You want a couple of degrees negative pitch to hold her on the ground.

 

[stokke]

If you've got the swash level and servos 90°, you should now go through your swash menu set-up.
In Idle-up1, with the pitch curve still linear as before, you should have 0° pitch at mid stick < THIS IS IMPORTANT.
You check this with a pitch gauge.

A beginner curve should be about -2° at low stick, 0° at mid stick, and about +8,5° at high stick.
But all this is not optimal unless you've set your settings in the swash menu.

Please check back if anything is unclear.

 

[Corruptt]

I think i got it all set up now. Haven't gotten to test fly it, but kinda worried me when i spun it up holding it down that it wanted to lift and pull backwards. I'll have to test it out tomorrow and see what happens :/ Might try to throw on the D/R and be easy with it.

 

[stokke]

Put on some training gear if you have it!

 

[Corruptt]

I did use the training gear for sure wouldn't have done it with out it lol. the only problem I'm having now is getting the gyro to work properly. It is the E-Sky 000855 Gyro and on the TC it doesn't seem to make a difference if its at 65 or 95, the tail still drifts like crazy! Not sure what I could either be missing or not setting correctly. Any ideas or things to check / test ?

 

[stokke]

I did use the training gear for sure wouldn't have done it with out it lol. the only problem I'm having now is getting the gyro to work properly. It is the E-Sky 000855 Gyro and on the TC it doesn't seem to make a difference if its at 65 or 95, the tail still drifts like crazy! Not sure what I could either be missing or not setting correctly. Any ideas or things to check / test ?

If the DX8 is like my DX7S, you'd want about +40% on rudder gyro gain. (Heading Hold)

 

[Corruptt]

Even when I'm just when i get it light on the skids the tail still wants to drift to one side, i tried settings from 20 all the way to 95 and they all did the same thing, constantly holding opposite rudder to compensate is all i could do. If i go into the negatives the head lock turns off.

 

[stokke]

Try reversing the servo maybe?

 

[Corruptt]

I hit the reverse on the Gyro while i was out side testing and such, and i got it light on the skids and then the next thing I knew was the tail was spinning around like crazy. Like it spun around twice and it was off the ground a matter of 2 seconds lol

 

[Tony]

Nah, a drift is different from reverse as you have just now found out. With the drift, you can use sub trim to trim it out, but you will have to unplug the battery and plug it back in to reinitialize the gyro every time. I would move the servo up and down the boom if you can or extend or retract the length of the control rod.

As for the DX8 and 7s, they are exactly the same as far as the programs go. The DX8 just has more options. If you have it on the 7s, then the DX8 has the same thing, just with more options.

If you went to a gain of 95 adn you didn't get any tail wag, then there is something wrong with your gyro settings. Someting is not telling the gyro to up the gain. This may be a gyro that has the gain pot on the gyro it's self. IMO, the HBK3 is not a good heli and is very unstable even on it's best day. With that said, we will still help you get it in the air, but I can assure you, you will have much better results if you get a good heli like the Align Sport V2 Super Combo. This will come with everything you need, including top notch electronics to keep it stable in the air. But as stated, we will help you to try and get this HBK3 in the air as long as we have to.

 

[Corruptt]

The Gyro is the Esky 000855 and it does have a Limit and Delay pot on it. I haven't really messed with them. when i test it and i put the settings on the DX8 at 3 positions and they are like 30, 60, 100 i can tell in all positions that 100 does in fact make the actions when i move the tail left and right more aggressive compared to the lower settings. Now you said basically either using sub trim or shortening or lengthening the rudder control arm to compensate for the drift that it does now ?

 

[Tony]

Okay, in most cased those pots should be at 0 0. You can use limit to help keep the travel down to keep from binding the servo linkage rod, but I always just used the end points in the Tx to do this. Delay, unless you are using a very slow analog servo should always be at 0.

Are you sure your gyro gain is set to your gyro switch in the Tx? as you sure you have the gain plug plugged into the correct channel on the Rx? Turning up the gain will not make the tail "feel" any different. The gain is how much throw the gyro will tell the servo to move to correct a movement. If I had my Tx here, I would walk you through the gyro setups just to make sure everything is on the correct channel/switch. But it's at the house and I'm stuck here at the base for the next 7 hours.

And yes, the drift means the servo is not centered to the heli's liking. There will always be a slight drift, even on a $250 3GX gyro, but it shouldn't be that noticeable. So I would do a mechanical way of adjusting the drift out of it before I did anything in the settings of the Tx. Just like with setting up the head, this will take a while, but is well worth it in the end.

 

[murankar]

You can use sub trim but it is better to do it mechanically.

 

[Corruptt]

I'll adjust it today when i get home from lunch which is in like 4 hours lol. I'm almost for sure i have it on the right channel and for sure its on the Gyro SW, because if i flight the switch when i have one of them below 0% say like -50% the light on the gyro goes out. What i meant by trying the settings and moving the tail i meant just having the electronics on motor off, and i move the tail by hand to the left or right like bumping it. There is a noticable difference in 30 60 and 100, it seems to be more aggressive at 100 for sure. I looked up the manual on the gyro here it is. HERE

Should i still put both of the POTS to 0,0 ?

As I'm mechanically adjusting the control arm how exactly do I figure out if it is at zero pitch, just eye it ?

 

[murankar]

Basically. Hover it and what ever direction the stick goes to stop it that's the direction you want the servo to slide on the boom. if right stick makes the servo arm move to the front (nose) of the heli then that's the direction the servo needs to slide or shorten the control arm by one turn. if the rudder stick needs to move left to stop the drift then the servo will need to slide back or lengthen the control rod by one turn.

Do a test hover and see if it still drifts, if so than adjust as needed to get it to stop. This is based on my heli and setup you will need to know what direction your servo arm moves with a given stick input in order to fix it. I hope I did not confuse you.

 

[Corruptt]

Ok, update. Flew it around on a full battery and tested a few things. I'm unable to adjust the rudder linkage it is one solid piece. So I put it into rate mode so the servo is at dead center, removed the arm and moved it one notch backwards. That made the rudder at no pitch when not given a command. As far are the percentages on the TX for the gyro, i was at 100% with no tail wag what so ever, the tail would still slightly drift to the right. Also i cannot use the sub trim to move the linkage because it counts that as an input and continues to move that direction more and more when in head lock mode. Should I move it another notch so it has at least a little pitch when no stick and see what happens or, possibly adjusting the POTS on top of the gyro, i did put them both to 0,0.