This build has been a challenge, mostly in those areas where inexperience plays a large part of having to redo installations and setups. In the future I will stick very closely to the order of events, to the smallest detail, in Bob White's video series. Its missing those little details, and the slight differences between the kits that makes for errors that have to be corrected. Experience makes my listening to his vid the next time more illuminating. I wish there was an explicit step by step go-by, would have saved me some time and angst. That being said, I am learning SO much from these brief forays along the wrong path. testing my patience though!
For instance. Bob, using his some many, many years of experience, set up his servos perfectly with his receiver OUTSIDE the frame, right after installing them (is there any heli he has not built? See the list of build vids on Helifreak.com). Then he put the receiver in the middle of his ship. Well, I thought I had my servos setup properly and buried my receiver in the middle of the heli. Well... I had to swap the aileron and pitch servos plugs, have had to re-setup the tail servo having to remove the gyro lead and put the tail servo lead back on the receiver, set up the servo, and return everything back to gyro mode, and have had to rebind after changing several programming setups. Not easy with the receiver in the middle of the heli! I can't take the main gear out every time I need to rebind, so I struggle to get the bind plug in the receiver.
I also made a ouch mistake of ignorance. If the programming setup is not done, and you turn off the transmitter the heli can spin up! I had just moved the motor wires outside the frame, as seen in the pic. Fortunately no rotor blades, and the wires were outside the heli! Unfortunately I had not yet disconnected the motor leads so the motor was able to spin up. I was able to disconnect the motor wire sustaining a bruised and cut knuckle, and broke a tail rotor blade. Later read on line that this is a common mistake.
I flipped the ESC so the battery leads come out over the top of the battery holder, and the ESC leads come out of the hole in the nose. The motor leads now come out the front side of the frame. Very easy to reach and still clean. I wish there was a similar easy positioning issue for the receiver, but I want to keep it protected in the frame. this mod makes it easy for me to disconnect the motor to tweak the servo setup/ESC, etc without the danger of a spin up.
I was worried about the receiver antennae which seemed to be folding back on themselves. I was worried they would begin to fray, and actually found one spot where it had. You can see the small piece of red shrink wrap I applied, fit snug on the receiver and satellite receiver antennae post and covering the most proximal part of the antennae. I like this and will likely do it to all my receivers.
I found that the "manual" online, the only one that exists, for the MKS GY292 gyro very inadequate. I could not find a setup vid or go-by that described how to setup the gyro, or what to set the gain on the gyro at when using the Gear switch to use the transmitter to set the gain. I did use Bob's gyro setup video and I managed to get my gyro set up in Heading Hold with the right gain (using his correction formula for a >50% = HH mode). I am not sure its enough gain... will have to tweak that. I don't know how to set the gyro limits; there is no limit pot on this gyro. I wonder if I do this using the Travel Adjustment settings for gyro? I will be trying that.
Today I have leveled the swash, and need to work on the pitch travel and setup the middle pitch CCPM by adjusting the linkages. I have already programmed the Normal, Idle Up and Hold Pitch and Throttle Curves. I will program the swash mixing today. Many of the links on my Bell Hiller are not adjustable, specifically the ones from the washout to the flybar cage and the seesaw (inside the flybar cage) to the grips. Looks like I can only adjust the servo to swash and the swash to seesaw linkages. This is today's adventure! This is pretty much the last step to the build!
Looking at this today I wouldn't have purchased it. I've written their support/sales people telling them I can't program it with my programming card, or with the transmitter. I figured out its working as it sends power and signal to the servos and motor. Later it occurred to me that I am not sure its even programmable, and I don't now the implications. I've gone ahead and ordered a $14 Hobbywing 30A ESC from Hobbypartz that I know is programmable. I'm asking on helifreak.com about the programmability and if its not if that's a problem...
I got the CB180D up and its flying great! I enjoy this little heli, its been a good boy since I got him a couple of months ago. I took it out for a spin on yesterday and enjoyed hovering tail in and out in the small space of my backyard. A couple circuits and that's about all there is room for.
