Hummingbird Hummingboard, crazy throttle!

[Michael]

Ok somebody please check me on this before I shell out money for a new
Hummingboard ($79 at Heli-world).... suddenly, though it had not been
crashed before my Hummingbird Vii has started going nuts whenever I apply
the least amount of throttle to it. Just 10% throttle at the transmitter
makes it run up to 100% throttle at the heli and it won't throttle back down
until I put the transmitter at 100% throttle and then pull it back to 0%
throttle. It's like it's either all throttle or none.

Does this sound like a mixer/speed controller chip problem? I can't find any
loose connections or anything and don't have any other ideas what to try....
I've disconnected all the wires and reconnected them and still getting the
same symptoms. Though I can't imagine why, it's like the hummingboard has
developed a serious problem in it's mixer/speed controller chipset.
Thoughts?

Thanks!

- Michael

[Chris Dugan]

Motor suppression capacitors gone bad?

Wiring snagged/insulation split and/or shorting out on the graphite
somewhere?

A cell connection under the heatshrink broken giving an intermittent
contact?

Just some things to check out before condeming the Hummingboard, all they
require is re-soldering, visual checking or replacement capacitors (less
than $5.00)

It might be worth you just connecting a servo to the throttle connector on
the RX just to check the problem is not there (power the RX via an external
battery) and disconnect all the other leads to it, don't forget to tap the
RX whilst doing this to check the crystal is not damaged.

Chris

[Chris Dugan]

Having just read your previous post I think you're probably right about the
Hummingboard being toast, probably happened during the time the motor/rotor
was stalled on the ground before you got the power shut off.

Check the rest as I described just to cover all other things.

Chris

[Michael]

But, it did that "crash" to itself.... I had no throttle control, it went
full throttle out of control and landed in the yard grass some 15 feet away.
Not a really hard impact and the battery pack slingshotted out unplugging
itself instantly (not that that should matter because I was pushing the
throttle stick down desperately trying to shut the thing off anyhows).

I realize that having throttle on while the motor(s) are unable to turn will
burn things out, but as I say the battery pack came out when it hit the
ground and completely unplugged itself from the heli so that shouldn't have
caused any harm and whatever is wrong now was wrong *before* that
disasterous 3 foot hover attempt I was getting ready to make... I'd only
given it 1/8 throttle to start the blades turning when it took off on it's
own. Prior to this, I never even had it off the ground an inch because I was
working out trim and CG issues in the dining room floor at a little less
than half throttle (luckily it didn't go nutso in the house!!!).

Anyways I'm mystified... I've found 1 other post from February last year
from a Hummingbird owner who's heli did the same thing to him. There was
never a resolution posted however so I don't know what he ended up doing
with the thing.

I may try your suggestions out when I get some free time later this week
before I order another hummingboard. However I'm not that good with small
circuits and soldering things so I imagine I'll end up having to replace the
entire board and hope it doesn't meet the same fate. Grrrrrr!

Thanks Chris!

- Michael

"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
news:FtZ%d.2334$Xq6.122@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net...
> Having just read your previous post I think you're probably right about
> the
> Hummingboard being toast, probably happened during the time the
> motor/rotor
> was stalled on the ground before you got the power shut off.
>
> Check the rest as I described just to cover all other things.
>
> Chris
>
>

[nellie4526@mindspring.com]

"Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote:

>But, it did that "crash" to itself.... I had no throttle control, it went
>full throttle out of control and landed in the yard grass some 15 feet away.
>Not a really hard impact and the battery pack slingshotted out unplugging
>itself instantly (not that that should matter because I was pushing the
>throttle stick down desperately trying to shut the thing off anyhows).
>
>I realize that having throttle on while the motor(s) are unable to turn will
>burn things out, but as I say the battery pack came out when it hit the
>ground and completely unplugged itself from the heli so that shouldn't have
>caused any harm and whatever is wrong now was wrong *before* that
>disasterous 3 foot hover attempt I was getting ready to make... I'd only
>given it 1/8 throttle to start the blades turning when it took off on it's
>own. Prior to this, I never even had it off the ground an inch because I was
>working out trim and CG issues in the dining room floor at a little less
>than half throttle (luckily it didn't go nutso in the house!!!).
>
>Anyways I'm mystified... I've found 1 other post from February last year
>from a Hummingbird owner who's heli did the same thing to him. There was
>never a resolution posted however so I don't know what he ended up doing
>with the thing.
>

I've had a similar experience. I have the Hummingbird Elite. It was
well behaved, but then about 1 month ago I started having issues with
the motor acting crazy - throttle goes full up then goes up/down even
when the radio is set to low/no-throttle (I'm using the regular
brushed motor). It behaves like you'd expect if you had another
transmitter that was interfering or had something wrong in the radio
circuit. When I disconnect the motor, the controls act fine.
Connecting the motor back up causes the same problems. I haven't had
any crashes that resulted in a stalled motor. I use the same
transmitter (Futaba T6XA) to drive a Raptor 30 without any problems.


>I may try your suggestions out when I get some free time later this week
>before I order another hummingboard. However I'm not that good with small
>circuits and soldering things so I imagine I'll end up having to replace the
>entire board and hope it doesn't meet the same fate. Grrrrrr!
>
>Thanks Chris!
>
>- Michael
>
>"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:FtZ%d.2334$Xq6.122@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net...
>> Having just read your previous post I think you're probably right about
>> the
>> Hummingboard being toast, probably happened during the time the
>> motor/rotor
>> was stalled on the ground before you got the power shut off.
>>
>> Check the rest as I described just to cover all other things.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>

[Michael]

Are any of the wires touching the motor as they pass by it (like the servo
wires?)? Right before mine started going nutso I did some tie-wrapping work,
tying wires down neatly, and I now realize I've got both servo wires resting
against the 370 motor (previously they were loose and not touching the motor
or anything). Thus my next idea is to remove all the tiewraps and get all
the wires as isolated as possible to see if that might make a difference.

From 1 evening to the next, the antena and those tiewraps were the only
things I changed, and I already undid the antena with no noticable
improvement.... so try revisit your wiring and see if that helps any.

I'll post an update once I get a chance to work on mine again.

- Michael

[mphsjeep]

All good troubleshooting above! Mine did the same thing and I went ape sh%$ trying to figure it out....wires wires, this is right, this is good....on and on. Finally I went to the motors and found that my main motor was giving out....I took a charged battery, disconnected everything and taped the tail and main motors. Tails were good(Ihad a dual hookup), but the main motor would surge...run full and drop.spazzy...I replaced it and bingo!!!!!! It was wierd and did not make much sence to me but that was it. Or your battery is going out, are you running lipos? I had battery problems that made everything spazzy. Here is the little guy, he went to a better home now but I will never foreget that lightbulb going off.....ITS THE MOTOR?????!

[Michael]

Thanks but that seems unlikely as this heli has never been flown before and
I was just finishing up the trimming stage (running it at just under 50%
throttle in the dining room floor the previous night, getting it trimmed).
Given that the motor had never been run above 50% before it went crazy in
the backyard the next day, and given that it had only been run total for
about 30 minutes (all combined, from my trimming activities in the dining
room floor) I can't seriously see the motor failing so soon.

I'm running the Century "Birdseed" battery pack, btw. Only upgrades are the
heatsinks on the motors. It's stock otherwise.

I'm more inclined to believe either the Hummingboard has developed a problem
OR possibly there's electronic interference from my wiring paths (some of
the wires I now realize are touching the side of the motor on their way from
the Hummingboard and receiver to the servos and main/tail motor power leads
(I'd done this while "organizing" the wires with tiewraps that evening
before after I felt I had it all trimmed up nicely so that it'd be neat for
my backyard adventure the next afternoon.... ughhh!).

I will however keep your suggestion in mind in case nothing else works!
Thanks.

- Michael

"mphsjeep" <mphsjeep.1mc7sb@rcgroups.com> wrote in message
news:mphsjeep.1mc7sb@rcgroups.com...
>
> All good troubleshooting above! Mine did the same thing and I went ape
> sh%$ trying to figure it out....wires wires, this is right, this is
> good....on and on. Finally I went to the motors and found that my main
> motor was giving out....I took a charged battery, disconnected
> everything and taped the tail and main motors. Tails were good(Ihad a
> dual hookup), but the main motor would surge...run full and
> drop.spazzy...I replaced it and bingo!!!!!! It was wierd and did not
> make much sence to me but that was it. Or your battery is going out,
> are you running lipos? I had battery problems that made everything
> spazzy. Here is the little guy, he went to a better home now but I will
> never foreget that lightbulb going off.....ITS THE MOTOR?????!
>
>
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>
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>

[nellie4526@mindspring.com]

Mike:

I havent' seen any obvious touching. I do have the wire bundles tie
wrapped and a good 3/8" away from the motor. I need to do a little
more poking around to see if there is something deeper.


"Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote:

>Are any of the wires touching the motor as they pass by it (like the servo
>wires?)? Right before mine started going nutso I did some tie-wrapping work,
>tying wires down neatly, and I now realize I've got both servo wires resting
>against the 370 motor (previously they were loose and not touching the motor
>or anything). Thus my next idea is to remove all the tiewraps and get all
>the wires as isolated as possible to see if that might make a difference.
>
>From 1 evening to the next, the antena and those tiewraps were the only
>things I changed, and I already undid the antena with no noticable
>improvement.... so try revisit your wiring and see if that helps any.
>
>I'll post an update once I get a chance to work on mine again.
>
>- Michael
>

[Michael]

<<It might be worth you just connecting a servo to the throttle connector on
the RX just to check the problem is not there >>

Chris I did this test tonight, and you're right... with a servo hooked up to
the throttle lead (channel 3) on the RX it jumps all over the place!
Further, I tried hooking the throttle connection from the humminboard onto
the Elevator connector (channel 2) and the thing throttles up smoothly using
the elevator stick (of course I have no elevator this way).

So the Hummingboard isn't at fault in fact. It's something about that 3rd
channel that's messed up... either in the receiver or the transmitter.
Unfortunately I have no idea how to tell which is at fault as I only have 1
of each here. I have other transmitters (for my 2 planes) but they're both
Futaba's and aren't on the same frequency.

Any ideas how to narrow this down, now that we know it's not in the
humminboard? My TX is the Century Lightning 4 channel and my RX is the
Century 6 channel FM receiver.

Thanks!

- Michael

"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
news:mlZ%d.2332$Xq6.315@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net...
> Motor suppression capacitors gone bad?
>
> Wiring snagged/insulation split and/or shorting out on the graphite
> somewhere?
>
> A cell connection under the heatshrink broken giving an intermittent
> contact?
>
> Just some things to check out before condeming the Hummingboard, all they
> require is re-soldering, visual checking or replacement capacitors (less
> than $5.00)
>
> It might be worth you just connecting a servo to the throttle connector on
> the RX just to check the problem is not there (power the RX via an
> external
> battery) and disconnect all the other leads to it, don't forget to tap the
> RX whilst doing this to check the crystal is not damaged.
>
> Chris
>
>

[Nigel Heather]

Before buying new I would do this:

(i) Remove the battery, receiver and hummingboard from the heli - but keep
them close by
(ii) Unplug the servos - shouldn't matter but take them out of the equation
(iii) Un plug the tail rotor
(iv) Un plug the tail control from receiver (usually channel 4)
(v) Unplug birdseed

You should be left with

(a) Battery available but not plugged into hummingboard
(b) Hummingboard plugged into throttle channel of receiver (usually cahnnel
3)
(c) Main rotor motor plugged into hummingboard

Be ready to unplug the birdseed throttle goes out of control
Weight the hummbingbird's skids down and make sure rotor won't hit anything
Switch transmitter on and set throttle to 0%
Plug birdseed - hopefully the rotor will stay still
Wait a few seconds to let the speed controller initialise and self calibrate
(there might be a LED that lights to show this)
Slow advance throttle - hopefully the rotor spool up slowly

If all this works then the board is okay and there must have been
interference or a short from elsewhere.

If it doesn't work then

(i) If there is a throttle reversing switch on the transmitter, use it and
repeat the above steps
(ii) Some speed controllers have a calibration stage where you have to move
the throttle to 100% and then backj to 0% but I don't think this is what you
are seeing
(iii) Your board could be toast

If you do have to replace the board I would strongly recommend the seperate
speed controller and gyro - retail price of $100 in total. The gyro is much
much better, the speed controller is said to be more rebust and also if you
do burn it again you only have a $40 item to replace. The items are CNE052
($40) and CN2022E ($60)

Cheers,

Nigel

"Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote in message
news:8545e$42404e18$943fd8a7$30972@STARBAND.NET...
> Ok somebody please check me on this before I shell out money for a new
> Hummingboard ($79 at Heli-world).... suddenly, though it had not been
> crashed before my Hummingbird Vii has started going nuts whenever I apply
> the least amount of throttle to it. Just 10% throttle at the transmitter
> makes it run up to 100% throttle at the heli and it won't throttle back
> down until I put the transmitter at 100% throttle and then pull it back to
> 0% throttle. It's like it's either all throttle or none.
>
> Does this sound like a mixer/speed controller chip problem? I can't find
> any loose connections or anything and don't have any other ideas what to
> try.... I've disconnected all the wires and reconnected them and still
> getting the same symptoms. Though I can't imagine why, it's like the
> hummingboard has developed a serious problem in it's mixer/speed
> controller chipset. Thoughts?
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Michael
>

[Chris Dugan]

No you can't troubleshoot further without another RX or TX to swap out for
testing.

Just stick your crystal from your Lightning TX into the aircraft radio which
is nearest the crystal you use in it normally and keep the aerial down when
you switch on. It'll work fine for the short distance you'll be using to
test at, as long as your aircraft systems are on 72Mhz, if not then you'll
have to borrow a TX on or near the frequency for testing.

The channel assignments are the same as Futaba and the signal is compatible
i.e ch3 is the throttle control so no problems there. If you want to check
for yourself here's a link to the manuals page where you can see the two
page manual for the Lightning system, it mentions the Futaba radio's:

http://www.centuryheli.com/support/manuals/manual.html?currentid=2

I suspect it's the throttle pot in the Lightning TX, you can probably check
it by removing the back and checking that the wiring behind the throttle
stick is intact and secureley soldered, but you will need to swap the TX
just to be certain before you can get a warranty replacement.

Chris

[ve1ahm]

When ever you want to do a test that might involve the throttle
channel.......Take the blades off. That way their is no lift to get
things airborn. It will still let you do your check and not have to peel
anythings off the ceiling.

[Nigel Heather]

Not sure I wholly agree with this and I did say to weight the skids down and
make sure the rotor won't hit anything.

The reason I'm not sure is that without the blades the motor will run
unloaded and could damage it - doubt this really would be a issue with an
electric motor though (unlike IC where you must use head loaders if you want
to run without blades).

Cheers,

Nigel

"ve1ahm" <ve1ahm@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
news:VpF0e.4398$Ln.199634@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>
> When ever you want to do a test that might involve the throttle
> channel.......Take the blades off. That way their is no lift to get things
> airborn. It will still let you do your check and not have to peel
> anythings off the ceiling.

[Michael]

Thanks Chris. I'm looking inside the back of the Century radio and I can see
the pot that corresponds to the throttle control... there' 3 wires soldered
to it and they look to be connected just fine. I'm going to try to get the
circuit board out so I can see the other side of it, where the pot wires
terminate.

Now my Futaba radios are both about 10 years old and are 72 Mhz but neither
has the crystal plug in port on the outside of the radios... I guess I'd
have to open 1 up to find where the crystal is then. Grrrrrr! Plus neither
has been charged in awhile so I'll have to see if they'll even hold enough
charge to test with provided I can put the Century crystal in it.

I'm hoping this problem is in the Centruy TX... I don't like the feel of it
at all. It's got "cheap" written all over the thing I tell you. But it came
with the heli and I didn't know any better so.....


"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
news:t0F0e.983$E66.833@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
> No you can't troubleshoot further without another RX or TX to swap out for
> testing.
>
> Just stick your crystal from your Lightning TX into the aircraft radio
> which
> is nearest the crystal you use in it normally and keep the aerial down
> when
> you switch on. It'll work fine for the short distance you'll be using to
> test at, as long as your aircraft systems are on 72Mhz, if not then you'll
> have to borrow a TX on or near the frequency for testing.
>
> The channel assignments are the same as Futaba and the signal is
> compatible
> i.e ch3 is the throttle control so no problems there. If you want to check
> for yourself here's a link to the manuals page where you can see the two
> page manual for the Lightning system, it mentions the Futaba radio's:
>
> http://www.centuryheli.com/support/manuals/manual.html?currentid=2
>
> I suspect it's the throttle pot in the Lightning TX, you can probably
> check
> it by removing the back and checking that the wiring behind the throttle
> stick is intact and secureley soldered, but you will need to swap the TX
> just to be certain before you can get a warranty replacement.
>
> Chris
>
>

[Michael]

I just held onto it from underneith with an iron grip, anticipating it
jumping to full throttle at any time! Which it did, several times... but I
was able to hold onto it anyhows till I could get the throttle to shut off
again. Not the safest thing to do to say the least but I knew the risks.....

Thanks.

- Michael

"Nigel Heather" <No-Spam@No-Spam.com> wrote in message
news:EqGdnR1kVpWBud7fRVnyvQ@pipex.net...
> Not sure I wholly agree with this and I did say to weight the skids down
> and make sure the rotor won't hit anything.
>
> The reason I'm not sure is that without the blades the motor will run
> unloaded and could damage it - doubt this really would be a issue with an
> electric motor though (unlike IC where you must use head loaders if you
> want to run without blades).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nigel
>
> "ve1ahm" <ve1ahm@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
> news:VpF0e.4398$Ln.199634@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>>
>> When ever you want to do a test that might involve the throttle
>> channel.......Take the blades off. That way their is no lift to get
>> things airborn. It will still let you do your check and not have to peel
>> anythings off the ceiling.
>
>

[Chris Dugan]

Michael,

If there's nothing visibly wrong with the pots then don't try to dismantle
it further it'll probably be the carbon track inside the pot breaking up if
it's not the wiring, try moving the pot wiring whilst it is all powered up
and see if that moves the servo (hold the stick still from the other side).

> Now my Futaba radios are both about 10 years old and are 72 Mhz but
neither
> has the crystal plug in port on the outside of the radios... I guess I'd
> have to open 1 up to find where the crystal is then. Grrrrrr! Plus neither
> has been charged in awhile so I'll have to see if they'll even hold enough
> charge to test with provided I can put the Century crystal in it.

What model are the Futaba radio's? if they're only 10 years old they would
have had interchangeable crystals; you possibly have to remove a module from
the back or base of the radio to see it or change it; like what is shown at
the bottom of the page just without the dialup frequency option:

http://www.futabarc.com/radios/futk75.html

Chris

[Michael]

Hi Chris! Perhaps my radios are a little more than 10 years old... I can't
recall. Anyhows, they both have the large (like 2" x 3") crystal pack that
plugs into the back of the radio. The radio itself is an FG series, and the
pack on the back says "FP-TF-AM". Both radios are definitely 72 Mhz
though... but I don't think they can use the little Centruy crystal plug-in.
Unless there's something else deeper inside these crystal packs I have... I
see 2 little screws, and I have a screwdriver! >8-)

- Michael

"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
news:cLH0e.1750$E66.552@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
> Michael,
>
> If there's nothing visibly wrong with the pots then don't try to dismantle
> it further it'll probably be the carbon track inside the pot breaking up
> if
> it's not the wiring, try moving the pot wiring whilst it is all powered up
> and see if that moves the servo (hold the stick still from the other
> side).
>
>> Now my Futaba radios are both about 10 years old and are 72 Mhz but
> neither
>> has the crystal plug in port on the outside of the radios... I guess I'd
>> have to open 1 up to find where the crystal is then. Grrrrrr! Plus
>> neither
>> has been charged in awhile so I'll have to see if they'll even hold
>> enough
>> charge to test with provided I can put the Century crystal in it.
>
> What model are the Futaba radio's? if they're only 10 years old they would
> have had interchangeable crystals; you possibly have to remove a module
> from
> the back or base of the radio to see it or change it; like what is shown
> at
> the bottom of the page just without the dialup frequency option:
>
> http://www.futabarc.com/radios/futk75.html
>
> Chris
>
>

[Michael]

Chris I finally got into that module and sure enough there was the crystal
inside... it was on channel 28, so I pulled that out and put in the channel
30 crystal from the Century radio and then put the Futaba back together.

But, the Futaba won't take a charge... the batteries are totally dead. I've
not flown the planes in more than a few years now so I'm not suprised
really.

So so much for that experiment.

I went looking on Ebay for transmitters... preferrably good used
Futaba's.... and found several Futaba radios (just TX, no RX or servos) that
looked pretty good. Both 4 and 6 channel radios, and 1 or 2 that were
"computer" radios. Is there any reason I can't get one of those Futaba's and
put this Centruy TX 30 crystal into it and junk this Century radio? Are
crystals made to be radio manufacturer specific? They all seem to have the
exact same format pin wise.

There were also 2 TX's on Ebay that I added to my Watch list that had
receivers included.... I could always use a new Futaba for my planes if it
doesn't work out for the heli, right? I'd prefer to get a Futaba TX with 6
channels (since my humminbird receiver is 6 channels and I might want to
move up to a .30 sized heli with retracts at a later date).

Thanks for all the help Chris! I appreciate it.

- Michael


"Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote in message
news:56416$42437840$943fd8a7$24515@STARBAND.NET...
> Hi Chris! Perhaps my radios are a little more than 10 years old... I can't
> recall. Anyhows, they both have the large (like 2" x 3") crystal pack that
> plugs into the back of the radio. The radio itself is an FG series, and
> the pack on the back says "FP-TF-AM". Both radios are definitely 72 Mhz
> though... but I don't think they can use the little Centruy crystal
> plug-in. Unless there's something else deeper inside these crystal packs I
> have... I see 2 little screws, and I have a screwdriver! >8-)
>
> - Michael
>
> "Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:cLH0e.1750$E66.552@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
>> Michael,
>>
>> If there's nothing visibly wrong with the pots then don't try to
>> dismantle
>> it further it'll probably be the carbon track inside the pot breaking up
>> if
>> it's not the wiring, try moving the pot wiring whilst it is all powered
>> up
>> and see if that moves the servo (hold the stick still from the other
>> side).
>>
>>> Now my Futaba radios are both about 10 years old and are 72 Mhz but
>> neither
>>> has the crystal plug in port on the outside of the radios... I guess I'd
>>> have to open 1 up to find where the crystal is then. Grrrrrr! Plus
>>> neither
>>> has been charged in awhile so I'll have to see if they'll even hold
>>> enough
>>> charge to test with provided I can put the Century crystal in it.
>>
>> What model are the Futaba radio's? if they're only 10 years old they
>> would
>> have had interchangeable crystals; you possibly have to remove a module
>> from
>> the back or base of the radio to see it or change it; like what is shown
>> at
>> the bottom of the page just without the dialup frequency option:
>>
>> http://www.futabarc.com/radios/futk75.html
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>
>

[mphsjeep]

What a nightmare!!!!!! If this is covered its time to take it back/swap out! You could go to a HS and see if they will let you use a radio and put in your own crystals. or use your radio.....that will finalize it......it sucks to hear all you are going through...good luck!

[Nigel Heather]

I've read some of your other posts in this thread and it sounds more like
your channel 3 is faulty rather than the humminboard. This could be the RX
but I would say that is very unlikely - more like the TX. Here I would look
at a problem with the throttle potentiometer rather than the electronics.

Cheers,

Nigel


"Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote in message
news:29ecf$42434248$943fd8a7$1333@STARBAND.NET...
>I just held onto it from underneith with an iron grip, anticipating it
>jumping to full throttle at any time! Which it did, several times... but I
>was able to hold onto it anyhows till I could get the throttle to shut off
>again. Not the safest thing to do to say the least but I knew the
>risks.....
>
> Thanks.
>
> - Michael
>
> "Nigel Heather" <No-Spam@No-Spam.com> wrote in message
> news:EqGdnR1kVpWBud7fRVnyvQ@pipex.net...
>> Not sure I wholly agree with this and I did say to weight the skids down
>> and make sure the rotor won't hit anything.
>>
>> The reason I'm not sure is that without the blades the motor will run
>> unloaded and could damage it - doubt this really would be a issue with an
>> electric motor though (unlike IC where you must use head loaders if you
>> want to run without blades).
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Nigel
>>
>> "ve1ahm" <ve1ahm@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
>> news:VpF0e.4398$Ln.199634@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>>>
>>> When ever you want to do a test that might involve the throttle
>>> channel.......Take the blades off. That way their is no lift to get
>>> things airborn. It will still let you do your check and not have to peel
>>> anythings off the ceiling.
>>
>>
>
>

[Michael]

Yes I've come to the same conclusion too Nigel. So now I'm looking for
another TX... question is, can I use a Futaba TX withe the crystal from the
Century TX? I can't seewhy it would hurt, but I've never tried mixing and
matching before....

Thanks!

- Michael

"Nigel Heather" <No-Spam@No-Spam.com> wrote in message
news:wMidnfwXdOjaQ97fRVnyhQ@pipex.net...
> I've read some of your other posts in this thread and it sounds more like
> your channel 3 is faulty rather than the humminboard. This could be the
> RX but I would say that is very unlikely - more like the TX. Here I would
> look at a problem with the throttle potentiometer rather than the
> electronics.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nigel
>
>
> "Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote in message
> news:29ecf$42434248$943fd8a7$1333@STARBAND.NET...
>>I just held onto it from underneith with an iron grip, anticipating it
>>jumping to full throttle at any time! Which it did, several times... but I
>>was able to hold onto it anyhows till I could get the throttle to shut off
>>again. Not the safest thing to do to say the least but I knew the
>>risks.....
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> - Michael
>>
>> "Nigel Heather" <No-Spam@No-Spam.com> wrote in message
>> news:EqGdnR1kVpWBud7fRVnyvQ@pipex.net...
>>> Not sure I wholly agree with this and I did say to weight the skids down
>>> and make sure the rotor won't hit anything.
>>>
>>> The reason I'm not sure is that without the blades the motor will run
>>> unloaded and could damage it - doubt this really would be a issue with
>>> an electric motor though (unlike IC where you must use head loaders if
>>> you want to run without blades).
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Nigel
>>>
>>> "ve1ahm" <ve1ahm@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
>>> news:VpF0e.4398$Ln.199634@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...
>>>>
>>>> When ever you want to do a test that might involve the throttle
>>>> channel.......Take the blades off. That way their is no lift to get
>>>> things airborn. It will still let you do your check and not have to
>>>> peel anythings off the ceiling.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

[Michael]

Electronic problems are difficult to isolate I swear! At this point it's
definitely between the RX and the TX..... I'm leaning towards the TX because
it seems really cheaply made and I was already thinking about replacing it
*before* the throttle started going nutso on me.

I boughr this bird with radio off e-bay though, so no warranty. Oh well.
LOL!

- Michael

"mphsjeep" <mphsjeep.1mg2ob@rcgroups.com> wrote in message
news:mphsjeep.1mg2ob@rcgroups.com...
>
> What a nightmare!!!!!! If this is covered its time to take it back/swap
> out! You could go to a HS and see if they will let you use a radio and
> put in your own crystals. or use your radio.....that will finalize
> it......it sucks to hear all you are going through...good luck!
>
>
> --
> mphsjeep
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> mphsjeep's Profile:
> http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=48773
> View this thread:
> http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=350024
>

[Chris Dugan]

Michael,
yep you can mix 'n match TX's with different RX's withing reason (i.e. the
signal polarity matches between the makes) so as long as those TX's that
you've been looking at on Ebay are close to the frequency of your crystals
then you'd be ok. The best thing to do to maintain the tuning is to keep the
same make of crystals that came with the TX i.e. in a Futaba TX use Futaba
crystals in both the TX and RX (whatever make it may be). I do the same
thing with my RC cars where I will use KO rx's and JR tx's with JR crystals
in both.

As for the type of TX go get whatever you can afford, if you get the Futaba
6XAS it is a basic computer programmable radio (available in aricraft or
Heli versions, the heli version has switches in different positions and no
throttle ratchet) perfect for getting your head around basic mixing, I use
one on my Piccolo and Shuttle. The Piccolo has one frequency in it (single
conversion Piccoboard RX) and the Shuttle has another with its dual
conversion Futaba RX.

http://www.futabarc.com/radios/futk30.html

Chris

[Michael]

Well I won 2 different Futaba Skysport 6A 6 channel TX's on Ebay this
weekend. 1 includes the Futaba 6 channel receiver, the other is just the TX.
Plan is to disgard my ancient Futaba FG's (but keep my existing servos!) and
use 1 of the 6A's on the heli and the other one on at least 1 of my planes.
Neither are computer TX's but frankly I think they should work fine
(assuming my heli problem is actually in the Century TX, not the Centruy
RX!).

However, not sure what I'm gonna do about the crstals just yet.... I guess I
could pull the RX crystal from the Futaba receiver that comes with 1 of the
6a TX's and stick that in the Century receiver (and buy a new set of Futaba
crystals at a later date). At least this will give me some additional parts
to experiment with!

Thanks for all the help Chris. I'll let you know later this week how things
go with these TX's and the heli.

- Michael

"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
news:gyH1e.1184$Yt.959@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> Michael,
> yep you can mix 'n match TX's with different RX's withing reason (i.e. the
> signal polarity matches between the makes) so as long as those TX's that
> you've been looking at on Ebay are close to the frequency of your crystals
> then you'd be ok. The best thing to do to maintain the tuning is to keep
> the
> same make of crystals that came with the TX i.e. in a Futaba TX use Futaba
> crystals in both the TX and RX (whatever make it may be). I do the same
> thing with my RC cars where I will use KO rx's and JR tx's with JR
> crystals
> in both.
>
> As for the type of TX go get whatever you can afford, if you get the
> Futaba
> 6XAS it is a basic computer programmable radio (available in aricraft or
> Heli versions, the heli version has switches in different positions and no
> throttle ratchet) perfect for getting your head around basic mixing, I use
> one on my Piccolo and Shuttle. The Piccolo has one frequency in it (single
> conversion Piccoboard RX) and the Shuttle has another with its dual
> conversion Futaba RX.
>
> http://www.futabarc.com/radios/futk30.html
>
> Chris
>
>

[Chris Dugan]

Michael,
Be careful if the Futaba RX's are dual conversion, the RX crystal won't work
at all in the Hummingboard RX as it is a single conversion unit. We have
those over here in England for 35Mhz but i'm not 100% sure about 72Mhz that
you use, you may be just single conversion with tighter tuning on the gear.

It will be printed on the RX case label if it is dual conversion at all; if
nothing there then it's single conversion and will work fine.

Good luck with the flying!

Chris

[Michael]

WooHoo! The 1st of the Futaba TX's came in today.... since the TX meter says
it has a charge, I pulled the crystal out of the Century TX and plugged it
into the Futaba TX and powered up the heli.... throttle as smooth as a
baby's butt! LOL!

So the Century TX turned out to be crap, apparently. I now have to redo all
my trim settings on the Futaba TX but once that's done with I should be good
to pick back up where I left off... hover time!. Here's hoping anyhows!!!

So honest though, is there any problem with using the Century TX crystal in
the Futaba TX? I have a 2nd Futaba TX in route that will also include a
Futaba RX (and all Futaba crystals) but there's some question as to whether
I could use the Futaba RX crystal in the Hummingbird's single conversion
receiver.... :-\

Thanks Chris!

- Michael


"Chris Dugan" <chrisdotdugan@bloodyobvious.co.uk> wrote in message
news:oLR1e.794$Ms6.552@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> Michael,
> Be careful if the Futaba RX's are dual conversion, the RX crystal won't
> work
> at all in the Hummingboard RX as it is a single conversion unit. We have
> those over here in England for 35Mhz but i'm not 100% sure about 72Mhz
> that
> you use, you may be just single conversion with tighter tuning on the
> gear.
>
> It will be printed on the RX case label if it is dual conversion at all;
> if
> nothing there then it's single conversion and will work fine.
>
> Good luck with the flying!
>
> Chris
>
>

[Chris Dugan]

"Michael" <N0Spam_MShrader@Starband.net_N0Spam> wrote in message
news:c0857$424f09cf$943fd8a7$14579@STARBAND.NET...
> WooHoo! The 1st of the Futaba TX's came in today.... since the TX meter
says
> it has a charge, I pulled the crystal out of the Century TX and plugged it
> into the Futaba TX and powered up the heli.... throttle as smooth as a
> baby's butt! LOL!
>
> So the Century TX turned out to be crap, apparently. I now have to redo
all
> my trim settings on the Futaba TX but once that's done with I should be
good
> to pick back up where I left off... hover time!. Here's hoping anyhows!!!

Time to practice now and no excuses, eh?

> So honest though, is there any problem with using the Century TX crystal
in
> the Futaba TX? I have a 2nd Futaba TX in route that will also include a
> Futaba RX (and all Futaba crystals) but there's some question as to
whether
> I could use the Futaba RX crystal in the Hummingbird's single conversion
> receiver.... :-\

No worries there, either the crystals work usually with just a reduction in
the range (not a problem with micro helis as you're pretty close all the
time) or they don't work at all.

> Thanks Chris!
>
> - Michael

Your welcome, cheers,

Chris