On my RP the ESC break was is the off position. I had tried to adjust several times. I watched the video posted on this site several times and read the instructions fully over and over. I just couldn't get the proper beeps after getting into menu 2. I would get to one beep and never move from that point. Anyway after a flight at the field this after noon it was noticed that my prop was windmilling freely. After several attempts at the field to adjust the ESC with the help of others (maybe the blind leading the blind, but I was grateful for the help) we gave up. when I got home I thought I'd give it another attempt. I now I get nothing from the throttle. I even tried rebinding the reciver, which did work but I thought perhaps we did something. I've located EFlite computer programming software for the ESC. but did I possibly break the ESC? Or could a change have been made not allowing the throttle to acitvate. i'm going to the LHS to order the software tomrrow. Any ideas?
Thanks

Originally Posted by ledpole

On my RP the ESC break was is the off position. I had tried to adjust several times. I watched the video posted on this site several times and read the instructions fully over and over. I just couldn't get the proper beeps after getting into menu 2. I would get to one beep and never move from that point. Anyway after a flight at the field this after noon it was noticed that my prop was windmilling freely. After several attempts at the field to adjust the ESC with the help of others (maybe the blind leading the blind, but I was grateful for the help) we gave up. when I got home I thought I'd give it another attempt. I now I get nothing from the throttle. I even tried rebinding the reciver, which did work but I thought perhaps we did something. I've located EFlite computer programming software for the ESC. but did I possibly break the ESC? Or could a change have been made not allowing the throttle to acitvate. i'm going to the LHS to order the software tomrrow. Any ideas?
Thanks

Try re calibrating the ESC.

Originally Posted by ledpole

On my RP the ESC break was is the off position. I had tried to adjust several times. I watched the video posted on this site several times and read the instructions fully over and over. I just couldn't get the proper beeps after getting into menu 2. I would get to one beep and never move from that point. Anyway after a flight at the field this after noon it was noticed that my prop was windmilling freely. After several attempts at the field to adjust the ESC with the help of others (maybe the blind leading the blind, but I was grateful for the help) we gave up. when I got home I thought I'd give it another attempt. I now I get nothing from the throttle. I even tried rebinding the reciver, which did work but I thought perhaps we did something. I've located EFlite computer programming software for the ESC. but did I possibly break the ESC? Or could a change have been made not allowing the throttle to acitvate. i'm going to the LHS to order the software tomrrow. Any ideas?
Thanks

Check to make sure your throttle trim is set to minimum. Also, if you somehow reversed the range it might be looking for "max" throttle stick to arm. be VERY careful testing this as your first response will be to pull the stick back which will advance to full if the range is reversed

Gerry and xx have both offered good advice. To recalibrate the ESC throttle range do the following:

Remove the prop for safety.
Disconnect the battery from the ESC.
Turn on the transmitter.
Push the throttle stick all the way forward.
Connect the battery to the ESC.
Depending on the ESC you might get some beeps at his point.
After the beeps pull the throttle stick all the way back.
The motor should then give the normal set of start-up beeps.

Put the prop back on and try running the motor through the full range of the throttle to see if your problem is solved.

My 2¢... and this will be no help to ledpole, don't run an ESC without having a programming card for it. Programming by beeps is an insane and frustrating exercise.

In the case of the Eflite 30A used on the Radian and Radian Pro - it uses a special serial cable and software app. HH nolonger sells them but you might get one on eBay. I bought the last one that my LHS had about 2 years ago. It worked perfectly for me on a USB/Serial adapter. Here's their discontinued products page that used to support a product ( 30A E-flite ESC ) that they still sell.

http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/De...odID=EFLARS232

I gave mine away with all my 30A Eflite's. Since then I only buy ESC's that use a card rather than needing a PC to reprogram them. Turnigy from HK is a good example of of having cards for all their ESC's where a replacement ESC and a card and shipping is cheaper that a E-Flite 30A.

Finally, I used to use "medium brake" on the E-Flite 30A and it would only windmill occassionally at higher soaring speeds and dives, and, for 3 or 4 seconds after motor shut off. If that is NG then you must use "hard brake"

Here's the 30A page and on it is the link for the manual to do a reprogramming.

http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/De...rodID=EFLA1030

and

http://www.e-fliterc.com/ProdInfo/Fi...CInstSheet.pdf

I have played around with the prop brakes on all my planes, (not just the gliders) and after using a radio to program an ESC a couple of times, it is easy. There are two things that I learned that make it work every time. First, don't use the radio with all the fancy settings to program the ESC. I can't remember where I read this, but it said you should bind it to a generic channel, or bind it to a simple non-computer radio. It said that if you don't follow this procedure, you can get unexpected results. It works for me. I bind it to my DX4e or DX5e and it works.

The other thing is when you are moving the throttle stick from full to center, which is done a couple of times during the process. Who is to say exactly where "center" is? When it is there, it makes a faint sound, not a beep, but more like a servo just centering itself or moving a small distance. If you move the stick from full to center and do not hear that sound, you're not there. Just move the stick a bit and listen. I don't know what makes that sound, but it indicates that the "Stick to center" command has been recognized.

tried all suggestions & when I did the throttle trim towards minimum the ESC beeped and throttle started working again. really confuses me as I didn't need to change that before but that was the key. Now I guess I'll give it a shot to program the break to medium again. Not now, enuf excitement for today. I'm happy to have my RP back. My daughter told me her friend told her that her car was making a squeeling noise, she never heard it because whenever she hears some thing just turns up the radio. Now i'm doing breaks

...

Originally Posted by ledpole

Now I guess I'll give it a shot to program the break to medium again. Not now, enuf excitement for today. I'm happy to have my RP back. My daughter told me her friend told her that her car was making a squeeling noise, she never heard it because whenever she hears some thing just turns up the radio. Now i'm doing breaks

break: to separate into parts with suddenness or violence
brake: a device for arresting or preventing the motion of a mechanism

Originally Posted by kaptondave

...

break: to separate into parts with suddenness or violence
brake: a device for arresting or preventing the motion of a mechanism

broke: To have fully enjoyed the wonderful products this hobby has to offer

Originally Posted by coreman

broke: To have fully enjoyed the wonderful products this hobby has to offer

LOL! Now, there's a definition to which we all can relate!

Anyone have some decent flying wx they can send up here? We've had craptastic wx for over a week now, and this week is not looking any better. Going through withdrawals, and flying hovering my Blade 130X around the living room just isn't cutting it.

Joel

Originally Posted by turboparker

LOL! Now, there's a definition to which we all can relate!

Anyone have some decent flying wx they can send up here? We've had craptastic wx for over a week now, and this week is not looking any better. Going through withdrawals, and flying hovering my Blade 130X around the living room just isn't cutting it.

Joel

I got some UM Spitfire flights in yesterday but today is drizzle again. I am hoping to program up my Radian Pro to fly it tomorrow or thursday

Originally Posted by turboparker

Anyone have some decent flying wx they can send up here? We've had craptastic wx for over a week now, and this week is not looking any better. Going through withdrawals, and flying hovering my Blade 130X around the living room just isn't cutting it.

I can't send you the beautiful weather, but I can send you this link to a video I took yesterday while slope soaring with the Radian.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13384
Hopefully the sun and mountains will brighten your day.

I have been seriously considering getting a 130x, after flying the MCPx for about a year. Is it a good helicopter? It sounds like it might be a handful in the average living-room.

Jovanx,

Enjoyed the vid - thanks! Looked like you ended up on the wrong side of the lift at the end. I know that I'd love SS. I've done it for years on a small scale, surfing the updrafts from trees & buildings with some of the micros & parkflyers. The old Hobby Lobby Wingo was a good plane for that. I often set up RF for some decent SS conditions, and enjoy playing the currents with a variety of sailplanes.

Regarding the 130X - it's a bit much for the typical house. That's why I said hovering around the living room rather than flying. I love flying mine around the yard right from the deck & I'm looking forward to flying it at our indoor spot this winter. But in the house, I'm afraid to do anything but hover & carefully slide it around the living room. Not my idea of fun. The HS is around 5 grand. If one of the mains were to hit the TV, I'm sure it would put a hole right through the panel. It's a great little heli if you don't mind tinkering with & maintaining a micro shaft-drive heli with a 20,000 RPM tail rotor. It's a serious little hot-rod that's intended for advanced pilots and above, so it's is not built for crashing, like, say the mCP X. But it's a great training tool for the larger birds because it flies just like a 450 or 500 - unlike the mCPX. However - if you're looking for a 3D heli that can comfortably fly in the living room or outdoors in a light breeze, I'd be looking at the new Nano CP X. It gets great reviews. From what I've read, the power-to-weight is much better than the mCP X, and the tail is solid even during extreme maneuvers.

Joel

Maiden, sort of...

Got to the field this morning to a good bit of wind. Buddy had his handheld anemometer (HK version) and we got readings from 7-12mph. Before he arrived I was seeing the direction swing almost 120 degrees and there were lulls and then breezier sections that I estimated 15-20mph. You know it was blowing at altitude. I had just spent 2+ hours programming all the bells and whistles into it, crow (on the throttle stick with a switch), reflex, launch mode, changed the ESC connector, Checked the amp draw and was seeing 17.5 amps at WOT with a 1300mah GensAce 3S, added 2 quarters to the tail to move the CG back to about 80mm... I was not to be denied!

We got a calm spot as we were standing there and so I had my buddy toss it for a glide test. Seemed pretty good but as soon as he let go the wind came up and so I was bobbling it, but there was plenty of throws so I got it under control. So, we decided to go for it. We launched power off and I fed in the throttle but the wind got under a tip and before I could grab it, it landed on it's back. No damage other than the front magnet on the canopy came loose. A little tape and that was in place, time to just get the thing airborne and so we decided to go for it. Start the wing cam and wait for a lull and GO. Launch this time was uneventful with a nice straight climbout into the wind. Get to a couple hundred feet and check out the throws. Good control on low rates (70%) as well as high, no expo used. 30% rudder mixed with ailerons, pop crow at altitude and 30% elevator compensation seemed about right to start, no noticeable ballooning. Came down after an 8+ minute flight and decided that it wasn't the most relaxing conditions so I decided to bring it home in one piece and think about the setup and check out the video. If the winds calm at the end of the day I might make another trip out. Other than that, wind forecasts are better for saturday and tuesday. I did notice the wings flex quite a bit at one point, i will probably order a CF wing rod and I might also order a steel one for ballast as well. That was the one thing today was that it really felt like it would have flown better ballasted up. I also got my 40amp Plush ESC to replace the stock one so I will see about that today also. I also need to put the chrome reflective tape on the leading edges before I speck this baby out. I did notice a lot of yawing in crosswind flight. I figured it was fighting the weather vaning. For what it's intent is, I think it will fly fine. it's not a fiberglass ship, but it's a better than average foamy and there are several places for tweaking improvements (prop, decalage and tail stiffening)

Did anyone have too tight a top flap hinge gap to get good reflex? I had to actually bevel mine to get it to reflex on one side

Originally Posted by coreman

Maiden, sort of...

Congrates, mate. I know what you mean when you say it wasn't relaxing with the wind.

BTW, you won't get weathervaning in flight, only on the ground. Maybe it was a bit of mild sheer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathervane_effect