Good to know there are some very experienced teachers here, that are willing to take the time to help us Newbe's (yes ,i said newbe) . Most people don't want to take the time,especially when they themselves are not experiencing any problems. That's pretty normal for all of us . "Good on you" to the ones that go the extra mile............

Hi guys, I had the same issues with the tail at first. When I looked at the main shaft closely I noticed a lot of vertical play in it. That caused the swash to hop up and down on throttle up, and would make the heli jump around. It didn't seem right to me for there to be that much vertical play in the main shaft, it had to have side effects. I dropped the lower cradle off so I could access the main gear, pulled it off, and made a thin bushing/shim out of clear plastic from a clam shell type cover from a fishing sinkers container, placed that above the main gear and reattached the gear. Now all the vertical play was gone and my swash didn't raise or lower / hop on throttle up. I think that's why the rubber band works over the swash as it is limiting the amount of hop. I noticed also that after heating and bending the dog bone links that go through the guide hoops, that the hop decreased also. The next thing I might try is a slightly bigger diameter feathering shaft as there seems to be an abundance of play there as well. Edit: One thing I forgot to mention was how smooth everything felt and sounded when I was flying this afternoon. After balancing the main blades, the fly bar, and adjusting the mesh between pinion and main gear, all the little vibrations were gone, and the heli was so much quieter. Didn't look feel or act like the same heli anymore, tons better.

Originally Posted by BobTopofTheWorld

J, thats the over-current protect circuit in operation. Is this the 'MJX F45/645 upgrade 2200maH Li-po' battery? If so, its junk. I bought one, it didnt make 10 charge/discharge cycles before failure. Get in touch with the supplier for resolution. Techntoys refunded me the entire amount without a thought. (saving themselves a customer)
The lads swear by them nano-tech 2000 maH 20c batteries... I even got a couple. The nano-tech weighs 2 grams more yet packs 500 maH more capacity than the stock one. Only issue is you have to mod the battery box, as the nano-tech is longer and narrower than the stock battery.

The battery is a Zippy 2200mAH 20c. It seems fine now. Don't know what changed. It's flying really good. Much easier to fly than my 9116. This F45/645 is a blast!

Thanks for your help Bob

Originally Posted by BobTopofTheWorld

Dunno Scott, I'd like some actual lift numbers from both of the BL motors afore I plunk down my bucks. (as in how many grams lift each exhibits) Someone mentioned 50 grams lift, a ways back... i dunno which motor they refered to
Cheers

How much does a gopro weigh? Mine lifts it no problem.

Originally Posted by Flyor

The price and weight ;-)
I use an 808 keychain camera #16, a lot cheaper also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCq7xlG7rxk

Regards

Yea, but how is it in a heli? My keychain cam was crap and shaky as hell.

Guys, when you ordered something from HK, the tracking code was working for you? It only redirects me to singpost.com and the code is not recognized, neither on my country posts website...

Originally Posted by imper

Yea, but how is it in a heli? My keychain cam was crap and shaky as hell.

There are a lot of crap keychain cams see: http://www.chucklohr.com/808/index.shtml

The 808 #16 is the best one for 720p filming, there is also an active group for aerial videos with this camera on http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1777846
The camera is available with or the standard lens (A lens) or a wide angle (B lens) or a super wide angle (D lens), the aerial group does have excellent software available to adjust a lot of settings on the camera even to update the firmware.

The video below is best seen at 720p, I have a 808 #16 with the B lens, the video is short because I forgot to charge the camera

MJX F45 with 808 #16 camera, reasonably stable (0 min 53 sec)

regards

Originally Posted by tracker1955

Hi guys, I had the same issues with the tail at first. When I looked at the main shaft closely I noticed a lot of vertical play in it. That caused the swash to hop up and down on throttle up, and would make the heli jump around. It didn't seem right to me for there to be that much vertical play in the main shaft, it had to have side effects. I dropped the lower cradle off so I could access the main gear, pulled it off, and made a thin bushing/shim out of clear plastic from a clam shell type cover from a fishing sinkers container, placed that above the main gear and reattached the gear. Now all the vertical play was gone and my swash didn't raise or lower / hop on throttle up. I think that's why the rubber band works over the swash as it is limiting the amount of hop. I noticed also that after heating and bending the dog bone links that go through the guide hoops, that the hop decreased also. The next thing I might try is a slightly bigger diameter feathering shaft as there seems to be an abundance of play there as well. Edit: One thing I forgot to mention was how smooth everything felt and sounded when I was flying this afternoon. After balancing the main blades, the fly bar, and adjusting the mesh between pinion and main gear, all the little vibrations were gone, and the heli was so much quieter. Didn't look feel or act like the same heli anymore, tons better.

Good find. That explains why some have the bobbing and others do not. Mine never did have any play anywhere in the linkage, swash plate, or main shaft since new. In fact, the ball links on mine where almost too tight when new.

Morning lads. Wasnt sucessful as of yet obtaining the foam materials, the 'easy supply route' was a washout... Soooo I get to do the 'ride 2 buses, trudge across the frozen tundra to the "big box store", obtain the foam, then fight the wind and snow and ice back to the bus stop, 2 bus rides......' there has to be a better way.
On a positive note, I found the sweetest LED flasher when I was out yesterday. Its made for bicycles, pedrestrians ect. The 'guts' of it is a pcb 4.25" long x 1/2" wide with 6 high intensity LED's spaced along it. Had to make a switch cover outta .025 alum sheet, as the 'switch' is a conductive plastic disk housed in a soft rubber dome. Put the LEDs on the switch side, tested it (the chase setting is PERFECT for night flying, shows exactly the direction of flight). Drilled a screw hole in the tail boom block, another in the boom and attached it. Cant wait to test it.
On a previous crunch, the battery box broke right off at the alum frame rails, (dunce bob forgot to tie the nano-tech battery down, when it slid foward the c.o.g went full foward and did a not so sweet nosedive into frozen snow) so I made 2 flat 'L's outta .025 alum and beef'd up the assy. The L's attach right to the far front screws on the frame rails, negating additional mounting. Made the bottom of the "L"s a bit long, so they are bent 90 degrees at the front of the battery box and the holding screws go there. Almost no weight gain... and the bat box is now strong. I never liked the stock bat box arrangement anyways.
Built another set of 'bobs modded landing gear' this time a lower short version (pontoons are 6" long rather than the 10" pontoons on #2). Left the back of the pontoons square rather than the 'sausage look' on the first set.
Now, if only the rx pcb's will show up

There must be some truth to the adverse enviromental effect on the gyro's in the F45. Lost my second gyro yesterday. Suddenly had no tail authority and thought the tail motor was toast, so I changed it out (and done the tail motor wiring upgrade, and the tail LED wires). Several hours later... went out for a quick test, hovered fine for 1-2 min, figured it was ok and went for a loop, 30-40' high it went into whirley-gig mode AGAIN... wrestled it from on top of the car repair business next door (somehow), and soon as i seen it was clear dumped it. Dang, how i pulled that off is a mystery. It had absolutely no control. Just thinking about it makes me guts tighten. Anyways futher investigation showed the tail motor circuit to be totally unresponsive to change. This is a new style pcb too. Wasnt there some mention of the gyros being temp grumpy? Did someone insulate the rx pcb and such? I cant recall
cheers

Originally Posted by BThirsk

Good find. That explains why some have the bobbing and others do not. Mine never did have any play anywhere in the linkage, swash plate, or main shaft since new. In fact, the ball links on mine where almost too tight when new.

Yes, this is a JEWEL of a find. Kudos Tracker. I checked mine, seems the old style (bent dogbones) has alot less vert slop than the new style. In fact I will take Redbird down and sort this. Interesting enough, the old style flew way differently from the first one. i figured it was me, not the copter. Now I bet that is directly related to the slop in the mainshaft. I had swashplate slop/bouncing issues too.
And I get to do the electrical power to rotating blades mod i been musing I know, i know... piccys bob... Dangit, if i plunk down for a decent camera, there goes my heli/foamie fund for a month. LOL whom of you lot elects to go without flying for a month? 3 days is an eternity
OK, I had between 10 and 11 thousandths of an inch of endplay. Some white stuff on the gear end screw (near stripped the <deleted> thing) so I went in from the top. Took the slop out with them 'paper hole reinforcing rings'. I took one bearing and centered it on the ring, pressed down hard to mark the outline of the bearing, then cut it to fit. Put this in the bearing housing (behind the bearing). 1 took out half the slop, so i made one with 2 rings, it worked perfect. While you are there look closely at the bearing housings, any signs of the race spinning... address that asap or you will wallow out a housing (and wonder why it flies like crap). If you dont have loctite, a small amount of ca works.
Again Tracker, thanks for this jewel of a find. Now my swashplate dont have any slop. :d
cheers lads

[QUOTE=BThirsk;24002754
I have the 10degree extreme plastic fiber blades which work best.
The wood blades are nice, but are not suitable for the blade mounts and will break.[/QUOTE]

So those will work well with the EH200 BL upgrade? Do you have a link for those blades? Thxs!

Out flying with the F45 and F46 today. I am really getting to like the F46. Seems to handle better than the F45 and has good wind authority. I haven't had to make any mod changes to it ,,,, yet.

Originally Posted by tracker1955

Hi guys, I had the same issues with the tail at first. When I looked at the main shaft closely I noticed a lot of vertical play in it. That caused the swash to hop up and down on throttle up, and would make the heli jump around. It didn't seem right to me for there to be that much vertical play in the main shaft, it had to have side effects. I dropped the lower cradle off so I could access the main gear, pulled it off, and made a thin bushing/shim out of clear plastic from a clam shell type cover from a fishing sinkers container, placed that above the main gear and reattached the gear. Now all the vertical play was gone and my swash didn't raise or lower / hop on throttle up. I think that's why the rubber band works over the swash as it is limiting the amount of hop. I noticed also that after heating and bending the dog bone links that go through the guide hoops, that the hop decreased also. The next thing I might try is a slightly bigger diameter feathering shaft as there seems to be an abundance of play there as well. Edit: One thing I forgot to mention was how smooth everything felt and sounded when I was flying this afternoon. After balancing the main blades, the fly bar, and adjusting the mesh between pinion and main gear, all the little vibrations were gone, and the heli was so much quieter. Didn't look feel or act like the same heli anymore, tons better.

Hey TRacker...thanks for the info! MOre food for thought................

Originally Posted by baddb1

So those will work well with the EH200 BL upgrade? Do you have a link for those blades? Thxs!

Out flying with the F45 and F46 today. I am really getting to like the F46. Seems to handle better than the F45 and has good wind authority. I haven't had to make any mod changes to it ,,,, yet.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1672097

Originally Posted by BobTopofTheWorld

There must be some truth to the adverse enviromental effect on the gyro's in the F45. Lost my second gyro yesterday. Suddenly had no tail authority and thought the tail motor was toast, so I changed it out (and done the tail motor wiring upgrade, and the tail LED wires). Several hours later... went out for a quick test, hovered fine for 1-2 min, figured it was ok and went for a loop, 30-40' high it went into whirley-gig mode AGAIN... wrestled it from on top of the car repair business next door (somehow), and soon as i seen it was clear dumped it. Dang, how i pulled that off is a mystery. It had absolutely no control. Just thinking about it makes me guts tighten. Anyways futher investigation showed the tail motor circuit to be totally unresponsive to change. This is a new style pcb too. Wasnt there some mention of the gyros being temp grumpy? Did someone insulate the rx pcb and such? I cant recall
cheers

The gyro issue is with temperature change. When you take it outside from a nice warm house, the gyro is acclimatized to the inside temperature.
Once outside and you start flying, the gyro becomes cold and creates new references in the sensors. when it gets to a certain point, it seems to pin the rudder output to full output turning the heli into a top.
I have seen articles that stated to leave the heli outside for at least 20 minutes before flying so the gyro becomes conditioned to the outside ambient temperate. It is different with every gyro, so it is hard to say how long it needs to sit before flying.

Today, I took the F45 and flew it on my favorite meadow.
This is a very large place, at the border of a forest with old and tall trees.
There is also a part part of the meadow that "goes" into this forest.
Imagine a square of about 150 m (450 feet) each side, 3 sides with trees and one side toward the meadow.
This square is convenient when it's windy, the trees give some protection.
A very nice place !
I stood in the middle of the square and flew wide turns inside the square and also over the meadow outside the square.
At a moment, coming back from the outside to the square, and thinking I was flying ahead of the trees, I realised thas I was false. (I saw after it was just a question of 1 or 2 meters)
BANG !
The heli smashed in the trees with a fairly high speed, and felt on the ground about 50 feet lower , luckily with all the rain here these days the ground is soft.
Going to look for the heli, I was prepared for the worst.
The apparent thing was the blades were gone (These were Extreme blades, they are more fragile than the stock) and the heli was full of mud.
The flybar was also bent (in 6 months it must be the 30th time, but it's still the stock one !), and there is a little crack in the horizontal fin but apart of this, nothing !
I don't want to imagine the damage if this had been a CP heli !!
Lesson learned, I will have to take a bigger safety factor when flying nearby trees...

Roland