I've been practicing on a GeniusCP for months, and i'm glad to say that (maiden flight months ago aside) moving up to a 450 was relatively painless. The thing moves like a turtle compared to the micro.

Anyway, one of the issues i've had so far is that i'm doing far more adjustments on the 450 than on the GeniusCP. And i narrowed it down to this.

gyro cx 3x1000 (0 min 11 sec)

As soon as you recenter the stick, the swashplate levels. I know this is how a flybarred heli works, but i was expecting a 3axis gyro to have the sensors to know and hold its position.

On the GeniusCP, when you put it at an angle, it stays solidly in there.

gyro GeniusCP (0 min 18 sec)

So if you tilt the GeniusCP 45 degrees forward, it'll stay that way until you bring it back. But on the 450 Sport, if you push the collective forward, the heli tilts forward, goes into a really fast forward flight but then eventually levels out and comes to a stop by itself.

It does make it a bit harder to keep the heli in a hover, you tilt the heli slightly to slowly move it back into position, but then the swash levels almost immediately so you end up repeatedly doing corrections instead of just nudging it once and letting it move on its own.

I'm wondering if i missed a setting somewhere. Or if this is how a 3 axis gyro on a larger heli normally flies.

PS: The GeniusCP is not in 6 axis mode. The thing would be unflyable.

Originally Posted by Hajile

As soon as you recenter the stick, the swashplate levels. I know this is how a flybarred heli works, but i was expecting a 3axis gyro to have the sensors to know and hold its position.

That's exactly how it's supposed to work. If there are no control inputs, everything should go to neutral. It would be pretty scary to fly a heli if the controls "toggled on" when you moved the sticks.

If people learn to fly a fixed pitch heli, they sometimes have to un-learn some of the things they've picked up.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

That's exactly how it's supposed to work. If there are no control inputs, everything should go to neutral. It would be pretty scary to fly a heli if the controls "toggled on" when you moved the sticks.

If people learn to fly a fixed pitch heli, they sometimes have to un-learn some of the things they've picked up.

Apparently, it's a feature of the six axis gyro on the genius CP. So a 3 axis gyro levels out by itself and a six axis gyro holds its position.

Maybe if i can find someone to hold the camera, i'll be able to demonstrate the difference it makes on how the heli flies. It's pretty glaring.

In things like how you need to lean the heli slightly to the right to cancel out the tail rotor for example. On a six axis, you lean the heli to the angle you need to cancel the tail rotor, and then pretty much forget about it. On the CX 3x1000, you lean the heli to the right to make it hover stably, then it'll start drifting left again as it levels out by itself so you have to periodically add right cyclic.

I always thought a 3 axis gyro can keep the heli locked into a position, but i guess you need accelerometers to do that.

You normally trim the heli not to drift in the hover. By definition, with a single main rotor, the heli will have to tilt slightly to one side to compensate for the tail rotor - but if it drifts, it just means your trim is out.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

You normally trim the heli not to drift in the hover.

You're of course referring to a fixed pitch helicopter. "Trimming" on a collective pitch (especially FBL) should be done by mechanical setup and proper CG.

Originally Posted by bwoollia

You're of course referring to a fixed pitch helicopter. "Trimming" on a collective pitch (especially FBL) should be done by mechanical setup and proper CG.

No, I meant on a CP heli, and yes of course, mechanical setup and correct CG - otherwise you end up with a Blackhawk, with a tilted tail rotor to compensate for design errors/compromises!

Anyone tried using the tarot programmer box on a cx gyro?

I'm pretty sure BF did, and it doesn't work. And of course the downside of cross flashing CX to ZYX is the CX box no longer works with the CX-ZYX.

Thanks. Was just curious.

When I first stated using John_NZ's FBL software, I was connecting the controller with Com9, but lately it's been on Com27. I use a laptop which runs XP Pro. I wondered what on earth might be using all the other ports. With a small registry edit, I was able to expose "hidden devices" in Windows device manager, and to my surprise, there were loads of greyed-out entries for things like USB flash drives, various hard drives, printers and monitors.

After I'd deleted all the unused devices and re-booted, the FBL software now connects on Com2.

So it seems like XP is really bad at housekeeping - especially since I regularly use washer and registry optimisation programs.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

So it seems like XP is really bad at housekeeping - especially since I regularly use washer and registry optimisation programs.

What? A Microsoft product?

1 So is CX-3X1000v1-0.bin the latest CX firmware?
2 Have there been any problems and if so can I revert back the the stock firmware?
3 Why is it necessary to upgrade?

It is the latest, but unfortunately it's also the original firmware!

If you have an early CX unit, you may be able to cross flash it with the Tarot ZYX firmware. I've done that with one of my CX's, and prefer the way it flies with the Tarot V3.5 firmware.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

It is the latest, but unfortunately it's also the original firmware!

If you have an early CX unit, you may be able to cross flash it with the Tarot ZYX firmware. I've done that with one of my CX's, and prefer the way it flies with the Tarot V3.5 firmware.

Why is it necessary to upgrade?
How can I tell if it's the old cx gyro? I got it in Jan 2012 from ehirobo.

It's not necessary to upgrade the firmware. If you're happy with the way your heli is flying with the original CX firmware, you can leave it be.

Since I have two CX's, I decided to try out the Tarot V3.5 firmware on one of them, and I think it gives a better collective feel. The big downside of cross flashing is that the CX program box will no longer work with the controller.

Cross flashing can be quite nerve-wracking, however, and doesn't work with all CX's. For most people for whom it didn't work, however, they were able to successfully restore the CX firmware. Unfortunately the only way to know for sure if it will work with your CX is to try it.