Originally Posted by Blade Crasher

Kerry: Take this for what you paid for it. Zip.

But here is an idea to get you what you want. Get some Zener diodes (maybe Radio shack?), maybe about 5 of them. Wire them up in Series so that the "forward voltage" drop feeds into the next diode, etc.

Google " Zener Diodes" and you can read more than you want to know. Or look at this link:
http://www.ehow.com/how_7810346_add-...e-voltage.html

5 diodes, .7v "forward voltage drop" = 3.5 drop, 8.4v - 3.5 = 4.9. About perfect for the tail. Not sure how "hot" this might get though pulling 2-3 amps on the tail through all these diodes...

A single zener is basically what Align sells their tail voltage reduction wire as. The align esc has default volts of 5.5 thus 4.8 at the tail.

If you decide to build this, let me know if it works or you got "zip value" from this crazy idea.

Wow, I think that would be over my head. Thank you very much for your efforts but I think I may have found what I need. http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...tage-Regulator

My concern is that it is only 1AMP although it is apparently made for the application I have in mind.
Opinions??
Thanks
Kerry

EDIT: I followed your link which led to another link (re:12V>4V)and directly to the item I had just found.

Alright, I just followed the setup thing using the Robird application and... Everything seems to be in order. I have no idea what some things meant, (Like the tab with the slider on the right, the one that is green in the middle, red up top and at the bottom, something about 8°) the heli isn't perfectly setup mechanically due to the lack of a swash leveler and pitch gauge. But ehhhh, close enough.

There's one thing that isn't clear to me though... Pitch curves for some simple hovering around, motor connection (on receiver or FBL controller? One channel says "Aileron OR motor", whatever the heck that means), programming of idle up, throttle hold etc. NO info about that whatsoever. So where do I start?

Originally Posted by WiseDuck

Alright, I just followed the setup thing using the Robird application and... Everything seems to be in order. I have no idea what some things meant, (Like the tab with the slider on the right, the one that is green in the middle, red up top and at the bottom, something about 8°) the heli isn't perfectly setup mechanically due to the lack of a swash leveler and pitch gauge. But ehhhh, close enough.

There's one thing that isn't clear to me though... Pitch curves for some simple hovering around, motor connection (on receiver or FBL controller? One channel says "Aileron OR motor", whatever the heck that means), programming of idle up, throttle hold etc. NO info about that whatsoever. So where do I start?

Pitch curves, throttle hold and idle up are transmitter settings. Start with your Tx manual and then you can ask more specific questions.
The 8* thing is cyclic settings. It is important to get these settings at least close. I will let someone else respond to the bal. as I am new to flybarless.

It's a start.
Kerry

Originally Posted by WiseDuck

Alright, I just followed the setup thing using the Robird application and... Everything seems to be in order. I have no idea what some things meant, (Like the tab with the slider on the right, the one that is green in the middle, red up top and at the bottom, something about 8°) the heli isn't perfectly setup mechanically due to the lack of a swash leveler and pitch gauge. But ehhhh, close enough.

There's one thing that isn't clear to me though... Pitch curves for some simple hovering around, motor connection (on receiver or FBL controller? One channel says "Aileron OR motor", whatever the heck that means), programming of idle up, throttle hold etc. NO info about that whatsoever. So where do I start?

Have you read the manual and watched the videos? Whilst the videos are slightly outdated as one or two of the menu screens have changed they will explain most of this.

Originally Posted by WiseDuck

I have no idea what some things meant, (Like the tab with the slider on the right, the one that is green in the middle, red up top and at the bottom, something about 8°) the heli isn't perfectly setup mechanically due to the lack of a swash leveler and pitch gauge.

This screen is to tell the G31 where 8 degrees is, so that the G31 understands your geometry - I'm not really sure how you managed this step without a pitch gauge, this is an important step to a correct set-up. The red - yellow - green indicates how good your servo geometry is.

Originally Posted by WiseDuck

One channel says "Aileron OR motor", whatever the heck that means), programming of idle up, throttle hold etc. NO info about that whatsoever. So where do I start?

This is covered in the manual - the G31 can either be set up to use a Rx or to use Satelites, depending on which approach you are using the channel allocation is different.

Not wanting to be too rude, but if you don't read the manual and the set-up tips in this thread you are very likely to have a failed set-up and crash on maiden

Well, I am exaggerating a bit. :P Most of it looks fine. Everyting moves the right way, it compensates for movement properly, there's no binding no matter where I point the swash or tail. Setting up pitch curves and whatnot is new to me though, I'm not really sure what's suitable for a first hover without any kind of 3D. All channels are hooked up to the right place and so on. Servo arms are at 90° and neutral pitch is at roughly 51-52% throttle right now.

As for the 8° thing, alright, I understand now. Time to work on that.

As for missing parts, that's just what happens when everything you want is not in stock and parts elsewhere are too expensive for what they are. Before the maiden I'm taking the heli to someone who has set up a bunch of helis before.

Alright, just went through the setup again and found a way to measure the pitch somewhat accurately. Everything should be OK-ish now. Roughly 12° up and down on the collective, 8° on the cyclic. (Although it's awfully close to the yellow area) About the simulated cyclic right in the last tab, what is a good value to use there, as high as possible without binding?

Some things are difficult to adjust right now, I need to get the ball link pliers at the rc clubs place to make adjustments to ball links, everything else looks good. Shoved another bearing into the tail the other day, it feels very smooth right now.

EDIT: Radio has been set up. So all that remains is to maiden it then. Scary stuff.

Originally Posted by WiseDuck

EDIT: Radio has been set up. So all that remains is to maiden it then. Scary stuff.

When you do maiden , don't forget to duck

Well, sadly, the maiden sorta failed. Not because of how I set up my radio or the helicopter. Some of the parts were simply way out of balance and caused some really bad vibes that shook the whole thing. I got over the fear after a short time, altho I do feel like wearing safety goggles whenever I'm near these things. If a feathering shaft breaks and you get a blade in your face you'll probably get knocked out or get a massive gash somewhere.

Originally Posted by WiseDuck

Well, sadly, the maiden sorta failed. Not because of how I set up my radio or the helicopter. Some of the parts were simply way out of balance and caused some really bad vibes that shook the whole thing. I got over the fear after a short time, altho I do feel like wearing safety goggles whenever I'm near these things. If a feathering shaft breaks and you get a blade in your face you'll probably get knocked out or get a massive gash somewhere.

If the parts are that far out of balance you really need to sort that out before flying it

Wiseduck: You really want to make sure the locktite on the feathering shaft nuts/screws is well applied and dry. Having had my 450 blades come loose one time during a low hover at 2800 hs, it's not something I ever want to experience again.

Sorry to hear about the shakes in the machine. The G31 is great and I'm barely a novice user but it makes me look like I know what I'm doing.

You will be thrilled soon when it's sorted out.

and by the sound of it the G31 vibration log may well come in very useful!

Well, there's nothing really to see in it. Just huge red bars at 80% throttle on both the main rotor and the tail. The issue isn't the blades, I've spooled it up without blades and it's the main shaft and torque tube for sure. (By huge I mean they max out)

Anyhow, I've already decided to just replace the entire head and buy an Align kit this summer. I'm converting this to a flybarred heli, someone at the local rc club donated a complete flybarred head to me so I'm taking the current one off. (Mine has got a bunch of stripped screws on it, so taking apart the head is almost impossible)

Considering the ESC's proximity to the G31 and Rx.


I have placed the ESC where it fits into the frames on the side to get maximum cooling. This puts it about 3" from the Rx+G31. I don't know if it helps but there is C/F between the ESC and Rx/G31. This will also put the 12S battery wires about 3" from the Rx antenna with nothing in between.
Will any of this be a concern ie. can I expect good reception etc. in reference to "electromagnetic something or others".

Thanks
Kerry
Edit: Ignore the Sat. Rx it will be moved to the front when the long wires arrive.
Don't know how the second pic. got here.

Have you flown your YEP before? This is off topic but I just returned my 80 amp version to HK USA outside of warranty period. Not sure if anything will come of it, but I could never get the ESC to work with any motors. I'm really "down" on this ESC at present, and have wired my G31 govenor into a cheapo ESC for the time being. If you have any thoughts on setting up your YEP I would like to read them.

Originally Posted by Blade Crasher

Have you flown your YEP before? This is off topic but I just returned my 80 amp version to HK USA outside of warranty period. Not sure if anything will come of it, but I could never get the ESC to work with any motors. I'm really "down" on this ESC at present, and have wired my G31 govenor into a cheapo ESC for the time being. If you have any thoughts on setting up your YEP I would like to read them.

I'm pretty sure Paul1968 uses YEP's, and swears by them - he's often on the 550 thread.