Originally Posted by craigiri

This is usually obvious - but I cannot stress enough that you have to put it on a perfect level surface for about 12 seconds after you insert the battery.

Since I have messed around with my legs - I set mine inside a small cup or can which makes the arms rest on it - that assures level.

I did have to replace one of my motors, so that is a possibility. They are only a few dollars apiece if it comes to that. But try everything else first. You need to solder to replace a motor!

Thank you guys! I hope it is only motor and not "motherboard". I tried to start it on level surface but it didn't help.
What causes the motor damage? Yes it crashed a lot. Is that the cause?

Originally Posted by poserge

...
What causes the motor damage? Yes it crashed a lot. Is that the cause?

Sometimes crashing does something bad.
But these are inexpensive mass-produced motors meant for light-duty use, and I have read of such motors dying after a few flights even without crashes, etc.

Originally Posted by whitet777

.... The battery appears to be good too. Still 2.98V, freezing cold. Seems to be charging.

Given your post about the X1 light still being lit after 2 weeks, I am not totally surprised, that does sound like a hardy battery:
I have heard the X1's stock battery has overcharge/overdischarge protection circuits, so this might have activated, protecting the battery.

Good news! You now have an X1 fleet.

much thanks to slim & marko and every one else's suggestions and help with my first soldering related LED mod! pretty basic, and not all that professional looking but was able to get it done! i 'repurposed' a couple red/blue LEDs from some dead S107s, did some wire splicing, then soldered them directly to the power leads on the board.
as you can see in the second video, they blink red/blue until i power up, then they go solid red. in flight they sometimes stay red, other times blink. i'm pretty happy with it, makes orientation at night much easier! perfect since that's my favorite time to fly in front of my house.
i also found out i need 3 hands for video, pretty hard to stay aloft and steer with one hand!

quick post-mod workbench vid:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...#post23869674/

quick youtube vid of night flight:

NIGHT FLY TEST OF SYMA X-1 LED UPGRADE (0 min 57 sec)

Originally Posted by whitet777

OMG, went outside right after I typed my last post, and would you believe it, it was on the ground!

Congratulations!

Originally Posted by thunnus

much thanks to slim & marko and every one else's suggestions and help with my first soldering related LED mod! pretty basic, and not all that professional looking but was able to get it done! i 'repurposed' a couple red/blue LEDs from some dead S107s, did some wire splicing, then soldered them directly to the power leads on the board.
as you can see in the second video, they blink red/blue until i power up, then they go solid red. in flight they sometimes stay red, other times blink. i'm pretty happy with it, makes orientation at night much easier! perfect since that's my favorite time to fly in front of my house.
i also found out i need 3 hands for video, pretty hard to stay aloft and steer with one hand!

quick post-mod workbench vid:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...#post23869674/

quick youtube vid of night flight:
http://youtu.be/m7OAhoKqNvc

Nice job! Looks pretty good to me. In my experience, the only thing trickier than soldering multiple tiny leads to one pad was trying to solder a cloverleaf antenna for 5.8ghz. It is a little odd that your S107 lights don't blink during flight. Did you add resistors to those lights? I did not add resistors to my s107 light and it blinks like usual even in flight.

Originally Posted by thunnus

i also found out i need 3 hands for video, pretty hard to stay aloft and steer with one hand!

Just velcro an 808#16 to your hat!

Wondering if anyone would like to chat to another noob - offline so as not to get in the way of the established flyers?

In brief, got me an X1 never having flown a quad or anything other than the Syma indoor helis, thought it would be a new direction etc.

Took the thing out of the box, charged battery, read the instructions a few times, the beginning of this thread and switched on, didn't expect a straight forward experience but can't seem to get a hover, thing pitches forward and wants to fly away.

Have tried the trim to best of ability but always pitching forward, also noticed similar to other user that sometimes one of the rear motors doesn't fire up straight away.

It hasn't crashed (yet) so shouldn't be damage, at least I hope not

Just recharging the battery for another shot at it tomorrow, will try the tip re level surface for 12 seconds - hope its just my lack of skill and not a dud because I really want to get into flying this thing.

Thanks for your time and patience

Nige

definatly sounds like initialisation on an uneven surface, had this happen a few times if I am to slow, it should be on a level ground when the slow flashing stops untill the led led stops it rapid flashing, it will either burn solid if the transmitter is on or slow flash if it is off or out of range

Originally Posted by jeb33

Just recharging the battery for another shot at it tomorrow, will try the tip re level surface for 12 seconds

It's not just a tip, it's a necessity. I'm an inexperienced flyer too and was able to hover it right out of the box.

I will admit that the instruction in the manual that says, "Move the helicopter onto the flat ground, when the gyro receive the signal, then open the controller" leaves a little to be desired.

Slim, no resistors added and the S107 lights kinda seem to do what they wanna. LOL! I apparently need to look for an 808 keychain camera. Any suggestions?

Jeb, the guys above are spot on. Start up sequence is important, if it won't hover I pop the battery and start over. Sometimes have to do this a couple times, almost always after a hard crash.
I start with everything off, insert battery and set on level surface. Red light on quad should flash fast, then go dark. I believe this is the gyro initializing then locking in. Red light will then go to slow flash. Now turn transmitter on, blue light flashes and beeps, then locks in with both blue light on TX and red light on quad solid. You SHOULD be able to hover/fly now.

Originally Posted by thunnus

Slim, no resistors added and the S107 lights kinda seem to do what they wanna. LOL! I apparently need to look for an 808 keychain camera. Any suggestions?

http://www.chucklohr.com/

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1566331

Originally Posted by jeb33

Wondering if anyone would like to chat to another noob - offline so as not to get in the way of the established flyers?

...can't seem to get a hover, thing pitches forward and wants to fly away.

Have tried the trim to best of ability but always pitching forward, also noticed similar to other user that sometimes one of the rear motors doesn't fire up straight away.

It hasn't crashed (yet) so shouldn't be damage, at least I hope not

Just recharging the battery for another shot at it tomorrow, will try the tip re level surface for 12 seconds - hope its just my lack of skill and not a dud because I really want to get into flying this thing.

Thanks for your time and patience

Nige

Welcome to RCG and thanks for honoring us by making your first post here. We love to chat with new people. But I think your question is fundamental enough that I posted a few more FAQ and answers in post #3. So that visitors in the future could benefit from that discussion. Please check #3 and see if the last 3 FAQ help you out.

Originally Posted by Heli Pad

I think your question is fundamental enough that I posted a few more FAQ and answers in post #3.

I agree!. You might want to add to the FAQ on training the GPS that it's a good idea to zero the trim controls before you train the GPS for the first time or after an unsuccessful training. Otherwise the trim and GPS are working against each other.

Wow, thanks to everyone that responded, very much appreciated...

It was definitely the setup / Startup / Initialisation of the gyro on an even surface.

Got thing in the air and fun has begun, really need to go somewhere bigger than the dining room, but getting some idea of how things work.

Will start trimming lessons soon

Can't wait to get some serious time in now, more batteries on the way - reckon I will be buying lots of spares trying to crack this. Impressively robust little thing.

Thanks again for your kind help.

Nige