600 Derek's Align Trex 600e Pro DFC

[pvolcko]

So you're getting a range of +18 to -6. Leading edge control on the blades? Decrease the length on the swash to blade links and you'll balance out that range to +11 to -11 or so. Trailing edge control, increase the length. Then the difference between blade A and B is probably just a turn or two on the low blade. Done. No?

Leading edge and no more room to decrease blade link length? Then you need to lower the swash. Shorten all the servo to swash links by the same number of turns. If you're off by that much and have the blade links tight short then you will probably need to decrease the swash servo links significantly.

You said the manual called for 44mm and 47mm servo linkage length. Was that hole to hole, end to end, just the inside length for the exposed rod? IT sounds like something on those swash links is way off. Guessing maybe you used hole to hole instead of end to end or something like that.

On normal heads with swash driver arms I use those as a guide to if the swash is too high or low at mid stick. On DFC you can probably use the anti-rotation bracket. If there isn't one (like on my TRex 700) due to the use of an anti-rotation elevator linkage then there will be a window in the side frame pieces where the elevator linkage should be visible and more or less parallel with that window. Position the elevator linkage on the shaft such that at mid stick and elevtor servo centered that horizontal piece of the elevator linkage bracket is parallel with that window.

If still having issues, take some pics or video of the setup showing all servos, horns, and linkages to swash and grips so we can maybe help see what's up.

 

[Derek]

Due to other plans that I had for today, I had to put the 600 back on the shelf for now.

I did remove all the cyclic linkage rods and put them back to the manuals specs (center of hole to center of hole) and then double checked that my servo's were 90'd and no sub trim. I then checked for swash level and only had to make 1-3 points of adjustment in the ikon programming. So, I guess that part is better than it was before. Now, I have +5 and -17 and I think that it was -5.2 at mid stick.

Today has gotten really busy, all of the sudden, so as of now...I'm just hoping that I can get back to the 600 later tonight. I'm tired of it just sitting on my shelf.

I'm heading back out to the garage to finish up on my FB Albatross (20' wingspan scratch built plane), in hopes of a maiden flight this weekend. I'll be back here to chat more about the 600 later on. What a day!!!

Stick around guys...I'm gonna need ya, lol.

 

[Derek]

Massive progress today, guys!!!

I got the 600 down from the shelf and started messing with the blade pitch again. I don't know what happened nor what I did differently but I got the mid stick position to read 0 degrees on both sides. That's progress, alone! I then looked at the + and - of both blades and blade 1 read +15.6/-15.4, blade 2 read +15.6/-15.6. Honestly, I don't know what I did differently but I was blown away and very pleasantly surprised at how close the + and - were. Outstanding!!! I went into the ikon programming at set the pitch to +/- 10.4. Well, 10.4 was the closest to 10 degrees that I could get it....according to my digital pitch gauge. Ok...so that's a milestone in itself.

I, then, proceeded through the ikon programming from step 1, just to reassure myself that I had set everything. Ooops...never did "set level". Ok...so I made a platform, with a bolt in each of the 4 corners. I placed a bubble level on the motor and on the ikon. I was able to move each of the 4 bolts up or down to get perfect "bubble" level. Awesome...did that and clicked on "set level". Got that done!

I remembered that I never did set the gear ratio for the head speed. The stock Trex 600 Pro DFC, according to the Align website, says that it comes with a 112 tooth main gear and a 12 tooth pinion. Well, since I couldn't be certain that I have that stock setup, I pulled the main gear and set it aside. I used a Sharpie marker to put a mark on the pinion then started to count teeth until I got back to the black mark.....hmmm, it's a 13 tooth pinion, instead of the stock 12 tooth. Well, at least I now know. I did the same thing to the main gear...I have the stock 112 tooth main gear. Cool! I entered those two numbers into the ikon programming and got the gear ratio set in. It also asked for something else, I don't remember what it was exactly but it was the number of poles that my motor has divided by two...that being 5. Entered that. Awesome!

I continued through the remaining steps of the ikon programming, double checking this and that. I got to the Bank Selections. Paul was kind enough to help out, many months ago, with getting the Banks to be selected from the AUX2 switch. Thanks again, Paul!!! However, I got looking though there and there is the Self Level function. How do I activate the Self Level?

Besides that last issue, the ikon is all setup and the helicopter is setup as well. I may have to put a bit of charge to my Gens Ace 3700mAh batteries and start doing some bench testing for vibrations. First with no blades, then add tail blades, then add main blades. If all goes well...we might just see a maiden hover next week. I have to work this weekend.

So anyway....I've rambled on quite long enough. The only thing I am unsure about is how to activate the self level.

 

[danhampson]

Self level is setup up in the banks section of the software. So you could have bank 1 sport, bank 2 3d, bank 3 3d with self level, when setting the banks up there is a small check box to activate the self level in that bank.
In have mine set up bank 1 3d ( I use this one to make changes or try different values). bank 2 3d (tryed and tested values) this is the bank I fly in normally. Bank 3 copy of bank 2 but with self level activated.

You will probably have to tweak self level a bit at the field to get rid of some possible drift, mine drifted back and left.

The self level doesn't hold position perfectly but can be very useful if you get in trouble, ie if inverted flip the SL bank and nail the positive pitch.

 

[Derek]

OK, I think I understand.

I have Bank 1 setup with the Self Level active. So...flying in Bank 1, the self level will always be active. Switching to Bank 2 or 3 will turn off the self level.

For some reason, I was under the impression that Self Level was activated by a totally different switch.

Thanks for clearing that up, dan! I appreciate the clarification!

Well now...I think I'm all go to go for some bench testing. It's a shame that it's 2:00am here. My wife and daughter are asleep and I think the noise from the 600 spooling up in the garage would probably echo through out the house, lol.

dan...you mentioned something about tweaking the self level. how would I go about doing that, if necessary?

 

[danhampson]

I would not suggest having self level on bank 1 just so you don't try to take off and land with it on, if you have issues with it drifting it might cause the heli to tip over while spooling up/down especially if on uneven ground.

When you test it make sure you have plenty of altitude and space as it can move pretty quick.

 

[Derek]

Ok, that makes sense, too! I'll make that change within the next few minutes.

I'm curious though.....switching to the bank with the self level, and lets say that the helicopter wanders one way or another, you mentioned something about tweaking it so that it didn't wander. How would I go about doing that?

 

[danhampson]

Its in the advance menu. Select the bank you have SL set in and go to governor and stabilisation there is the SL check box and some sliders one for ail angle and one for elev angle they are used to dial out any drift, but when setting it up it is affected by any wind on that session. It can be perfect with the the wind at one speed and direction and the another time with the wind in another direction it will drift.

Its not perfect but it has saved my wallet and heli a couple of times.

 

[Derek]

That's awesome! Thanks for that!

I have already made the changes to the self level. I had my banks set up for: Bank 1 - Beginner, Bank 2 - Sport, and Bank 3 - Sport. I had the self level checked in Bank 1. However, after listening to your explanation, I unchecked the self level from Bank 1 and checked it in Bank 3. I was thinking that I could fly in Bank 1 - Beginner and fly in Bank 2 - Sport, then have the self level active in Bank 3.

Thanks for your help, Dan!

 

[danhampson]

No problem mate, don't forget video of the maiden. I'm ordering my 600 dfc in just over a week, so I'll probably have some questions for you.

Good luck with the maiden.

 

[Derek]

I'll definitely get video! Good luck getting your new helicopter. I surely don't know it all, but feel free to ask any questions that you come up with. I'm sure between myself and the other more experienced heli pilots, we'll get ya taken care of.

 

[Lee]

Great that you got the pitch worked out Derek.
Would have been nice to know why? But its working, and thats the main thing.

On setting self level, A good bench test is to watch the swash and see were it moves to in SL.
On my Warp, at first when flying in SL, it would bank quite quickly to the left.
I checked this on the bench.
With the swash level, I switch to self level, and sure enough, the swash would tip to the left.
I adjusted the Aileron slider in the menu until when switching from Normal flying to SL, the swash would stay Level.
First flight after this, and the Warp was totally stable and fixed in the sky.
Just a little extra peace of mind before the first flight

 

[Derek]

If you all remember, this helicopter was given to me...along with the CC ICE 80HV esc. Since I don't know anything about the settings of the esc, I wanted to hook up the Castle Link and make sure the settings are where I want them. Unfortunately, I've misplaced my Castle Link....figures. So...I need to find my Castle Link...check the settings...and also set the end points.

 

[Graham Lawrie]

Got given a 600 what luck

 

[Derek]

Yeah Graham!!! Super lucky!! I'm grateful to the guy that have it to me. It's a Trex 600e Pro DFC with Ikon, Phoenix ICE 80HV ESC, stock servos, 2 Gens Ace 3700mAh 35C lipo's, and I was given a Spektrum AR7200bx.

There has been so many things with this helicopter that I've learned. There are a lot of differences from my 500. I'm trying to do the setup on this helicopter without the help of my local hobby shop, so it's taking me a while to get it done. I've also spent a lot of time working on my planes, so that takes time away from the 600, too, lol. But...Ive made a great deal of progress on it tonight. I just need to find my Castle Link so that I can double check the settings in the ESC and the CC BEC PRO...then set the end points and then we'll be ready to spin it up. I'm looking forward to it, for sure.

 

[Graham Lawrie]

Cool don't forget to charge your video batteries

 

[Derek]

lol...you got that right!!!

 

[pvolcko]

And another thing with self-level. Even after getting it properly bench tested, only attempt it from way up in the sky and if it jumps some unexpected way be ready to flip back to normal bank setting and recover fast. Many stories of people trying this feature out only to have the thing go sideways on them and end up darting it into the ground. As part of your bench testing, I'd remove blades and do a test with everything spinning at 75-80% throttle (or lowest gov setting if you're using gov). These things are vibration sensitive in auto-level mode so a drivetrain running bench test or two is good insurance. Also, don't only test to make sure it stays put when switching into it from a level heli position on the bench. Also put it at a known off-angle and test it to make sure it does something reasonable there too.

 

[Derek]

Thanks for that, Paul! While I had it plugged in last night, I did start in Bank 2 (self level not active)....I leaned the helicopter over to the right and flipped to Bank 3 (self level active) and the swash moved to the left to correct and get back to level. I did the same thing to the left, nose down, and tail down, and the swash would move to correct and get back to level. I'd say that's Test Number 1 = successful.

I did find my Castle Link. It's unfortunate that I have to go to work in a bit so I won't get to mess with the 600 again until Monday.

As always guys, I appreciate the help!!!

Another question I have....will the ikon try to tip my 600 over like the 3GX does to my 450??

 

[danhampson]

not unless you have self level engaged while on the ground.
ive run mine up in idle up on the ground for 15-20 seconds and there were no signs of it tipping. The unit is very immune to vibes (apart from the self level).