500 Tomorrow, it flies.

[zenmetsu]

You've got a lot straighter RPM curve than I'm getting - I'm going to up my GOV gain a bit I think.

I am also flying with a 1400kV motor that has a lot more power than the stock 1600. I would be willing to bet that your current draw is probably a lot less.

CC has a calculator that will tell you what the max governor setting is, and if you set the throttle on your TX any higher than that, you will not have good regulation of the head speed.

I don't remember what my gain was, I set it to the one recommended for this class of heli, I think it was one click up from the default gain.

 

[breeze400]

Nice flight seem to me to be getting more dialed in. Or your getting used to the heli carictoristics.

 

[stokke]

I am also flying with a 1400kV motor that has a lot more power than the stock 1600. I would be willing to bet that your current draw is probably a lot less.

CC has a calculator that will tell you what the max governor setting is, and if you set the throttle on your TX any higher than that, you will not have good regulation of the head speed.

I don't remember what my gain was, I set it to the one recommended for this class of heli, I think it was one click up from the default gain.

I'm within the Castle gov's limits. The default gain was 25 - and I'm trying at 27 tomorrow (max is 35). What's your setting?

 

[zenmetsu]

I thought that default was "Low". Medium is 25. I will check it in a few moments. I have robots vacuuming my floors at the moment and I don't want to have cables on the carpet.

- - - Updated - - -

Which heli are you talking about Marius? I thought that you had a 450 and your big heli was nitro.

 

[zenmetsu]

OK, here are my CC settings.

Phoenix ICE 100A

Throttle:
Vehicle Type: Helicopter
Throttle Type: Governor Mode

Governor Mode: Governor High
Auto-Rotation: Enabled
Initial Spool-Up Rate: Medium (5)
Governor Gain: Medium (25)
Head Speed Change Rate: Medium (5)

The maximum governor according to the CC software is 84%. The online calculator states that I can get away with 92%, so I set it to 90% on my transmitter.

 

[Derek]

That is really awesome that you can check on and change these settings like that. Do you just plug something into your computer to see the data and go from there? All of this stuff is new to me, but it surely peaks my interest.

 

[zenmetsu]

The Castle Creations ESCs are programmable from your computer using their "Castle Link" USB device. The thing costs $20, but you get a coupon code for a free one from their website when you purchase their ESCs, so you just have to wait a few days instead of spending extra money.

Some of their ESCs will log data as well, such as pack voltage, RPM, current draw, temperature, etc. I'm still waiting for them to add logging to their smaller offerings so that I can use one on my 250. Using the Castle Link, you can download the logged data to your PC for review. I went with Castle Creations because they are based in the U.S. and design all their products in Kansas.

As far as the last image is concerned, that is the online flight calculator that they have. http://www.castlecreations.com/support/flight_calculator.html

 

[Derek]

well thats pretty cool! Data like that could be useful. I may have to look into the CC ESC for my 500. Thanks for sharing.

 

[zenmetsu]

I am making a flight data recorder for the helicopters as well. I plan on having it all open source when I get done with it. I am using a Maple Mini from Leaf Labs Info at SparkFun. It is a 72MHz 32bit microcontroller that is mostly Arduino compatible, but it spanks the Arduino in performance and number crunching due to it being 32bit.

I am logging data to an SD card, and have it logging all 6 channels in addition to the gyro output so that you can see how much work the gyro is doing.

Eventually I will have it logging the voltage of the pack, RPM of the motor through current sensing, as well as logging angular velocity and linear acceleration via an IMU. My goal is to make a device that can be sold for a decent price to those who are interested in such things. I plan on making the hardware and schematics available so that the DIY people can roll their own. I'll be posting a separate thread for the device once I get the circuit cleaned up a bit.

 

[stokke]

When I´m referring to my Castle, I´m talking about my 600 electric. I tested 27 at GOVgain today, but think I´m gonna try 30 next time. It feels like it´s hunting a bit during flight.

 

[zenmetsu]

Ahh, gotcha. For some reason I was thinking that the big machine that you had was a nitro.

Do you have any data plots from your CC to share? Too high of a gain can also cause oscillations in the head speed, just like excessive tail gain on the tail gyro can. It is a much slower oscillation when it comes to the head speed though, like around 1 to 3Hz from what I have seen.