Esky LAMA V-4 - tx fix.

[Hairball]

Hi, I am very much a newbie, so please... be patient if I talk nonsense. I have a new Esky LAMA V-4 and had problems with it. I went to the Base Gym, set up my table, turned the transmitter on, set throttle and trim to lowest setting, plugged the battery in and... Well the RED light came on (on the 4 in 1) but - even after 3 minutes - no green light. To make it worse, I had an audience... Some wit said, "It's not flying..." to which I replied, "You must be Sherlock Holmes!" Grrr!

I went home and phoned Hobby Lobby where I ordered it from. Got hold of a Techie guy and he gave me the following - which worked: It seems that depending on the production run from the factory the transmitter has different settings. He suggested that I turn the transmitter on, set the throttle to FULL with the trim set all the way up. Hmmm... Not having any band-aids in the house I was going to be damn careful with this. So I turned the transmitter on, set throttle and the trim wide open. Then plugged the chopper in - and hung on to it like grim death and... Nothing! Bah humbug I cried. But acting on Lobby Hobbies tech guy's suggestion I unplugged, switched-off... yada yada yada. I then went to the control reversers (right word?) on the bottom on my TX and reversed the throttle and rudder switch thingies (what do you call them?) and pushed them up. I then connected everything as per SOP's (throttle and trim at max) and lo-and-behold I got my green light and the machine came alive, blades spinning etc. Luckily I was holding her pretty firmly. I hope I have everything fixed. Question, should I have reversed the rudder switch as well? They were next to each other and it seemed (somehow) logical. Before I wreck it.... DID I DO RIGHT? I have the throttle right, what about the rest?

Now you guys are experts - The closest I've come to flying a model helicopter is my $20 Infra-red beast (love it). So please, any of you have any other hints re the V-4 set-up etc, I'd be very grateful. Cheers guys and galls, have a great day. BTW, we still have snow and a Polar Bear was seen on the farm at the end of my road. It's next to the sea and the ice is in.

PS. Hobby Lobby has good techies on the phones.

[Made2Fade]

Dont just change it for the hell of it... its probably set right but only way to tell is to get the heli light on the skids (without actually taking off into a hover). Then give some rudder input and watch which way it turns. Right rudder stick input will lead to the helicopter rotating its nose to the right. If it doesnt then reverse it. I repeat again though ' you dont need to fly this to check, just get it light on the skids'.
Lee

[Blahblahman]

I don't have a V4 but a Lama-5 which is pretty similar. I had the same problem, the servo for throttle was set so that lever forward was throttle off. Took me 20 mins to work it out but not before i had flown it straight into the fireplace wrecking my first set of blades.

Basically the instructions provided were pretty useless and i was impatient. 1 month later, i'm pretty good at hovering including nose in and am already considering future options.

Once you get the basics right it and iron out the niggles it becomes so much more enjoyable.

[Hairball]

V-4 problems, 'booting-up.'

Hi Blahblahman: Yep, my V-4 wouldn't show a green light on the 4 in 1, just the red light and yes, the batteries were charged. The techie at Hobby Lobby suggested I go to full throttle and max trim right up and then plug in! "WOW!" I thought, "This things going to chew my hands up," but it didn't. He said it wouldn't fire-up the rotors until she was on an even keel. It worked (why is this?), but I made sure I had a good grip of the fuselage and my fingers well out of the way of the blades.

I haven't been back to the Base Gym to try her out again yet but I'm wondering if I have to go through this song-and-dance every time? Maybe it's a one-shot deal?

Also the throttle was on the right instead of the left so I switched it over with the servo-reverser switches on the transmitter. I also switched the rudder over which was next to it. Do you (ANYONE) have any more hints on getting the green light on the 4 in 1 or have I aced this?

Anyway I'll find out in the morning - thank heaven the Gym's huge so I have plenty of room. Outdoor flying is out of the question, it's VERY windy here and there's still snow on the ground. By the way, I agree about the Manual - it's the pitts... Thanks for the help Blahblahman.

[Made2Fade]

sometimes you just have to do this so that the ESC calibrates the throttle mate. You wont have to do it all the time. Once its been done once its fine.
Lee

[Hairball]

Esky LAMA V-4 Transmitter set-up.

I was talking to Tech-Support at Hobby Lobby and it seems that the transmitter for my V-4 was set up wrong on the production line - and it gave me problems. The servo reversers (?)at the bottom/right of the transmitter should be UP - DOWN - UP - DOWN. On mine they were UP - UP - DOWN - DOWN. In other words the throttle was on the right, the spring loaded stick - it sets itself at 1/2 throttle! Guess what happened when I plugged my helicopter in? Yep... the blades fired up and it chased me round the house wrecking the blades in the process. There were other problems, but Hobby Lobby has been great. What with the main water line into my house bursting and a few other problems, I haven't had chance to fly her yet, but I think (I hope) I have the problems sorted out. QUESTION for you experts: Pre flight... Transmitter on, throttle and trim down to its lowest. Plug helicopter's battery in then (not wasting time) set her down on even ground so the gyro can settle? Is that the reason? If anyone has any other hints please let me know! Oh yes, I have the training skids on and I'm going to be v-e-r-y gentle on the controls. Luckily I have a nice big gym to fly in... wish me luck. Oh yeah, are there any problems with not getting the green-light on the 4 in 1 on this ship? I had that but a, 'fix,' from Hobby Lobby seems to work.

[Made2Fade]

just make sure you give it 5 - 10 seconds before you touch any controls when you first plug in the battery. Try not to knock or bump it while its initialising too.
Lee

[Hairball]

Thanks bud. As I understand it you gave to let the gyro settle down. Out of curiosity, what sort of gyro is it? Is it a laser-ring gyro?

[Hairball]

Motor burn out.

I went down to the gym with my Esky LAMA V-4 and got her flying. She was very easy to fly and I was having a ball. First battery wound-down and I put in a new one. I was hovering about 8 feet off the ground when she suddenly began to spin violently and dropped out of the sky, I couldn't control the drop or the spin. When I got to my chopper I could smell electrical burning (throttle was down) and the upper blades seemed to have seized. I removed the fuselage - the motor for the upper blades was very hot. I've just dropped an email to Hobby Lobby to see what's next. To say I feel lousy is an understatement and my experience with E-helicopters seems to be a pain. Hopefully this will all be sorted out. Wish me luck.