Hi, New HeliAddict looking for start up advice, I have a dream!

[Bluenose75]

Hello All, after playing around in the house with my lads small 3 channel toy helicopter I now have the bug! I’m going to start fixed pitch but I’m looking to get onto collective pitch ASAP

I have spent quite a few hours on the forum which is full of great advice, so my plan was to get the following

Spektrum Dx6i
Will I need a 7 channel for collective?
Are they easy to Bind?

Blade 200BNF for outside play, heard a few horror story about the death spin?

Blade 120 SR for inside play,

Blade Nano CP X to start the collective journey in the house.

Was going to use either Penn Models or Wheelspin Models as they will price match guessing I want the shop local so I can take it back if there any problems?

What do you think?

Is it worth shelling out for more powerful batteries or stick with the stock ones?

On collective is the main rotor speed set to spin up to the max or set my the left stick?

In my dreams I would love a 700 beast that everyone seems to throw around the play upside down at 100 mph on YouTube but I think that will remain a dream!

Thanks in advance.

Paul

[Boggy]

Hi Paul welcome to the forum. Apologies for the delay getting you posted.

[Rich23]

Hey Paul

Welcome to the forum. If I was to start again I would go for the DX7 over the 6. Also binding is very easy on blade heli's and takes seconds. The instruction book included with the heli will go through it.

Also consider a sim like Phoenix or Next. This will help you with control and save you a small fortune in spares after the crashes

Rich

[Nick_C]

Hi Paul,welcome to the very addictive world of rc helis,i myself am new to site but have been flying helis around 2 years now and have progressed to 700 size now flying sport 3d. My best advise to you would be to join a local club like i did and speak to fellow members about there experiences and will always be very helpful and give up there time for newcomers. A dx6i is a great radio to start,dont know to much about blade 200 but a guy in our club fly's one who is a beginner and has progressed very well. Hope this helps,

Regards
Nick

[Bluenose75]

Hey Paul

Welcome to the forum. If I was to start again I would go for the DX7 over the 6. Also binding is very easy on blade heli's and takes seconds. The instruction book included with the heli will go through it.

Also consider a sim like Phoenix or Next. This will help you with control and save you a small fortune in spares after the crashes

Rich

Thanks Rich, what do you get extra with the Dx7?

[froghopper]

welcome to the forum Paul. All what you have suggested is a good choice. the dx6i is fine, easy to bind and will do c/p helis. the 200 srx is a good choice. the nano is a handfull but a good micro.batteries.... you will find you will get more anyway to get more than one flight at a time, so ts up to you really. on c/p its not the headspeed that gives the lift, its the pitch of the blades.... you can have a low or high head speed at zero pitch, give it + pitch for up and - pitch to come down. this is a mix of throttle / pitch settings (curve) you set on your tx. i would recommend a local hobby shop, they are good for advice/help, as is joining a local club.A phoenix or similar flight sim is a must to help with orientation etc and it costs nothing when you crash on them!!! there is a lot involved in this hobby and it takes over your life, its very rewarding but can be frustrating as well. time/patience... money... and no reason why you cant chuck a 700 around lol. all the best, Adam.

[Sesame]

what I think youll find is that in time you will definitely have to change the DX6 if you get into larger helis with governors etc. but as a minimum the DX7 will handle the basics of what you need in a larger heli. so the radio will last alot longer.

one of the things I dont like about the DX6 is that it comes with drycells to run it, however it can be upgraded for a pack. most of the newer radios use lipo packs, which make them last longer between charges and make charging very easy.

regarding buying local, as long as you can get what you need at the right price im all for that, but most local shops do struggle to compete with the larger online stores, infact I was looking into radios for a friend of mine and there is a package for the DX7s and Phoenix available, may be worth looking at.,

anyway welcome

[Peteski]

Hi Paul. Another fellow newbie here. Your plan sounds good, but you might want to consider something more flyable in the house. I have a Blade Nano QX quad for this purpose which I now believe is the ideal house fly if you don't want to be limited to nervous hovering with your nCPX!

[m4inbrain]

Hey there, another starter here - your "plan" sounds exactly like mine. Bought a DX7s, Blade Nano CPx, Blade 120sr, Blade 200sr and a cheap 4channel banger to trash while learning. Can only agree with your plan, seems like a good one - worked out for me so far.

[Peteski]

m4 - could I ask how you are getting on with the 120 SR v 200 SRX? The latter is my next planned step for outdoor flying. But having read a few horror stories on reliability of the 200 I'm starting to wonder if a 120 SR might be a better starter option and then just go for a much bigger model? At this stage I want to be flying without fixing endless problems or burning cash. Is the 120 SR any good outdoors or does it just get blown all over the place? I was thinking the 200 was about the minimum size for proper outdoor usage and I like the "safe" technology. Also how is the 120 SR indoors in a 20 ft lounge? Is it small enough to actualiy fly loops etc or just hover about in the middle? I was thinking the 120 SR could be either the best or worst of both worlds if you see what I mean.

[m4inbrain]

Yeah i understand what you mean, sadly so far i couldn't fly the 200srx properly outside (way too windy at the moment). The 120sr is the same, only hovered in the living room for a bit to check function. In all honesty, it's not THAT small, i don't feel confident enough to fly it around. If you give me a second, i can add a picture compared to my keyboard to give you an idea of the size - i don't think you will be having fun in the living room with it. I tried in a 26ft room, and i only dared to hover, especially since the wind that it produces makes it kinda "unstable" (english isn't my first language, sorry). It starts drifting around due to its own wind.

edit: there

20150115_131742.jpg

[tomatwalden]

For the 200SRX, the DX6i isn't ideal as you can't easily assign the 200SRX "special functions" - ie. beginner, intermediate, expert and panic mode to it. Personally I think the RTF version of the 200SRX is the one to go for for a beginner.

Any other heli, the DX6i is fine - it's just the extra demands of the beginner-focused 200SRX that makes it less than ideal IMO.

PS. for outdoors flying ...

The 120SR is quite susceptible to wind. The 200SRX will handle outdoor much better. Whilst I learnt with a 120SR, I found that I outgrew it very quickly (eg. 2 or 3 months)

eg. Vid of my old one outside ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=133TmqrL-fI

[m4inbrain]

True in fact - but a DX7s is almost as cheap as the DX6i (at least mine was), so i'd go (again) for that one. Also able to bind all modes of the 200srx.

[Peteski]

Thanks for feedback, much appreciated. Sounds like the 120 SR is probably not going to work too well for me then i.e. too big for indoors and yet too small for outdoors! I'd probably be better off with a mSRX or Nano CPX for more advanced indoor heli flying. How's the nCPX going?

[Peteski]

For the 200SRX, the DX6i isn't ideal

Good point for Bluenose to consider. I'm okay with my DX8