Blade nano qx is so much fun, highly recommended

[Graham9113]

I got an rtf nano qx in the post this morning and managed to get a little go before work. I was tempted to phone in sick because this little quad is so much fun.
I decided to get the nano before I get a heli because my current experience is with a syma s107 and as most of you already know, the syma doesnt go sideways. Having that added direction really does make you think. I have in no way mastered it yet, (having only 1 battery has not helped) but I surprised myself on how good my orientation was, until I started losing light anyway. I flew it outdoors so I could throttle it up but the lack of good light meant I couldnt see which way it was facing. Anyway the reason I am writing here is because I have a question. I bought 6 batteries and a 6 into 1 charging lead off ebay, I am guessing that I cant just plug it in to the supplied usb charger and expect all 6 batteries to charge in 40 mins so my question is, what do I need to be able to charge more than 1 battery at a time? Thank you in advance Graham

[Paz26181]

Something like the 1st link below is a cheap way to charger 1s lipo (not sure if this one will work with qx lipos though). If your planning to get other helis then might be worth spending that little bit more so you can parallel charge your bigger lipos too. 2nd link is a good charger for lipos upto 6s (charger plugs in to a wall socket, can be used to parallel charge too). 3rd link is what many members use to parallel charge all types of batteries (requires a separate power supply unit though). Hope this helps?

O-IP3015 | Hex 6 x 1S Li-Po DC Charger O-FS-LX60BP | FUSION LX60B PRO ELYSIUM AC/DC
OPR-PL8V2 | Cellpro PowerLab 8 (v2), Multi-Chemistry, 1344W Batt.Charger

[Peteski]

I use an E-flite Celectra 4-port 1-Cell charger and wall adaptor as shown below. Quite expensive new for what it is actually, but got mine used off a guy here for less than half that. Works a treat for charging these little cells and takes about 20 mins to charge 4 at a time.

E-flite Celectra 4-port 3.7v Charger with Mains Adaptor

P.S. Nano QX is an awesome little quad for learning with. I had no trouble progressing to micro CP helis after flying it for a month, but you have to master it in agility mode first! Good thing is you really can't break anything with it while you are experimenting.

[Chrisrw]

Graham9113 I have another spare one now (E-flite Celectra 4-port 3.7v Charger with Mains Adaptor) - qive me shout if you want it (I think I did the last one for £18 including postage).
Check with Peteski but I think it should work well with the Nano QX cells. Also will do batteries for the MSR, MSRX, MCX, MCX2, Nano CPX and many of the single cell e-flight fixed-wings too I believe (plus other stuff like my Hubsan X4 and Blade MQX etc if you have the right adaptors!)
It's 300mah 3.7v so takes around 20mins for the old 110mah MCX batterys or roughly 35mins for the higher 220mah cells (miniaviation etc) assuming you have haven't managed to take them lower than the LVC levels.
Each port is a individually controlled so you can charge different capacities and cells of different levels of discharge (not something you can/should be doing if you go down the parallel charging route).
Chris

I use an E-flite Celectra 4-port 1-Cell charger and wall adaptor as shown below. Quite expensive new for what it is actually, but got mine used off a guy here for less than half that. Works a treat for charging these little cells and takes about 20 mins to charge 4 at a time.

E-flite Celectra 4-port 3.7v Charger with Mains Adaptor

P.S. Nano QX is an awesome little quad for learning with. I had no trouble progressing to micro CP helis after flying it for a month, but you have to master it in agility mode first! Good thing is you really can't break anything with it while you are experimenting.

[Tom1977]

Hi Graham,

I bought myself a Hubsan x4 a couple weeks ago too. As you say fantastic fun anyway, I think most people buy them just for that, but to progress further as a beginner in the heli world, I think its a great tool to learn that all important 3rd direction of movement. I was ued to not having it, trying to turn left or tight but just rotated whilst going forward, and well, you know how that ends! haha. That said, I seem to have buggered one of the motors in a crash as it spins and feels god, but just not enough to lift the fwd left foot up. Done some reading and it sounds like I've bottomed the motor so will get some new ones. Might buy one of them prop guards too as didnt take me long to trash the first set of blades and the 2nd are on thier way out too! :-)

[Peteski]

Graham9113 I have another spare one now (E-flite Celectra 4-port 3.7v Charger with Mains Adaptor) - qive me shout if you want it (I think I did the last one for £18 including postage).
Check with Peteski but I think it should work well with the Nano QX cells. Also will do batteries for the MSR, MSRX, MCX, MCX2, Nano CPX and many of the single cell e-flight fixed-wings too I believe (plus other stuff like my Hubsan X4 and Blade MQX etc if you have the right adaptors!)
It's 300mah 3.7v so takes around 20mins for the old 110mah MCX batterys or roughly 35mins for the higher 220mah cells (miniaviation etc) assuming you have haven't managed to take them lower than the LVC levels.
Each port is a individually controlled so you can charge different capacities and cells of different levels of discharge (not something you can/should be doing if you go down the parallel charging route).
Chris

Yes it was £18 posted and it's perfect for nQX batteries. I've got some 150 mAh and 180 mAh batteries and they seem to charge pretty quick on it. Probably 20-30 mins but I haven't timed it.

[Graham9113]

Thanks Peteski, already messaged Chrisrw and he is going to post it to me tomorrow. £18, bargain I have 5×160mah batteries already which take 2.5 hours to charge with the supplied usb charger, so 30mins to charge 4 is going to give me loads of air time which I need now that im flying in agility mode. It a whole different ball game in agility, I would say at least 100 times more difficult. Only 4 days in though, I will get it

Yes it was £18 posted and it's perfect for nQX batteries. I've got some 150 mAh and 180 mAh batteries and they seem to charge pretty quick on it. Probably 20-30 mins but I haven't timed it.

[Graham9113]

The qx has prop guards but I still managed to knacker the blades within 2 days of getting it. There were a fair few crashes while I was getting my head round using rudder and lateral cyclic together to make smooth turns. Got it now in safe mode anyway, agility mode is another kettle of fish though, not even close to looking like I know what I am doing lol.

Hi Graham,

I bought myself a Hubsan x4 a couple weeks ago too. As you say fantastic fun anyway, I think most people buy them just for that, but to progress further as a beginner in the heli world, I think its a great tool to learn that all important 3rd direction of movement. I was ued to not having it, trying to turn left or tight but just rotated whilst going forward, and well, you know how that ends! haha. That said, I seem to have buggered one of the motors in a crash as it spins and feels god, but just not enough to lift the fwd left foot up. Done some reading and it sounds like I've bottomed the motor so will get some new ones. Might buy one of them prop guards too as didnt take me long to trash the first set of blades and the 2nd are on thier way out too! :-)

[Peteski]

Thanks Peteski, already messaged Chrisrw and he is going to post it to me tomorrow. £18, bargain I have 5×160mah batteries already which take 2.5 hours to charge with the supplied usb charger, so 30mins to charge 4 is going to give me loads of air time which I need now that im flying in agility mode. It a whole different ball game in agility, I would say at least 100 times more difficult. Only 4 days in though, I will get it

Nice one, well worth £18 to get away from the USB charger. Don't worry you will eventually get the hang of flying the nQX in agility mode, it took me about a month flying it at least 4 times per day. But I did fly it a lot in safe mode to start off with and only when I'd totally mastered that did I move onto agility mode. Then started off learning to hover it in all rotations and then slow circuits, one step at a time. Once I moved onto flying faster circuits in agility mode I found it was a lot easier outdoors with a bit more space to play with. For its tiny size it can even cope with a bit of wind, within reason.

I notice you have the RTF version, which I would imagine is even harder to fly in agility mode. I use a Spektrum DX8 so I can fine tune the dual rates and expo etc. which makes it easier to control. So you might want to consider getting a better radio next. Something like a DX6i would be perfect and pretty cheap used, but if you are sure you will be in it for the long haul a DX8 or new DX6/7/9 would see you through many years use on bigger models.

[Graham9113]

Nice one, well worth £18 to get away from the USB charger. Don't worry you will eventually get the hang of flying the nQX in agility mode, it took me about a month flying it at least 4 times per day. But I did fly it a lot in safe mode to start off with and only when I'd totally mastered that did I move onto agility mode. Then started off learning to hover it in all rotations and then slow circuits, one step at a time. Once I moved onto flying faster circuits in agility mode I found it was a lot easier outdoors with a bit more space to play with. For its tiny size it can even cope with a bit of wind, within reason.

I notice you have the RTF version, which I would imagine is even harder to fly in agility mode. I use a Spektrum DX8 so I can fine tune the dual rates and expo etc. which makes it easier to control. So you might want to consider getting a better radio next. Something like a DX6i would be perfect and pretty cheap used, but if you are sure you will be in it for the long haul a DX8 or new DX6/7/9 would see you through many years use on bigger models.

When I purchased the qx I read a fair few reviews saying that the qx rtf transmitter worked well, unlike any of the other blade rtf packages, it probably is quite good if you have experience but in agility I am struggling. I wasnt sure what expo was until I looked it up and I think if I was able to adjust that I may get on better, it is so sensitive. I am ok at hovering and going backwards and forwards but as soon as I try to turn it flies off to the side. Maybe it will just click into place, but at this moment in time I am wondering if I will ever be able to think fast enough to keep this thing in the air. I can swith between high and low rates but dont actually notice any difference except for a blinking red light on the TX. All the YouTube vids of people doing tricks are all using decent transmitters so I think that will have to be my next purchase.

[myxiplx]

That's fairly normal. If you're ok hovering then your reflexes are fine, but it takes time for your brain to learn the reflexes when it's facing in a different direction. Just stick at it, and take baby steps. Start by turning the nose a little to the side, just 10-15 degrees. Once you're comfortable with that, turn it a little further. Practice both sides and before long you'll be able to hover side on.

It's very much like learning to drive a car, if you remember those early days when you had to think about everything you probably couldn't understand how people could possibly do the steering, accelerator, clutch and indicator all at once. But once you've had a bit of time the reactions become automatic and you don't have to think about them any more.

That's what's involved in learning to fly, it's not about having fast reflexes, it's about practising enough that it becomes automatic and you're not having to consciously think about every little movement. Just stick at it, that initial learning curve is tough, but give it a month or two and you'll find it all starts to click.

[Peteski]

Don't be afraid to fly it in safe mode too at this stage while your confidence grows and you get familiar with all the orientations. Otherwise it could be too frustrating. It will click into place eventually and become automatic, but think weeks or even months rather than just a few days! A decent Tx will help too and so will a simulator if you haven't already got one. I use a daily combination of sim time, my nQX and more recently an mCPX and it's taken a good couple of months practice to feel confident flying smooth upright circuits and hovering in all orientations.

[Graham9113]

I don't know what to do about a sim. Got rid of a pc and a laptop a couple of years ago due to me stupidly thinking, what can I do on a pc that I can't do on a tablet. Hence several android devices. There is a heli sim called absolute heli on Google play. The physics seem good but the touchscreen TX makes it vertically impossible to get any kind of feel for real flying. Did teach me how an rc heli moves though which was useful and it is good for when your sat in a waiting room just to kill time

[myxiplx]

The absolute sim on the tablet is ok early on, it can help you learn your orientations. It's something you'll probably outgrow in a couple of months though, and really is no comparison to a proper sim with a TX.