Help a newbie out. I have a few Qs

[heliTV]

the blade 400 is a fantastic starte heli - my dad (helitv) started with it and he has had no problems . i recently got a twister cp gold for christmas . it is very good because my dad and my heli tutor set it up for me putting the dual rates in etc. the spares are readily available for the blade 400 . I have had endless trouble finding spares for my cp gold. so dont get one soon (there is a motor glitch)

I'm not sure "no problems" is quite right... more like "only problems were pilot induced!!"
The CP Gold is proving a problem as Josh says - several we've heard of, including Josh's, eat motor brushes in 4ish flights - not good when J Perkins have no spares until 12th Jan.... This is the motor glitch mentioned above...

[Hunders]

Cheers again for the help. I look forward to receiving my new gizmos on Tuesday I checked out Hobby Hanger and it seems like a good site! If the customer service is as good as you guys say then I think I can manage to spend a few quid more and order from there.

Two more questions, though. I see that the D400 comes with a DC battery charger, which I am assuming is for attaching to car batteries and such but ideally I would want a mains charger. Can anyone recommend a cheap and cheerful one? Also, when ordering the heli is is best to go for a mode 1 or mode 2 Tx?

Cheers.

[machasm]

Most fly Mode 2.
Throttle on Left.
Regards a charger. Most people use a PSU to provide 12V as most chargers run off 12V (you may want to take it down the field).
Some (Moyesboy) have converted a PC PSU cheaply.

[Hunders]

Could you point me in the direction of a suitable PSU, please? I have had a look on some websites like mapins but I'm not exactly sure about what I need.

[kevinh]

hi

i use one of these from maplins

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=231

[machasm]

The one Kevin has linked to is good enough for your charger.
BUT, like everything in this hobby, if you progress and then find that you want to run bigger helis with bigger batteries then you will need a bigger PSU (power output).
Buy once Buy right.

[Hunders]

With that in mind, what would you recommend that wont cost an arm and a leg?

Cheers.

EDIT:
I just had a brainstorm! I remembered that for Christmas 3 years ago I received one of these:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=49038

I have never used it in the time I have owned it because my cars tend to not break down(touch wood :P). Would this be sufficient in the short term for charging my batteries until I decide to buy something better?

[jboweruk]

I'm still using the E-flite charger so will let the other guys guide you on that.

As to the Blade, she can be tamed right down, a lot. Practice on the sim as much as you possibly can before you fly her. Then when you do don't do it without help, join a nearby club that has people who can guide you. When you do fly let me impart a little wisdom too.. Asfalloth on here taught me to fly mine, and his way was to make sure you keep the tail pointing to you, you soon find that concentrating on that mainly helps, as the rest follows instinctively. The Blade is a lovely little heli, and will see you right for a while, but budget for some better servos, and the following spare parts:

Flybars (get a couple of packs)
Blades (Again get several packs)
Main shaft (get a couple of packs)
a couple of packs of M2X12 Bolts for the head retaining bolts.
Feathering spindle (couple of packs, take a look at Buzzlfyer as they have a hardened one)
Tail shafts (it's a bit vulnerable sometimes)

And watch the grass, the old tail doesn't like it, it catches and that can ruin your lovely heli in the blink of an eye.

Get help setting up the pitch and throttle curves, you don't need full curves to learn in the hover. I'd recommend a pitch curve between 35% and 85% and a throttle curve that's from 0 to 75%. It'll be a bit sluggish but to start with that's what you need. If anyone knows better please step up but I'm sure that's what I started with.

And trainer gear, again check out Buzzflyer.co.uk as they have some great gear on their site.

Above all, have fun. The Blade is a heli you will enjoy, and get some spare batteries, you'll really need around 4.

Good luck.

[machasm]

With that in mind, what would you recommend that wont cost an arm and a leg?

Cheers.

EDIT:
I just had a brainstorm! I remembered that for Christmas 3 years ago I received one of these:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=49038

I have never used it in the time I have owned it because my cars tend to not break down(touch wood :P). Would this be sufficient in the short term for charging my batteries until I decide to buy something better?

For your e-flight battery this, along with a suitable charger, will be fine.
What you need to understand is that jump starter you have linked to is essentially a 17AH battery.
What this means is that it can deliver 17Amps for 1 hour or any derivative of this e.g 34Amps for 1/2 hour or 8.5Amps for 2 hours etc.
Your e-flight battery is a 1.8AH battery meaning it will supply 1.8Amps for an hour or 21.5A for 5mins.
At 3S it is around 12V give or take so there is no real voltage conversion to worry about.
So in theory you should be able to charge your e-flight 1800mah battery around 8 or 9 times from this starter before it is flat.
This should give you enough charges in the field and you can then charge the starter back up overnight through the mains.

Just to try to complete the picture a little more. If I was to try to charge my 5S 4200 Revos then since these are 5S these are 21V which is almost double the voltage on the starter.
The cellpro 10S charger converts the 12V from the source up to 21V at 4.2A. To do this it must draw almost double the current from the source at around 8A so I would only manage around 2 charges from the same starter for these batteries.

Hope this makes sense.

[Hunders]

jboweruk - Thanks for the tips and help. I'm not the impatient youngster I used to be so I intend to take things very slowly at first. The helicopter wont be going anywhere so I have all the time in the world to learn.

machasm - Cheers for the info, dude, you have been a big help. What you described makes complete sense to me and it is good to know that what I have will keep me going for the time being.

Once again, thanks for all the help guys. You have been very informative.

Cheers.