Lots and Lots of Questions

[evaD retsiL]

I've decided to take the plunge into RC heli, I've been sort of looking for the last couple of weeks, trying to decide nitro or electric, weighing the pro's and con's up of each.
Nitro - slightly cheaper to set up but as one guy said, have one set of clothes if you're flying nitro, since everything will end up with the fumes on it, plus the hassles of starting and cleaning it.
Electric - More expensive set up due to battery cost, plus associated charger, psu etc - downside is shorter fly time, but quieter and more powerful from what I've been told.

So I've decided on Electric, and have the chance of buying a 2nd hand T-Rex 500E with the standard servos & gyro, no radio gear though, that's been well looked after for £170 (the owner got as far as the hover stage and decided heli wasn't for him and went back to fixed wing.)

Radio gear I've picked a Spektrum DX8 with the AR8000 receiver and TM1000 Telemetry module since visiting a couple of localish clubs, Spektrum's seem to be the more popular brand.

I've ordered a copy of Phoenix 3, and will probably look at getting one of the E-Flite Blade MSR X BNF for some practice too.

So now the questions.

What are essential bits of kit, and what are more luxury items to be bought in the future, the things I'm looking at are:

• Battery Watt Meter & Balancer Battery Balancer & Watt Meter - Measure Device - RCTimer Online R/C Hobby Store:
• Blade Balancer
• Pitch Gauge (I like the look of the BeastX digital bevel box BXA76005 but I'm a gadget nut)
• Charger - I'm erring towards a Skyrc Imax Quattro B6 4x50 watt, I'll be using 6S batteries, probably about 3000mah, I've yet to go digging through hobbyking.
• PSU for charger is where I'm not sure of, either something like the Cheap and Chearful Fusion 200w 13.8v which is just enough for the 4x50w charger and it's only £30, or either using a PC PSU for the 12v rails, I've seen one at a good price that has 4x 12v@34A outputs, but that would mean messing around with the soldering iron etc, something I don't mind doing, but I know it will end up costing me far more than I intended as I'll probably end up with ammeters etc. Has anyone got any experience of using a PC PSU for powering LiPo chargers?

Tools wise, I'm figuring Ball Link pliers, things like hex keys, screwdrivers, pliers, snips, pushrod measuring tool.

If anyone's got any pointers, what to buy, what's not needed then I'd be grateful for the advice

Thanks

evaD

[AcidDrink]

I'd buy proper charger right away, Powerlab 6 or something similar, otherwise you are going to upgrade later.

PSUs you can make one from two PC sources, but I personally know nothing about it because I am scared of electricity
Pitch gauge - RC Logger makes nice digital pitch gauge.

High quality tools are essential, I'd not try to save here, personally I use MIP Thorps for all my hex drivers.
You don't need blade balancer, IMO just buy high quality blades, these are always balanced. Good brands are (just examples) Radix, Edge, Spinblades and to some extend Align (plus many others).

DX8 is nice radio, it will last you, telemetry is optional, it's not that useful on helis tbh.
Swash levelling tool, if it isn't on your list already.

[waveydavey]

Looks like you've done quite a bit of homework, good on you. Nitro isn't as messy as others will have you think, I don't worry about going home smelling as when you're flying about how can you get covered in fumes? The upside when you're a beginner is the stick time that you get, none of the 5mins and then back to the pitts rubbish. I know, I've got both and much prefer the flight time of nitro over the power and smoothness of the electric.

I would leave out the watt meter and balancer. The balancer is useful if you want to balance blades but I've never needed to.

I would go for the RC Logger pitch gauge over the BeastX bevel box, both do the job but the RC logger is easier to use.

Not sure about the charger but get enough in the PSU to have a bit of headroom. Maybe look at the PL6 as an alternative a real set and forget. I use a server PSU and it was easy to put together and above all very cheap compared to the alternatives

Good choice of heli

The rest I think you're just about right, just rethink on the nitro

[Sburv]

Personally think the pro's of Nitro have been under sold to you.

I have both electric and nitro models and currently swaying to liking my nitro more and more. Longer flight times, fuel up and your away again for another 10 mins or so.

I don't think I come back from the field smelling of nitro fumes personally. I'm sure the misses would have said something by now if I did, she moans at other smells that come out of me I've found Nitros to be no way near as messy as I was lead to believe.

To be fair I think you have got everything eles pretty much sorted.

[simon1]

I wouldnt get the msr I would get the mcpx, it will learn you much much more than the fixed pitch msr. The 500 is a great size to learn on, not too pricey to run at all. I would say you have gone the right route,sensible route. As advised a pl6 charger with a good psu is a must with the 500 for the packs.

there are much more people turning to electric than nitro, there is a reason for that

[nobbycopter]

Why not keep your 500 AND get a nitro, something cheap like a Raptor 30 with an OS32...you can pick them up for not alot more than you've paid for your 500. That way you'll have the best of both worlds!

I use both those helis, my 500 for when I want a quick fly in my lunch hour or before or after work and the Raptor for a day's flying up the field. I get 12.5 mins out of the Raptor and 5 mins out of the 500.

Yes you have to wipe down the nitro after flying but it's not that bad and I've only smelt of nitro when I sprayed myself with it!!

[evaD retsiL]

Thanks for the replies, it's good to know I've not gone wrong

I will get a nitro in the future, but I think for now, the electric is winning, I like soldering stuff

The only benefit I can see for me with using the Telemetry is main battery voltage, the DX8 is a powerful beasty and when an alarm can be set to tell me to land the thing before I do damage to the battery then it's a bonus, especially when learning

re the PowerLab 6, I take it that if I want to charge multiple batteries at the same time, I'll also need the Multi-Port Safe Parallel Adapter for XH Compatible Batteries, and I'll do some more looking at power supplies, I won't be using the full power to start off with since it'll probably melt my batteries

[DaveJones]

I have a TRex 500 also bought second hand which came with a couple of 50W chargers. Used to take an age to charge my five batteries from a 50% storage charge before hitting the field. Drove me insane, recently bought two cheap 200W chargers (again 2nd hand) and can now charge them all in about 90mins, driven off a couple of old car batteries. I'm sure the PL6 is much better and maybe one day I'll get one but I like my cheap option for the time being.

I sometimes think the extended flight time a Nitro heli would bring would be good but to be honest the 6-7mins I get out of my 500 is about all my learners brain can cope with in one go.

I too would suggest the MCPX over the MSRx, I learnt a lot from mine and went straight from it to the 500 without bothering with training gear.

[cjcj1949]

If you want your lipos to last don't use them until the heli stops working. As a rough guide don't let the volts for each cell drop below 3.8 off load. It's better to keep a check on the volts while flying and 3.6 to 3.7 is about right. You should be able to put no more than 80% back into the battery. Cheap £3 voltage alarms are available that check for each cells volts and give a loud noise when you are out of time. Timers are a good idea, but they don't allow for differences in flight style or colder weather, or not setting your timer, or using a battery that's already been used and recharged. Find a way of checking the volts on the msrx or mcpx battery after a flight.

Get the secondhand heli checked over if you can and ask someone to test fly it for you. I'm not sure if the mcpx is that a good idea for a first heli. You need to learn the basics and then apply them to the 500. Main thing is that heli flying isnt easy and its much more difficult in real life than on the sim. It's the pressure or stress or fun of knowing that it will hurt a lot if it hits you and also cost a lot. Learn on Phoenix but don't expect the real thing to be easy. Just getting a 500 to spool up and hop off the ground will be exciting enough.

[evaD retsiL]

Thx for more replies.

There must be a rush on the MCPX as there doesn't seem to be many around at the moment

The Telemetry sender for the DX8 can send voltage information back, so I can set an alarm on the transmitter for 3.7v which will give me time to land, but I might look at a voltage alarm too as a backup.

Apparently the 500 is all set up just needing radio gear, but I'll go through it anyway, check linkages, screws, swashplate etc to make sure everything looks ok. I was talking to the seller last night, and he was talked into a helicopter by his son after a good few years flying fixed wing, but even after lessons he couldn't get the hang of it, but it's never had a crash, maybe just a landing with attitude, he was always buddied up which he admits if it wasn't buddied then he would have crashed. The members at the club who recommended it said it was a good condition and worth getting. So I'm off to look at it on Thursday, and while I don't know anything specific about helicopters, it should be easy enough to see if it's a lemon or not.

I'll keep plodding on looking for a MCPX, I could do with something to fly indoors and the 500 is too big

[pgkevet]

no-one's mentioned a simulator for your pc..

[muscleflex]

Why is the 500 being mentioned for someone starting out?
A, it's too big.
B, it's too costly for repairs
and C, it's too big!

hey, i just remembered, you're in leeds and looking for an mcpx, my girlfriend's dad is selling his unused mcpx coz he wants an mqx. email me and you can buy his instead.

[muscleflex]

oh and what club are you talking about?
there's only 1 club in leeds and it's mostly planes with 2 people who fly helis. the only heli club in leeds is in wakefield (i think)

[snotvis]

[QUOTE=muscleflex;864969]Why is the 500 being mentioned for someone starting out?
A, it's too big.
B, it's too costly for repairs
and C, it's too big!

I started out with a 500. It is definitely not too big! If anything it is too small - If I had to do it all again i would go for a 600 size machine from the start (probably nitro for the flight times).

[George J]

A Trex 500 is a perfect starter heli, nice and stable and can be really dialled down so it's nice and calm and then when you get better you can change the set up accordingly.
Simulator first though imo as will save you lots of hassle at first, if you master hovering etc and then basic forward flight on the sim it will be time well spent before flying the real thing.