Align 3G question

[davew]

Clearly the Align 3G is unpopular and whilst I know it has its supporters I note that more are becoming available secondhand.

I am interested in fitting a FBL system to my 500, just for the technical interest really because I am no more than a sport flyer (mainly providing sport for others to laugh at!)

I have a spare head I could convert and would consider buying a s/hand 3G system - purely because they are becoming cheap.

What I need to know is; can the Align 3G be set up satisfactorily for sport flying without the need to utilise an additional gyro (which seems to be the norm for 3D pilots)?

Any thoughts from those who have tried?

[Baldie]

Ive noticed this too. And had the same thoughts......wouldnt mind if i had to stick with the tail gyro thats fitted to my heli tbh.... i mean its already there !
But if they get much cheaper it would almost too rude not to have a play with one. Is the only reason beacouse of the tail problems ?

[adieuk]

dave the 3g is ok for sport flying but if you go 3d then the best option with the 3d is use your own gyro

[Stuart]

Second what Adie's say's the issue with the 3G is more tail related - so many are just bypassing the inbuilt tail gyro and using a stock one being a spartan, futaba or csm.

It would appear that the stock 3g tail is not too clever at holding or keeping a consistent piro rate. I haven't tried one yet but these are the stories told by those that have used or using it.

Bang for a buck in my view - its a good entry level system and for sports/scale flyers will do okay.

[serpent887]

The 3G is a perfectly good FBL gyro provided it is configured correctly. Align made a big mistake to market it as "plug and play" as those who took it literally will be disappointed; all heli's are different and expecting to "fit and forget" such a complicated item is naive on their part.

The low cost offers are bargains in my opinion so get one, spend time on the all-important setup and you will have great fun.

[tourerjim]

Had the 3G on my 500 no probs with light 3D but once you start relying on tail action in hard 3D that's when the tail acts-up.
Did manage to solve some of the issues but its a pain in the rear' having to take laptop to the field then theirs the other big problem" understanding all the parameters.

[JohnJ]

Have the 3G on my 500 & 550, but I also fitted a Quark to each as well!

I have to say the heli's are so much nicer & easier to fly with the FBL units and I'm very happy with the results.

I do mild 3D with a lot of flying in windy conditions, had no problems with this setup

John

[tourerjim]

Found the 3g gyro works best if you can mount it as near to main shaft as poss, I mounted mine on the inside bottom frame but keep the 'Y' lead connected then its reading for any uploads you do.

[Red3]

hi you need to have a chat with coolice he has one of the 1st units in the country. i think he would agree its not a plug and play but once set up well it works well. he has that unit on a 700N and has it going that well the last he told me he hadn't botherd with the firmware update. i know he allso has a 3g unit on a 550 & 450 its all about setup from what i have seen.

[inferno]

Dave, bring cash to the field I might sell u mine or part ex with a gyro you can also check the head out for modding yours!

[Made2Fade]

Dave i did manage to get my GP780 (the inbuilt gyro on the 3G) to hold very well. However once in a very blue moon i would get the very well documented tail kick. This was on both version 2 and 2.1 systems. The problem is clearly not software related IMO. If so they should have sorted it with the first flash.
I currently by passed both my 600/700 3Gs gyros and stuck a Spartan 760 on there instead. I think you seen both fly at the RCHA funfly?
And for the record my opinion of the 3G system is that its perfectly adequate for 3d or sports flying. I like to fly Big as many would have seen at the RCHA flyin however i do throw the odd 3d manouvre in there too (or try too ).
The system can be tuned to fly how you like it and 20 - 30% expo added to the cyclics is the norm (even for Bert Kammerer ).
Give it a go i think youll like it If you dont like the tail gyro (which IMO is not as good as the GP750 btw) then change it at a later date. Very easily done. 5 mins at the field

[Made2Fade]

Dave, bring cash to the field I might sell u mine or part ex with a gyro you can also check the head out for modding yours!

If he doesnt have it i could well be intrested in that Tom

[coolice]

Hey.

The main problem here is that for most fliers it is expected to be just a plug and play affair, onto a model which put bluntly is probably not very well mechanically setup to start with and then this is where problems occur in the transition to flybarless.

The foundations which make for a good flying model start on the building bench and it is this basic yet important step of model setup which has for many now gone right out the window since the advent of 3D, as lets face it all you need is +-12 degree's of pitch, some throttle which is now handled by a govenor rather than flier setup throttle cuves and away you go

Gyro sensor mounting is something which crops up regularly, some say to soft mount it and others soft mount yet strap the unit down hard with a velcro strap........ might as well just hard mount it
My 700N liked the Spartan gyro mounting system, soft pad ~ metal plate ~ thinner tape, then I added an Align strap lightly over the top to provide stability to the sensor so it didn't rock during hard manouvers. However I was still allowing the soft foam to do it's job of absorbing vibration.

My 550E didn't like the soft mount and prefered just one Align foam pad, combined with a light strapping again to stabilise the gyro sensor only.
Same applies to my 450 PRO.

I have now put a lot of flight time into my 3G systems and found it to be very good for stability through to very hard 3D, on models from my 450 PRO to 550E to 700N. The latter now retired for me with the 3G and all flight gear sat in a sparkly new 700E I'm hoping to test fly today
For me the 3G's in all my models work very well, I've not seen any real detrimental piro consistency issues yet and the tail holds true in hard 3D and fast backwards flight.

There are only two points I'd like to fully address in all the flights I have had;

1. I have had the odd tail kick on occassion, both V1 and V2.1. But can easily count these on one hand for my two main models, the 700N and 550E, so while it is a pain in the behind and annoying it's there, it is not the end of the world.

2. My 450 PRO, while flying well does exhibit a pitchy elevator/porpoise in fast forward or backwards flight. Correcting the C/G has helped a lot on this trait, but I'm not completely rid of it yet.

I've had the 3G from the start, I was fortunate enough to get hold of the first one into the country for the 700N and have been flying it ever since still on V1 firmware!
Yes the model is flying that good and anyone who has seen it fly will attest to this and I dont fly calmly! In fact since I've gone flybarless I'm actually flying harder and my skill level has improved again.

Ultimately and this has applied to other FBL manufacturers in the years before Align got onto the scene, all issues/bugs will eventually be ironed out by Align to make the 3G unit fly even better than it does now.
Mikado to name one of the best known flybarless makers have all had a long, winding road to get to where their units are now.

If your looking to enter the FBL arena you wont go wrong with the 3G for it's price and performance once setup nicely.
.

[davew]

Dave i did manage to get my GP780 (the inbuilt gyro on the 3G) to hold very well. However once in a very blue moon i would get the very well documented tail kick. This was on both version 2 and 2.1 systems. The problem is clearly not software related IMO. If so they should have sorted it with the first flash.
I currently by passed both my 600/700 3Gs gyros and stuck a Spartan 760 on there instead. I think you seen both fly at the RCHA funfly?
And for the record my opinion of the 3G system is that its perfectly adequate for 3d or sports flying. I like to fly Big as many would have seen at the RCHA flyin however i do throw the odd 3d manouvre in there too (or try too ).
The system can be tuned to fly how you like it and 20 - 30% expo added to the cyclics is the norm (even for Bert Kammerer ).
Give it a go i think youll like it If you dont like the tail gyro (which IMO is not as good as the GP750 btw) then change it at a later date. Very easily done. 5 mins at the field

Thanks Coolice, Lee and everyone else. I would only be fitting it for technical interest reasons and it would need to be cheap! - Hence the reason I would want to be free from a separate gyro.

Lee - it was your flying and you working through the set up on Tom's 600 that interested me really. The fact that was clear to me was that if installed and set up properly in a methodical manner it was fine. I don't/can't do 3D as you do and can see why you have the Spartan on there as well but Tom hasn't and that seemed fine.

Thanks again

PS Tom is it really cheap? lol

[Made2Fade]

Only problem Tom had with his was drifting. And probably only caused by engine tuning and also gyro pad arrangement/position. Dare say he will find out about that kick we all talking about in good time. Lets just hope he aint inverted or trying something new as it can make you skip a beat for a second if your not prepared for it lol