Liked the air so much, she wouldn't come down...

[janoots2]

I am officially airborne today!! An exciting step, however, when I got her up, I couldn't get her back down... Even with the throttle all the way down it would just hover, so I had to dump it into the grass (only a couple feet). Better to hover than to keep going up :shame:!! Didn't touch the gains yet, so they were all at 100%.

The thing that I don't get is when I start the motors up, it doesn't hover and I DO have up the throttle in order for lift off. So, if I have to up the throttle to take off, I would think the motors would reduce power enough to loose altitude, right? Any suggestions or guidance?

 

[Tomstoy2]

Did you do the throttle calibration followed by programming the esc's?

 

[janoots2]

Yes the RX is calibrated and the ESC's are programmed, but thinking back, I want to say I programmed the ESC's before I did the RX calibration. Does that make the difference? Also, when you say throttle calibration, you mean calibrating the T channel in the RX Cali screen? If so, yes.

 

[Tahoe Ed]

Did you do the throttle calibration followed by programming the esc's?

I would probably calibrate the esc's first and then do the throttle calibration in Assistant. Make sure that your trims are zeroed, as well as your sub-trims. Your D/R should be at 100%. You can adjust the Expo to your preference.

 

[janoots2]

When you guys say calibrate the esc's, I want to make sure I'm on the same page. I have the Maytech's, so I used the programming card to set each one with the following settings:

Batt: NiMH
Governor mode: RPM OFF
Start: Soft
Brake: Off
Timing: High 22-30
Rotation: Depends on motor
Cut off volg: 3.Ov/60%
Cut off Power: Reduce

Is this what you mean, or did I miss a step?

My trims were 0'd out. Just check my sub-trims, they are 0'd out too.

 

[Tomstoy2]

Janoots2, no, what I mean is,when you first powered up the tx to the esc's did you first move the tx stick high and then pull it low so the esc knows high and low postion?

 

[Bartman]

Janoots
Each ESC has to be both programmed and calibrated. they are calibrated one at a time by plugging them into a receiver's throttle port and then manipulating the throttle stick at first power-up. I think you leave the throttle stick full forward when you put power to the receiver and ESC. Then move the stick to idle and wait for the beeps and it's calibrated. Program each one, then calibrate it, then put them all together back into the helicopter.
Good luck with it,
Bart

 

[yeehaanow]

You can program them in multiples with a Y cable.

 

[janoots2]

Gotcha, no I didn't, and what do you know? - I just found the directions in the instruction booklet. Man I thought after all the research I did, I surely didn't miss anything. Definitely missed this step, hopefully this is the issue. THANK YOU for your help!

 

[Tomstoy2]

Bartman, thanks for the explanation, was short on time and couldn't go into it.

Janoots2, you are welcome. It's the very first step and can't be bypassed. It's often the little things that come back to bite us.

Another thing many miss, concerning programming esc's, is the last step, exiting. If not done it won't save your changes.

 

[janoots2]

So I'm calibrating my ESC's and running into something weird. The manual calls for me to have my RX throttle at Max, connect the battery to the esc and within the first 4 seconds, move my throttle to the minimum position. But that doesn't work - it's reversed. I have to have my throttle a minimum to enter programming mode, then put the stick at max for it to program. Normal?

 

[yeehaanow]

You need to reverse the throttle channel on futaba.

 

[janoots2]

Makes sense...However, I'm running the WK through S-bus. Just programmed them on the throttle channel, so shouldn't matter, right?

 

[yeehaanow]

I think you need to do the programming direct from the rx. In which case you would need to rev the channel.

 

[janoots2]

K. Reversed it and put the T channel in the RX Cali screen back to normal to accommodate the change. Initial start-up speed on the motors still seems high, but hard to tell...

 

[janoots2]

Okay, so I calibrated each ESC. When in the programming mode, I can start the throttle at nothing, move it up just a very little bit and the motors respond nicely, very very slow - all the way up to full speed, the full spectrum. Plugged everything back into the WK and started the motors with a CSC and I seem to be getting the same, very fast start-up speed. Check out the video:

Looking at other takeoff videos, it seems they have a full spectrum of power when starting up the motors rather than starting out with high power like this, am I right?

 

[Tahoe Ed]

I don't remember who posted it, sorry, but I do remember that they said the start up speed is dependent on you gain settings. High gains, high start up speed. You don't say what your gains are but it may be something to look at. The posters solution was to set up his gain on a switch, low gain for start up, take off and landing, normal gain for flight.

 

[janoots2]

Thanks Ed, my gains were all at the standard 100%. I'll look into reducing the vertical gain and/or setting a remote gain for it.

 

[janoots2]

Remote gained the vertical, (plus a week of solid training on aerosim) and I'm flying like a pro!! Thanks!!! Next? Adding the gimbal and getting the vibes out.

 

[RobertsUp]

Janoots
Each ESC has to be both programmed and calibrated. they are calibrated one at a time by plugging them into a receiver's throttle port and then manipulating the throttle stick at first power-up. I think you leave the throttle stick full forward when you put power to the receiver and ESC. Then move the stick to idle and wait for the beeps and it's calibrated. Program each one, then calibrate it, then put them all together back into the helicopter.
Good luck with it,
Bart

Bart this newbie builder is confused. I understand that I need to calibrate the ESC's individually. With each ESC connected to the rx. Okay so far. Now there's the rub. Most build videos on the web skip calibrating the ESC's. Let alone programming them. Build videos on the net show people soldering the ESC's to the PDB first thing. Then they later install the FC, receiver, and BEC. What's going on? To calibrate the ESC's shown being built I would have to desolder each one from the PDB first. I'm confused. Also, does each ESC need to be programmed individually? One can't do that if all of them were already soldered to the power distribution board. I'm lost.

Rob