RE: About CopterX Products
Any time I want something that's kind of spendy I put a little bit of money in the bank each month for it. I figure in another 1 1/2 years I'll have enough for a great 600 set up.
Posted on: 11/19/2009 11:38 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter General Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9266705

RE: About CopterX Products
Thanks for the info, like I said I've heard the Black Angel is a very nice helicopter...I really do want a larger heli but can't afford one. I am saving for a 600 sized and will get one in about a year and a half. My CX 450 is pretty tame, I also have a TRex 250 that is really awesome to fly, it seems to be just as stable as the 450, but the the 250 has a much nicer Gyro too.
Posted on: 11/19/2009 8:23 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter General Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9266220

RE: About CopterX Products
Hey emrecozel, I'm thinking of getting a Black Angel for Christmas. I've flown the heck out of my CX 450SE. I use 3s1p 2300 mAh A123 batteries in it. I'm at the point where I want to start getting inverted and the A123 batteries are just too heavy for that so I want a second 450 sized heli that I will run on LiPo's to start getting in to advanced stuff. Can you tell me how the two compare flying wise? Do you like one over the other? I've heard from other people the BA flies much better and is also quieter.
Posted on: 11/17/2009 9:05 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter General Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9261448

RE: Realflight g3
If you go in to the "View" menu and click on "Gadgets" choose Binocular and that will give you the little window that 69rrvert is talking about. Also in the View menu item go in to "Zoom Type" and choose Auto Zoom. This will give you a little closer view of the heli. But like Real2You says when it gets too far to see it then its time to come back in. As far as adding more Helis there are tons of them for free at the Knife Edge forums site [link=http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/downloads.php?do=cat&id=125]HERE[/link]. All you need to do is download the aircraft, then open up RealFlight and under the "Simulation" tab choose "Import" then choose G3X. Locate the file you just downloaded and it will show up under the "custom Aircraft" section where you choose which aircraft to fly. Please note that these are all for the G3 and 3.5 sim. Although they will work for the G4 and 4.5 there is a special section for the upgraded sim that has even better aircraft.
Posted on: 8/29/2009 10:08 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9055322

RE: WHATS AFTER HOVERING?
[quote]Plus you need to get used to the heli being farther away from you. [/quote] That is very important. Plus get used to flying up higher than head height. I was just able to start comfortable figure 8's this year, it was really hard for me to get comfortable with flying farther away and up high, once I was able to fly with more altitude I was able to avert crashes more often.
Posted on: 8/29/2009 9:21 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9055217

RE: First CCPM Heli
I haven't heard much about the two heli's but can vouch for Hobby King. I've been buying stuff from them for over a year now, I had one very minor issue with them but it wasn't really that big of deal. When you buy spare parts make sure you keep a supply on hand. When I'm down to a few feathering shafts or main shafts I place an order and order about 7-8 at a time so I have a good supply. It really sucks when you crash and have to wait two weeks for a part to get to you...
Posted on: 8/9/2009 8:31 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Electric RC Helis"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9003108

RE: Copter X 450 Black Angel
I've been reading a lot of good things about the BA. If I didn't already have a CopterX 450 I would definitely invest in one, but I want to save my money for a 600 sized heli. RC Heli did a review on the BA. It was kind of strange because they go along and wrote a pretty decent review on it then at the end the say they wouldn't recommend it because it is made by an unknown manufacturer. I think CopterX has been around for long enough now to be a known and established manufacturer, but that's just my opinion. Attached is the review just in case anyone is interested.
Posted on: 8/9/2009 8:24 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Electric RC Helis"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9003083

RE: Help please...Thinking about cancelling Blade400 order for Trex clone
I don't have a B400 but do have a CopterX 450AE. A friend I fly with does have a B400 and we are about the same skill levels. (figure 8's, circles, hover in all orientations). My friend has had three crashes because the stock servos went out in flight so if you choose that heli upgrade the servos. If you choose the CX with the metal head and tail the up front cost is higher but the metal parts will break much less frequently than the plastic ones so the long term repair costs will be lower. I have only broken metal parts on head or tail, (excluding shafts) three times after well over a hundred crashes, my friend will break a plastic piece off his head or tail after just about any crash. but yet these are pretty hard crashes too, not just blade strikes. Also no matter which one you choose buy a lot of spare parts, more than what you think you will need because you will need them, the most common will be blades lots and lots of blades, feathering shafts, main shafts. [;)]
Posted on: 8/4/2009 9:38 AM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Electric RC Helis"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8988827

RE: Anybody running A123's in a 450 size heli?
I have been running 3s A123 batteries in my CopterX 450 for well over a year now. I don't proclaim myself to be a good pilot but I can run fast circuits, figure 8's, circles and will probably be attempting my first backflip soon. I can get about 5 minutes of flight time and that is pulling very hard banked turns. My head speed may be a little high and may be trying an 11T pinion in the near future. If you want to copy a successful set up then here is mine; Scorpion HK2221-6 outrunner 12T pinion Castle Creations 35 amp ESC I made my own packs but you can get pre-made packs a lot of places. I would not try a 4s as imho that would be way too heavy. The 3s is already much heavier than a 3s LiPo. If you want try a different set up one thing you need to remember is that since the A123 3s pack is lower volts than a LiPo you need a much faster spinning motor. The Scorpion that I use is a 4400KV motor and is rated at 52 continuous amps. My set up doesn't draw near that many amps which is why I only have a 35 Amp ESC. Here is a link to my first hover with the set up. This video I actually have a 13T pinion and the head speed was pretty high so I went down to 12, I commented in the video that I got about 6 minutes flight time but I had to cut down to about 5. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkewnB_M28s&feature=channel_page[/youtube] And I have also attached how I mount the battery
Posted on: 8/1/2009 12:24 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8981368

RE: solderless power tubes
jcjr7 Here is a great site to help you with your balance connector confusion. I use this site a lot and is very useful. [link]http://www.scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_lipo.html[/link]
Posted on: 6/28/2009 5:11 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8888677

RE: Is my TP610C going bad?
Update to the charger situation. I zip charged two of my battery packs and when they were finished charging all cells were with in .007v of each other on both packs. So I'm leaning a little more towards something is going on with my TP610. I sent a message to Thunder Power tech support to see if they have any suggestions.
Posted on: 6/17/2009 8:44 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8860522

Is my TP610C going bad?
I normally charge my 3s 2300mAh A123 packs (two of them) at 8 amps and have not had a problem until recently. Then it slowly started to charge cell #1 on both packs faster than the rest. I thought maybe the #1 cells on both packs were going bad as I bought them at the same time from the same vendor. It got to the point where even when I charge at 3 amps the #1 cell will get so high the charger will turn off and give me a cell voltage error. I always balance my packs when I charge. I purchased two new packs and the same thing is happening to the new ones. So now I'm thinking maybe it's the charger. I charge LiPo's with out problem, it only does this to the A123 packs. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Posted on: 6/16/2009 8:00 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8857602

RE: how do I construct two 5cell a123 packs w/balancers? From a Dewalt pack
[quote]ORIGINAL: guver This should fix you up with figuring out where to put the wires. http://www.scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_lipo.html Click 5S and show balance wire hookup. [/quote] That site has helped me out more times than I can remember.
Posted on: 6/4/2009 8:35 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8826361

Toss 'em or keep 'em?
Last July I lost a Hypersonic 3s 2300mAh pack. I looked for hours and never found it until today. I found it doing yard work under a bush outside my front door to my house. So it has suffered about 7 months of cold, rain and snow. The pack didn't look too bad so I tested the cells. 2 of three cells still showed 3.2v. The third cell had 0v so the third was obviously dead, I could see burn marks on the Deans connector probably from the dead cell shorting out when it got wet. I was able to charge the two cells and they appear to be holding a charge. So my question is this, should I keep the two remaining cells and try them out or should I not risk the fact that they are just ticking time bombs ready to fail and not even bother trying to do anything with them? What would you do?
Posted on: 4/5/2009 8:25 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8652041

RE: Where to get ready-to-use (3S) A123 packages?
You will really like the A123's. I have two packs for my CopterX 450. The plus side is sub 10 minute charge times, very durable, and you can run them until they won't spin the motor any more with out damaging them. The con side is that they are a lot heavier that LiPo's so they aren't very good for 3D flying, but they work great for sport flying. The site I recommended has deans and a "normal" balance tap. But as stated in my previous post you can get the ones from ebay for less then make your own adapter for just a few bucks and save some money. Once in a while you see them on ebay for around $40 with the Hyperion balance connector but those deals are becoming more rare.
Posted on: 4/4/2009 12:17 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8647904

RE: Where to get ready-to-use (3S) A123 packages?
There is this one: [link]http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/main.asp?sid=807320&pgid=showlipos&man=A123&cat=A123#AR26650-2S1PF[/link] They are a little more expensive though. I was looking at the connectors on the ebay pack and it is just like mine where the balance tap is for the Hypersonic chargers and not the normal E-Flight or ThunderPower balance tap. I made an adapter for it so I can use a regular balancer which is pretty easy but if you can't solder a connector on the pack then you wouldn't be able to make the adapter.
Posted on: 4/4/2009 10:01 AM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8647584

RE: A123 4600 6.6v
Glad to hear you got em going. I hope you enjoy them.
Posted on: 3/16/2009 10:10 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8585699

RE: A123 4600 6.6v
You don't need to cut the packs open. Mine are the Hypersonics too and I didn't cut the packs open at all. You won't be able to zip charge with your charger. Do a search for zip charging, you will need some type of watt meter though. I bought mine off E-bay too, from what I've heard a lot of the E-Bay packs are old inventory and are drained pretty low. Like I said before, don't give up yet the A123 packs are great, the 8 minute charge times are nice.
Posted on: 3/16/2009 6:03 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8584680

RE: A123 4600 6.6v
Have you tried just charging the low cells to get them above 3V? Or possibly even using a zip charge to kind of jump start them? One of my 3s packs came the same way, it was 2.6v on one cell and my charger wouldn't charge the pack because it thought the pack was bad. I was able to get the low cell up above 3v using a zip line then was able to charge the pack on my charger and have used it about 30 or so cycles and have never had problems since. I hope this doesn't give you a bad taste for A123 batteries, they truly are great cells and are quite durable.
Posted on: 3/16/2009 4:42 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8584415

RE: WIN A FREE Scale Fuselage from V-East & Graupner Helis
I never win, but I still try...
Posted on: 1/30/2009 9:34 AM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter General Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8418913

My HyperFlea
I received a HyperFlea for Christmas and bad weather prevented me from testing it out until today. I haven't read many bad reviews on any of the SuperFly products and I must agree it is loads of fun. I needed a plane that I could fly in a small area, (about the size of and infield baseball field), and the HyperFlea definitely meets this. I have the stock motor, ESC and prop. I am running 2s 1000, mAh 20C Zippy batteries. I've only ran two packs through it so I don't have the the flight time down quite yet. I flew 9 minutes each pack today and was able to get 9 minutes out of the packs and put back about 700mAh back in them so I could probably go a little bit longer, I'll try 9:30 minutes next time. the build was very straight forward and simple, I was very leary about using hot glue because I'm used to working with Elapor Foam but the hot glue worked great. The paint job isn't fancy but functional.
Posted on: 1/24/2009 6:32 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8396480

Never had this happen before..
After running two 3s A123 packs through my 450 sized heli, one of the packs was perfectly balanced. I always like to see how far off the packs are after a flight and my charger told me there was .000v difference between the high and low cells. I scrolled through the cell voltage and sure enough they were all the same voltage.
Posted on: 11/16/2008 9:16 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8154414

RE: Are big Helis easier?
I was flying my CopterX450 at a park over the summer and a guy that just moved the area came up to me. As it turns out he flies a .90 sized Heli. I was complaining about a crash that I had that cost $75 to repair. He said that a recent crash he had cost him $1100 to repair. I'm never going to complain about the ciost to repair my 450 Heli again.
Posted on: 11/13/2008 9:19 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8145075

RE: Anyone used a Thunder Power 610C charger ?
I've got this charger and it will charge my A123 3s 2300mAh pack in a little over 20 minutes. Don't forget you need to plug in not only the balance plug but the two banana power plugs, (Not included with the charger). [quote]I have the TP 610C....failry easy to use, like it for the most part. For some reason I cant figure out how to do a balance charge though ! In the manual it mentioned charging at .5 amps and doing a balance charge if I remember right...but I cant figure it out. anyone ? Maybe there is something wrong with mine. The balancer shows as hooked up, and can read the seperate cells voltage [/quote] When I charge the A123 packs, they are charging so fast that the charger can't keep up with the balance part of it. When I charge my 3s LiPos at a much lower rate it keeps them very well balanced, w/ in .009v. The A123 packs are usually with around .08-.1v high/low by the end of the charge, if I leave them on for about 5-10 minutes after the charge they will continue to balance out down to about .02v difference. Below is a link to a Quick Start guide for the charger. As those who have purchased this charger know the manual is very poor. The Quick Guide really helped me out a lot, the person that made it did a top notch job! [link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=845721]Quick Start Guide[/link]
Posted on: 9/2/2008 9:12 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7913730

RE: ESC Setup
Problem resolved After a little digging I found out that the instructions for the programming card that comes with the Commanders has a misprint. The instructions say to switch the #1 toggle to the On position for user programming mode, you actually need to switch it to the off position for user programming. After doing this I no longer have the voltage error.
Posted on: 8/17/2008 2:25 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7855638

ESC Setup
I have a 3s 2300mAh A123 pack and plan on using a Scorpion 55A Commander ESC. I am having problems figuring out which battery type setting to use. When I set up the ESC for 3s LiPo I get a voltage error warning. Same thing goes when I set it for NiMh-NiCad batteries. Any suggestions?
Posted on: 8/17/2008 10:47 AM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7855086

RE: Now an .5v inbalance question
I should have done a bunch more research before buying chargers. I knew the TP610C does handle A123's but I didn't know enough about chargers to make an educated decision. On the plus side after about 6 cycles on the pack it did finally settle down. The pack will now charge and discharge with very little, .08 voltage difference between the cells. Once they are fully charged they then balance very quickly to about a .03 difference. I can't wait to try these out once I get my TX back from repairs... Thanks for all the info and help everydayflyer. (how did we ever function with out the internet?)
Posted on: 8/5/2008 8:25 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7813119

RE: Now an .5v inbalance question
Thanks everydayflyer, Is there any way of charging the low cell independently with out taking the pack apart? It's a pre-made pack that is under warranty and I would hat to void the warranty by taking it apart. It would probably be easier to just exchange it. I am on my 5th discharge. They seem to be settling in a little bit better. They now seem to only get off balance at the tail end of the discharge. I charged the cells to about 4.1V a couple of times and discharged to 3.2v. On the last charge there was only a .28v difference between the high and low cells. I'll give them a few more cycles and see.
Posted on: 8/3/2008 2:46 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7803675

Now an .5v inbalance question
I just received my second pack and am wondering if one of the cells is bad. It is a 3s hypersonic pack. I plugged in my blinky and only two lights came on. When I tried to charge it with my TP-610c charger I would get a voltage error. I was able to finally get the pack to charge and the #3 cell got way out of balance. .5v higher than the other two cells through the charge process. The charger did not finish and I received a voltage error again. I was charging at a low rate, at 1A so it isn't like I was fast charging. I've read many posts that it isn't uncommon for these packs to be out of balance from the factory and putting them through a few cycles will correct this. But is .5v difference common that seems high to me? I have discharged the pack and charged it again. When I discharge the pack the #3 cell very quickly drains down to with in .01v difference between the other two cells. On the second charge the #3 cell very quickly became .5v higher again. I am currently discharging the pack a second time. Should I just return the pack since it's new or do you think it will get better? The first pack I bought does not behave this way, it stays at about .1v difference between high and low when I charge it until the end of charge then it balances down to about .01 difference at the very end.
Posted on: 8/1/2008 8:47 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7798073

RE: Hypersonic balance plug question
Scratch above. I think I was just being too impatient. I left the balance plug alone for about 30-45 seconds and it recognized the pack. I am charging at this time!
Posted on: 7/30/2008 9:24 PM by Author "Zeta30" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7790440