My new Walkera Ladybird quad

 

The backside of the box

Hmmm, why would I need a micro quad? I asked myself not long time ago…

The obvious answer was: I don’t need one, especially this small, right ?

Actually since my Devo 10 tx passed away with no reason, I was looking for a new TX, but then

a Devo10 deal bundled with the Ladybird caught my eye on RC711.com.

I only fly helis, so getting this quad should be an interesting experience…

So, I started reading about the ladybirds or ladybugs on the net, and I realized there are two versions of it…

-version 1, which is the one I got is the original bug with telemetry 6 axis gyro and up-gradable firmware;

-version 2, is the cheaper one with 3 axis, no telemetry and no up-gradable firmware.

I guess Walkera released V2 as a response to the huge number of Chinese ladybird clones starting to pop-up in the market and their main goal was price reduction in order to re-gain the lost territory.

What can I say about the Ladybird ?

I was surprised how stable my Genius Cp V2 was, but the bug is even more stable and unlike helis, you don’t need constant aileron/elevator correction to keep it leveled, this thing just hovers nicely…

Of course, you could use it to improve your orientations on your helis, but orientations only, since flying is totally different and I think the learning from quads cannot really be implemented on helis, as per se.

Since I already have some batts for my GCPV2 I am able to use it on the bug and reduce the downtime needed for recharging. I want to suggest you should leave it a couple of minutes between batteries to cool off the motors, since this was probably the reason my GCPV2 motor passed out. This is the bad thing about brushed motors, but I guess it was the only way to keep it simple.

So, please check the various sides and angles picture for your reference below:

The box

The bird came with 240mAh batt, you can use as size reference

Rear view

Left side

Right side

The "belly"

Canopy off

Closer look inside

Receiver board and the firmware update connectors

Weight without battery

Battery weight (240 mAh)

Canopy weight

Ready to fly weight

Also, you can check my unboxing movie and the really first time flight below:

What I liked :

-ultra stable

-small sized

-due to size it’s safer to fly indoor;

-my daughter loves the red ladybug canopy which is a plus on design;
-climb rate and forward speed are surprisingly fast for the size;

What I didn’t liked

-not really a dislike, but I think the motor booms can break easily during crashes/need to check if a micro heli landing skid will do ?
-my throttle stick on the Devo 10 was very stiff, but that's also not a complain for the bird

Now that I was innoculated with the multirotors bug, maybe a bigger one will be next?
p.s. hope my wife doesn't read this post :) 

 

My Genius CP V2 finally going brushless

I am sure there are about a ton of different variations to having a GCP converted to brushless motor, but I choose mine, and I want to share it with you guys, so maybe you go my way and find it easier to get the needed items for the conversion.

The 3 pin connectors, the motor screws, the 7A Airbase Esc+converter and the C05 motor+8T pinion

Despite the fact that this conversion is apparently something complicated to do, I can say it was really easy as long as you know what you need and how these things work.
Now let's look at the "ingredients" needed:

• C05 brushless motor - comes in different KV ratings and pinion sizes, personally I chose the one I found at hobbyking despite other more expensive deals already had terminals soldered onto them;
• The Airbase 7A ESC and brushless converter - this device has a double role of speed controller and brushed to brushless signal converter and I bought it from Miracle-mart, but at the time of this post, the only version on their website is the most expensive 10A version, link here
• 6 pin micro plug - you need this to connect the ESC with the C05 motor, I got this from hobbyking also
• Heat shrink tube(2mm) you will need this for the connections to the motor, link here
• Pinion - for better flight time, you can use the 8T pinion, for higher headspeed you can go 9T, anyway this is what I used, again from Miracle-Mart, a 1.5mm 0.5M

Now, assuming you got all the above in front of you, you should prepare the soldering iron or gun and after inserting hss of suitablle length on each motor wire you must proceed in soldering them to the 6 pin connectors. In order to get the right motor direction I tested the rotation direction before soldering and swapped if needed...After this step you will have the motor with soldered connector like below.

The C05 motor is about 3 grams in weight

The original Genius CP V2 motor is 3.9 grams

Already the motor is secured to the frame, be careful not to overtighten and leave some gear slack

View from above - the C05 motor and the 7A Esc and brushless converter combo

The problem I had was that the pin spacing on the motor connector didn't match the spacing on the ESC combo perfectly, so I just helped it by hand to settle in the right way.

For the pinion, I just add a bit of blue loctite and it sits there very nice, no more worries about it...

Next things is to fix the motor, and make sure you dont' put it very tight against the pinion, otherwise it will wear the teeth faster and the battery life will decrease. After you do this step also, you should find a place where the ESC combo should sit on the RX mainboard, without damaging any connections, some people use a bit of velcro to secure it in position, but I leave that to you guys...

Now in order to connect the ESC combo, you should do the following:

• the two wires on the motor's side must be connected to the battery(red (+) black(-));
• the original board's power supply connection(to battery) will be connected to the opposite side of the motor's connection point(3 pins), and the remaining connector will go the the original's motor connection point.

Please follow the picture's info on how to connect it to the Rx board

All these being done, change your throttle curves for more headspeed, and fly...
I got some 300mAh batteries that are designed for the solo  pro but with my modded Solo Pro 180 landing skid, they can be used without any issues...
The landing skid mod in a future post...
Enjoy your new heli, and you will see it flies so much better with the new heart...
Happy flying...

Flysky TH 9x-B with goods and bads

Tx, Rf module, 8ch receiver and the bind plug

Hello dear friends,

Today, I want to tell you about my experience with the TH 9x 8 channel transmitter.

It all started when I finally “compiled” my necessary “list of materials” to build my first proper 450 size heli, with carbon fiber frame, unlike my plastic Esky Belt CPX. On top of many components, it was the well priced TH9X transmitter and to go along I got a 6 and 8 channel receivers also. First impression when I opened the box was of cheap plastic.

The display was not bad, and the sticks and switches had normal feeling, so nothing special here…The good thing about this TX is that you can switch the RF module on the back, and unlike the Turnigy clone sold by HK, you don’t need to cut the antenna wire and re-solder it…When I connected everything to the receiver, I got the bad news: meaning this cheap TX had some serious channel bleeding

like you can see in this movie I made for myrcmart, hoping they will replace my transmitter…which they didn’t do L

This exercise was a lesson learnt for me, and imagine when I did the first tests, I removed the blades (which I strongly advise you also to do.) and I moved elevator right and my motor spooled up to maximum rpm…holy cow….that’s not something I would expect from a new out of the box product…Unfortunately more tests I did, just confirmed it was some factory issue, and changing the gimbal would cost alone about 25 USD…I was so disappointed, and set my build on hold…Even tough I did the movie explaining myrcmart(otherwise a good seller) that it’s busted, they kept saying I just like to complain…

At this point I considered installing the smartieparts upgrade board ~25 usd and the extra backlight lcd from HK~5 usd, hoping that by flashing the firmware to ER9x I could get rid of the problem; but adding 30 usd to the already payed 70 usd would make 100 USD for a product that I couldn’t really trust anymore, and what happens when you fly an more or less expensive heli and you crash it to something or somebory because of faulty TX?

I didn’t want to take the chance, so I decided I go Walkera way, and I bought a Devo 10 bundled with the Master Cp heli and an additional RX-1002 for my 450 project at a good price. The Devo 10 already has backlight LCD, and Usb connection for firmware upgrades, and on the TH9x I needed to buy extra components to have the same features..

As a bottom line: can I recommend the TH-9x?  my answer is no way…I know some of you have good experience with this TX, but I read way too many people having issues with these, and especially considering that no matter how many heli’s or planes you have, you use the same tx, I think that buying something a bit better is the normal thing to do….I am personally happy on my choice, and I fly my Genius cp v2, my master CP and my RCX 450 FBL with the same Devo 10 TX…

I hope TH-9x might have improved since, and hopefully nobody will just throw off the window 70 USD like I did(btw, the TX is still in it’s original box and never touched it since)

I wish you good flying and be safe,
Here is the unboxing and impressions video:

Bionic flying bird

Hello dear friends,
I just found this as a very interesting "toy" and Miracle-mart has it for sale now with 89 usd...
I think that if you got this on the flying field you would make quite an impression to your rc hobby friends, but to any flying birds nearby...
This bird comes equipped with 2.4 Ghz, with a theoretical range of 100 meters, and a flying weight of only ~ 9 grams !!! wow...that's a real light one. Also I think it's worth mentioning the patented systems that allow the simulation of real bird movements...
So, despite never flying it myself, I think it looks more than interesting to all of us flyers, to be able and actually fly something that really looks like a bird, and doesn't have blades or propellers.
Enjoy

Cheapest digital pitch gauge?

Hello again my friends
I was looking for a cheap digital pitch gauge to use on my 450 flybarless heli, and since the Align AP800 costs around 35 USD, I decided I would try the Tarot (clone) that I found on miracle-mart.com for 16 USD...
The gauge has backlight LCD, meaning you can use it in pitch black darkness(not really seeing the point of doing that, but you can :), It had already batteries inside, which these days is a rare commodity, it's detachable, so you can attach the lower part seen above to your blade, and then connect by pushing in place the electronic part which has autorotation function, meaning even if you hold it upside-down it will rotate the angle reading 180 degrees for the reading...
Important: you must tell it first the zero level...

Some specs available:
It can read up to approx 60 degrees pitch with 0.1 degree precision
It works with 20 to 72 mm width blades
It has 110x55x16 mm.

What I liked:

• price
• batteries included
• backlight LCD
• simple to use

What I disliked:

• the quality of the plastic used

The manual in the box

Working upside-down

Detached from the blade fixing device