Align 3G Update 26Jun11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, TRex.add a comment
The new T-Rex 600E Pro ships with the all new Align 3GX flybarless system but for owners of the previous 3G unit Align recently released version 3.0 of the firmware. You will need the USB updater to apply it. You can download the new firmware along with instructions and a setup video from Align’s site. We have not had a chance to load it ourselves yet so cannot comment directly on any changes but it supposedly allows for finer adjustments, saving and sharing of settings, and improved pirouette.
Well the not so mysterious disappearance of the T-Rex 550 flybarless kit is solved. Align released a new 550 v2 3GX kit. This is the same 550E kit as before repackaged with the new 3GX unit and the new Align flybarless head. If you are getting, or have, a 550 don’t forget to check out KDE’s 550 upgrades. They have a number of nice choices. We especially like the metal Tail Servo Mount.
[Updated: 27JUL11]
Align T-Rex 600E Pro — Coming Soon! 13May11
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Certainly the big news this month is the official announcement of Align’s newest version of the T-Rex 600E. The all new 600E Pro is a completely new design including a top mount motor, under slung 10-12S power, and more. Also announced is the next generation of the Align 3G flybarless unit the new 3GX.
The T-Rex 600E Pro will ship in both flybar and flybarless combo sets that include motor and servos and even a Castle ESC.
Here is a video of the heli in action.
We suspect we will see some new packaging of the other T-Rex helis with the new 3GX unit as well as Align’s new flybarless head design.
Specifications (T-REX 600E PRO):
- Height: 353mm
- Width: 210mm
- Main Blade Length: 600mm
- Main Rotor Diameter: 1347mm (53.03 in)
- Tail Rotor Diameter: 260mm
- Motor Drive Gear:13T
- Main Drive Gear:112T
- Autorotation Tail Drive Gear: 131T
- Tail Drive Gear: 34T
- Drive Gear Ratio: 1:8.61:3.85
- Weight(With Motor): 2350g (5.18 lbs)
Mikado Logo XXtreme — Video 29Apr11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, Logo, News.add a comment
Perry Kavros released a very nice video of the new Mikado Logo XXtreme. This heli is looking real nice. 12-14S power with a torque tube. More pictures courtesy of ReadyHeli.
Also see, Logo XXtreme Coming Soon.
The Ultimate Guide to the Spektrum DX8 — Review 20Apr11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, Products, Publications, Reviews, Transmitters.add a comment
Chuck Bassani wrote a nice guide to the new Spektrum DX8 transmitter. It is entitled, surprisingly, The Ultimate Guide to the Spektrum DX8.
The book is a small 95-page, black and white, soft-cover. It has plenty of well done photos and covers pretty much anything you need to know about the DX8. It covers both helicopter and fixed-wing functions.
Of course your first question might be, “You need to read a book to use the DX8?!” Well good question! But no you do not. We have found the DX8 much simpler to program overall than the DX7. But this does not make Chuck’s guide superfluous. There are a few advanced features in the DX8 that will be new to many flyers especially those coming from the DX7. The Guide explains all you will need to know. We found it helpful with our first heli setup on the DX8 to explain the various gyro options. Recommended.
Note: When moving from the DX7 to the DX8 be aware that the DX8 uses 0 to +100% for HH and 0 to -100% for rate mode. It also reads true values rather than having to multiply by 1.4 like previous JR/Spektrum radios.
[Updated: 22APR11]
Logo XXtreme — Coming Soon 14Mar11
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ReadyHeli has a bunch of nice photos of Mikado’s upcoming Logo XXtreme. It is Mikado’s new 700-class heli. It is designed for 12-14S power, has a carbon fiber frame and, at last, a torque tube! Release date is second half of 2011.
See Mikado’s official XXtreme page along with some 3D renderings of the heli.
Blade mCP X — Coming Soon 04Feb11
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Horizon Hobby just announced the new Blade mCP X helicopter. This one really caught us by surprise. Unlike all of the previous small Blade helis this one is collective pitch and flybarless! This is even more amazing considering it is just over nine inches long! Finally heli pilots will have an indoor heli with which to practice inverted flying. We can’t wait for this one. The mCP X is now available.
Here is a video of the heli in action.
NOTICE: There is a recall on the mCP X blade grips. Cease flying your heli until you check the notice.
[Updated: 1APR11]
SmackTalk RC 23Jan11
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If you have not checked out SmackTalk RC yet you should. Bert and Bobby have been producing some very useful and entertaining shows. They are only a few dollars a pop and they provide multiple resolutions and formats so you can watch them on your device of choice.
If you are wondering where to start we found their Learning 3D episodes very useful as well as Episode #10 – Going Flybarless! but you can’t really go wrong with any of them.
eLogger v4 — Now Available 16Dec10
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Eagle Tree Systems recently released the latest version of its data logger, the eLogger v4. It features a huge number of improvements including a much improved physical structure that protects the sensor pins and even has an on-board mini-USB connector. We find the logging on the Castle ICE ESCs often sufficient but having to pull the ESC lead out of the receiver is often more trouble than it is worth. The eLogger gives you far more information and in a more convenient package.
eLogger v4 Improvements
- Logs pack current to +/- 100 amps (150 amps with MPRV4-LEADS-150) and voltage from about 5 volts to 80 volts
- Current is measured with a true Hall Effects Sensor – NOT a power robbing resistance shunt
- Adjustable logging rate (from 50 samples per second to one sample every 5 minutes)
- 16 times the logging space of the standard eLogger V3, and lossless data compression. Typically logs all available sensors for about four hours, at 10Hz.
- All data logged to permanent memory, which retains the data even when the power is removed
- Fully compatible with our OSD Pro expander
- Includes Y cable for throttle position logging
- Great for bench monitoring of battery charging also!
- Supports the PowerPanel LCD Display
- Accepts optional inexpensive sensors for three Temperatures, RPM (brushless, magnetic or optical), Airspeed, Altitude, GPS, Servo Current, and more
- Software computes Wattage, mAH, etc. for complete e-flight data.
- Fully Compatible with Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit), Vista, 98SE, ME, Win2K and XP™
- Weighs about 0.8 oz (22 grams). Versions with Wire Leads may weigh slightly more.
- Comes with our state of the art Windows virtual playback display and graphing software
- Powerful Graphing software has advanced charting features, such as amps vs volts
- Internet Updatable firmware – as we add new features or (heaven forbid) have a firmware bug, the update is just a download away! No need to ship hardware back and forth.
- Full support for English and Metric units.
- Software has built in English, German and Chinese language.
RealFlight G5.5 28Nov10
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We finally got around to picking up RealFlight G5.5. It is a nice improvement on the last versions of RealFlight. The flight dynamics seem better than in G4/4.5 and the new depth of field feature is nice (when turned down to medium). For heli pilots it includes a number of scale helis. Expansion Pack 7 includes the Curtiss Youngblood Rave 450 model (but not the new ENV). Still no new Align helis (especially the 550, 600 or 700) but the T-Rex 500 is in Expansion Pack 5.
There is an upgrade version available for previous owners and we got it running on 64bit Windows 7 with a minimum of fuss. We did have a couple of startup dll errors where we had to reset to defaults to get it to load but then all was well.
New Mikado FunScale Fuselages 28Oct10
Posted by tanker in Advanced, General Heli, Logo, Products.add a comment
Mikado released a couple of Hughes 500 ‘funscale’ fuselage bodies for their Logo 600 helicopters. What makes them unique is that they are beefed up so you can do light aerobatics with them. They look really nice as well.
