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DeutschCheck before Maiden Flight
Before we take off, we need to make sure the radio transmission is working properly. There are instructions for the range test:
With a VBar Control touch/EVO and VBar EVO, we have a small button in the top right of the status menu. Here you can take a closer look at the radio and, among other things, detect packet losses. It is not unusual for only 95 out of 100 packets to arrive; this is often due to the physical conditions surrounding the alignment of the antennas and the environment. Since we send a full packet with all control information every 10ms in compliance with the radio standard (other systems have to send 20ms), a lost packet in flight is not noticeable.
We then look for the correct control function. This includes both the stick signals and the stabilization (gyros).
With the tail rotor, when you move the stick to the right, the blades have to position themselves so that they push the tail to the left. If I now move the model in this direction after releasing the stick, the deflection goes back again. Of course, you have to mount the blades the right way around beforehand ;-)
Collective is clear; it should correspond to the direction of control. For cyclic, you set the returning blade perpendicular to the direction of flight and give the pitch forwards. It now pitches positively. If you now lift the helicopter up by the boom (tilt it onto the tips of the skids) - the whole thing is reversed. If you can't see the latter very well, you can always tell by feeling the blade linkage. If you observe a blade above the tail boom, it must not move at all (dynamic rotation not yet set) until it does move "slightly" (dynamic rotation set) in the same directions (remember... 90° is a basic setting... it can be less if you have already adjusted the dynamic rotation) as "across".
We do not need to test the motor signal separately, the failsafe is already set to "off" or "idle" on the system side. If you need or want to check the failsafe later, we have the BMFA app in the App Store.
Now that the blades are mounted, we'll also test our power supply. The best way to do this is to use the oscilloscope app from the ProValuePack of the VBar Control touch/EVO with a VBar EVO.
If the voltage drops significantly here, the cause must be sought. Switches and points often turn out to be bottlenecks - that's why we recommend not using them.
Please do not forget to click on the standby voltage in the VBackup setup depending on the RC voltage used. As soon as this voltage is reached after switching on, the motor switch is also released. So an additional safety plus so that you don't start with an empty VBackup.
If we take a look here at the end of a flight, the energy consumed during the flight (i.e. the energy supplied by the buffer instead of the BEC in an emergency) should not be more than 30mA. Otherwise, you have to look for where the voltage remains in the system (which is why, for example, no switches and points are recommended).