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e-HeliDirect HDX 300 - 450 - 500 - 600 > hdx build

dumhuve
Heliman
Location: Marin County, California

I'm thinking about getting the hdx 500 v2 kit w/o electronics.
is the stock motor and esc good or is next level
components like castle creation, medusa etc worth it.

If I need to compromise, in what order off importance
would you prioritise the electronics.

I need to mention if you haven't noticed by my question
that I am a newbi, however i think building will be a good learning experience. Any input would be great.

My neighbour goes..is that a airhog?

05-08-2008 07:50 AM

smcbmw
Veteran
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

I am using the stock motor for sport flying but have a Castle creations esc and bec..... I try not to cut cost with the electronics...

10-8

05-08-2008 03:23 PM

design engnr
Heliman
Location: Lavergne, TN

Not to put down Castle products. IMO, for the money there is nothing better. However, I have been very impressed with the Hobbywing ESC's. I have a 40 amp version on my trex 450, and a 60 amp on my HDX 500. Both have switching BEC's built-in, which was my main reason for choosing them. They are very reasonably priced and seem to function well. I do recommend you get the programming card though, as it makes set-up a breeze. The very soft start that these ESC's have is great as well.

I would like to second the recommendation not to skimp on electroniocs. Especially the batteries and gyro/rudder servo combo. I have before and spent countless hours trying to get the tail to hold and puffing batteries in the process.

Dave

It's true! Practice does make perfect. I crash better than anyone I know!

05-08-2008 03:37 PM

Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

I agree.
But good gyro and fast digital servo is not an optional component, you might as well not buy a heli unless you get those two things.
I know theres a lot of good gyros out there, but it seem that the gy 401 and 9254 combo is the tried and tested way to go, to put it into context the more expensive gy611 is meant to be a far better one, but im to cowardly to try anything different when it comes to gyros so ide still by what I know works the 401, I think there a couple of hundred bucks or so.
And if you get some wooden blades with the kit just throw them in the bin and buy some carbons, wooden blades can be used to stur paint or even to get your fire started in the winter.

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia

05-10-2008 05:02 AM

dumhuve
Heliman
Location: Marin County, California

Hey spitfire! How did you know I'm a painter?
Yes those wood blades will come in handy.

I just checked out I3DM's HDX 500 video on page 2 in this forum.
Anything wrong using his set up? It obviously works.

I'm going to have challenges setting up.
Is his logitech 2100/6100 harder to set up than a 401/9257?

If you think this is a lot of questions, wait til I'll
start building.

My neighbour goes..is that a airhog?

05-10-2008 06:04 AM

Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

ill go an read the forum and get back to you.
Ive been screwing around with helis for longer than ide like to say, mainly nitros, I have only had my hdx for a month or so and I am totally happy with the heli, give me a minute and ill get back to you when ive read that post, only thing to be a bit wary of is the availability of parts, specialy if your just beggining, but small elictric is good, 50 size gets very expensive, I went through 3 crashes(well malfunctions) with my 50 in almost as many days a while back and that was the straw that broke the camels back for me and ive gone electric. If you read this before I reply back definately go for the HDX as long as you can get parts, if parts are not easy to get where you are maybe think about a trex 500, it seems everyones buying them so parts should be no prob.

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia

05-10-2008 06:21 AM

dumhuve
Heliman
Location: Marin County, California

I can think of 3 online stores right off the bat that carry
HDX/3DX here in the US. I was a little hesitant at first towards the lesser known brand but looking around in the forum I won't
be all alone if there's a problem.

The se kit w/fg blades and w/o electronics is a mere $ 265.00 at one store.

That gives you a lot of room to stay around $ 1,000.00
even with good components.

My neighbour goes..is that a airhog?

05-10-2008 06:55 AM

Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

sounds good, i am just downloading that vid now, Is it a 3d vid?
When you say your a newbee have you ever owned, built or flown any helis at all?
Like I said just dont skimp on the gyro and servo if your completely just begginning, I agree that haveing good batteries, servos and all the rest count but definately gyro and impoertantly the right gyro servo is paramount.

I got my hdx build second hand, ive heard that theres no instruction manual so that may make things a bit frustrating unless you have built helis before, there is so much that you could run into but you will just need to post if you get stuck, maybe ask for photos of others helis to copy of.
Even if your good enough to set everything up right, it would help if you know someone who flies the same mode as you who can look it over and maybe set it up for flying(if you can already fly ok then that dont matter) until I know how much you already know I dont want to patronise you by going through all the boring basics, so all I can do is comment on my own experience so far on this heli and what ive heard through the forums and from people.

Ive heard some realy nasty reports that this heli is extremely slow with regards to flip rates, this scared me from buying one for a while, Im not saying people saying this a lyeing, but in my experience so far my flip rates are well fast enough for 3d and I still beleive I could get even faster with a bit more swash afr and some radix blades, if they sell em 425mm im not sure, on this matter I beleive that perhaps some of the earlier models may have had a slightly different head setup which did make these helis incredibly docile, but as far as i know this has been addressed and even if you have one of the older ones there is a 3d head upgrade that costs about 50 bucks here in australia, if your not going to be doing any serious 3d for the first month or so this shouldent matter anyhow.

I have also read that with a 4s battery the heli is a bit on the sluggish side, in some ways I can agree with this, I find I can do hard stationary flips and stuff with about 9 degrees negative and 10 positive without any problems, but I tried about 11-12 deg and my gyro started kicking out due to the rotor slowing down to quik ((this could also be due to my bad collective controll whilst in panic mode also)), so if you want to do aileron tic tocs and the like you may want to go to a 5 or 6s battery, but im finding the 4s well good enough for fast flight loops, flips, rolls and all the usual, but for fullon hard 3d I can agree 4s is just not quite enough.

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia

05-10-2008 07:31 AM

Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

I just seen that video you refered me to..
.
Maybe what I was saying previously about 4s being a bit low on power for hard 3d might be wrong if that clips anything to go by, my pack is only 18c, its a cheap battery that came with my heli, Ill be getting one of those outrage 25c packs hopefuly this weekend sometime, looking at that vid Im pretty sure that its my underpowerd battery thats causing my tail blowouts under hard load, I sure hope so because 4s packs are cheaper than 5 and 6s ones

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia

05-10-2008 07:49 AM

dumhuve
Heliman
Location: Marin County, California

I appreciate your input spitfire!
I have only had 1 (one) helicopter which was a walkera #4.
Needless to say I got tired of buying parts plus it's twitchy
and unstable as well.

I took the advice from somebody on Runryder and got a good
radio (dx7) and a sim (phoenix) so I've used the sim to get some
"stick time" and it has really helped.
One can help to notice how much easier a 600 is than a 450.

Even though 500 is right in between, I think it will be
a good fit.

As far as the battery, si it possible to go 2 x 3s 2200 25c ?
Is there no room or is there another reason?
It seems to me that would be a more affordable choice.

BTW check out I3DM:s gallery, hi has more helis than there are
people in some western australia towns.

In the late 80:s early 90:s I spent a year total
up on the sunshine coast in queensland, great memories.....

My neighbour goes..is that a airhog?

05-11-2008 03:04 AM

design engnr
Heliman
Location: Lavergne, TN

I am using 2 X 3S 2200 packs in parallel rather than series. The heli ends up a little nose heavy, but has planty of room and seems to fly fine.

Dave

It's true! Practice does make perfect. I crash better than anyone I know!

05-11-2008 03:37 AM

dumhuve
Heliman
Location: Marin County, California

BTW Design engnr, I saw you mentioned earlier that the V2 is like the
trex head and the 3dx is more like a lepton.
Is one more preferable than the other?

I casually assumed the were the same with different
names slapped on them.

The HDX seams more common then the 3DX.

My neighbour goes..is that a airhog?

05-11-2008 04:41 AM

design engnr
Heliman
Location: Lavergne, TN

It is my understanding that the TRex style head gives more cyclic control than the lepton style and is thus more responsive. I have not flown both so I can not verify this. I do know that I am very pleased with my HDX500 though. Mine is all stock running on a 3s set-up.

Dave

It's true! Practice does make perfect. I crash better than anyone I know!

05-11-2008 07:05 AM

Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

I think a 500 size is going to be heaps easier than the smaller one by a long way, maybe not as easy as a 50 size heli but better than a 450 size.
I dont know much about series an paralell connection of batteries but if it was me I would do which ever one gives you a 6s 22 volt system as a post to a 3s 4000ma setup if thats the way it works, im justthinking that witht he extra weight 3s may make the heli a bit lethargic but you would need to listen to people who know what there talking about as far as that goes.
I dont think the head is a problem because if you get the one thats not to responsive it would probly be easier to get the hang of flying it and then its only about 50 bucks to upgrade to the 3d head anyway, I think my head is the 3d upgraded one and I find it quik enough.(here in wa I my hdx dealer takeoffandland.com sells these heads) im sure they must sell them elseware also.
Im not sure if I just had a glitch a few flights ago, but in hard stationary flips my tail was blowing out occasionally and it was scary as hell, at first I put it down to the 4s not haveing enough grunt, but now im not sure.
All ive done is lower my pitch range ever so slightly and I was able to increase my gyro limit to give me just a little more tail movement.
So far my tail has held in fine under load, so im not sure if it was because ive reduced my pitch or increased my tail movement, Im thinking its more likely to be the increased limit thats helped, the only problem now is im always wairing for it to happen again, hopefuly it wont

...
other than this minor problem ive had no problems with this heli so far, maybe the only thing that could be needed is a 5s or 6s setup, but ill need to try a new 25c flightpower or Outrage before I can say for sure, on my 15-18c 4s the power is just a little bit on the low side for hard 3d stuff, I cant wait to try a better pack im just a bit short on cash right now after wasteing all my money on nitros, i wish I had gone electric years ago, unlike nitros I seem to spend more time flying as a post to constantly buying parts and fixing em.

On a side note, Ive heard a lot of people on forums saying that this heli is so slow on the cyclic and so little pitch range that its not capable of any 3d, even that the flip and roll rates are painfully slow, I dont know what the story is here, Im not claiming that its the best 3d heli on the market but it flips over as fast as I need it to and even 10 deg neg and pos is good enough to do most stuff, ive never tried to see how much range I can get without binding but im pretty sure ide get 12 if my battery was up to it.

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia

05-11-2008 09:34 AM

dumhuve
Heliman
Location: Marin County, California

After getting feedback from questions and looking at other threads
I sounds like the HDX 500 is: Beefe built, relativly inexpensive,
affordable parts, stable hovering, somewhat sluggish in 3D.

It sounds like a great heli for a beginner like me!

I'll be doing light sport flying for quite a while and when i
want it more responsive down the road I think proven concepts will
be out there.
Just looking back in the threads it seems like the popularity
and there for the knowledge really have grown.

My neighbour goes..is that a airhog?

05-12-2008 02:26 AM

Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

I wonder if its because there seems to be so many diffeent variants of this heli for sale v1,v2, sa,3dx Ive lost track. that depending on what variant and head config you got makes a big difference in flight behaviour, as I said in my last post my one isent what ide call and extreme 3d monster, but its by no means sluggish and ive seen pretty much all of the major brands being put through there paces by good 3d pilots includeing my own hdx flown by phil lennert who I happened to buy it off, and it seemed fine to me, but it does seem that alot of people talk about the slow cyclic on these forums.
I think theres so many things at play such as how its setup, its amazing how many good reletively experienced pilots dont seem to know how to set up a heli well,its not too hard.
Longer flybar, lighter paddles, faster head speed, more swash movement and often different blades, on larger helis radix seem to make thing speed up dramaticly, but I dont know if you can get 425 size in em or not.
ALso try to get the battery weight as close to the CG as possible and use the highest whole at the bottom of the main shaft make a big difference so i have heard.
Anyhow Ill stop harping on about the sluggishness on these forums from now

, its just that it put me off buying one for a long time but I really liked the look of the heli and the cheapness of 4s, so I took a risk and ive never had any problem with my heli being slow at all, maybe these people have never had the joy and delight of flying a 30 class heli, thats what I call slow.

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia

05-13-2008 03:34 AM

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e-HeliDirect HDX 300 - 450 - 500 - 600 > hdx build

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