E sky Honey Bee CP3 Upgrade
Apr 26, 2012 18:11:38 GMT
Post by windmill9 on Apr 26, 2012 18:11:38 GMT
I was given a Honey Bee CP3 ( thanks Mike!).
For those of you who have not seen one, it has a 370 brushed motor, collective pitch, 370 gms and a 540mm main rotor. It has a motor driven tail.
It is quite a frisky helicopter, for a 370 motor, yet the hover is quite stable indoors. I am still trying to get slop / free play out of the rotor head control arms, the SF Arm bushes on this helicopter are a loose fit on the Fly bar, mounting frame spigots.
But the best improvement I have managed, is to get rid of the rather basic ET6 transmitter and its matching receiver.
The transmitter I have changed to is a Walkera 8 channel, with a Walkera receiver. The difference in, ease of setting up the helicopter is fabulous! It is possible to set up 'dual rates' on elevator and aileron - plus a little bit of exponential, if you want it. But the biggest difference is the ability to set the servo volume, (or servo travel) - for the collective pitch. You can get the amount of travel you want; with no binding at end points!! Great!!
It is possible to get the pitch range you want with a little bit of judicious control rod juggling - but it is much easier with a transmitter that allows you to limit electronically how far each servo travels.
This transmitter has a 'flight mode' switch. This lets you have a pitch range of say +1 degree to +6 degrees for takeoff and landing. -4 degrees to +8 degrees for flying around out side, plus a 3d setup of -9 to +9 degrees.
Have you ever hit the 'idle up' switch by mistake? Some of these up market radios allow you to inhibit certain functions - if you do not require them. Knowing that the 'idle up' and the 'flight mode' switches are inhibited, if required, can give great peace of mind!!
The only problem with changing the transmitter and receiver on the CP3 was that the E sky 'three in one' controller needs to 'see' a cloned second channel on the rudder input. I have set up a 'mix' on the Walkera transmitter so that 'rudder' is mixed to 'gear' with 'gear' as a slave. This works.
If you want to use other transmitters and receivers, you will have to first check that this 'rudder to gear mix' is available in the transmitter menu. Spektrum Dx6i does not work, neither does the Dx5e or the DX8.
To sum up; nice modest helicopter, spares seem quite cheap. Dump the transmitter in the bin (because it spoils an otherwise pleasant little helicopter).
For those of you who have not seen one, it has a 370 brushed motor, collective pitch, 370 gms and a 540mm main rotor. It has a motor driven tail.
It is quite a frisky helicopter, for a 370 motor, yet the hover is quite stable indoors. I am still trying to get slop / free play out of the rotor head control arms, the SF Arm bushes on this helicopter are a loose fit on the Fly bar, mounting frame spigots.
But the best improvement I have managed, is to get rid of the rather basic ET6 transmitter and its matching receiver.
The transmitter I have changed to is a Walkera 8 channel, with a Walkera receiver. The difference in, ease of setting up the helicopter is fabulous! It is possible to set up 'dual rates' on elevator and aileron - plus a little bit of exponential, if you want it. But the biggest difference is the ability to set the servo volume, (or servo travel) - for the collective pitch. You can get the amount of travel you want; with no binding at end points!! Great!!
It is possible to get the pitch range you want with a little bit of judicious control rod juggling - but it is much easier with a transmitter that allows you to limit electronically how far each servo travels.
This transmitter has a 'flight mode' switch. This lets you have a pitch range of say +1 degree to +6 degrees for takeoff and landing. -4 degrees to +8 degrees for flying around out side, plus a 3d setup of -9 to +9 degrees.
Have you ever hit the 'idle up' switch by mistake? Some of these up market radios allow you to inhibit certain functions - if you do not require them. Knowing that the 'idle up' and the 'flight mode' switches are inhibited, if required, can give great peace of mind!!
The only problem with changing the transmitter and receiver on the CP3 was that the E sky 'three in one' controller needs to 'see' a cloned second channel on the rudder input. I have set up a 'mix' on the Walkera transmitter so that 'rudder' is mixed to 'gear' with 'gear' as a slave. This works.
If you want to use other transmitters and receivers, you will have to first check that this 'rudder to gear mix' is available in the transmitter menu. Spektrum Dx6i does not work, neither does the Dx5e or the DX8.
To sum up; nice modest helicopter, spares seem quite cheap. Dump the transmitter in the bin (because it spoils an otherwise pleasant little helicopter).