RC India

Received the RCFORALL  SHIKRA  today without Rx/Tx
http://rcforall.co.in/product_info.php?cPath=1_17&products_id=356 (http://rcforall.co.in/product_info.php?cPath=1_17&products_id=356)

Had a bad feeling when I received a package .The package was pretty much damaged and had a hole punched in it. I asked the delivery guy to wait so that i can check and see the contents, but they were intact, so all good.

The contents that were promised, were:

Air Frame Pieces -[fuselage(2) and wings(2) and rudder(1) and elevaor(1)]
Motor 2805 -1
ESC 20 amp -1
Servo 9 gms -4
RCFORALL PP 7.4V 1300 mah-1
Prop 5 x 5 dy -1
Clevases with servo connector- 4
Y connector -1
servo extn 150 mm -2
Carbo Fiber Tube 8mm -2
push rod -2
dean -1
gc -1
Imax RC B 3 Charger -1
Glue -1
coro canopy- 1

But Y connector is missing, and i have no idea whats dean and gc,
There were 3 gold connectors included and a male/female power connector or whatever it is called altho the battery already had one attached, and even the motor/ESC had the connectors on them, so are these extra?
Charger comes with cable, bcoz i was worried about whether i would need to get a new one :-\

And No Instructions on how to assemble was included, very necessary for noobs like me :headscratch:
But later found it ( lol i was searching the forum and rcpilotacro's topic had it, while making this topic)
http://www.rcindia.org/myfiles/Shikra_Glider_Assembly_Instructions.pdf (http://www.rcindia.org/myfiles/Shikra_Glider_Assembly_Instructions.pdf)
http://www.bmi-models.com/download/Arrow%20manual.pdf (http://www.bmi-models.com/download/Arrow%20manual.pdf)
Anyways its good for a person with some technical idea, but leaves me in lurch.

So thats about it, now some beginner questions

1)The flaps on the wings and rudder and elevator seem to be attached, should i cut them out and use a tape to fix them making sure the joint is flexible so that it moves with a servo. ?Sorted

2)How do i connect the motor to esc bcoz while the esc has named the points as A/B/C but motor has no markings? Can i connect them in anyway?Sorted

3)How do i mount the motor, can i carve out inside the fuselage or attach it outside? Or any good DIY ideas? And what about down thrust and angle

4)I have a HK 6ch remote. Where do i connect the bind plug(on which channel)?Sorted

5)The battery has two wires so one would probably be attached to the ESC. Can i connect the second wire to the receiver?
[bcoz my receiver battery has 3 wires coming out(3s), while plane battery has 2 (2s)]Sorted


And before anyone starts answering, I did my research and didnt find satisfactory solutions, that is why I started this topic. There is another fine build topic but thats for someone with a little bit of technical knowledge, Not for me.

And Neither am I an Engineer or Engineering student or basically have no idea about electrics and electronics, Im a Hotel Management graduate so I have no idea about lot of technical stuff so make sure your answers are in Layman's language.

Now i would have to do something about the y connector so would have to wait for sometime for RCFORALL's reply, wanted to test the electronics Tx/Rx but am afraid of shorting something.

Hey SW! You don't have to be an engineer to enjoy aero-modelling (or RC).
But you do need to read basic stuff about the components you are about to play with.

There are loads of beginners who skip the manuals and tutorials in excitement and mess their stuff.

5) The battery wire is not to be attached to the ESC, it is for charging the battery and plugs into the charger.
2) You can connect the ABC wires in any order first and then interchange any 2 of them if the motor moves in undesired direction.

Dear Side winder,

I am too building the shikra. Although, the kit comes as a whole, there are certain things you might not have planned.

1. As in my case, you might need an extension cable from ESC to Motor. Motor is far away from the ESC.
2. You also need some Welcro to put battery in its place.
3. Four balancing blocks for positioning tail plane are an absolute essential. One can use for same size 'dabba'.
4. Motor mount. This may test your imagination as Shikra does not come with motor mount.
5. Fiber tape will act as a hinge for Ailerons, rudder and elevator. Get at least two from a sports shop at Rs 20/- each. You need to cut out Ailerons and elevator. There is not need to cut out the Rudder.
5. Do not glue the plane unless you are absolutely sure about the push rods and electronics in its place. a touch of moist cotton before cyanoacrylate may help.

As a beginner, now I am feeling previlaged to answer some of your questions. ;D ;D

The other wire on the battery is for charging. Dont put it in the receiver. Leave it as it is. ESC has a thin wired plug (like the servo). This will go in the throttle channel of the receiver.

Do not worry about the ABC of ESC. Connect them anyway to the motor. See that motor spins in right direction. If not, interchange any two of them.

Bind plug is to be connected in Batt channel.

Rest assured. The shikra is easy to build. It is the 'first plane' which is difficult.

Regards and all the best.

Vishwas

Okay correct me if Im wrong

Rx dosent need a power input from battery. Is that the case with all the Rx?

Im not gonna glue it, patience is my virtue :giggle: will do it only after i get everything.

"3. Four balancing blocks for positioning tail plane are an absolute essential. One can use for same size 'dabba'."

^^^^ what do you mean by that? tail plane ???

"a touch of moist cotton before cyanoacrylate may help."

You need to be specific with me ;D, u mean to dip cotton in the water n rub them on the surface? whats the purpose?

and as for extension cable I can use any wire and solder them to lengthen them, right? is there any thing specific to be observed while doing that?

As for the motor mount was thinking of using a bottle cap and improvise it. Lets see.

Off to set up electronics. ;D

And thanks Swapnil and Vishwas

Rx needs power from the battery either through the ESC or a BEC in a electric plane, because most (rx/servos) cant handle more than 6 volts.

So the ESC upto 50A usually have inbuilt bec, and I think my 20A ESC has inbuilt BEC too and connecting the ESC to the Rx supplies the power.?

Yes, your ESC has an inbuilt BEC.

"3. Four balancing blocks for positioning tail plane are an absolute essential. One can use for same size 'dabba'."

I think Ashutosh is referring to the vertical stabilizer (the part with the rudder). It needs to be properly balanced. That is, it should be at exactly 90 degrees with the horizontal plane.

Side winder go through this series of building AXN floater (Shikra Indian name). 3 parts of the series are there, Will definitely help you. giving link for the 1st one , will find others two there only.

Happy Build  :thumbsup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_IEdTDOq0

Motor Connection and wiring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48MQR3UV7x0

Rest of the parts for the build,
And the Wiring video too has 2 more parts.
 Thanks Swizera,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL_0mQIWPyY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmOIeEdycs4

I connected the rx/esc/battery I have a Hk6ch Rx/tx,
Now after connecting them, the motor gives a 123 beep then keeps beeping at regular 1 sec intervals.
What does that mean and what are the different beep sequences mean?
Battery was charged fully.

Do you have the ESC manual? Continuous beeps may mean there's no signal to the ESC or that the throttle end points are not set.

This is the kind of discussion I was really looking forward too.. before purchasing anything for building a plane.. Thanks guys. and hats off to the experts here :)

THAT is the correct way to begin, Punty.  Even when you start thinking that you've read enough, there's loads more to read and understand!

If you are getting beeps means you are in programming mode of ESC. Put the throttle stick to another end and power up ESC(don't attach prop).

Okay, The red light on the Rx is blinking too, so that means it isnt binded, I believe. How do i bind it bcoz i can see a bind switch on my TX.  :help:

And how do i setup Hk6ch mode 2 Tx becoz T6config hangs as soon as i select the coms port on which mt Tx is connected to computer :help:

And no manual came alomg with ESC Swapnil,
 :(

@Punty this will be helpful if you are starting from ZERO like me :giggle:

@Dharmik it beeps when esc is powered ON :headscratch:, Do you mean i should first power on with throttle  stick at zero and then switch off the esc, move the throttle stick up and then Power the esc again

You should really read the ESC manual first. Looks like a DYS ESC to me. Search online for a pdf manual.

Rx light blinking - You need to bind your tx rx.
If esc keeps beeping means it is in programming mode and position of stick is not actually zero but it should be full. In my hk tx rx i had to reverse my throttle channel.
tutorial for tuning hk radio is here
http://www.mycoolheli.com/t6config.html
if you don't want go through all that try digital radio
http://www.sgr.info/usbradio/

Yes as Swapnil said read manual first. Would you mind telling us which ESC you got?

Okay first photo is of the esc i got,
its an rcforall 20A,UBEC-3A/5V, DC 5.6 to 20v

And t6config doesnt work in win7 64bit, that is why it was hanging up on my end
Tried Digital Radio now i have some doubts,

Is the programming of the throttle correct, attaching photos
nothing has been reversed.

The ESC is most probably from DYS company. Search online for 'DYS 20A ESC manual' or contact Sai sir.

Do the throttle programming after understanding the ESC programming.

T6config works on my win7 32bit. It should also work on 64bit but these is a trick, without that you won't be able to run. Ports having two digits number like COM20 or COM21 won't detect cable at any cost. You have to change port to one digit like COM7 etc but make sure it's free port and not being used by any app. Mine was COM21 and changed to COM5 both digi radio and t6 works fine.

There is absolutely no need to program ESC. Pl. do not do that unless you are very familiar with the programming. Also only beep does not mean programming mode. There are different sounds.

I had similar problem. Most probably, reverse the direction of BEC plug in the receiver. Remember to put it in throttle channel.

Vishwas

Erm... Vishwas, without programming ESC throttle points how do we start the motor?

And it is wise to be familiar with ESC programming. That is what ESC manufacturers suggest and that is why they print manuals!

One more tip...
The throttle on my transmitters (Futaba, Sanwa and E-sky) needs to be reversed before setting throttle end points, check yours too.


If you haven't got hold of the manual yet, here's what the sounds (beeps) mean:
The first two beeps represent the number of series cells on your LiPo (i.e 2 beeps for 2s)
The second set of two beeps tells that the brake setting of your ESC is off.

The standard procedure for starting an ESC for first time and setting throttle end-points is this:
1) Take throttle to maximum before connecting battery
2) Connect battery and wait for the 2 sets of beeps to finish
3) Immediately after the sounds stop, bring throttle to minimum 

Hey sidewinder just follow this simple procedure to understand what's happening exactly.
Generally esc beeps on both ends of throttle channel but only difference is at zero throttle it will beep according to battery connected. For 3S lipo it will give you 3 beeps and short music and stops. When you raise throttle motor will start running.
While other hand at full throttle end esc enters into programming mode where each function like brake, angle of entrance etc have unique tone but it won't make any sense if you don't have manual. It's cyclic function and keeps beeping different sweet music probably like Shakira's music album.
Now you don't know which is your zero throttle end and which is full end so do one thing

1. Move throttle stick at lowest point of tx
2. Power up your esc and hear beeps. If it stops after some initial beeps, raise a throttle bit. Your motor will start running. BUT if it keeps beeping disconnect battery
3. Move throttle stick at highest up point and power up esc and hear beeps. It will give you initial beeps and when you move stick bit down your motor will start running.
4. You can later reverse channel.
EDIT
when i was typing swapnil has allreay described it, so just try and see.

One more protocol I came to know about HK-T6A V2. One has to switch on Tx first before connecting power to ESC. I do not know where it is a unique experience with me.

Vishwas

It is necessary for all radios because without the tx switched on, ESC won't get a servo signal from rx.

Im switching the Tx on first and then Rx,ESC, but there is a red light on RX which is blinking and while it should be steady if the rx is binded, so now question is how to bind HK6CH V2 TX/RX? I think this needs to be sorted first  before programin ESC

And when i connect the esc it first gives our a 123 beep sequence and then keeps beeping.

T6config has issues on Win7 64bit PC, I have read the same that some other ppl are experiencing it too.
It just freezes

That's the problem mate! The ESC won't work till you bind the rx. The procedure for binding the rx should be given in the radio's manual, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2aZgK6sd5Q

Found it on the 19th page in Rx/tx section, I will put the video here anyways.
This is the binding video.Really helpful. Now will check the esc and motor

EDIT:

Rx binded and motor running, No programming for ESC necessary at all!
Motor and servo tested.

Y-connector is probably on the way, would begin assembling once i get it,
Now going to do something about motor mount.

By 'programming '  I just meant setting the throttle end points, which you did!
I didn't mean setting up the other features! :)

Nope I didnt do anything   :giggle:, was scared i will burn something up so didnt try anything and how could i set it when the Tx was not binded at all ;) Vishwas was right on this one  ;D

I think the regular beep was due to unbinded Rx, bcoz after i binded them, switched off the Tx before disconnecting the Rx and it started the same beeping sequence,

And also  need to make sure whether you connect the ESC correctly on Rx, which is explained in the video.

Hmm... you said 'motor running' in the edit. How can a motor run without the throttle end points set on the ESC?

You are clearly missing the point that an ESC just doesn't work unless you set the throttle end points (which you might have inadvertantly set).

Wait, by running you mean 'rotating', right? Not just beeping?

I dont know how a motor runs without setting end points on ESC???
Maybe someone with more experience would know abt that or my ESC was already set by RCFORALL guys.

How can I even  inadvertently set it when there was no binding Swapnil, bcoz Rx/tx would need to communicate if to change any settings . I did the binding and straight away pushed the throttle and motor came alive, and again when i switched of the Tx before Rx, Rx light started blinking and the same beeping sequence as earlier started.

So from that I deduced that the it was due to unbinded Rx that the motor was beeping earlier.

You're right, Sai sir (or someone from rcforall) must have already set the end pts.

Good for you!

And the motor beeps like that after switching off tx because of loss of signal.
I really wish you'd read the ESC manual first because it tells you all the precautions you need to take and what the 'beeps' mean.
Anyways, you finally got your stuff to work, congrats! And good luck with your dish!