Blade CP/CP Pro/ Any Micro Ultimate hacks/mods/homebrew & DIY

[praetorious]

This thread is dedicated to Any and all hacks, mods, homebrew and DIY improvements to Micro helis
Any mod is welcome, whether it be aesthetic or functional. Pictures are nice.

[praetorious]

To to start off this thread here is one of my birds, the Baje Lass Blade cp Plus.....

I have done quite a bit of work on it so far. This is a blade cp equipeed with:
HDX300 V2 Head,
HDX300 3800KV brushless motor with 9t pinion
HDX300 main shaft and auto rotation hub
CNC dual drive tail
Super skids
not shown is the new brushless tail currently being worked on


STRUCTURALLY

1)Drilled holes in gyro mount tab
2)Cut off any plastic seams and burs
3)Made new horizontal tail clamp with ball links and old pitch links
4)Custom heat sinks for tail motors
5) Cut vent holes in the canopy
6) custom battery and receiver plates.
- These were hand made from hard disk drive platters. This material is surprisingly strong, malleable and light. The battery mount has more than enough space to accommodate an 11.1v 100maH LiPo. The original tab for the 4 in 1 was cut away to the canopy mount. A plastic t-tube was placed over the remainder of the mount and centred, after which a hole was drilled through the tube and frame. A Hex bolt was used to hold it in place. The screw was long enough to hold the receiver mount in place.
The receiver mount was placed in the space between the main frame and superskids and held in with the same bolt as for the t-tube. A square of material was removed so as to allow the previously only internally connected channel 3 and 4 pins to pass through, with enough clearance for connectors

ELECTRONICS

The 4 in 1 is from a stock 2005 blade cp. The 3 in 1 part was cut off so as to leave a completely enclosed case for the receiver. The original header pins were desoldered from channels 3 and 4 and replaced with longer ones so as to keep the original internal connections and provide standard ones like the other channels. This same operation is to be performed for the battery "B" header pins.
Fuse sockets were made from mini spade connectors and were placed along the side of the main frame directly in front of the main shaft.
In addition a filter was made with a 2.2 ohm 2W sandbar resistor and zener diode for the tail motors.
Not pictured is a homemade battery monitor.
The goal of the build is to run a separates setup, but to save money the original main motor ESC was used to control the tail motors.

VARIABLE PITCH BRUSHLESS TAIL

The variable pitch brushless tail i am working on is basically a belt drive tail that is powered by a separate brushless motor, with the tail slider intact and the extra servo for rudder. The reason for this is
a) Belt drive tail slows down the head speed on auto rotations and is troublesome to set up
b)Brushed motor tails suck
c)because it's cool

REMAINING
1) Brushless ESC, 18a SONICS
2) Heading Hold gyro
3) New LiPo's
4) New servos, bluebirds or HS55's
5) 5V or 6V BEC
6) Carbon fiber tail blades, symmetrical main blades, 3D flybar paddles
7) Flybar control frame and flybar
8) New Canopy
9) Set of pitch links and pushrods/connector in general
8(completion of variable pitch brushless tail

[praetorious]

SOME GOOD THINGS TO HAVE

If you too want to hack here are some files that might be of use.
These are:
layout of the 4-in-1
schematic of a transmitter

I also have a datasheet for the microcontroller used in the heli Tx and Rx, email me for it if you want

I have used the information from the datasheet and the schematic to hack a standard blade cp Tx to give access to all 6 channels just like a cp pro Tx. The necessary traces are present in the blade cp stock Tx, all that is needed is some wire, and a few smd components. Will post this later

[eaglechaser]

Nice to see a new home for this much maligned heli. I am sooo tired of seeing posts that say "my best mod was to get rid of it and buy this or that.....". With that said, let me add that if you own one and can't fly it, get over it.

I love my CP+ but have limited time to learn on it, so since I've owned it for about six weeks now, I can only hover in my garage, about 8 to 12" off the floor. I need to get over my fear of heights and crashing, but now that I also have more of them (cheap used Ebay buys, a basic CP, another CP+ and a CP Pro), I'll use those as test vehicles until I can truly fly. I want to keep my original CP+ as nice as possible since it was a gift from my wife this last July.

This is how I have my "special" CP+ set up:

Auto-rotation main gear and stainless shaft - This main gear is a major improvement over the stock one as it runs so much truer. I can't say for sure, but I think the clutch bearing is also of help in smoothing out power-downs in an emergency. (and it's cool to have it spin down like a real heli on landing :D).

Added flybar weights (one each side) at the paddles - This really did help to smooth out the controls and make it less twitchy.

Stainless spindle.

G90 HH gyro - You really should get this, another major improvement in handling qualities.

A lipo monitor that I got from Scott Helman over at Runryder. (I would like to see how you made your own :)).

Training gear - I'm still learning, but I think the small additional weight has helped (if weight can ever be a benefit).

That's pretty much it, except for taking the time to balance everything. While they may have been test flown at the factory, I'm sure that those guys could handle any out-of-tune heli. Having it set up as perfect as possible for a beginner is definitely worth the time.

Still flying with stock flat woodies, but they are the most stable for me right now.

I love the mod's you did to your own. Bet it flies great.

Thanks for starting this thread. Maybe we can get some truly worthwhile advice from others in addition to your own excellent ideas.

EC
http://clicksmilies.com/s1106/aktion/action-smiley-085.gif

[praetorious]

Heya! Thanks for the reply! And your welcome regarding the thread.
I don't know why some pilots don't like the blades, i love em personally, the next best thing to me is a Gazaur Poseidon or completely homemade.

I love the autorotation gear, perfect for emergencies and such. Mine came with my entire HDX300 head, which i must say is wonderful. The only problem with that is that it seems to crack the plastic links quite often.

With regards to the twitchyness, i found a few solutions.
In separating the receiver from the 3-in-1, i noticed less twitching. Ummm, generally you try to run ESC and switching BEC wiring far from the receiver since it cause interference, that helps. Another thing that works is to get some High end shielded IDE cable(the cable that has the wire mesh surrounding it) You can run your ESC wires through a piece of the shielding and heat shrink it secure to both ends, same goes for Gyro and BEC, and use ferrite beads on the servos. That reduced most of my twitch.

Another source of twitch was the stock Tx itself, i swapped out the 5k pots used in the gimbals for high end Vishay ones and my twitch is virtually non-existent

I gotta get me a Gyro, i have a telebee 6g, but will swap out for an HDX HH gyro i have.

The homemade lipo monitor was easy, and i have several versions. I can post a pdf of one of them if you wish, it's not my work though. The one that i did was modified from a laptop battery, you know how on some laptop batteries you can press a button and it shows you the power level, i just made some changes and used that. Works great!

The heli flew great but i have it completely taken down for major overhauls, the servos are bad among other things...

I hope we get some good ideas, i think the most fun in flying these things is building em and changing em then seeing what happens, especially if it saves money and increases performance!

B.R.
Amit

[eaglechaser]

Hi - The 'twitchiness" I referred to is not to be confused with radio glitches. What I should have said was "sensitivity" to control inputs, which I am just getting used to doing in very small increments. I came from RC sailplanes which need more (comparative) input to get a reaction from, so these heli's are a whole new game to me on the controls. On the other hand, if you did understand me correctly, can shielding the wires make it less sensitive?

Don't understand why a CNC head would crack plastic links..........are they too tight on the balls?

To be honest, I've never seen those laptop batt's you referred to, but I really like the lipo monitors that I use and they cost less than my time is worth to build one. They're of the visible type only (no audible beeper) but since I am only flying tail in right now anyway it is always visible I have it mounted on the back of the rear LG brace.

Hope you get some more hits on this thread. Would really like to see what others are doing with Blade CP's.

EC

[praetorious]

Hey,
I was thinking of radio glitches, sorry, sheilding the wires only takes care of that. But generally these little helis tend to be sensitive on the cyclic controls. The definite way to make it less responsive would be weighing the flybar. Simply reposition the weights further out, or add more weight if you wish, solder wrapped around the bar works well. Are you could fly pinch grip..

Also depends on the type of head you are using to i suppose, bell-hiller versus regular.
The CNC head cracks the links in the thread portion of the plastic cups, i think it is an ongoing problem with the HDX head as every replacement link i use does that :(

I have heard good things about Scott's battery monitors, i think i will by it from tower hobbies and modify it myself, all it takes is some diodes if i remember correctly. Umm, if you have a friend with a Mac or a Dell, turn it upside down, there should be a battery monitor there.

I hope there are more hits too, i should like to think that there are many modded BCP's out there

[the big O]

Hey guys.

I have a cp+ that I bought almost a year ago. I've been pretty happy with it so far.
About all I have done is a bunch of hovering and ff. I replaced the stock receiver
with a Spektrum dx6 (much better feel and no radio glitches), and use a DX7 for Tx.

I really like flying this little heli, but it's soo much work chasing the tail all over the place.
Today I got a heading hold gyro I won on Ebay (G110). I slapped that baby on and WOW!
It's like a different heli. I really didn't think it would make that much difference. Holds the
tail like a pro, even in gusty winds. I'm gonna get a dd tail rotor for it next, should be
doing piro flips in a couple of days with that setup...:rolleyes:

[eaglechaser]

Hey Big O, and welcome!!

If there is any one upgrade that costs some considerable money, I would say that an HH gyro is the best reward for the buck. It is definitely the single best improvement in handling that I have done to my CP+. I've actually purchased two more for my other CP+ and one for my CP Pro.

I understand that brushless is the next best improvement, but I'm waiting until I burn out my brushed motors before going that route.

Keep us informed on your DD tail mod.

EC

[eaglechaser]

On another note - Am I the only one who is constantly getting tail blade strikes at very slight nose up attitude (ground effect altitude)? I am really quite surprised at how much weight is sitting right on the tail stand-off, even when the heli is just sitting static. I've tried adjusting the CG a bit forward so that it will hover a bit nose down, but it is still a major annoyance when skimming just off the floor. I've thought of shortening the front legs of the LG but it would put a bit of strain the those little stickely legs, and you would almost have to glue them into the frame to keep them from trying to pull back out.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[zore]

I had spent a bunch of money on mine. Various metal parts. One in particular was this item.

http://www.helihobby.com/commonImages/partsMain/MH-CP002CHP.jpg

It just wouldn't fly with it. I kept thinking it was bent shafts etc. Turned out it was just manufactored correctly. They wouldn't take it back, oh well. I ended up putting all the stock head pieces back on it and it flew better.

I recently bought an FP and am enjoying that. Once I am comfortable with it, I'll hit the cp again.

I did have 2 of these but one got turned into a hbk2. My plan is to build a guru-z out of the second one.

[eaglechaser]

I had spent a bunch of money on mine. Various metal parts. One in particular was this item.

http://www.helihobby.com/commonImages/partsMain/MH-CP002CHP.jpg

It just wouldn't fly with it. I kept thinking it was bent shafts etc. Turned out it was just manufactored correctly. They wouldn't take it back, oh well. I ended up putting all the stock head pieces back on it and it flew better.

I recently bought an FP and am enjoying that. Once I am comfortable with it, I'll hit the cp again.

I did have 2 of these but one got turned into a hbk2. My plan is to build a guru-z out of the second one.


Did you mean to say "manufactured in-correctly"? From who did you buy it? Most reputable companies would at least offer an exchange.


I have my CP+ flying pretty decently but for three problems:

1. It won't hold a decent hover unless I use the flat bottom blades (underpowered, 800 Ma lipo and brushed motors).

2. I can't keep the tail rotor from hitting the ground. Even mild nose up at low altitudes will result in a tail strike. I've tried pushing the CG more forward but that only helps so much. I still can't believe that they would design a (semi-beginner) heli with so little tail rotor clearance.

3. Radio glitches - I'll be at a nice four to five foot hover and it suddenly spins on me. When I correct for it, it seems that the rudder input robs some of the power and it drops. It also just drops unexpectedly on its own.

All of this is very frustrating when trying to learn and also having to deal with it's own odd behaviour.

EC

[praetorious]

Whoa I am back. Have been quite busy lately

@ the big O
Definitely one of the best mods is the heading hold gyro. Theses heli's are a blast when you get em dialled in, FFF is fun!

@Zore
What is the fault in the piece. If it's something simple, maybe you could use a dremel and some files to repair it?

@EC
Good to see you here man! What kind of tail boom are you using? Sometimes the flec in the boom causes strikes.
check to see if it's bendy, and check if the attatchment point to the airframe is solid. I use a CF tail boom and have no issues with strikes really, then again, my tail boom is a little bit longer than average. I find it helps me turn faster...

Another mod that i am currently working on is new landing gear, i will put some pics up when i get the chance.
My house was flooded out so i lost a bunch of heli and computer parts and electronics, and there are no LHS in the Caribbean period, especially here in Barbados...

[eaglechaser]

Welcome back Praetorious - Sorry to hear of your flooding losses.

I am using the stock CF tailboom. Perhaps it's the way I fly (still mostly very low to the ground at this point), but even with low level hovering, I don't think there should be the frequency of strikes that I am getting. After all, even if I were flying at higher altitudes, when I would come in to land I may have to tweak in a bit of aft elevator, and even that will get me a tail strike (keep in mind that I am still using my training gear, so if anything, that should help!!).

[praetorious]

Hmmm, something just sounds off about that. I'be got me a uHeli cf tailboom which is pretty stiff, and currently dual tail motors using that aluminium mount up in the pics, so i suppose the mass would dampen any oscillations of the tail boom itself.
If the blades are hitting the tail boom like that there may be a problem with your head, perhaps it's sticking somewhere?

[eaglechaser]

The main rotor blades are not hitting the tail boom. It's the tail rotor that is hitting the ground. Even at rest, there is only 1/4" of clearance, and it seems that any slight tilt to the rear will make them strike. I've held the heli (not running of course) at a reward angle to see just how far it has to tilt aft to make that happen, and it does seem like a big angle, but when I'm flying the damn thing hits all the time. There is no flex in the CF boom and nothing is different from factory assembly. I think eventually going to a DD tail with the corresponding smaller rotor diameter will fix it, but I have about three extra tail motors on hand to use up before I do that mod. Or, maybe I should just do the DD mod and use up the brushed motors on my CP Pro (once I learn to fly THAT!).

[praetorious]

Oh yeah! I forgot completely about the stock tail rotor, that damn thing always hit the ground! Then I switched to DD mod and it was better, till i added the super skids...

I have two tail mods that i am working on now.
One is a purely brushless tail where the speed of the motor is adjusted proportionately to the main rotor
The other is a brushless variable pitch one, with constant high speed on the brushless and a rudder servo for the pitch.
I figure the second one is a better deal, the ESC's are more efficient at higher speeds and i would get better tail authority.

[Edge5foamy]

Just got me a Blade CP off ebay. Should have it next week.

[eaglechaser]

Hope you got a good deal. Let us know what you think about it after you get it. If you need any advice (not that I'm an expert, but I do know a bit about Blade CP's) just ask.

Did you get the basic CP or the CP+? There are significant differences.

EC

[Edge5foamy]

Just the original CP. I flew one once before about a year ago, but that is the only experience that I have with the CPs. I wanted a Blade 400, but it a little out of the price range right now.

[Edge5foamy]

Took the CP out for the first time today. Took a little bit of trying to hover it a few inches off the ground before I got up enough courage to get it up a little higher. Once I did I wasnt able to keep it in one exact spot, but was able to keep in one general area. It was alot easier without the ground effect. Did that fore a little bit then decided try to a "little" forward flight. Got out about 15ft, turned around, and on the way back to me I gave it to much rudder. It spun around backwards, and landed on the tail.

Broke the tail rotor gear, but thankfully that was it. new gear should be here soon. Cant wait to trty it again...

[praetorious]

Good to hear that you are having fun with your BCP. I've got the original BCP as well, does yours have a bell-hiller head?
If you have any questions and such, i have had quite a great deal of experience with that little bird, so shoot if you need any info.

[HuckinChikn]

hey guys! my first post on crackroll;)
I just recently picked up a used CP PRO with basic upgrades, carbon mains and tail rotor,
and a nifty set of skids...not sure if they are superskidz, but they look like them.
anyway, i'm really diggin the little heli, but it definately seems a bit under powered.
im ready to start modding it up, anybody have some good links for upgrade parts?
ill post some pics of the heli in just a bit

[rcpilot82]

I got a blade cp off of a guy on this site. I am going to keep it stock for a while but will be watching this thread for future advancements!

[HuckinChikn]

im having a strange problem with my CP pro...

heres an example of what its doing:
with the heli on the ground and at a low head speed so the blades create a visible disk,
i give left aileron...the disk should bank to the left, correct? well it does, but it also banks
forward. it does this with all stick movements... stick forward, the disk banks forward and to the
right...stick right, disk banks right and backwards...stick back, disk banks back and to the left!
does anybody know what is going on here?? i can fly it this way, but its no fun because i'm working
the stick twice as much to even fly a straight line.:(
i downloaded a manual from e-flite's website, and made sure that all of the control linkages were
in the right places, and everything apears to be adjusted correctly. the heli hovers very well
and the blades are tracking perfectly. the problem only shows up when you move out of a hover
into actual flight.
this is driving me crazy, and i just want it fixed so i can fly it!
PLEASE HELP!!!:confused:

and by the way, everything is stock other than the landing gear. the radio is the e-flite 6 channel 72mhz
that comes with the heli

[rcpilot82]

anyone using any main blades other than e-flight on there cp/cp pros?

[Eli5539]

im having a strange problem with my CP pro...

heres an example of what its doing:
with the heli on the ground and at a low head speed so the blades create a visible disk,
i give left aileron...the disk should bank to the left, correct? well it does, but it also banks
forward. it does this with all stick movements... stick forward, the disk banks forward and to the
right...stick right, disk banks right and backwards...stick back, disk banks back and to the left!
does anybody know what is going on here?? i can fly it this way, but its no fun because i'm working
the stick twice as much to even fly a straight line.:(
i downloaded a manual from e-flite's website, and made sure that all of the control linkages were
in the right places, and everything apears to be adjusted correctly. the heli hovers very well
and the blades are tracking perfectly. the problem only shows up when you move out of a hover
into actual flight.
this is driving me crazy, and i just want it fixed so i can fly it!
PLEASE HELP!!!:confused:
and by the way, everything is stock other than the landing gear. the radio is the e-flite 6 channel 72mhz
that comes with the heli

This may not help but did you check your servo reversing, your TX should be set at AIL(N), ELE(R), THR(N) and RUD(R)

[HuckinChikn]

yeah i checked all that stuff, everything was normal. as far as i could tell, it was just sloppy linkages
in the head that were somehow delaying the swashplate movements.
oh well, the headache is over now...I sold the Blade and now i have a CopterX 450V2, and a new
T-Rex 450, so im happy!

[DismayingObservation]

I've had a few adventures as of late with mine.

After the tail motor burned out for the umpteenth time, I decided to try the direct drive upgrade with GWS parts as outlined at BladeCPrepair.com. Doggone if it didn't work...and doggone if the motor burned out five minutes into the flight. I "felt" it going out and I landed just as the thing went into a "death pirouette."

I've had a Blade CP Plus tail assembly gathering dust since it didn't work; as luck would have it, the motor was spinning in the wrong direction! I installed the E-flite motor and rotor in the GWS mount...success again!

Now a new trouble arose: It became somewhat uncontrollable on the test flight; turns out the main rotor hub was worn (I knew it was a bit wobbly) and the blade grip shims and spacers were installed incorrectly.

So, I fixed everything right. Got it perfect...and the doggoned thing will not lift off.

Reason? I think the old 4-in-1 is on its way out. The servos move well on their own, but barely so in collective mode. Verified my findings with the heli expert at the LHS. That module has had virtually no strain on it since I installed a Powerzone brushless ESC adapter a few years ago. Instead of driving a motor, the 4-in-1 drives the little PC board which in turn drives a 19-amp ESC and brushless motor.

So, now I have a nice airframe with a direct drive tail and $70 worth of messed up module.

My buddy at the LHS has some micro-heli stuff I might be able to use since he isn't using it.

Thank goodness for my Blade 400!