Hobby King Align Trex SE User manual

Align TrexSE Setup Guide. version 1.0
Although Ihavesuccessfullyflownnitroandelectrichelisinthe past Ionlyrecentlydiscoveredthatmy
setupswereneveractuallycorrect. Thedifferenceinperformanceof acorrectlyconfiguredheli andwhat I
thought wascorrect isreallyamazing.Thisisnotacompletebuildbut informationonhowtocorrectly
setupyourservos, linkage,pitchand throttlecurvesoyouhaveasmoothoperating heli.
The followingstepsarebased onaTrexSE thathasbeencorrectlyassembledandall components
installed. TheradiousedistheSpektrumDX6. ThesestepsarespecifictotheSpektrumDX6soplease
see yourmanufacturersinstructionsforplacingyourradiointothecorrecthelicoptermode,inthiscase
CCPM, and otheroptionssuchasservoreversing, gyrogain,etc. Radiosettings, rates,degreesandany
measurementsshowninthisguidearefrommyworking SE. Donotassumethatbyusing thesame
valuesyouwill getthesameresults.Pleaseverifyall yoursettingsandgeneraloperationof yourheli. I will
always trytokeepthisinformationupdatedand errorfreehoweverit isyourresponsibilitytomakesure
yourheli isoperating correctly.
#1 RadioSetup (SpektrumDX6)
The batterytoyourhelicopterdoesnotneedtobeconnectedat thistime.
•First wewill settheradiointoHeli Mode.
oWhilepressingupon thescroll andincreasebuttons, turnthepowerswitchon. Youare
nowinSystemMode.
oPress scroll until TYPisdisplayed.
oPress increaseandselectHE.
oPress scroll until GERisdisplayed.
oPress increaseandselectA
oTosaveeitherturntheradioofforpress scroll andincreaseat the sametime.
•Nowwewill setoptionsinFunctionMode.
oTurntheradioonif it isnotalreadyon.
oPress scroll andincrease.You arenowinfunction mode.

oThe servoreversing menu(REV.NORM)shouldbevisible. Ifnotpressscroll until it is.
oOnceyoureachthe reversingmenu,usethechannelkeytoscroll through eachchannel
andset themtothefollowing.
§AIL=REV
§ELE=NORM
§RUD=NORM
§GER=NORM
§PIT=NORM
§THR=NORM
oPress scroll until TRVADJ. isvisible.
oPress scroll andselect the GERchannel.
oPlacetheAileronDR switchto0. Usethe decreasebuttontoset +45%.
oPress scroll until HLDisvisible.
oUsedecreaseand setto-1%.
oPress scroll until youreachthePitchCurveMenu.Usethechannelbuttontoselect PLN,
P2NandPHN andsetthefollowingvaluesusing increaseanddecrease.
§PLN=35%
§P2N=50%
§PHN=100%
oPress scroll toadvancetothenext PitchCurveMenu. Usethe channelbuttonselectPLS,
P2Sand PHSand setthefollowingvaluesusing increaseanddecrease.
§PLS=0%
§P2S=50%
§PHS=100%
oPress scroll toadvancetothenext PitchCurveMenu. Usethe channelbuttonselectPLH,
P2HandPHH andsetthefollowingvaluesusing increaseanddecrease.
§PLH=0%
§P2H=50%
§PHH=100%
oPress scroll toadvancetotheThrottleCurveMenu. Usethe channelbuttonselectTLN,
T2NandTHN and setthefollowingvaluesusingincreaseanddecrease.
§TLN=0%
§T2N=65%
§THN=100%
oPress scroll toadvancetotheThrottelCurveMenu. Usethe channelbuttonselectTLS,
T2SandTHSand setthefollowingvaluesusingincreaseanddecrease.
§TLS=100%
§T2S=80%
§THS=100%
oPress scroll until yourreachtheCCPMMenu. "mixCCPOF"isdisplayed.
oPress increasetoenableCCPM. Displaywill change fromCCPOFtoCP2.
oUsethe channelbuttontoselectCP2, CP3andCP6.All threeshouldhaveavalueof60%
bydefault. Useincreaseand decreasetosetthefollowingvalues.
§CP2=30%(Approximately6degreesoftotalcyclictravel[ -,+ 3degreesleftand
right] )
§CP3=30%(Approximately6degreesoftotalcyclictravel[ -,+ 3degreesforward
andaft] )
§CP6=60%
§CP2andCP3adjuststhecyclictravelofyourswashplate(forward, back,
left, right)
§CP6adjust thetotalupand downtraveloftheswashplate(pitchof rotor
blades)
§CP2andCP3can beincreased if youareexperiencedorafteryou
becomecomfortablewithyourheli. The transmittersdefault settingof
60%will giveyouabout12degreestotalcyclictravel, [ -,+ 6
degrees]. At thishighsettingthemechanics areverynearbinding. In

additionusing that muchcyclicmaycausebogging. Shoot for6
degreestotalandthenadvancetoaround9degreestotal.
The radiosettingsshouldnowbeveryclosetofinalwiththeexceptionofpossibleservoreversing,
subtrimsandgyrogainadjustments.
#2 Servomounting, connections, direction and centering
Servomounting mayvaryslightlybut I foundthefollowingoffersgoodalignment.Servoconnections
shownarefortheDX6.
FigureA
NoteCh.6servoismountedfromtheinsideandCh. 3ismountedfromtheoutsideof theleft framewith
theservohorninsidethe framehalves.
FigureB
Ch. 2ismountedfromtheinsideof therightframe.
FigureC
•ServoCenteringandDirection cannowbechecked.
oRemoveall servoarmsfromtheservos.

oSetAileronD/RSwitchto1.
oTurnon thetransmitter.
oMakesureall of yourtrimsareat0.
oSetyourcollective(left stick)tocenter. It shouldbeinthesameposition astheright stick.
oDisconnectyourmotorfromtheElectronicSpeedControl(ESC)andplug afullycharged
batterypackintotheESC. Leavethehelicopterstationaryuntil theGyroinitiates.
oBeginputtingthe servoarmsoneachoftheservos, liningthe arm upasclosetocenteras
possible. See FigureA, BandCabove forarmorientation. It isnotnecessarytohookup
thelinkageatthistime.Donot worryiftheydo notline up exactly.Wewill make
adjustmentslaterbyusingsubtrim. Ifyou findacontrolhornisveryfaroff fromcentertrya
differentcontrolhorn.
oNowwecancheck servodirection.
§Moveyourrightstick (cyclic)tothe right. Channel2servoarm shouldmovedown
andChannel6servoarm shouldmoveup.
§Ifthisisnotthecaseyouwill needtoreverseoneorbothof theservos
dependingon what reactionoccurred.
§Movetheright stick(cyclic)forward. TheChannel3servoarm shouldmoveup
whilethe Channel6and2servoarmsmovedown. Theoppositeapplieswhenthe
right stickispulledback.
§Ifthisisnotthecaseyouwill needreversetheChannel3servo.
§Movetheleft stick(rudder) tothe left. TheCh.4servoarm shouldmovetowardsthe
tail of the heli.
§Ifthisisnotthecasethenyouwill needtoreversethisservo.
§Movetheleft stick(throttle)up anddown. Ch2,3and6shouldmovetogetherin
directionrelationtothestick movement.
oIfanyservoreversingwasnecessary,youmayhavetocheck forservoarm alignment
againtomakesuretheyareasclosetocenteraspossible.
oWewill nowadjustthesubtrimtocenteranyservoarmsthatneedcentering.
§Turnthetransmitteronifit isnotalreadyon.
§Makesurebothsticks areinthe centerposition.
§Pushscroll andIncreaseatthesametimetoenterFunctionMode.
§Press scroll until youreachtheSB-TRIMMenu.
§Usethe channelkeytoselecteachchannelthatneedsadjusting.
§Usethe increaseanddecreasebuttonstocenterthe servoarms.
§Ifsubtimvaluerequiredtocenterthe servoismorethan+/-20to30you
shouldlocateaservoarm that will lineupclosertocenterthanthe current
arm being used.
§Tosavetheinformation pressscroll andincreaseat thesametimeorturnoff the
transmitter
oAfteradjusting thesubtrimsandwithbothsticks atcenter,youcannowhookupyour
linkagerods.Linkagerodssettothelengthspecified inthe manualwill be veryclose.
Choosethesameholeineachservoarm thatwill result inthe arm andcontrolrod being
perpendicularasshownonFigureA, Band Cabove, representedbythered lines.
#3 Linkageadjustment, controlalignmentand pitch
•Nowitstimetoadjustthe linkage ontheheadassembly. Inordertocorrectlyset upyournewTrex
you will need apitchguage.Thistoolisusedtomeasurethepitchangleofthemainrotorbladesin
relationtotheflybar. The AlignPitchGuage(figureD)works verywell andisspecificallyforsmaller
electrichelis. Ifyoudonothaveapitchguage you shouldnot continueuntil youdoorhavesome
othermannerof determiningthepitch.
FigureD
oTurnon thetransmitter.

oAileronD/Rswitchtooneandall otherswitchesat0.
oMotordisconnnectedforsafety.
oConnectbatterytoESCandwaitforGyrotoinitialize.
oAll servoarmsshouldstill becentered.
oExtendyourmainbladesandmakesuretheflybarandthebladesarelevel.
oExaminetheimagebelowand comparetoyourhead linkage.
oStarting withthelinkagecomingfromthe servos,makesurethebottomoftheswashplateis
levelall thewayaround.
oMoveuptothehead linkage and adjustasnecessarytoget thealignment shownbelow.
FigureE FigureG
•Setting0pitch
oCheck that transmittersticksareat center.
oSetyourpitchguageto0andplaceitononeof themainblades.
oHoldtheflybarandbladeslevelbyliftingon theguage.
oIfall iswell yourflybarandtop ofguage will beparallelshowingyourpitchisat0.
oDothesamefortheotherblade.
oYou shouldberightonifnot, veryclose. Youcanmakeslightadjustmentsusing theshort
linkageconnectedtothe bladegrips.
FigureH
•Nowwecanset yourpositive.
oSetyourpitchguageto+10
oPlaceiton oneofthemainblades.
oPushthe collective(left stick)all the wayup.
oLevelthebladesand flybarbyliftingontheguage.
oThe topof the guage andflybarshouldbeparallelorveryclose. (figureIbelow)
oIfmorepitchisneededtoget+10degreeswewill need toaccess theFunctionModeon
thetransmitter.
§Withthetransmitteralreadyon,pressscroll andincreaseat the sametime.
§Press scroll until MIXCP2isdisplayed.
§Press channeluntil MIXCP6isdisplayed.
§Useincreasetoaddmorecollective.You shouldsee thecollectiveincreaseasyou
maketheadjustment. Increaseuntil +10 isobtained.
§Check clearanceAbetweenthetopof the washout baseandbottomofthe
mainrotorhousing(figureJbelow). The gapcan be tighterthanwhatis
shownbuttheysurfacesshouldnot bebuttedtogether.

§Ifyouareunabletoreach+10degreesbeforethesurfacestouch,
thereisaproblemwithlinkage elsewhere. Gobackandrecheck your
linkage.
FigureI FigureJ
•Nowwecheckthe negativepitch.
oSetyourpitchguageto-10
oPlaceiton oneofthemainblades.
oPull the collective(left stick)all the waydown.
oLevelthebladesand flybarbyliftingontheguage.
oThe topof the guage andflybarshouldbeparallelorveryclose. (figureKbelow).
§Check clearanceBbetweenthetopof the collarand bottomof theswashplate
(figureLbelow).
§Ifyouareunabletoreach-10degreesbeforethesurfacestouch,thereisa
problemwithlinkageelsewhere.Gobackandrecheck yourlinkage.
FigureK FigureL
#4 Setting up thetail rotor, tail rotorservoand gyro
•Tail servosetup
oTurntheradioonif notalreadyon.
oSettheAileronD/RSwitchto0.
oThe servoshouldbecenteredfromtheprevioussteps.Ifit isnotyouneedtogoback tothe
centeringsectionanddothisservoagain. (Youneed tobeinflightmode 1.)
oWiththeservocentered,hornon,linkageconnected,loosenthe servomountbracketsoit
can bemoved ontheboom.Position theservosothetail rotorblade pitchis0withthe
servoarm centered asshown(figureM).
oAlsothebracketneedstobe rotateduntil thecontrolarm runsparallelwiththeboom.
(figureN)
oTighten thebracket downoncetheseitemsarealigned.

FigureM FigureN
•VerifyGyroDirection
oExaminethediagrambelowandfollowtheseinstructions
§Holdtheheli upat the mainrotorbuttonwithyourrighthand.(figureO)
§Useyourleft hand topushthetail awayfromyou.
§Watchtheservoandnotethedirectionit moveswhenyoupushthetail.Theservo
hornshouldmovetowardsthe tail asinthediagram.
§Pullingthetail towardsyoushouldresultintheservomoving towardsthefront.
§Ifyoufindthatthemovement isoppositeof what isshownheresimplyswitchthe
rev/norm switchonthegyro.

FigureO
•SettingTail RotorServoTravel
oUsethe rudderstick(leftstick)andgivefull left rudder.
oListenforbindingandcheckclearance. (figureP)
oIfyouhearbindingorseethat thereiszeroclearance,reducethe gyrotravellimit onthe
gyrountil youhavesomeclearance.
oDothesameforfull right ruddertobesure.
FigureP
#5 Verifythrottleoperation
•YourESCshouldbepluggedintochannel1.
•Although theESCmayhavesafetymeasurestoguardagainstaccidentalmotorstartsyoushould
always be cautious.
•Verifythat all switchesareset to0.
•HookupyourmotorleadstotheESC.
•Turnon yourtransmitterandset thecollective/throttle(left stick)atfull low.
•ConnectafullychargedbatterytoyourESC.
•Allowthe heli tositstill whileeverythinginitializes.You will hearaseriesofbeepsandthemotor
maybumpslightlyduring thebeeps.
•Aftereverything hasinitialized youmayslowlyincreasecollective/throttle(leftstick)at whichtime
therotorsshouldstart toturn.(clockwiselookingfromtop).
oIfyouhearthe motorturningbut therotordoesnot, reducecollectivetofull low.
§The motormaybe reversed soswapanytwomotorleadstoreverseoperation.
oIncreasecollectiveagainandtherotorshouldturninthe clockwisedirection.
§Ifthe rotorfailstoturnagainand youhearthemotorthereareacouplethingsthat
shouldbechecked.

§Holdthemainrotorwithonehand and attempttoturnthemaingear
clockwise. It shouldnot turninthisdirectionhoweverit will turncounter
clockwise.
§Ifthe gearturnsinbothdirectionsitcouldbe abadonewaybearing
oryour, amissingorshearedmaingearboltormetalmainhousing
bolt.
§Ifthe abovechecks out thenyourpiniongeariseitherloose
ornot makingcontact withthe maingear.
#6 FinalCheck
•Beforeattemptinghoverorflight thereareseveralareastocheck andarenotlimited tothe
following.
oBinding
§Disconnectyourmotorleadsforsafety
§Givetheheli full cyclicbymovingthe cyclic(right stick tothetopright corner).
§Spinthebladeswithyourhandand watchandlisten foranybindingorrubbing.
§TIP: watchthe swashplateandif it movesorappearstobumpthen
somethingisprobablyhitting somewhere.
§Continuedoingthisontheremainingthreecornersofthecycliccontrol(full topleft,
bottomleft,bottomright). Thecornersshouldbethe full extentofmotionbuttobe
safecheck theentirerange bymovingthe cyclicstick inacompletecircle, orinthe
caseof theDX6asquare.
oClearance
§Moveall servostotheirfullestextent inbothdirections.
§Makesureservoarmsdonot touch, rub orextendintoanymovingpart like
themaingear.
oGearMesh(theamountofplaybetweenthemainandpiniongear)
§Findingtherightgearmeshisveryimportant. Although thegearappearsround, it
will likelybe slightlyoval(eggshaped)havingone ormorehighspots. Due tothisit
will be necessarytohaveatightmeshonthehighsidesof thegearinordertoget
correct meshonthe low. Ifyouwerelucky enoughtoget atrulyround gearthenyou
can havecorrect meshall thewayaround. Clonethatgearandsendit tome.
§Unfortunatelyitsreallynotpossibletovisuallyverifymeshwhilethegears
areon theheli soweuseourthumbtorock thegearand feelthemesh.
Lookat theimagesbelowtoseewhatyouarefeeling for.
§Ifyougetthe meshatthehighsidetowherethereisnogap, thenyourlowside
meshshouldbecorrect. Ifitsnot thenyourgearisseriouslyoutofround and
probablynot suitabletouse. Agapasinthelastimagewill result inastrippedgear.
**NOTES**
•Flight ModeSwitch
oSwitchat0=pitchsettingsof-3,0,+10andthrottlecurveof0,60,100.

oSwithcat1=pitchsettingsof-10, 0, +10 andthrottlecurveof100,80,100.
•ThrottleHoldSwitch
oSwitchat0=Normaloperation
oSwitchat1=Nomotoroperation
•AileronD/RSwitch
oSwitchat0=GyroHead HoldModeON(shouldremaininthismode)
oSwitchat1=GyroHead HoldModeOFF
•ElevatorD/RSwitch
oFactorydefaulton both0and1
•Dualratesettingsshouldbeatfactorydefaultunless youmade changesoutsidetheseinstructions.
Itsalways bettertodoublecheck.
•Radiosettings, rates, degreesand anymeasurementsshowninthisguidearefrommyworking SE.
Donotassumethatbyusingthesamevaluesyou will getthesameresults. Pleaseverifyall your
settingsand generaloperation ofyou heli.
Coming Soon:
ActualSizePrintablePDFtoeasilysetyourlinkage
lengths. Thisisimageisasample..DO NOTUSE.
All imagesCopyright2006 SeanSmith
History
01/25/06-updatedCPsectionofradiosetuptobetterexplainthefunctionof CP2, CP3and CP6.Added
gearmeshinformation.Added imagefortail rotorslidergap.