FAQs and troubleshooting
Spektrum AR9020 SRXL/XPLUS signal output
I'm using firmware 3.2.0 (or greater) which is stated to support Spektrum SRXL/XPLUS serial wire signal but MICROBEAST PLUS does not recognize my AR9020 receiver at receiver menu point B (Status LED stays red).
Unfortunately the communication protocol of the AR9020 receiver is not fully compatible to the SRXL specification. We can provide a MICROBEAST PLUS firmware with modified Spektrum SRXL protocol so that the AR9020 receiver's SRXL output can be used anyway. You can request the firmware at our service center. Please give us the name (Email) for your freakware Network account, then we can provide the update files for all your registered devices. When using this special firmware it is not possible to use receivers from Multiplex-RC with SRXL V2 signal output, neither is it possible to use Spektrum receivers that are compliant with SRXL standards. Otherwise this modified firmware does not differ from the default firmware.
I am trying to access the menus but if I press the button either after powering on or before, the A light never goes solid or blinks. Also if I hold it for 10 seconds it doesn't appear to perform the factory reset.
To enter one of the menus you have to wait until the unit did perform the self test and did fully initialize: The Status LED must get blue or purple and the cycling LEDs A to G and H to N must have stopped.
Factory reset only can be performed when being within Setup menu. So you have at least to get to Setup menu point A (or later), release the button and then push it and keep it pushed for at least 10 seconds. Note that factory reset will only revert all parameters of parameter menu and setup menu to default. It has no influence on receiver menu parameters. If the unit does not initialize due to wrong receiver setting the factory reset will not help. In such case also have a look here.
Maybe there is not enough movement or any movement at all on the rudder channel.
- Check servo throw and dual rate setting for the rudder channel in the transmitter and increase the throw.
- Receiver type "Standard": Check that the connector for the rudder channel (orange wire) is inserted correctly in the receiver.
- Is the correct stick moved? Check stick mode of transmitter and have a look at the servo monitor. Is there any movement on the channel that you have connected the orange wire for rudder function to (Receiver type "Standard")?
- Serial-wire receiver: Was the rudder channel assigned for rudder function at receiver setup menu?
Here you can see a list of collected data: The BEASTX servo list
This list is not intended to be complete or accurate! Please ask the servos manufacturer about his recommandations regarding servo specs and usability in helicopters with flybarless systems.
- Neutral impulse: The neutral impulse normaly is 1500-1520µs on any servo. Only special high speed tail servos use a different impulse and are normaly fitted to a specific gyro -> Futaba gyros 760µs -> logitec gyros 960µs. Microbeast supports all types of different neutral impulses for the tail servo. On cyclic you are not able to adjust the pulse.
- Update frequency: The higher the frequency the faster the control loop will work and the more accurate the system will perform. But also the servos will be more burdened as they get more work to do and the current consumption will greatly increase.
- If using a digital servo it definitely should be capable of more than 65Hz. So if we have a unknown servo we carefully increase framerate step by step by testing on the workbench and then fly shortly and check servo temperature very often. If there are no abnormalities like extreme heat production we again increase the framerate and again test carefully.
This procedure can lead to damage and severe injury if not obtaining safety rules. If you want to be on the safe side go with 65Hz unless the manufacturer doesn't give you another classification. We cannot tell you the specs of a servo unless we don't have any data of this specific servo ourselves. Please ask the servos' manufacturer. We do not produce or sell any servos, we only give you the possibility to use those servos. Therefore we do not accept liability for incorrect setting.
The servo list on the website only is a collection of some servos' data. It does not say that if a servo is not on the list that you must not use it. If a servo is not on the list we simply did not test it ourselves or we could not find any data about it. Also we can't know any servo on the market. In fact the BEASTX flybarless devices are compatible to nearly any servo on the market. Anyhow, when choosing a servo for your flybarless helicopter please note this topic: Servos for flybarless usage.
I cannot get any servo horn arm to be mechanically 90° to the boom. The AR7200/Microbeast/Trajectory does not have a tail "sub-trim" feature!? Is trimming in the transmitter allowed?
Do not trim the rudder servo by using the transmitter as this will apply a constant rotation command to the unit! When you can't get the servo horn exactly 90 degrees this has no significant effect. The "90 degrees rule" only should give some good basis for initial linkage adjustment. In flight the system will control the servo all the time anyway, so it is not an issue if the center position is slightly offset.
It is more important, that the tail servo linkage is in general adjusted correctly, so that you get asymmetric tail pitch throw: 40 degrees against main rotor torque direction, approx. 6 degrees at center position and 20 degrees in main rotor torque direction.
You only have to adjust one direction, whether it's left or right, it doesn't matter. Important is to exactly adjust 6° when the blades are aligned on the aileron axis as this teaches the unit the servo throw. Push the aileron stick to adjust the pitch and when the blade pitch is 6° simply push the button briefly and that's it.
When getting the 6° too early this shows that you may not use full servo resolution (not using the full throw). This can be solved by using longer blade grip linkage arms, reducing the swashplate inner diameter (shorter linkage balls) or larger swahplate outer diameter (longer linkage balls). Or simply by screwing the linkage balls on the servo horns further in (but this will reduce both cyclic and collective - the cyclic/collective ratio will not change).
Anyhow, the color is not a fixed value that is a must to reach. If you get blue you have something similar to 80% usable servo throw. The further you can go the higher the value will be. So everything from blue upwards will give a good resolution and you won't feel any disadvantages. If using good, precise high class servos, strong and with fast speed you even can fly with only red LED without any noticeable difference. Also rotorblades (flybarless blades or not) can make a difference.
On a 250 or 450 size heli you should try to get "dark blue" at exactly 6.0° as here servos normaly are not so precise.
Startup
MICROBEAST does not finish initialization. What can I do?
Watch the running LED lights during the init phase: If the lights A - G light up the sensor's rest positions are beeing calibrated, H - N show determining the RC channels and their center positions. MICROBEAST/AR7x00BX: Initially the chase is from A - N. If one step is done the indication light for this step will quit running. MICROBEAST PLUS: Initially the chase is from H - N (Stick calibration). Only if this step is finished the chase from A - G (Sensor calibration) will start.
When LEDs A - G do not quit running
- The sensors register movement and calibration of rest position can not be finished. Make sure the unit/the helicopter does not get moved e.g. by wind gusts or people leaning on your work bench where the heli is standing on.
- Sensors damaged. Return the device for repair.
- Power supply voltage is dropping due to weak power supply or damaged servos.
When LEDs H - N do not quit running
- Check whether the receiver sends out control signals and that all cables are properly connected to the MICROBEAST/MICROBEAST PLUS. In particular make sure the plugs are inserted with correct polarity and not offset to the pin connectors of the MICROBEAST.
- Is the correct type of receiver selected in the receiver setup menu? Particularly when using a Spektrum® radio system note that receivers like Spektrum® AR6100, 7000, 9000 etc. are "Standard" receivers! The selection of "Spektrum®" in the receiver setup menu only applies for direct connection of one single Spektrum satellite with the optional available adapter. In general when using a serial-wire receiver check if the Status-LED lights up in "blue" color at Receiver setup menu point B indicating there is a valid signal coming from the receiver.
- When using a Standard receiver check the wiring. Mainly check receiver wires for polarity on both sides and correct plugging (no vertical offset by one pin).
- MICROBEAST/MICROBEAST PLUS: Check binding between transmitter and receiver.
- AR7200BX/AR7300BX: Check binding between transmitter and receiver.
The brand new MICROBEAST only shows a red flashing LED or even nothing. What's wrong?
Check very carefully whether all cables are plugged in correctly and all the plugs are connected properly at the correct position (Beast & receiver!). Especially in the vertical direction, not just 2 pins must sit on the header. Also make sure that the polarity is correct on all connections.
Inflight
The gyro sensors do not seem to work correctly.
The rudder servo does not react or reacts very slowly to rotation of the helicopter. (The same happens to the elevator axis.)
Maybe the gain of tail gyro is too low.
- Check assignment of gain channel and adjust the gain in the transmitter as described here.
- Check for correct wiring or setup of tail gain cable/channel.
Additionaly when the elevator doesn't seem to work either, maybe the wrong mounting orientation has been selected. So select the correct mounting orientation in Setup menu point A.
How can I increase rotation rate for aileron, elevator and rudder?
The rotation speed of the helicopter is only determined by the length of the stick output signal. The gyros measure the actual rotation rate and the system will move the helicopter as fast as it is determined by the stick position. So simply increasing/decreasing the stick throw (mostly done by increasing/decreasing servo throw or using Dualrate in the TX for the specified function) will increase/decrease rotaion rate. Note that the rotation rate in first line has nothing to do with your cyclic pitch adjustments at Setup menu points J or L and also has nothing to do with the cyclic pitch when steering cyclic on the ground! In flight the system will automaticaly control the pitch as it is necessary to maintain the given rate. So always setup the cyclic pitch as mentioned in the manual and do not rely on what you see when moving the sticks on the ground.
The presets at Parameter menu point B are nothing else than different preset dualrate/expo curves inside Microbeast. Choose the preset that fits your preferences best and that gives you a good amount of rotation rate. Using the presets (except for the "Transmitter" preset) it is recommended to not change the output signal in the TX significantly as especially when using expo this will bend, compress or stretch the curves, leading to very strange flight behavior. It just is not like adding 5% of expo as the curves between TX and Microbeast will multiply and not sum together! Anyhow you may do small adjustments in stick throw, i.e. for slightly increasing the roll rate. This will not significantly deform the Microbeast's internal curves.
But easiest thing to do would be to switch flight behaviour to preset blue (="Transmitter") and adjust the curves in your transmitter just as you like. Therefor we suggest to start with a setting of 70% D/R and 25% expo on cylic and 85% D/R and 40% expo on tail in the transmitter and adjust the curves accordingly. When setting parameter B to "blue = TX" the internal curves in Microbeast will be "disabled". Here 100% stick input will give a rotation rate of apprx. 600deg/s on the rudder axis and apprx. 400deg/s for the cyclic movements (this may vary depending on TX brand as any manufacturer use another signal output as maximum, so this also can be 107, 110% or 95%).
We are often asked which percentages of expo or dual rate corresponds to the different presets. As manufacturers calculate expo curves different, we can't tell you what our preset curves correspond to which TXs expo values as we use our own expo calculation and there is no data available for comparing. We did outfly these values and programmed them in the source code so we can't tell what these are in Futaba or JR percentages. If you want to use a specific preset as your starting point we suggest to connect your MICROBEAST to the StudioX software. Here you can see the different values for each control behavior preset and you can create a custom preset for which you may use the given values and adjust them until they perfectly fit your flying style.
Note for MICROBEAST/AR7200BX/Ar7300BX (not MICROBEAST PLUS): If Parameter menu point B is set to preset "blue" and the tail gain is switched to heading lock mode you can see in operation mode by the Status LED state at which tail stick position the maximum possible rotation rate on rudder will be reached: At that specific tail stick position the Status LED will start to flash. Moving the stick to this point in flight the rotation rate of the helicopter will be as high as the gyro can control. Increasing the stick throw further the LED will go off. At this point the rate control is switched off and the rudder axis will spin uncontrolled. Here the only limit is the tail pitch throw and normaly the tail will spin ultra fast. This can be used for performing tail slides or turns with very fast spinning tail. For normal flying around you should not use this as you may accidentaly steer into the uncontrolled area and the tail may spin too fast or very uneven. So please check on the ground that the Status LED will not go off when giving full rudder stick deflection in your default flight modes.
The helicopter wobbles on aileron and elevator axis.
Reducing the swashplate gain does not help to suppress this effect completely.
- The helicopter‘s linkage ratio is not suitable for flybarless usage. In Setup menu point J adjust the cyclic pitch to exactly 6 degrees and make sure the color of the Status-LED lights up “blue”. If this is not the case change the mechanical linkage ratio of the helicopter (i.e. by moving the linkage balls further inwards on the servo horns, by mounting longer linkage balls on the swash plate outer ring or by mounting shorter linkage balls on the swash plate inner ring).
- The servo-blade combination is not good. Use faster and stronger servos and/or specific flybarless blades.
- Some linkages aren’t moving smoothly and freely. Check the mechanics for any hard points (ball linkages, blade grips). Check if the dampers are greased and that the thrust bearings in the blade grips are correctly mounted.
- Imbalance of the main rotor head. Firstly, do not tighten rotor blade bolts to much. The blades must be able to align themselves by centrifugal force. Then check blade balancing and/or try a different set of rotor blades.
The tail rotor turns around instantly when doing backwards flying.
- Tail gyro gain too low. Increase tail gyro gain as described here and make sure you're using the tail gyro in HeadingLock mode (using Normal-Rate mode it is nearly impossible to perform backwards maneuvers!).
- No sufficient thrust produced by the tail rotor. Check tail pitch angles. Reduce the maximum amount of available tail pitch throw at Setup menu point E to prevent the tail blades from stalling or increase the tail pitch angle if it‘s too small. Use different (larger) tail rotor blades or increase the rotor rpm.
The tail oscillates in horizontal position slowly and irregularly while hovering.
- The HeadingLock gain of the tail gyro is too high. Reduce the HeadingLock gain in Parameter menu point D by one step and increase the tail gain on your transmitter instead.
- Due to mechanical issues the tail gyro can not work precisely. Check the linkage and mechanics for absolute free movement without hard points and use a dedicated rudder servo that is fast and accurate and that allows a high control frequency.
During slow hovering pirouettes the helicopter is rolling out.
The pirouette optimization setting may be wrong.
- MICROBEAST/AR7x00BX: Adjust the pirouette optimization at Setup menu point N correctly.
- MICROBEAST PLUS: Check if mounting orientation is setup correctly at Setup menu point A.
Helicopter tips over when trying to take off or tilts to one side in flight.
- Please check whether everything works properly on the ground. When giving collective pitch input the swash should move up and down properly. When giving cyclic input it should return to zero after a few seconds. This is also especially after turning on Idle up or switching between flight conditions in the transmitter. Make sure that there are no trims, mixers, etc. in any flight condition and also make sure that the sensor directions for aileron and elevator are setup correctly (Setup menu point M)!
- When taking off do not use too much cyclic input. Just let the motor come up to speed and then quickly give pitch input. Only when the helicopter is airborne the system can operate and control commands. If the helicopter sits on the ground, however, a stick input(= command to rotate the heli) would have no effect and the system would increase the cyclic pitch more and more desperately to perform a rotational movement. As soon as the helicopter will get "light" by increasing the collective pitch it will tip over abruptly. So always make sure that the swash is aligned straight during starting procedure!
- Tilting in flight: Remove the main rotor blades and let the helicopter run in all speeds on the ground (beware of the rotating parts!). Again the swash should move straight up and down when giving pitch inputs. If at a certain speed it starts to tilt in one direction and this will depend on the rotor speed then that is almost certainly a vibration problem which confuses the sensors in the Microbeast. Trying different adhesive pads might help (smoother or firmer mount) or installing the unit in another location. But especially in the electric helicopter that brings in most cases nothing and there certainly is an error somewhere on the helicopter.
- This can be: slightly bent hub of the tail rotor, jammed or defective ball bearings, tail blades / tail rotor is not properly balanced, engine bell not balanced / comes at a certain speed to vibrate or motor bearings damaged making the motor shaft vibrate, slipped ball bearings in the torque tube tail drive system or installed in the wrong position, main gear wobbles / unbalanced; motor shaft bends and runs rough, ... actually everything that rotates on the helicopter can be the cause of such a vibration. On electric helicopter you normaly should not hear, feel or see any mayor vibration (no vibrating tail fin or skids). Then it should normally be possible to attach the Microbeast only with a very thin adhesive pad on electric helis. On nitro helis the situation can be slightly different as the motors do shake the more or less. This can lead to shaking of the Microbeast unit itself and will make the rotor pane wobble. So here trying different pads or a sandwich made of two pads and a metal plate may help to stabilize the unit better. Also the wiring can be the cause of such a shaking. But when the swash tilts as explained above the cause normaly is some very high frequent (abnormal) vibration and trying around with different kinds of gyro pads only disguises the real cause and may not help 100%.
- Is the movement, however, abruptly or suddenly (similar to the twitch in a radio interference) this can especially be caused by static charges from the rear belt. Here a uniform electric potential across the entire helicopter should be done. The use of graphite spray, using a different rear belt or simply changing the belt tension can help.
- One could also consider a voltage fluctuation of the receiver power supply. It is necessary that this is stable enough, especially in terms of duration and whether the cable cross-sections and the connecting system are of sufficient size. The power supply should be dimensioned at least twice or three times as strong as expected since very high current peaks can occur in milliseconds which make the voltage sag dangerously low. In this context it may happen that the helicopter flies normally for a few minutes and then suddenly turns or rolls away in flight or even after landing the swash plate turns by itself to one direction. This is a sign that the Microbeast made a quick reboot in flight but because of the severity or duration of power failure it could not completely reload all calibration and sensor data. In this case the cause must be found and rectified and it mustn't/shouldn't be flown anymore since the receiving system was apparently close to a total failure.
Please do not confuse: A slight tilt of the swash plate when the heli is standing on the ground is absolutely normal when the so-called integrators are not fully discharged. Especially when carrying the heli or steering the sticks this can happen as the system tries to perform the necessary commands. But as the helicopter will not move as intended the system tries to keep the servo movement until the helicopter may turn. Only after approx. 30 seconds without moving the helicopter or touching the sticks, the swash will return to its normal position as the systems slowly clears its memory. The exact amount of time for this depends on the position of the thrust stick. In the middle position is the discharge at the fastest. So if possible always keep the thrust stick in center position when the heli is on the ground so that the swash plate stays leveled. Once the helicopter is airborne you will not see any of these effects as now the control loop can operate as intended. As described here to center the swashplate you can also move the cyclic stick(s) to full deflection once as this will clear integrator instantly. Only if the swash moves downright by itself to full-stop even after correcting with the sticks and only cycling power off and on resolves this problem, check that your transmitter does not send any unwanted control commands (trimming active, stick pots worn out, ...). If this is not the case please contact support as maybe there is some problem with the sensors then.
Status-LED flashes in operation mode, i.e. after landing.
The flashing Status-LED shows that a software-reset occurred during operation.
- The receiver power supply does not seem to be sufficient. The voltage during operation dropped in a critical area (<3.5 Volts). Use a stable power supply and make sure that the wiring and plugs are dimensioned big enough and feature low contact resistance. On large helicopters we recommend to use the MICROBEAST PLUS HD or AR7300BX unit with high power input.
- A reset can be triggered due to a transfer of high voltage. Take measures to prevent static discharges.
Further observations
Why is using MICROBEAST in combination with a single Spektrum Satellite only recommended for helis smaller than 450 size?
When using an EU Version of the Spektrum TX we say it is not safe to use a single satellite on anything greater than Trex 450 size as the chassis on larger helis may hide the satellite in different positions. So you will loose direct sight between TX and RX more easily. Additonaly with larger helis typically you fly further away than with small helis, so this doubles the risk of loosing the RF link. When using a US version of the Spektrum radio with 300mW output power this can be different as this radio by default has much higher output power than the EU radios. But as said this also depends on many factors (Where is the satellite placed? Does it give direct sight to the TX in any flight condition? How far do you fly away? Are there obstacles in your flying field like tress or houses? ...). So it's hard to give a definitive limit. That's why we only recommend to use this setup on small helis as this can be considered as safe application.
My servos are getting warm/hot, is this normal?
Similar to a tail gyro a flybarless system is constantly working and correcting. So the servos are moving much more frequently than if ther are controlled manually. Additionaly to that the servos are usually driven with higher frequency to enable the system giving commands to the servos as often and quick as possible. And because of the abolition of mixing levers and the support of the auxiliary rotor plane the servos have to resist higher forces in flight.
This results to a higher power consumption and a stronger heat generation which is usually not critical. However under adverse conditions this can reach a critical range (e.g. at very high air temperatures or even if the servos are installed near other heat sources such as electric motors). In this case try reducing the driving frequency and/or the input voltage.
Servos react somehow "notchy" at high frame rate. Is MICROBEAST damaging my servos?
If the servos are approved by the manufacturer to this driving frequency, this is a normal effect. The servos get new positioning signals four times faster than if they are connected to a conventional remote control receiver. Especially servos with brushless motors run very hard and direct which causes slightly jerky movements in modes with high servo framerate. This is totally harmless to the servos and you will not notice in flight operation.
From MICROBEAST software version V2.0.0 onwards a special filtering algorithm was installed which slightly mitigates these rough servo movements.
Why do the swashplate servos run very slowly when testing on the bench?
This is absolutely normal. The movement of the stick gives the MICROBEAST only a command to control the helicopter. The sticks do no longer control the servos directly. So you cannot say exactly what the MICROBEAST will do with the servos when you push one of the sticks.