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How to safely fly and enjoy your new XK Detect X380 or XK Aircam X500 quad copter.
I am in RC for a very long time having built and flown more than a hundred different airplanes, gliders, helicopters and now quads and not having any interests in XK-Innovations or any other company related. I simply want you to enjoy your hobby to the fullest knowing the grieves after a “hard” touchdown. Having spent a small fortune in the hobby over the years I try to make sure to not crash/destroy my “investments” at the first intent (or after..). So I try to do my home work before….
Once you receive the XK make sure that you have the latest official version of the firmware installed, at the moment of this writing it should be WL380008. Down loading it from the internet to your PC and from there to the quad is simple following for example the instructions at “firstquadcopter.com”. Use the Firmware download and driver from the official XK site “XK-innovations.com”. Take this opportunity to adjust your preferences like RTH tail or nose in, minimum height to RTH (go to the max.), gimbal settings. I would however not recommend changing low voltage settings (11.2V red slow flashing,10.8V red fast and auto land) or speeds.
You should make some simple modifications before you fly the quad for the first time, just to be on the safe side:
-Open it up (I know…there are lots of tiny screws and you might lose your guarantee, in the case of the X380) and install an extra shield of copper tape or similar covering as much surface as possible, without obstructing the cooling slots, over the GPS and connector cable, if possible ground it with a soldered wire to it. You can find how to do this very well documented on the “rcforums” XK 380 thread in the attachments section.
-Install a rubber band or locking latch over the battery compartment door (in case of the 380) to be sure it will not open during flight.
-Balance props as you don’t want to vibrate anything loose and you get better videos at the same time.
-If you use a gimbal, connect it directly to the battery at the balance connector or install a separate BEC mini power hub available at Banggood, Ebay, etc. (try to get the smallest one as space is tight) and shield the cable (you can connect the three cables, +5V +12V –Ground, directly to the socket feeder opening up the quad). Do not connect, at least the 12V or 5V power cable, directly to the original quad sockets if you did not install a separate BEC. It seems that the XK’s electronics are very sensitive to power spikes which can be caused by an abrupt gimbal movement (in a crash..) or anything else you connect to the sockets. Make sure to NOT connect or disconnect any device to the quad while under power. Install a diode in the signal wire (or at the backside of the installed socket)to protect the FC from any back current. At the same time it will eliminate hunting on some gimbals like the Walkera G2-d. Some gimbals turn all the way down when you connect the battery to your quad. To avoid this turn on the Tx and move the gimbal wheel a bit in any direction. Now the gimbal stays put once you connect the battery.
-Make sure to color code front or back of your quad well as it is essential to know where front and back is at all times, even though the green led on the back helps a lot. I recommend to not using the Headless mode on these quads! If you get confused while flying, just let the sticks go and start from there to get oriented again.
-Once you decide to take her up, do all three calibration procedures, first. I do them every new flying day or when I change flying location. (This is very important, all three!! Magnetic Compass, Gyros and Tx Gimbal Sticks)
-Break-in your new LiPo Battery running it down only half of the usable voltage or in this case make the 10 first flights no longer than 10 minutes. This will give you extended flying time and longer battery life in the future.
-Recommend to read through the whole XK Detect X380 thread at rcforum (many pages, I know..). You’ll learn a lot about your quad and it is entertaining and you won’t regret it.
Even though this quad is very easy to control and fly you should teach yourself, or better with the help of an experienced RC-pilot, to fly using a cheap, all manually steered quad copter. I believe that lots of first time flight mishaps occur because first time or low hour pilots just get overwhelmed in certain situations at or after takeoff. Make sure that your Tx voltage is adequate. You can check this by flipping the RTH switch to on with the TX turned on. (Not during flight of course).
Using the auto take off you always should keep your hands at the controls just in case it might want to flip over if it’s not correctly calibrated or the winds are to strong or gusting or your props are not installed correctly. Once you take off, hover for a minute or so at a height of a few feet to make sure the quad is stable. If it starts circling land immediately and do the calibration ritual all over again. Do not recommend to land in auto mode if winds are gusty. Make also sure to have no metal objects on you or metal structures close by. Calibrate always where you take off and use a level surface. Make sure to have your wireless device you might have used to adjust your camera turned off!
Once you feel comfortable flying, make sure to go through all paces with your quad, especially Auto Return Home and low battery auto land (Ignore headless mode to be on the safe side). These are safety features and you should be very familiar with them. Do the drills on a routine bases. Do not activate any of these modes if you are in FAP or PAN mode! You will have to exit to normal flight mode first.
Just completed today my 219th flight between the 3 X380s and X500 I owe with only two minor incidents so far, a minor crash (flight 64) at four feet into a bush once I got confused with front and back, in a tight space working on a project with the quad, and a hard landing because of a faulty LiPo a couple of weeks ago.
Hope this helps you to have many enjoyable hours with your new Quad.
Any additions are welcome…
I am in RC for a very long time having built and flown more than a hundred different airplanes, gliders, helicopters and now quads and not having any interests in XK-Innovations or any other company related. I simply want you to enjoy your hobby to the fullest knowing the grieves after a “hard” touchdown. Having spent a small fortune in the hobby over the years I try to make sure to not crash/destroy my “investments” at the first intent (or after..). So I try to do my home work before….
Once you receive the XK make sure that you have the latest official version of the firmware installed, at the moment of this writing it should be WL380008. Down loading it from the internet to your PC and from there to the quad is simple following for example the instructions at “firstquadcopter.com”. Use the Firmware download and driver from the official XK site “XK-innovations.com”. Take this opportunity to adjust your preferences like RTH tail or nose in, minimum height to RTH (go to the max.), gimbal settings. I would however not recommend changing low voltage settings (11.2V red slow flashing,10.8V red fast and auto land) or speeds.
You should make some simple modifications before you fly the quad for the first time, just to be on the safe side:
-Open it up (I know…there are lots of tiny screws and you might lose your guarantee, in the case of the X380) and install an extra shield of copper tape or similar covering as much surface as possible, without obstructing the cooling slots, over the GPS and connector cable, if possible ground it with a soldered wire to it. You can find how to do this very well documented on the “rcforums” XK 380 thread in the attachments section.
-Install a rubber band or locking latch over the battery compartment door (in case of the 380) to be sure it will not open during flight.
-Balance props as you don’t want to vibrate anything loose and you get better videos at the same time.
-If you use a gimbal, connect it directly to the battery at the balance connector or install a separate BEC mini power hub available at Banggood, Ebay, etc. (try to get the smallest one as space is tight) and shield the cable (you can connect the three cables, +5V +12V –Ground, directly to the socket feeder opening up the quad). Do not connect, at least the 12V or 5V power cable, directly to the original quad sockets if you did not install a separate BEC. It seems that the XK’s electronics are very sensitive to power spikes which can be caused by an abrupt gimbal movement (in a crash..) or anything else you connect to the sockets. Make sure to NOT connect or disconnect any device to the quad while under power. Install a diode in the signal wire (or at the backside of the installed socket)to protect the FC from any back current. At the same time it will eliminate hunting on some gimbals like the Walkera G2-d. Some gimbals turn all the way down when you connect the battery to your quad. To avoid this turn on the Tx and move the gimbal wheel a bit in any direction. Now the gimbal stays put once you connect the battery.
-Make sure to color code front or back of your quad well as it is essential to know where front and back is at all times, even though the green led on the back helps a lot. I recommend to not using the Headless mode on these quads! If you get confused while flying, just let the sticks go and start from there to get oriented again.
-Once you decide to take her up, do all three calibration procedures, first. I do them every new flying day or when I change flying location. (This is very important, all three!! Magnetic Compass, Gyros and Tx Gimbal Sticks)
-Break-in your new LiPo Battery running it down only half of the usable voltage or in this case make the 10 first flights no longer than 10 minutes. This will give you extended flying time and longer battery life in the future.
-Recommend to read through the whole XK Detect X380 thread at rcforum (many pages, I know..). You’ll learn a lot about your quad and it is entertaining and you won’t regret it.
Even though this quad is very easy to control and fly you should teach yourself, or better with the help of an experienced RC-pilot, to fly using a cheap, all manually steered quad copter. I believe that lots of first time flight mishaps occur because first time or low hour pilots just get overwhelmed in certain situations at or after takeoff. Make sure that your Tx voltage is adequate. You can check this by flipping the RTH switch to on with the TX turned on. (Not during flight of course).
Using the auto take off you always should keep your hands at the controls just in case it might want to flip over if it’s not correctly calibrated or the winds are to strong or gusting or your props are not installed correctly. Once you take off, hover for a minute or so at a height of a few feet to make sure the quad is stable. If it starts circling land immediately and do the calibration ritual all over again. Do not recommend to land in auto mode if winds are gusty. Make also sure to have no metal objects on you or metal structures close by. Calibrate always where you take off and use a level surface. Make sure to have your wireless device you might have used to adjust your camera turned off!
Once you feel comfortable flying, make sure to go through all paces with your quad, especially Auto Return Home and low battery auto land (Ignore headless mode to be on the safe side). These are safety features and you should be very familiar with them. Do the drills on a routine bases. Do not activate any of these modes if you are in FAP or PAN mode! You will have to exit to normal flight mode first.
Just completed today my 219th flight between the 3 X380s and X500 I owe with only two minor incidents so far, a minor crash (flight 64) at four feet into a bush once I got confused with front and back, in a tight space working on a project with the quad, and a hard landing because of a faulty LiPo a couple of weeks ago.
Hope this helps you to have many enjoyable hours with your new Quad.
Any additions are welcome…