Right..... I was faced with the choice of gear or belt when I was ready to buy a 450. After careful consideration, I decided to go with belt drive and haven't looked back.

 

Given a choice, definitely belt for me aswell. No worrying about vibes from worn tt bearings n slightly bent shaft, thats just some tearing out hair troubleshooting stuff. Also i really think you should get a 450pro airframe instead, there's much more parts support for those. Much more rigid frame design vs the SE/Sport frames. Not much to invest in ur case, just transfer all ur electronics over n ur set. You'll definite feel the difference n it'll help ease ur learning curve, it just flies better.

 

I might consider a Pro frame, but for now, this SE frame is holding up well even after a few nasty crashes..... not to mention the fact that I already have a spare SE frame. I probably won't be changing models for quite some time.
This Pro frame did catch my eye as the motor mounts on top by the swash plate.

Right now, I have to work-over the ESC battery leads and BEC leads after the in-flight power failure I experienced today. (See post in Crash of the Day) The leads had been spliced by the previous owner before I bought the used ESC, and I didn't think to correct the wiring.
Ironically, I almost ordered a new 45A 3S-6S ESC with 5.5V/5A BEC, but decided to wait.

 

Thats a clone version of a 450L frame style but those looks just fudgly ugly and can't say if parts support is any better. If thats what you like I'd say go for the Assault 450L airframes, much better parts availability and shares lots with Align's and looks much better too. You could have those from Hobbyking for $40. But I still say go for the Pro frames in this learning stages, they're just easy n cheap to build/rebuild and easy to tune out any problems.

 

Sorry to hear of your crash Beaver. Just aswell you didn't fly with those expensive align blades. Stay with the cheap stuff, until you don't crash as much. Wouldn't want to see you out of the hobby too quick.


Do you think it could be the camera that caused the power failure???

 

You might be right, @joeclone.
I downloaded a copy of the 450L Dominator manual to get the instructions for the RCE-BL45X ESC that I'm using. I rather like the way it's designed. The new main gear I've ordered is also standard 450L part. However, as I said... It will be some time before I'm ready for a newer model. I have plenty of time to consider future options.

 

I have considered the camera as a possibility of the power failure, but it is a very small, lightweight unit designed to run on 3.3v in a 1S powered micro-coaxial. I will probably power it with a small 1S/200mAh micro-pack next time, just to be on the safe side. I will also repair the antenna on my other satellite Rx and re-install it to have dual-sat Rx.
Right now, I am focusing my attention to the ESC/BEC leads and installing extra capacitors to the BEC for brown-out protection.

I'm not installing the Align blades until I'm positive the power problem is sorted out.

 

Definitely go with the capacitor mod for a Xbar controller n using sats, you can confirm if you'd a brown out by looking back at ur Xbar logs. A 2200μF cap worked great for me.

 

ESC mods in progress....
I replaced the thin throttle/BEC wire with two leads (one with signal wire removed) to double the connection to FBL and handle more current. I used two capacitors paralleled to get 4400 uF connected to BEC leads at ESC, wrapped and secured to ESC. Main power leads are reworked with heavier wire than was spliced on before and are band crimped. I have yet to solder and shrink tube those.... will finish tomorrow.

 

yeah I use only a single cap, 3300uF

 

Having beefed up the wiring on the ESC and bench tested for 20 minutes running without blades, working the controls, loading the servos, I have reduced voltage drop from approximately 0.4v down to measured 0.06v at the BEC. The skinny little BEC/throttle lead that was there before was definitely a problem. Double leads and 4400uF capacitor seems to be working well.
I have yet to re-install the 2nd Satellite Rx, and then 450 will be ready to fly again.

 

very good

 

It was a good test flight. Not noticeable power glitches. There seems to be a bit less drop in head speed during pitch bumps. Gear noise is much reduced by shimming the main gear to absolute center at the hub. Going from 11:150 to 12:150 dropped my flight time by approximately 1 minute.

 

Smooth @Beaver but your HS looks WAY too low, I'd grab a tach and see what it is, they like a high HS (and they are more fun as well...crispy response)
Simon

 

hmm average on hover 2700HS. Sounds like you were better off with 11T might be a bit over geared hence the drop in flight time?

 

By the numbers, HS should be just over 3000. ( 3S/ 3500Kv motor, 12:150 gears )

 

7 1/2 minutes is still good for me. It's a 3000mAh pack. Better than 4 minutes on a 2200mAh pack

 

Further investigation revealed that the camera draws 280mA at 3.7v. Even at 3.3v that would be too much for the satellite Rx port to handle safely. So it is entirely possible that the camera may have overloaded the K-Bar Rx output and caused the Rx to drop out.
I'll definitely be running the camera on a separate battery from now on!

 

For a lighter option you could try something like this or use a simple linear regulator, both should get the job done.