My Y6 build. Vector & Tarot 2D gimbal

Y6!!  This is my first fixed pitch heli.  I wanted to be able to fly a gimbal so I opted for this over the toughtilt tri.  (although I wanted the performance of the tri... so the 250 quad is coming to cure my need for speed)

I thought I would share what I learned while I was building the Y6 w/ arm extenstions and the Vector flight controller.  

Frame

• First, a drill press would have been very helpful.  Drilling by hand trying to keep the drill straight and vertical is challenging.  I found that if I marked the whole with a pen, then made a depression/dent in the center of the mark (used a center punch), the drill would not 'wander' away from the mark.  But, that didn't keep the drill straight up and down, so, I had a few times when the holes on the oposite side did not line up with the plates.  In those cases, it was necessary to drill from the other side as well.  Made the hole in the wood an odd shape and probably slight weakened the design... but, it works.
• I used a piece of landing gear wire to hang all the pieces from the bolt holes so I could spray paint all sides of the pieces and let them hang dry.

ESCs

• Extended arms = manditory extensions on all ESCs. This was one of many unplanned delays in the building process. I was hoping to find some 20 gauge wire. All I found was some 16 gauge from Lowes.  A little over-kill, but works.
• Got all excited because I thought I had found a way to mount all the ESCs inbetween the anycopter hubs or under... (yeah.  Under doesn't work)  I didn't realize what I had done until I went to put the landing gear assembly on.  Another delay.  Undo three ESCs worth of soldering.  Shorten 9 motor extensions...Ugh. I ended up placing the 3 ESCs for the bottom motors under the arms.  I then realized I could shorten the ESC power lines for the bottom 3 by running them straight to the solder points on the PDB.  This redudced weight and keeps them from moving around so much, therefore making it so I could use less zip ties.  (in my mind it made sense.)  Eric is right, a good hot iron makes this work a lot easier.  I started with an iron that didn't hold much heat.  Got a better iron...  What a difference. 

Wiring

• I removed all the power pins from the ESCs as suggested in the Vector manual to prevent unintentional spin-ups.
• I used the 5V tab (tab B as noted in Vector manual) as Peter suggests you can do in the Vector setup vid by Flite Test.  I spliced together a JST and male side of just the power wires (red and black) from a servo extention then put the +/- pins in the throttle signal send plug. (it could have been any other than the aleron since those pins are already being used by the Vector.
• The TX (TS353) is being powered directly from one of the 12V (tab A) tabs.  I put a "Y" adapter inbetween to power the LED nav banks.
• Tarot 2D gimbal is powered by its own 500 mAh 3S.
• Gimbal Tilt is running off AUX3. Which is the default channel on DX8 for knob/potientiometer.

Put navigation lights on it. 3528's.  Using 38 gauge 'magnet wire'.  The wire is almost thin as hair.  Super light weight.  Not the easiest to work with though.  I found that if I pre-tined the banks with small spots of solder, I could reheat the spots while holding the wire against it with the iron after I had already mounted the banks on the arms.  Seemed to work fairly well.  I used an exacto knife to scrap the thin shellac coating off the wire.  Scraped one side of the wire. Flipped it over. Scraped the other side.  (I know, wire is round and doesn't have sides.  But, treat it as if it does.)  I personally thought the banks would draw enough current to melt the wires... Nope.  I have made several 7-8 minute flights tonight without issue.  Man do they look great.  Very bright. Easily seen at 100'. Bright enough to be seen in daylight. I created a 'Y' connector of sorts out of a male and female JST set that I have running in-line between the Vector PSU 12v tab and my VX. 

Running lights at dusk

The table below shows the relationship between AR8000 channels and Vector harness

Below, you see the JST 'Y' plug made from a male and female JST plug. You can see the magnet wire going in under the shrink wrap to connect to the 12V power of one of the A tabs from the PSU.

In conclusion, I found the Y6 build fairly straight forward and rewarding. You can save yourself some rework effort if you take the time to plan and layout where all your components will go. Then gather all materials needed before each phase of the build and spare yourself the running back and forth that I did from the hobby or big box store. Don't get down on yourself if your plan doesn't work out the way you thought it would. if you are anything like me, you'll crash it and get your chance to make improvements the next build!!

Finally, there is A LOT of information to absorbe in the Vector manual.  I highly recommend taking the time to learn how your transmitter and the Vector work to gether with whatever flying machine you will be putting in the air.  You'll have to fight off the urge to cut corners and just go flying.  But, remember that the more time you take to fully understand your equipment, the more enjoyable your first flying exprience will be.

Look for my next article where I will share my experiences with Eagle Tree's Vector and Eagle Eyes ground station.