Blog Article Continuation(s) Blade 200 QX Quadcopter - First look, review and rating

Discussion in 'Specific Models of Quadcopters and Drones' started by webman, Aug 19, 2014.

  1. webman

    webman Administrator Staff Member

  2. Lonnie

    Lonnie New Member

    I'll start off by admitting that I'm a newbie! I bought a 200 QX at my local "Hobby Town", along with a Spektrum DX5e transmitter and two spare Tenergy 10C batteries (~$11 each). Once home, I started charging the LiPo battery that came with the quad, but noticed that the included charger LEDs were not acting as per instructions. After charging for 45 minutes, there was no indication from the charger that anything was happening, and the battery remained cool to the touch. I checked the Voltage after disconnecting the charger and saw just 2.4 Volts. I then tried charging one of the Tenergy spares and this time the charger lights quickly indicated that it was balancing the cells. Same result for the second spare, so apparently the included battery was faulty. Using one of the spare batteries (now charged to 7.4V) I tried binding the transmitter after reading the instruction manual and the supplemental instruction that covered the DX5e (new) transmitter. Binding was quick, but the blades were stopped and the throttle stick had no effect. I had carefully followed the binding instructions which said that in order to arm the blades the left and right sticks had to be simultaneously brought to the lower inside positions and then released, I rechecked the manual and tried the binding process and stick movements again, with the same result. I confirmed binding by switching modes to 1 and 2 from zero, which being an inexperienced user is where I chose to start out. I got the expected change in LED color from the nose of the quad, so I knew that the transmitter and receiver were "talking", but I still couldn't get the blades to spin. I then went back to my dealer and described the problem. He tried the same things I did and confirmed that the throttle wasn't working properly as per the manual. He then tried various other "arming" techniques that had worked for him before with other quads. Eventually, he found that the "trims" all had to be centered before arming the throttle, and was then able to get the blades spinning by waggling the throttle left and right at the lowest setting. After placing the quad on the store floor, he repeated the binding and successful arming process, and then advanced the throttle slowly in an attempt to very gently lift off. The QX 200 immediately zoomed left after barely getting off the floor and crashed into the bottom of a display case about 8 feet away! The quad continued to beat itself to death even though the dealer had reduced the throttle to zero. The dealer agreed with me that the quad was defective and along with a hand shake, said he would make it right.

    The next day I got a call from him and he said that the manufacturer had authorized him to give me a new replacement unit (including a battery), and this should be in the store within a day or two. He said that the manufacturer was anxious to get my unit back to see what was wrong. He asked my permission to test my unit when it arrived so that he could demonstrate that all was well with the replacement. All this is good service, and I was glad that I bought the unit locally. The bad part though, besides the extra hassle involved, is how poorly the manual is written. As indicated in this site's own review, the throttle arming process doesn't seem to be described properly or with enough detail. Web searches have turned up a few mentions of throttle problems with this same quad, but with different transmitters than mine.

    At this point I'd say that my particular unit was downright dangerous. Maybe all quads have issues with stopping the blades on command, but as a newbie, I really don't know what to expect. I have read on the web that the blades can be stopped by reducing the throttle trim switch by 4 or 5 "clicks", but it doesn't seem to me that even an experienced operator should be expected to be able to do that quickly under the pressure of a crash or during sudden unexpected gyrations. I can't help thinking that the blades ought to stop spinning immediately when the throttle is reduced to zero. Am I wrong?
     
  3. webman

    webman Administrator Staff Member

    The problem with easily stopping them is that many people would accidentally do it mid-flight....although that would not be a problem as long as they started up again instantly when you push the throttle forward.

    The 200 is not really a starter quad - which is some of the issue. But I do agree that many of the procedures with the lower end TX are poor. I suspect if one has the higher end Specktrum transmitters that there are other ways of stopping the motors, etc.
     
  4. Lonnie

    Lonnie New Member

    Thanks for your quick reply. I enjoyed the review and am happy to get any info and feedback! One of the related posts I read elsewhere mentioned use of a kill button on his transmitter to stop the blades, and I assume that this was indeed a higher-end unit than mine.

    Yeah, I agree that the 200 QX is more than I need now, but given the SAFE technology and brushless motors, I figured I could learn with it and also still be satisfied once I get to the intermediate stage. After all, why include the SAFE technology other than for newer users? Maybe the marketing department was trying to appeal to everyone? I'm told by quad fliers at my club that many of the beginner toy-class units should be considered as disposable, which kind of turned me off the cheaper models. I also wanted this unit for it's ability to carry a low-end (~$50) camera, which I figured I'd buy when I learned how to handle the quad. If that works well, maybe a 350 QX3 eventually???
     
  5. BeeBoss

    BeeBoss New Member

    I am so happy to have found these instructions for binding the 200 QX to the DX5e. I spent $330 on the setup (with a spare battery) today and was very frustrated that I wasn't able to get my throttle stick to work. Like others have reported I could tell that the Tx and the drone were talking, but I could not get the dang propellers to spin. Funny story - I had the drone sitting across the room from me on a tile floor as I followed your instructions for binding & arming. In my prior troubleshooting and tinkering I had switched my throttle servo switch to reverse. When I pushed the throttle stick down and then left & right to arm, the drone shot straight up like a frickin rocket and put four pencil-sized holes in my ceiling. This thing is a beast. I'm actually super intimidated by it. I am frustrated both that Horizon doesn't provide better instructions for the initial setup, and also that my LHS didn't warn me of the issue I was going to have. Anyway, just mostly wanted to say thank you for your review and instructions! They made my day.
     
    webman likes this.
  6. webman

    webman Administrator Staff Member

    Ah, holes in the ceiling - one of the joys of this hobby!
    Enjoy your flying!
     

Share This Page