Mounting the electronics
last updated 3-31-2007

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(Pictures showing two different mounts of a Spektrum AR7000)
In the top picture I made a special plate for the remote receiver. In the bottom picture I just used double sided tape to mount the remote receiver directly to the battery.

I looked at some different ways to mount the receivers and settled on making a plate as shown in the picture on the right. I made the plate out of some Delrin material I have but you could make one from a plastic fuel jug. I mounted the plate to the top of the battery with double-sided foam tape and mounted the two receivers using velcro. The plate at the bottom angles back to the center so the small receiver can be mounted there. The length of the antenna is a little shorter then the inside width of the canopy at that spot but not by much so the receiver does need to be in the center. So far I have had no problem with the canopy moving either of the antenna while taking the canopy on and off.



Get some Manco Automotive Weatherstrip, I also got some of this foam tape in the brand Super-stik. This is 3/4 inch wide 5/16 inch thick self-adhesive vinyl foam. Cut off two strips that are long enough to go around the battery as seen in the pictures at the top. The two strips are placed side by side in the middle of the pack and the ends of the strips should be on the bottom of the battery. Also note in the picture that the battery is oriented so the wire is on the right/back side. Place two long strips of double sided tape on the battery tray then place the battery on top of it. Next cut a strip of foam tape to fit on the front of the servo tray below the hook. Place some double sided tape on the bottom of the receiver and stick it on top of the battery. The antenna side of the receiver needs to be on the right side of the helicopter. Note in the picture that the back of the receiver is against the strip of foam on the front of the servo tray. Use the long rubber band that came with the Raptor to secure the battery and receiver in place.
Note: The concept behind the direction I mount the receiver is to get all servo wires on the left side of the helicopter and the antenna on the right side.
Install the on/off switch in the slot behind the collective servo. The side of the switch that has two wires on it is the OFF side. I always place the OFF side toward the front of the helicopter. Of the two wires on the OFF side, one has a female plug (battery plug) and the other a male (charge plug). The female plug should be connected to the plug from the battery. The male plug (charge plug) from the switch will be pushed through the hole on the back of the servo tray behind the rudder servo. This will get the charge plug over to the right side of the helicopter where it will be more out of the way of the exhaust. The ON side of the switch has just one wire. This wire needs to be plugged into the receiver.
Note: A lot of receivers do not have a plug dedicated to power. Instead they use one of the channel plugs on the receiver for the battery input. On the receiver all ground pins are connected together and all positive pins are connected together. So any spare port on the receiver can be used to get power to the receiver and all the servos attached to it. So what do you do if you do not have a spare port, use a Y-cable. If you do need to use this then I recommend using a low priority channel such as the gyro gain channel 5. Connect the Y-cable to channel 5 then connect the gain plug to one side of hte Y-cable and the battery to the other side.
Routing the antenna:
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This is something I see setup wrong a lot. Keep the antenna away from servo wires, notice how the receiver is mounted so the plugs are on the left side of the helicopter and the antenna is on the right. Another common thing is to have the antenna taped or zip tied to the tail boom support rod. This will effect the reception, also the wire should not be parallel with either the support rods or the tail boom. And another thing I see a lot is the antenna is pulled too tight. This can break the wire over time with the vibration of the helicopter.
The picture to the right shows how I route my antenna wire to the antenna tube. First you will see I use a piece of fuel tubing that runs from the receiver down to the antenna tube. I route this down by the right fork of the frame then under the skid and slip in over the antenna tube. Tip: To get the wire to go through, first remove any kinks then spray rubbing alcohol in the fuel tubing and spray the wire as you slide it it. Next you need to cut the antenna tube. When you get the tube it is very long so you will need to cut it down to size. Cut it so that the tube extends one inch past the front and back struts. Whichever end you cut you need to look at the end carefully. If the end is pinched then use a small screwdriver to open the hole back up. If you leave it pinched it will not only be difficult to get the wire through, but it could eventually cut the wire later on. Next before you install the tube in the guides on the struts you can run the wire through it. Use the same technique as you used for the fuel tubing to get the wire to go through. Now install the tube in the guides on underside of the struts. If these have broke off, you are using after market struts, or you installed the struts backwards, then you can use two zip ties in a crossed direction to hold the tube in place. I have seen some drill a hole through the strut for the zip tie but if you do this keep in mind you are creating a weak spot in a section that receives a lot of flexing.
Now slide a two inch piece of fuel tubing down the antenna wire and over the back end of the antenna tube. This will provide a strain relief section for the wire.
To mount the end of the antenna I use part of a servo horn, a rubberband, and a piece of plastic from a fuel jug or rubbing alcohol bottle. The reason for making the plastic piece in the picture on the left is to act as a catch for the rubberband* that holds the antenna. I like to keep near zero tension on the antenna and the plastic catch will prevent the rubberband from coming off and sliding down the tail support rod. First cut out the plastic piece as shown in the 2nd picture on the right and drill a hole in the non-curved side. Next take off the screw on the left side going through the tail boom support rod and into the horizontal tail fin. Slide a rubberband on the support rod then install the plastic piece between the horizontal tail fin mount and the support rod and tighten the screw. Now cut off part of a servo arm that has three holes. Run the antenna wire through one hole then around the rubberband then back through the middle hole. Adjust the length so the rubberband is not being stretched at all. Now run the wire through the third hole to lock it in place.
*Tip: Use a strip cut from a plastic bag to secure the back end of the antenna wire to the helicopter. I used rubberbands before (as seen on my antenna routing page) but the problem with this is the exhaust will turn the rubber to goo. I have heard of fuel proof rubberbands but I did not have any on hand. Instead I came up with the idea about using strips cut from a plastic bag. The plastic bag is fuel proof and yet still weak enough that if you snag the antenna wire or have a crash it will break before the antenna wire will. Note: this is to be used only when you a have a zero-tension setup like on my antenna routing page.
Mounting battery monitor
If you have a battery monitor like the Gem2000 you can make a mount out of some plastic from a fuel jug. Cut out a rectangular piece and fold it in half. Stick the Gem2000 to one side and put some double sided tape on the other. Stick this to the top of the servo tray as shown in the photo on the right.
Note: Make sure the bottom part is not so long that it interferes with the pitch arm when it is all the way down.
For other battery monitors like the VoltWatch stick it to the side of the right frame fork.
The battery monitor will need to be connected to a spare port on the receiver. So what do you do if you do not have a spare port, use a Y-cable. If you do need to use this then I recommend using a low priority channel such as the gyro gain channel 5. Connect the Y-cable to channel 5 then connect the gain plug to one side of hte Y-cable and the battery to the other side.
Next is to install the servos, then later zip tie the wires.
Click <here> to go to the Aileron servo setup page.