It will take you more time to build it, we get here packs from Aliexpress in about 4 weeks, which is fine
I compiled a document on some of the tuning methods, sorry for the short English, as this was intended only for my use, you might find it useful.
TuningZF.pdf (822.1 KB)
IMHO, I have not had good luck with this vibration dampening system. I have found the 3M foam to do a better job for controllers that don’t have internal vibration dampening for the sensors. For the more expensive controllers that have internal sensor dampening, I just use a thin piece of double sided rubber/foam tape. Of course there is a lot of other factors, that contribute to vibration than how it is mounted to the vehicle. Location and structural members that it is mounted on are other important factors along with wire management for controllers whose sensors aren’t isolated.
Lastly, rotor track and balance is VERY important. This plays a big part in how much vibrations the flight controller will encounter.
It is not possible to directly apply the PID parameters of other aircraft. Even if the aircraft of the same model, the difference in the details of the mechanical assembly and electronic equipment will cause a big difference in the requirements for the PID parameters, we should start with a conservative low PID value. A little low-altitude hovering test, under the premise of ensuring safety, according to the ATT tracking curve characteristics in the log, gradually adjust the PID.
Interesting data, I did not compare installation with and without the damping plate…
Copy that, it is always better to deal with the vibration source than trying to damp it 
就在前几天，我使用AC4.0.7固件测试了我的420mm主旋翼的直升机，使用了Holybro的Durandal H7飞控，搭载了单F9P GPS，测试了自动航线和Loiter模式，以及与OpenXT的Yaapu 脚本的应用，得到了很好的效果。
Hi @heri, looking at your logs, I would suggest :
Hallo Heri
Hier kurz ein Tip in deutsch. Da sind einige Antworten fuer dich hier, die solltest du nicht ernst nehmen. es ist nicht einfach fuer dich herauszufinden was ich meine.
Bill ist Nummer Eins mit Traditional Helicopters. Er ist aber nach meiner Meinung ueberfordert und deshalb sind seine Anweisungen kurz und fuer Anfaenger mit Arducopter etwas schwierig. In den schriftlichen Anleitungen ist aber alles enthalten, was du wissen must.
Ich bin mit dem was Ferruccio schreibt voll einverstanden. Auch ich habe viele Jahre Erfahrung mit Arducopter in Traditional Helicopters. Bin aber jetzt ueber 70 und halte mich zurueck, da ich wegen Augenprobleme nicht mehr fliegen darf. Was Ferruccio schreibt in 4. ist richtig. Das ding mit den blauen Gummies taugt nicht viel fuer Helis. Dein english ist sehr gut und ich glaube, mit etwas Geduld und studieren wirst du am Ende sehr zufrieden sein mit Arducopter.
@heri
Just taking a look at the log you posted the other day. Here are your vibrations which is really the noise in the accelerations (mainly affects the EKF but also can translate to control issues).
These look pretty good. below 15 is good. below 5 is excellent.
Now looking at the vibrations in your control signals.
See how thick the lines look, especially the roll axis (RATE.ROut). This indicates noise in the control signals which are caused by the rotor vibrations. Zooming in you can see the very distinct oscillations.
Therefore you should set up the harmonic notch filter. If you count the number of oscillations in 1 second that will give you the frequency. I counted 21 which means the frequency is 21 hz or 1260 RPM. I assume you have your rotor speed set to 1260 RPM or something close to that. Here is the setup for the notch filter:
First set INS_HNTCH_ENABLE to 1 and then refresh the parameters. Make the following parameter changes
Restart the controller, fly in stabilize and post the log. It should show a dramatic improvement in your control signals especially in roll axis.
I will try to look at more tonight regarding your tune.
Bill
Bill, you are right with the 1260 RPMs rotor speed. That is exactly what I have measured.
To test this, I need a new GPS for the Bell 230. I “killed” the GPS of my test helicopter (the TREX600). Was my fault. 
So, I changed today the GPS from the Bell230 to my TREX600.
When I have a new GPS in the Bell230 I will try your parameter changes.
Would be good, if you could find more better tunes.
Thank you for your help!
BR
Heri
Some things I saw looking at your params
ARMING_CHECKS is Zero. This is very bad. Arming Checks are VERY important to insure all of the flight controller systems are working. Please set this to 1!
DISARM_DELAY set to 10 automatically disarms the aircraft if you don’t enable motor interlock within 10 seconds. I normally set this to zero and that means it will never automatically disarm with motor interlock disabled.
As @Ferrosan said in point 2, please level your swashplate. Your integrator terms are at the max and that shouldn’t be happening in a hover unless it was really windy. Or you have a significant Center of Gravity offset.
Judging from the log analysis of the first few people, the mechanical condition of this aircraft is indeed not good. First of all, we must ensure that the vibration control can be within the ideal range, and secondly, we must have a basic adaptive PID.
I share a few features of the flight log in my flight video above for reference only:
@bnsgeyer
@ZvikaF
@FRED_GOEDDERT
@Ferrosan
@zhangsir
Hello,
First of all, many thanks to all of you for your help.
I will go over all the points that you pointed out to me. Due to personal circumstances, I have to postpone the Bell 230 project a little.
If I can tell you something new, I will tell you.
Many Thanks.
BR
Heri
keep it up，It is indeed difficult to debug the flight control of the helicopter, so continue to maintain
@bnsgeyer
@ZvikaF
@FRED_GOEDDERT
@Ferrosan
@zhangsir
Hello, I am back again.
In the last few weeks I have removed the VARIO mechanics from my Bell 230. I think the previous owner made a lot of mistakes when assembling the fuselage, so the cursing to the tail rotor gear was never right.
I also replaced the soft VARIO rotor head with a stiff rotor head from Sitar.
In the future I would like to install the mechanics in an “old” Graupner fuselage (Agusta 119 Koala) with a fuselage length of about 2 meters.
For this I had to extend the tail tube accordingly.
But before I install the mechanics in the fuselage, I want to fly it in a trainer version and adjust it.
Building this trainer has been my occupation for the last few weeks. I also changed the mechanics from a 4-point 90 degree linkage to a 3-point 120 degree linkage and mounted the stiff Sitar head.
For leveling the swashplate I screwed the mechanics on an adjustment aid. This white wooden board has four screws in each corner. This allows the mechanics to be aligned exactly level. For this I use the SOKO-Heli-Tuning, you probably know it. In addition, I have also used the vario setting gauge.
When I move the swashplate from the very bottom to the very top, I have a maximum orbital deviation of one tenth of a degree. I think that is very accurate.
Using this method, I leveled the swashplate and set min, max and zero position. I also leveled the horizon in the FC. After that I screwed the mechanics on a wooden trestle, which simulates the weight of the fuselage. The extended tail tube was mounted and the tail adjusted accordingly.
I adjusted the center of gravity of the trainer chassis as follows: I suspended the helicopter from the rotor head. See photo. And moved the wooden weights and the batteries until the horizon indication in the Mission Planner was exactly right. Accordingly, the wooden weights were mounted under the helicopter and the position of the batteries was marked. After that everything was checked again.
I adjusted the “Harmonic Notch Filter” as Bill recommended.
With this I made two test flights. The first test flight was on a windless day, the second test flight was on a windy day.
During the first test flight I had visible vibrations on the tail. I changed the tail tube support and replaced the wobbly plastic side fin (original from VARIO) with a stiff aluminum side fin. I also mounted longer tail rotor blades. On the first test flight I had 120mm Helitec blades (semisymmetrical) mounted. For the second test flight I changed to symmetrical 130mm blades from Sitar.
On the second test flight, the visible vibrations on the tail were now gone or no longer visible to the naked eye.
However, I did not get the tail to settle down. It kept bouncing from side to side.
I activated the parameter ATC_ANG_YAW_P for tuning and put it on a control knob. With this, I did not get the tail to settle properly.
I have already looked at the log data from both flights. I think the vibrations have dropped considerably since I rebuilt the mechanics. The swashplate should be mechanically spot on now. With the tail I am now undecided whether I have a mechanical problem or a control problem.
Previously, the tail was hinged via a Bowden cable. Now it is hinged via a carbon fiber rod. Should therefore actually be much more precise?
On the swashplate, the helicopter is definitely much smoother than before. I was able to fly Stabi Mode and AltHold Mode without shaking the rotor. only in Loiter Mode it didn’t stay still, but did the “toilet bowling”. So between the first test flight and the second test flight I changed the mounting location of the GPS unit again and recalibrated it. Nevertheless, the effect was not gone even on the second test flight.
I know that I should not use Loiter Mode until Stabi Mode is tuned. But I just tried it out. With the old design of the mechanics, Loiter Mode was not possible at all. Since the helicopter has shaken wildly.
After the rebuild, he started in Loiter Mode only the “toilet bowling”. That is already an improvement.
I will link the log files from both flights, as soon as my Windows Cloud allows it.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjSq727ChpJzZ1NIAVUPF21suE4?e=gEQWIg
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjSq727ChpJzemM8xDA7deBiInE?e=eb9EfK
I would be happy if I could get some tips from you. Many thanks to all of you.
BR
Heri
Hello Heri
Congratulations on your re-built.
Looked briefly at your log, your pitch, roll and yaw rate control is not tuned to follow your commands.
but the main issue i see is that your initial tail rotor adjustment is not correct, you can see that on the PIDY.I buildup till the maximum 0.3. what you need to do is take down ATC_RAT_YAW_I to 0 and adjust the servo so the heli will not rotate when applying collective on ground.
Vibrations looks OK, you might increase a bit the RPM to get better reaction and lesson the TBS.
Hy, thank you for your reply.
Can I ask you for more information on individual points?
Could you explain the
to me more precisely and in more detail.
I understand it like this: If I set the parameter to “0”, I am not allowed to take off with the helicopter. It must stay on the ground. I slowly increase the collective pitch (without taking off) and observe whether the tail tries to turn away. I change the basic setting of the tail servo until the tail no longer turns away when I increase the collective pitch.
Do I understand correctly that I must not lift off with the parameter set to “0”, otherwise the helicopter becomes uncontrollable?
What does “TBS” mean?
BR
Heri
It is clear to me that I must first tune the tail.
This is what is causing the biggest problems at the moment.
I would like to note that I have set the parameter ATC_HOVR_ROL_TRIM to “-300”.
I have a left-turning rotor.
Would it make more sense to set the parameter to “0” first to tune the tail?
You can lift off, but there is no need, to correct the setting is enough to make the heli light and see the command you need. if you will hoover you will have to apply constant turn command (if not correct).
The ATC_HOOVER_ROL_TRIM compensates the rotor side force, roll is needed in order to eliminate side drift, has nothing to do with the bad yaw trim you have.
TBS is Toilet Bowl Syndrome.
ok, now I understand more. Thank you.
