DX7 W/ Pixhawk, APM 2.8 and Trad Heli

ArduCopter Traditional Helicopter
1

Just a brief background.
I’ve been flying heli’s on and off for several years without the use of any stabilization. I didn’t really get into 3D stuff, just general fun flying with the loops, rolls, flips etc scattered in the session…typically fly 50-90 size nitro with some 600 electric thrown in there…so not new to heli’s.

What I am new to is drones and can use some guidance.

I have a project that I want to work on which will require a flight control system with the use of camera/ OSD functions. From what I can tell the pixhawk or the APM 2.X will fit the bill for my needs today. What I’d like to do is use my current gear so I don’t have to run out and buy another TX/multi platform.

The issue I see is that most controllers seem to only deal with muli’s which doesn’t appear to be the issue with the aforementioned controllers. What does seem to be a problem is what controller I need. It seems that I need an 8 channel controller with a dial/slider adjustment on one of those channels…is this a fact or just a benefit?

So, the question at hand- Can I use the DX7(older) with the Pixhawk or APM 2.8 and a traditional bird. I plan on using an older Trex 600 but also have a 50 nitro and 90 size nitro to use as well…though I’d think the vibration of a nitro would rule that out.

any help getting me started would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Sean

2

I originally used a DX7s and my friend uses the latest g2 Dx7 without any problems.

For a APM/Pixhawk you need 5 channels to fly it - Roll(ail), Pitch(ele), Thr, Rud and flight mode.

Ideally a 3 position switch is needed for flight mode but with some creative mixing you can use two 2 position switches. To be honest though, you could get away with just altitude hold and position hold, my friend only uses position hold unless something is going completely pear shaped lol. We also have the momentary switched set up as throttle cut’s to give us RTL on a separate switch.

With a DX7 you would still have 2 channels left for other things, for example pitch control on a gimbal (slider or knob is best for that).

An OSD such as MinimOSD doesn’t need a channel and works very well with APM and Pixhawk.

3

7 channels will work O.K… Get a Pixhawk for future software enhancements. Also get a PPM encoder. It helps a lot with Spektrum stuff.

Regards,
David R. Boulanger