Hi Lupus, yes I am reall know about 3 position switches, see my first post an background 
but the transmitter hasn’t such one and also it has no slider, ddial or something similar. It has on channel 5 & 6 just only a 2 position switch each. 
Yes I know for further steps it might be a good idea to change the equipment but for the first steps in ArduPilot to learn a little bit I hopped to use most of the existing equipment. Allways to buy everything new and throw away good but old things is not my way of life.
As it is possible to run and control my helicopter with this traditional old system it must be also possible to do the same with a modern platform like ArduPilot.
6ch radio is enough for a minimal setup tough having any telemetry would be handy.
The problem might be connecting the receiver to the AP. If the receiver doesn’t have supported output such as PPM or SPort you will need an adapter or a new receiver.
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Hi Lupus,
this is quite clear and also a reason I stick on my old equipment. It is one of the very first Futaba FASST SBUS systems.
I have tried ardupilot on a very old cheapass flybar heli and it worked almost perfect though their were some limitations because of the heli itself buts it definitely duable here the video of my youtube channel u can see how it worked
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@goobisoft really cool
But let me first bring my much smaller TRex 250 (still manual controlled) to fly. 
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Yes i would like to also see a small heli doing such things 
I saw a Trex 150 with a Flight Controller running Arducopter on here. And that was with a blocky Pixracer. Much smaller FC’s available.
This was a blade 180 .
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Hello together,
This arming function of the AP is still not clear to me.
I read several threads were someone has problems with arming and as follow up with motor running.
I know the arming is a kind of safety feature that the Heli cannot run in any auto mode if some inputs are missing.
But in the manual modes like stabilized or altitude hold I don’t see a real reason if some inputs of sensors like compass or gps are missing or not in toleranz to inhibit motor running.
With traditional gyros or fbl-systems these systems run always from power up only the motor is not starting if the motor switch is set to motor on during pwer up. The motor swich (her called motor interlock) must be in the motor off position during system power up.
Is such behavior also possible with AP in manual modes?
Where can I see (and manipulate) all necessary inputs to the system for arming / disarming?
I don’t see any of this topic in the setup and first flight wiki of traditionall heli. Maybe I had not enough looked to it.
Best regards
Juergen
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U have to assign motor interlock on a channel and arming on another channel then first u toggle motor interlock switch then arming Switch then toggle again the motor interlock switch back to nromal then it will start the motor
Heli rsc motor is by default is on servo 8
Putting arm/disarm on a switch is not required. However, it is required that you arm the aircraft before you are able to fly. You will just do it by holding the throttle all the way down and putting in full right rudder until the aircraft arms. To disarm you hold the throttle all the way down and put in full left rudder until the aircraft disarms.
There are pre-arm checks that could keep you from arming if any of them fail. These are designed to catch any errors in your set up. So don’t turn them off. In your case you will tell the controller that you do not have a GPS and it will disregard that pre-arm check.
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With ardupilot, you can power up with the motor interlock switch (motor on/off) in either position but you must have it in the motor off position to arm. Once the controller successfully arms then you can use the motor interlock switch to turn on the motor.
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Hi guys and thanks for your replies,
These procedures are still clear to me so far.
It is more that I want to learn more of these pre-arm checks. Which are needed for which application and mode. What happens if the AP disarms by any reason during flight.
I am little in doubt if the heli is than still controlable by stabilized mode and the motor is still running.
If keep vibration levels low it should not disarm by itself or if u set collective minimum and maximum right it should not have any false landing detection
It determines that automatically. If you run into a problem then post your problem here and we can help you solve it.
Unlikely to happen. If it does, you will still have full control in a manual mode like stabilize however the engine will shut down. But again highly unlikely as long as you set it up properly. As @goobisoft eluded to, the collective set up is important and then be sure to set disable crash detection. It is enabled by default even on heli’s.
Again thanks to you guys, you are really helpful to a newbie like me.
Every time you answer I get new points to look at it.
Is there somewere a list of all best settings for a tradiheli. How is the collective pitch set right to not detect landing condition. As the heli can fly the full acrobatic programm collective pitch can go the full positive and also negative range.
I know and see if I get trouble I get good help from you and the community. But in worth case this is after a crash and I want to avoid this as much as possible.
Is there a possibility that the AP is just controlling the tail like a simple gyro or all servos like FBL system but the motor is directly controlled by the receiver.
The Tradheli wiki is the best source for heli specific settings. I don’t recall whether I specifically say in there to disable the crash detector but you have heard it here. There are videos that go with most of the set up pages, especially for the radio and swashplate set up. So please read the wiki and watch the videos. The collective set up supports aerobatic collective setups. The transition to stabilize mode to acro is not as smooth in those cases as the collective stick position is different. For example, in stabilize mode the collective range is set up from -2 to 10 deg typically so the hover point for the stick is halfway where as the collective range for acro could be -10 to 10 and the hover stick position is 3/4.
I don’t recommend this. This system is fully capable of handling everything if you follow the setup procedures.
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Thanks Bill,
yes I am reading the wiki and looking to all videos and information I can get.
At the time i am not able to go live through all points with misson planner or other ground system as I don’t have an AP right now.
Yes, you might be right that the AP can control a good system full automatic and I am just to scared.
Everything automatic is fine but in case of a failure to give the control back to manual but not allow to control also the engine is something I have problems with.
Either automatic or manual but this seems to me a little bit in between. And this is new to me.
Best regards
Juergen