Help! Transmitter Set Up
- Thread starter buzzbomb
- Start date
Hey buzzbomb, i saw you asked for my help on my thread, after reading all this i'm not sure if i can add anything anyone else has already said. On my tx I just fiddled around in the settings and watched some youtube videos and read some threads to set mine up. I didnt use any expo or dual rates on my storch, I just limited the rudder and elevator throws, assigned the flaps to a switch and mixed the rudder and ailerons as well as mixed the elevator and flaps.
Are you still having trouble with your 9x?
buzzbomb
I know nothing!
It's not so much that I'm having trouble with it, as it is I simply don't know what I'm doing. For instance my question above. It's never been actually said that I can recall, but I thought dual rates were set up on a single switch. I've got three, and I can't figure out how to get them on one. I've programmed them as positive, but negative values are possible. I don't really know that using positive is correct.
The manuals say "Click here to change this." I just don't know what to change a given value to. Or if I should be changing it all. I watched one video and the guy has half the controls reversed, he says "Just set yours up like this and it will work." with no explanation of why I need to reverse that particular control.
I've learned I can't set my throws until I finish the TT. My current thinking is hook everything up once the bird is complete, and experiment (without the propellor on!)
I'm rereading what I've written, and I sound frustrated. I'm really not. I'm just working through it and have a lot to learn.
It's quite common to have two switches for dual rates. They're normally on the top front of your transmitter - one on either side, and the right one is for the ailerons and the left for the elevator. Some transmitters have a third switch, often on the top, for rudder D/Rs, though you wouldn't normally need to use it. When you have a 3ch setup, the rudder is plugged in to the aileron slot, so you use the aileron D/R switch.
None of this is very complicated once you figure out what it is. Basically, all you need to do is set your aileron and elevator throws, then set your aileron and elevator D/Rs to 60% of whatever the throws are. When you fly your plane with the two switches up, you get full throws (whatever you set) and when you put the switches down, you get 60% of those throws. You only need to put the switch down if your plane is a bit lively. It can be lively in pitch, roll/turn or both, so you have the option of using either switch or both. Forget about rudder D/Rs. You won't need them at this stage, and probably never will.
When you do your maiden flight with the D/Rs set like I suggest, you set them to off for your first take-off, so that you get the full throws. Your goal is to keep enough control to get to a safe height , so keep the plane as straight as you can while you climb to about 30ft. Next, reduce the throttle so that you still have enough power to climb slightly, but the plane will slow down a bit to get better control. As soon as you've reduced the throttle, you can put both D/R switches to the low position and think about turning so that the plane doesn't go too far away. If you find that you don't have enough control movement to go up and down and left to right, you can flip back whichever switch you need to. If all is OK, climb to about 100ft and reduce the throttle to about 33%, then see what the plane does when you let go of the sticks. Trim with the elevator and aileron trim switches until it flies with hands off. Finally, enjoy the rest of the flight because if you get that far, it'll be easy.
You can use the D/Rs on the simulator to practice with them. In fact you can practice all of those things if you write them down and practice the sequence on the simulator to build up your brain muscle memory, so that the training will overcome the panic in that first flight. It's the lack of thinking that kills most planes on that first flight, not the lack of ability. Look at all the Youtube vids of first flights. You see people with controls going the wrong way and motors turning the wrong way because they forgot to do pre-flight checks, then they launch and forget to reduce the throttle, so the plane is buzzing all round the sky totally out of control until it crashes. That's all without ever getting the plane trimmed.
None of this is very complicated once you figure out what it is. Basically, all you need to do is set your aileron and elevator throws, then set your aileron and elevator D/Rs to 60% of whatever the throws are. When you fly your plane with the two switches up, you get full throws (whatever you set) and when you put the switches down, you get 60% of those throws. You only need to put the switch down if your plane is a bit lively. It can be lively in pitch, roll/turn or both, so you have the option of using either switch or both. Forget about rudder D/Rs. You won't need them at this stage, and probably never will.
When you do your maiden flight with the D/Rs set like I suggest, you set them to off for your first take-off, so that you get the full throws. Your goal is to keep enough control to get to a safe height , so keep the plane as straight as you can while you climb to about 30ft. Next, reduce the throttle so that you still have enough power to climb slightly, but the plane will slow down a bit to get better control. As soon as you've reduced the throttle, you can put both D/R switches to the low position and think about turning so that the plane doesn't go too far away. If you find that you don't have enough control movement to go up and down and left to right, you can flip back whichever switch you need to. If all is OK, climb to about 100ft and reduce the throttle to about 33%, then see what the plane does when you let go of the sticks. Trim with the elevator and aileron trim switches until it flies with hands off. Finally, enjoy the rest of the flight because if you get that far, it'll be easy.
You can use the D/Rs on the simulator to practice with them. In fact you can practice all of those things if you write them down and practice the sequence on the simulator to build up your brain muscle memory, so that the training will overcome the panic in that first flight. It's the lack of thinking that kills most planes on that first flight, not the lack of ability. Look at all the Youtube vids of first flights. You see people with controls going the wrong way and motors turning the wrong way because they forgot to do pre-flight checks, then they launch and forget to reduce the throttle, so the plane is buzzing all round the sky totally out of control until it crashes. That's all without ever getting the plane trimmed.
No, a single switch is how some other brands are set up. The 9X, has 3 switches for dual rates, one for elevator, one for aileron & one for rudder.
There are 2 values for each rate, a percentage for throw & a percentage for expo. I’d say both should be positive, I can not think of any reason for a negative value. You flip the rate switch to adjust the second rate. Which switch position is high or low is your choice. When you turn the 9X on, it will give you a "Switch Error" until all of them are in the up position.
Correct, you have no way of knowing what the values should be until you build your plane & have everything installed. Settings end points, rates & throws is one of the final steps.
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You may reverse a control to make it go the correct way, make the plane turn right when you give it right input. You may or may not need to reverse your servos. Way back in the old school days they had to physically reverse servos, install the servo arm on the opposite side. You needed to think about servo direction BEFORE you built the plane to make sure they were going the correct way.
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Set end points to prevent binding. If for some reason the servo is binding (hitting something) it wants to move farther but can’t. It will start buzzing. If you can, cut out the offending piece, but if you could not cut it out, adjust the end point to prevent binding.
Set throws & expo to suit your personal preference. Some like no expo others like a lot more than I do, I usually have 30-40%. Expo is like an automatic dual rate. When the sick is in the middle, it's like low rates, when you move the stick to the end, it's like high rates. Example, in the middle a 10% stick move will give a 5% surface move. Near the end a 10% stick move will give a 20% surface move. When I maiden a plane, I start with stock throw settings until the plane is trimmed. When trimmed, I’ll crank up the throws to have some fun.
You are better off to adjust throws by changing the linkage rather than through the radio. Your radio has about 1,000 steps, from one extreme to the other. If you turn your throws down to 25%, now you have only 250 steps, not 1,000. Your better off to keep better resolution and change your linkage. To reduce throw move the linkage to a lower hole in the servo and/or a higher hole on the surface.
Set throws & expo to suit your personal preference. Some like no expo others like a lot more than I do, I usually have 30-40%. Expo is like an automatic dual rate. When the sick is in the middle, it's like low rates, when you move the stick to the end, it's like high rates. Example, in the middle a 10% stick move will give a 5% surface move. Near the end a 10% stick move will give a 20% surface move. When I maiden a plane, I start with stock throw settings until the plane is trimmed. When trimmed, I’ll crank up the throws to have some fun.
You are better off to adjust throws by changing the linkage rather than through the radio. Your radio has about 1,000 steps, from one extreme to the other. If you turn your throws down to 25%, now you have only 250 steps, not 1,000. Your better off to keep better resolution and change your linkage. To reduce throw move the linkage to a lower hole in the servo and/or a higher hole on the surface.
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