pvogel
Posts: 263
Score: 100
Joined: 1/17/2009
Last Login: 5/22/2013
From: Santa Clara,
CA, USA
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Regarding the DC-16, I had a chance to run it through the programming paces last night and today WOW.
16 free mixes (though there are no "standard" mixes like rudder/elevator or flap/elevator, etc. so any mix you need will use a free mix (except standard control configs like ailevator, butterfly, swash, etc.), incredibly versatile control surface preset options (1-4 aileron servos, 1-2 elevator servos, 1-2 rudder servos, 1-4 flap servos) my only complaint is the 2 elevator/1 rudder tail option is treated as "Ailevators" which defaults to setting the elevators up to induce roll when you do ailerons, but that's easy to turn off in the "Ailevator" settings, just don't forget! But beyond the presets, you can set up any number of receiver channels to take their commands from any input control, proportional or switch. Each independent channel can of course be subtrimmed, reversed, travel adjusted in either or both directions, etc. Mixes can be chained so that the output of one mix is the input of another, you can also choose to have a mix influenced by dual rates + expo or not so its based on stick position or on output values.
10 fully programmable timers that can be free running, start/pause, or lap and count down or up, activated by any switch, including stick position switches on any proportional channel. Feedback from the timer can be beeps, voice, or just displayed or even just tracked. You can even set up which timers are cleared when you turn the radio on and off.
telemetry is built in to the Mezon ESCs and the receivers, you always get telemetry of the individual receiver antenna performance and the RX battery state (and, with a Mezon ESC the current consumed + pack voltage) but other stuff is optional and typically has to go through the telemetry input expander unit. There's a very cool app for a PC that will read the telemetry log (see below for the unique way the TX interfaces with a PC) and play it back for you over time, if you have GPS telemetry it will show the whole track of your plane (in 2D) over google maps (any display option).
The TX presents to a PC (or MAC!) as an external storage device over a standard USB cable, with a very intuitive directory structure making it trivial to archive models on your PC, pull telemetry logs, transfer audio files (.wav only) for custom alarms or even a pre-recorded sequence caller to prompt you as you are learning a new sequence :-) SW updates are as simple as copying the contents of a zip file into the root of the transmitter "drive" (using your PC or MAC) and then turning the TX off and back on.
The TX is fully capable of acting as a Jetibox to program receivers, ESCs, etc.
Very easy to adjust stick length, any switch can be moved or swapped out (i.e. if you want fewer or more 3 position switches or spring loaded switch). A total of 8 proportional controls (the usual 4 on the sticks in any mode configuration with two side sliders (L + R) and two knobs (L+R)). The back comes off very cleanly by removing 10 machine screws giving you full access to everything in the back for moving stuff around, swapping switches, or changing stick tension, smooth + ratchet tension on the throttle stick, not to mention swapping out the 3200mAh lipo if you like.
Any number of logical switches can be programmed to turn conditions on/off based on physical or logical control positions.
At least 16 flight modes can be programmed and named, to be activated by any number of switches that might be needed. Transition from mode to mode can be arbitrarily delayed.
Very flexible control curves with 3, 4, 5, 7, or 9 points which can be placed arbitrarily on the X + Y plane.
Many settings can be set up as global or per-flight mode, with the transition from global to per-mode resulting in the global setting getting copied to all mode settings as the starting point for tweaking per-mode.
You can set up throttle cut and throttle idle switches to move the throttle to a specific position (i.e. -125%) for cut and to apply a specific offset to the throttle (pos or neg) which seems like a very natural way to disable the brake by maintaining a slow idle on an electric and enable it at will by flipping a switch.
My head is still spinning a bit, but I was able to set up my griffin in under 30 minutes, almost as quick and easy as on my DX10t and the time difference was just a matter of familiarity.
They've found a clever way around the model match patent (which relies on the RX seeing a GUID from the TX and only listening to that GUID) in this case the RX sends its serial number to the TX when you bind (since communication between TX and RX is bi-directional) and if the TX doesn't see the serial number for the RX(s) that were bound for the model memory it won't transmit, so you do get model match functionality.
Once I get the griffin ready to fly, etc. I'll post a video of setting it up from scratch in the radio and do a flying review in a separate thread.
Peter+
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> Pattern Universe - RC Pattern Flying >> RC Pattern Flying >> NSRCA/AMA EXPO 
NSRCA/AMA EXPO - 
, any word from Andrew on when it might be brought to market?
