Aussie Bart

As Doug said Matt, the MPDX-1 is still supported when the radio is in FAAST (14 channel) mode. All my settings were carried over into the 18 MZ without problems.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

WOW great news, and more detail than I got from futaba!!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11021060

thanks Bart!

Aussie Bart

Yeah I saw that post Matt and then crapped myself as I had been flying my Mig (fitted with an MPDX-1) only the week before on the new 18MZ,and had not even thought about if the MPDX-1 was compatable!!! I went out to the shed last night and had a look at my 18MZ and found that in the FASSTest mode there is no MP option in the linkage menu, but when dropped into FASST there is.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Hi Bart,

remember it is not a bug, that is an undocumented feature!

Kevin, what kind of setup are you looking at? Are you going to run one of these power distribution thingies or what?

I did notice futaba is releasing some of their very large servo mechanics on S Bus, high voltage no less!

Maybe if i sell 1/2 dozen NIB 8711's I have I can afford to buy one of them!!

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

Matt,
For now I am just converting my Bobcat and Bandit, so I am just using 6 PWM connections for flight control surfaces and three Sbus connections for non-critical functions. I am not running any special power distribution boxes, but I will probably run an inline voltage regulator for my A-123 pack. I see no reason to spend the time and money to re-wire and re-servo two perfectly good airplanes.
I set up all the PWM functions on the Bobcat last night in about an hour. It was a very simple setup since I didn't use any mixes, but I found the software very easy to navigate and set up. My SBD-1's are supposed to arrive today so I should be able to do the Sbus programming tonight. I will need to do some mixing between PWM channels and servos that are running on Sbus, hopefully there won't be any issues with that.

So Matt, do you know the answer to whether or not the "Extra Power" telemetry connection to the receiver has to be applied only when the receiver is powered up?
I would really like to wire the ECU pack into this, but not if I have to keep it disconnected at all times when the receiver is off.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Kevin I don't know, ask Bart he seems to know more than futaba!

Seriously, it is generally good practice to make sure electronic devices are powered up before applying voltage to the input pins.

All I can think of is the protection circuitry. Some devices have diode protection on the input/output pins. These devices can be some sort of diode in many cases. If the other side of the diode is not energized (in this case no receiver battery) then the input can become a short or close to it when you apply the voltage at the input (the ECU battery in your case).

Not sure if this has anything to do with it or not. A good designer should have found a way around this but maybe they did not think of the use case (telemetry), it is clearly pretty new for RC.

k_sonn

My Feedback: (32)

A word of caution for those who are planning to convert from the 12 FG to the 18 MZ, the channel assignments are not the same. Here's a break down for the 2 Ail + 2 Flap setup:

Channel 12 FG 18 MZ
1 Elevator Aileron
2 Rudder Elevator
3 Throttle Throttle
4 AileronRudder
5 Aileron2Aileron2
6Gear Flap
7Flap Flap2
8 Flap2 Gear
9 Aux4 Aux5
10 Aux3 Aux4
11 Aux2 Aux3
12 Aux1 Aux2


Kirk

Bob_B

My Feedback: (11)

You can remap the channels anyway you choose in the function menu and you can rename them as you choose too. It is the ultimate in versitility!

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

I received my SBD-1 hubs yesterday. After about an hour or more of failing to get them programmed with the Sbus servo function in the 18mz I finally did some searching on the internet and figured out that they can only be programmed with the little programming box, or the USB interface and PC link software. Needless to say I was rather disappointed, since I had assumed that they could be programmed using the transmitter just like regular sbus servos.
I ordered the CIU-2 USB interface so I can finish the job next week.

As high as the price of this system is, it seems they could have at least included the USB interface with it since it can be useful (or even necessary) for a lot of different function on this radio.

BaldEagel

All the channels on both the 12FG and 18MZ can be re-configured to whatever position you want, so the above does not apply, as said above the most versatile Tx's available

Mike

firehorse

Hi,
is the LS slider on the left of the radio have a detent in the middle position

the one on the right does

???

Carsten Groen

All mine (LST,LS,RS,RST) has detents in the middle, although the lefthand (LS) is a little weaker that the others!

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Mike it would be relevant if you had a model already setup on a 12Fg with s.bus assignments and you converted to the new 18mz. Naturally, once you change the associations in the rx to match your model you'd be fine.
Enjoying the info on this new radio....suspect I'll skip right over the 14 one day. [8D]

Bob_B

My Feedback: (11)

Sliders and dials(Knobs) have detents at the center position.
Bob

BaldEagel

On the 12FG there is a bleep from the internal sounder when it gets there, I should think the 18MZ also has this.

Mike

Bob_B

My Feedback: (11)

Yes it has the beep too!

firehorse

uh oh..

mick15

Has enyone got the full 18 channels to work with the Powerbox Cockpit SRS?

m

Aussie Bart

Mick

The PB Cockpit only has 10 channels plus sequencer, if you want more you need to use the S Bus system as well.

mick15

Hi Bart, I can get 16 incl sequencer from mine, it's DG1 and DG2 that don't operate.

What do you mean "as well"?

m

Aussie Bart

Sorry Mick, my mistake. It is actually 12 channels that can be used. Ports A, B, C, D = 4 tx channels that have 2 sockets each that are matched outputs, next 7 tx channels = ports E, F, G, H, I, J, K are all single outputs, the 12th tx channel is port L but this channel can only be used for the gear sequencer. The "Mapping" function of the PB cockpit allows any tx channel to be assigned t6o any output, however in all of mine it only goes up to 12. The last one I bought and fitted was about 3 months ago in my FEJ F4, so I don't know if the software has changed but on the PB web site they still only quote "Signal amplification for a total of 12 channels and 21 servo's"

In my F4, I needed channels 13 & 14 (DG1 & 2) so I connected (Y Lead) a Futaba SBD-1 triple PWM S Bus decoder and programmed the SBD-1 to channels 13 & 14 anf this worked well..

Carsten Groen

When you assign sounds to buttons etc (in the linkage menu), is it possible to adjust the volume of the sounds ?
Using the "Player" function there is a seperate volume control, but I can't find any for the sounds (like tx on/tx off, gear down etc etc)

The strange thing is that when I move the LD or RD, the sound is higher, but if playing again the sound is weaker. Every time the knob is turned, the next sound is higher in volume, but the following is then again softer, until the knob is turned again (and so on )....

Skaluf

We have just released a new version of the 18MZ software. This release adds additional functionality to the telemetry features including synthesized voice readout of the sensor(s) status.

The timer function now has vibration alerts. The camera shutter can be assigned to a switch, max RPM can be displayed by condition and much more.

Download it now at: http://www.futabarc.com/software-updates.html

Have fun!

Steve

cairoman

Well,

I keep getting "Update failure, the update files are not compatible with the transmitter".

For those of us, in Europe, who bought the 18 from Robbe...are there different update files???

Erik van Dijen

Hi, the Robbe update 2.1.0 is also available from their secured site.Did you buy yours in Europe?

Regards, Erik.