flycolorado

I agree, that's second on my short list right after turning on failsafe and observing the plane at full throttle. It can be handy to have known problems to see how things react. Next I'll try my backup ignition module followed by a new spark plug (hey, you never know). After that I'll stick in another 2.4 reciever, and after that, well uhhh...

If I had to bet I'd go for a faulty ignition based on thefirst toasted battery but I want to make sure I cover all the bases.

Thanks for the reply.

bss_rcu

Mike,

These servos not behaving good with A123 after 10+ flights... not sure if that can be the reason. Both S3001(ailerons) and HS 225MG (elevator) are rated for 6v so no point in replacing A123 with 6v NiMH if they are still not liking 6v. Should I try 4.8V? Have already replaced the switch.

Thanks.

rctom

I see that you were using a Hitec 225 on elevators, that's an analog servo. Let me tell you about something that happened to me about a year ago.

I had a 100cc size plane with 2 Hitec 985s on ailerons. It had a Futaba radio, 12FG FASST. The plane had about 20-25 flights on it without any problems.

During a flight I noticed the plane had become a little glitchy in the roll axis. Normally I attribute that type of behavior to wind, but this day it was not windy. So I brought the plane down and observed the ailerons on the ground with the engine running.

I could see that from time to time the ailerons with the 985s were jumping around, and not just a little, they were jumping to half throw. Now the two servos on each wing were tied together with a Y cable, so I disconnected the control horn on one servo and retested, the ailerons still jumped. I tried one side only, then the other. All 4 servos were jumping around, although none of the other servos in the plane were jumpy.

I pulled them out and replaced them with something else, I don't remember what, but they worked fine. The problem was with the Hitec 985 analog servos, something had happened and after 4 hours of use they developed this bad behavior.

I sent them in to Hitec who sent them back saying there was nothing wrong with them. I tested them in another plane and they were still jumpy, so I tossed them and quit buying/using/selling them.

This all sounds familiar, your 225 going glitchy after working properly for a long time. Try replacing that servo with something else, either a new one of the same servo or some other digital servo.

I love Hitec products but their service department seems to have a narrow focus with a fixed test setup, if the product passes then it's OK no matter what the customer says. In this case I talked to them 3 times on the phone to clarify the problem, had they tested them in a live environment it would have been completely obvious that they were not working. But I'm guessing they just tested them on a bench where there was no vibration.

TF

bss_rcu

rctom,
Thanks sharing your experience. Will do some ground testing with engine running at half+ throttle. This way I will be able to evaluate if vibration has something to do with it. Servos shouldn't get worn so fast. [&o].

flycolorado,

Did you get solution to your problem? My issues look similar to yours except that I'm on glow.

flycolorado

bss rcu, no such luck, I have not had a chance to start my trouble shooting yet. I've got this terminal disease called a JOB! We just came up from a botched shutdown and after 4 days still have no machines up and running (ouch). Don't tell my boss I snuck off to check on RCU, eat and maybee get some sleep... Toss 20 years at a major corperation for a pay cut at a solar startup, what was I thinking?!?

czaiss

As far as certain RPMs causing the problem there is a perfectly sound explanation.

If the ignition is not shielded well enough, which many arent, the RF noise will cause a glitch in the transmission on all frequencies, ie obliterate the signal for a very short time.
The transmitter sends out its signal at fixed intervals and the messages are checked for accuracy via checksum or CRC or something so anything with a glitch would be ignored.
Now say you got your engine going at the same rate as thetransmissions, for example if they sent out 100 messages per second, 6000 rpm would perfectly strobe the data and make sure everyone is messed up until you change rpm, I have used a technique in certain high speed designs to partially randomize the transmit messagefrequency to reduce the recovery time during these situations, but Iam not a hitec radio programmer, so no such luck. Just have to shield your ignitions better, use seperate batteries for ignition and receiver, and keep them away from eachother.

Failsafes are a good idea, but you should check anyway what happens on the ground when you turn off the radio,and run your engine and go far away in range check mode until it quits. Make sure you havent set the failsafe wrong, Update failsafes once you have trimmed out the plane.

I've been using hs645MGs in my giant, no issue with twitching. Although I have at least once in the past had some problems with servos with poorly soldered leads inside, or seemingly perfect insides but still overly twitchy.

Mavrik!

Note that at this time you cannot have the flaps up with the slider (or switch) up if you want elevator compensation because it is set up to work from low to high and currently this orientation cannot be changed. In the future we should be able to swap the L/H on the sliders and switches so that down slider is down flaps. I hope this helps.



Read more: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_85...#ixzz0qdmfDojQ

Mike,

I need down slider and down flaps and elevator compensation!

Will this be fixed in V 1.07?

Is there another way to do it?

Mav

gsoav8r

My Feedback: (6)

When I was setting up flaps on my planes I found out what everyone else has concerning down slider with elevator comp. However, I also found that I could could just setup two channels as flap with down slider. Then use a PMIX to do a flap>elevator mix ignoring the Flap Cont option. The problem with the PMIX thou was that the elevator mix only worked from the mid or neutral slider point to full down. On the top half of the slider there was no elevator mix happening.
I theorize thou, that if desperate, you could set up your flap linkages so that top half slider would only control about 10% of the flap travel and the bottom half control the other 90% of the flap travel. In theory you could have 90% of your flap travel controlling 100% of the elevator comp travel. Hope I described that ok. I dont think youd want full up flap coincident with a centered Sx or it could be trying to center and buzz a lot, maybe.
Anyway, I just quit using the slider option all together and just use the Air Brake option on a switch for flaps. It just works for me but I realize that may not be an option for some.
Cheers.

Highflight

My Feedback: (4)

For my part, Mike, I wasn't complaining as much as I was just getting a little concerned that maybe my order had been lost.
I understand the big picture of things that can happen when a company is "too" successful at something, and the A9 project has certainly turned out to be that.

Anyway, I just got my two receivers yesterday, and since my order had been sent in not very long before the deadline, it appears that the floodgates may have opened and I'll bet that lots of people will be getting their RX's darn soon.


Thanks, Mike. But the next question is: How soon will the 9-channel RX's be available from all your dealers?

JIMF14D

Lots of 9 channels on Ebay. Tom's Rc has them for $83 if you log in.

czaiss

Hi Mike

two questions, are they going to come out with a fix for having to relink all planes when changing between scan and normal.

Is it possible to change the behaviour of the receivers during short reception loss. I'm looking at this because Itoo keep getting glitches only noticable on the engine because it has an electronic cutoff, during short outages, the receiver output goes to midrange which causes the kill switch to turn on and off continuously causing engine shutdowns. If its short the engine will continue running but its worrying. I have my failsafe set to leave the ignition on, however the failsafe does not activate until 2 or 3 seconds have gone by, in the mean time leaving the servos soft. If the purpose of the failsafe is to keep the plane flying straight and level then its too late, 2 seconds of loose servos will have the plane heading for the ground in no time.

It would be really good if they simply held strong the last commanded positionand go straight to failsafe after only

JIMF14D

I just checked one of my planes with 7 channel and failsafe is 1 second. Also the controls do not seem to really be soft during that one second. At 60MPH=88ft/sec is the distance your plane travels in that second. So if you are pointed down close to the ground it could be all over if you fly low!

One thing to remember is failsafe keeps you at trimmed attitude, not straight and level unless you are straight and level before the link is broken.

If you are nose down or in a hover 5 feet off the ground, failsafe may not be the answer.

It is a simple failsafe, not an all attitude recovery system!

That is why God made glue Ithink.....

czaiss

Soft may not be the right word, But they do go midrange, the picoswitch is activated as is passes 50%, which is the impression I get from the others servos making a jump to their 50% positions just before going to their failsafe positions. If the receiver was working properly the way I have my failsafe the picoswitch would not be turned off ever.

They should stay at the last commanded position, or go directly to failsafe.

As far as the purpose of the failsafe, I agree, its not there to fly the plane, but I expect that it doesnt send it into an uncontrollable death spiral before going to failsafe or giving the control back.
It is sort of lucky that this only occurs on the big gas plane(due to EI), as it is not as inclined to make sudden course corrections, so in the air the only thing that can be noticed is the engine.

JIMF14D

You are seeing midrange movment in the air or on the bench?When Itry it on the bench Isee either the surface position from the stick or fail safe (trims) 1 second later.

Some day with an old plane high up Iwill be brave enough to turn off the TX and really test it! Maybe pull a loop and at the 45 degree up postion do the on/off and pray: "Hitec don't let me down now"!

gsoav8r

My Feedback: (6)

While I understand what your getting at concerning the test, the problem is that the A9 Tx startup is involved. When you turn on the Tx there is the Welcome and then you can select Transmit. I just did a quick test and it took me at least 3 seconds to get the A9 transmitting. Then Id guess theres another second for the Rx to link back up. Maybe 4-5 seconds in all before youd get control back.
All Im getting at is please be carefull doing a failsafe test for real in flight. I think powered level flight at many mistakes high then forcing the failsafe would be your best bet at a successful test. hmmm. to bad I dont have a trainer to play with.
Cheers,
James

JIMF14D

Yes Iunderstand. Ten mistakes high may be good....

OldRookie

My Feedback: (13)

Sounds like a good way to ruin a perfectly good plane.

Greg

Michel

Hi

Use a foamy , there almost indestructible , at least almost

gsoav8r

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, I think you could pull it off with an E-flight Apprentice. Those things will glide forever.

Gungadin

Well here it is the middle of June and I still have not received the 7 ch. Rx from the wonderful promotion. I had to fly my first pattern contest of this season with my old Futaba radio as a result. I sent the coupon in on march 24th. I'm loosing my enthusiasm for the Aurora 9. My futaba served me well one more time. That promotion has given me a sour taste on Hitec. Just my opinion.

Michel

Hi
This may seem a little strange

Many many moons ago , we moved receivers from plane to plane , or from craft to craft , whatever . The models, that we put the receivers in are so easy to get , we all ( or most of us ) , don,t bring one model to the club anymore . We bring back-ups and others to back them up .
But than again , the radio,s are not yesterdays radio,s . I believe that what have us tic,ed off , is the fact that Hitec has made promotional commitment , that they haven,t kept . As far as what I have received is a statement that a load of receivers came in last week . I,m in my 14th week . I at least expected them , looooonnnnggggg before this .

But I am still hoping to hear from them soon , hec it,s better than dispare . It,s just NOT what I expected , late is getting into NEVER . And the verdict is : there in a win win situation , they sell more receivers

Michel

Michel

Hi

You make it sound like you didn,t get any receiver with the radio ?

ExcaliburIII

Pretty sure I could move my one 9c reciever from my #1 to my #2 in less than 5 minutes. Switch programs and be flying without breaking a sweat, O wait I broke a sweat just going out the front door to go to the field. May hit 100 again today, it's now building season here in Florida!! LOL

Wally

Gungadin

Michel

You mean I was supposed to get one with the radio too ?

Michel

Hi

guess you don,t get out much ,