Dumb Radio Question
 

I've been flying a while but have a dumb radio question. When setting up a plane on my Futaba T6xas, I usually set the ATV % to my desired maximum throw for each control surface (according to plane manufacturer's recommended throws). But what I don't understand, is how ATV relates to Dual Rates. My high rate for ailerons and elevator is usually set at the ATV setting or 100% on the dual rates. My low rate I set by the dual rate, say 50%. Is this the correct way of doing this? It doesn't make sense to me as the ATV and high rate are more or less the same thing. Any thoughts?

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

ATV is the lazy man's way of setting the control rates. It should be done mechanically as best you can, and then use ATV for fine tuning (if you must).

That said, once you set the ATV, that is now 100% of your throw. So if you set the ATV to 50%, that becomes 100% of your throw as far as your radio is concerned - So when you set your High Rates to 100%, you still get 50% of your servo's throw. If you set the Low Rate to 50%, you're getting only 25% of your servo's throw.

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

Okay, understand all that. But is there any reason to set your ATV for absolute maximum travel, and then limit your high rate and low rate by a percentage of the ATV? For example, I fly warbirds, if I set my elevator for maximum throws, flying this way could be problematic or disastrous. I guess either way you do it is fine, just as long as you get the throws needed for your low and high rate settings.

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

No. You should start by setting your servo throw to 100%

Now, adjust your LINKAGES to get the amount of control movement you want - Don't use ATV to do this (unless it is a minor adjustment)

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

Before you even "activate" dual rates you should have the control surface travel adjusted (mechanically & ATV) to whatever the high rate values are. Then activate dual rates. High rate percentage will be 100 and the low rate percentage will be whatever it takes to get close to the recommended low rate travel.

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

The above explanations are correct. You always want your ATV as close to 100% (or greater) as you can get it by adjusting the mechanical linkage. If you use the ATV to dial down the amount of throw for high rates using dual rates, you are reducing both the available torque of the servo as well as the resolution.

Woodie

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

I read your question about 3 times, and I read the responses a couple more times and I am not sure if the responses below your question actually answered your question. let me know if this helps.

As expressed by others, you should set your ATV to the maximum number that you want (typically 100% or a little more) then set-up your flying surfaces to the ABSOLUTE maximum for safe flight or as recommended by the manufacturer. That should be your high rates. I absolutely see no reason to make the high rates anything lower than 100% if you do, then you are limiting even further your total travel. That plays with servo torque and resolution as expressed before. Then you set the low rates to the desired number.

I hope that is a bit clearer.

Rafael

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

I've seen manufacturers confuse the issue by saying low rate, high rate, and 3D rate as well.

As others have said, your ATV (and mechanical adjustments) set your high rate, your low rate would be some lesser percentage of that.

RE: Dumb Radio Question
 

Okay, that is the way I've always done it. I set the mechanical and ATV combined to achieve my high rate throws, keep the high rate at 100% and then set the low rate at a lesser percentage to achieve the low rate throws. I think the Dual Rates are just a bit confusing, as the high rate should always be set to 100%. As stated, if you reduce the high rate, you lose some travel of your control surfaces. Thanks for the answers and clarification.