Originally Posted by
mr_matt
I meant the dual path mode versus whatever other modes it has, for the 2 transmitters. I thought there were options.
Ah, thanks for the clarification. To answer your original question "can you explain what options you have with RF setup (the 2 radios and how they are bound) and how you came to a decision on your particular setup? And what receivers you are running?"
The DC-16 and the DS-16 transmitters have two RF transmitter modules inside and these can be set up as follows:
- "Default" mode which is where each of the two RF modules in the transmitter are active and alternatively communicate with a
single receiver in the plane.
- "Double Path" mode which is where each of the two RF modules in the transmitter communicate independently from each other with
two receivers in the plane.
- "Trainer" mode which is a method of linking two DC/DS-16 transmitters (one for the instructor and one for the strudent) wirelessly. The transmitter set in "instructor" mode has one RF module communicating with the plane while the other module communicates with the student's transmitter. The transmitter set in "student" mode has one RF module communicating with the instructor's transmitter. I think that the other RF module in the student's transmitter isn't used.
The decision as to whether to use the "Default" mode or the "Double Path" mode is essentially determined by the decision to use one or two receivers. Two receivers is a bit more expensive (but still cheap compared to the overall price of the jet) or there may be limited space in the plane (not likely as most of our jets have a fair amount of space inside and the receivers are reasonably small) or some other reason. If you choose to use two receivers, then you have to decide how you want to connect them.
Using two receivers can be done as follows:
(a) split the servos for each control between the two receivers; or
(b) use a Central Box
The connections for (a) are as follows:
- You could plug one aileron and one elevator servo into Rx #1 and the other aileron and elevator servo into Rx #2. If you have twin rudders, you can do the same thing with the rudder servos. There are some controls that only have one servo (throttle, nose wheel steering, brakes, retracts, etc) and would only be plugged into one receiver. If you lost that receiver, you would lose control of the servos connected to it, but at least you'd still have some aileron and elevator control from the other receiver and would have a better chance of getting your plane back. If you have a plane with a pair of servos on a control surface (eg two elevator servos driving a single elevator or flying stab like most Hawks or F-4's), you could connect one servo from each pair to Rx #1 and the other servo from each pair to Rx #2. If one receiver fails, the signal from the remaing receiver/servo would still drive the surface.
I need to confirm this but I believe that with this set up you would want to use the "Out Off" fail-safe selection for each of the servos for that control surface. "Out off" shuts off the output signal provided by the (failed) receiver and would enable the remaining good receiver/servo to drive the control surface without binding/fighting the failed receiver/servo (which would occur if the fail-safe selection was to hold positon or go to a preset position).
The connections for (b) are as follows:
- Each receiver and all servos are plugged into the Central Box. With this method, you have the added expense of the Central Box (still cheap in relation to the overall price of the jet) but the loss of one receiver would still give you control of all channels because all the servos are plugged into the Central Box which would be controlled by the remaining good receiver.
Currently I'm in the process of converting my fleet to Jeti receivers. All my planes that are in or near flying condition have only one receiver so I'll probably just replace the current receiver with the Jeti EX R14 receiver since it will be easy to do the swap. (I may later convert them to dual receivers). However, the new competition/heavy metal/$$$$ planes I'm building will probably get two receivers and a Central Box.
Regards,
Jim
P.S.: Please keep in mind that I'm still on the learning curve for this radio but the information above is what I understand so far. If any expert sees a mistake above, or if I'm missing something, please jump in.