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-   -   SD10G: Motor "kill switch"? (https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/airtronics-support-forum-516/9971804-sd10g-motor-%22kill-switch%22.html)

Jetdesign 08-31-2010 12:13 PM

SD10G: Motor "kill switch"?
 
Hey guys,

I think there's a way to setup the radio (SD10G, for electric power system) so that a switch must be activated for the motor to enter running mode.

I fly F3A contests, and generally I arm the ESC in the pits and have a caller bring my plane to the landing strip. Likewise, after a flight my caller is responsible for retrieving my plane. I would love to have the ability to flip a switch to ensure my motor won't start spinning for any reason, such as the throttle stick being bumped, etc.

Is this possible? How is it done?

Thank you, and thanks for this forum! Airtronics rules ;)

ArchNemesis 08-31-2010 12:25 PM

RE: SD10G: Motor
 
Hey Joe,

there's a few ways to accomplish this and we can play with it in person at the Cincinnati contest, but basically justassign the "Throttle Cut" function to a switch rather than to the pre-assigned button (I think the default is switch 32 which is the button on top) and then set your throttle kill to the lowest point.

IF you're using fixed endpoints on your Speed Controller, then anytime you have this switch active, the motor will be off and your throttle stick is effectively deactived so it can't start if you bump it.

If you're using Auto throttle, you're still ok with the switch activated, just be aware that if it's active when you plug your battery in, it's going to sense that bottom throttle position as your "LOW" setting and it may mess up your idle trim depending on where you like to have it set. Prior to changing to fixed end points for throttle, I would have the throttle cut switch OFF when I plugged in my batteries as I had my throttle cut set lower than my lowest idle setting.

In conjunction with this, it's also nice to set your Idle down function to the flying idle you want to use. I have that on a switch, so right before take off, I flip ON the idle down which is set to my flying idle, this starts the motor.... I fly my flight, and then flip that off to land. After landing I turn the throttle cut on to effectively disable the motor.

You can go one step further and put the throttle cut on TWO switches "and-ed" together to avoid even bumping one of them.

Hope this helps! Looking forward to meeting you in a few weeks!

-Mark Atwood
Team Airtronics

Anthony-RCU 09-04-2010 03:17 PM

RE: SD10G: Motor
 
Hi Joe,
How are things going? I hear you are becoming a D4 guy?

I do things a little different then Mark. I use a switch with the bottom position as the kill switch. The full up is my regular flying with idle and the middle position I used the idle up set low to activate the brake. I am still learning to use the brake so I don't use it that much and found it annoying to deal with during stalls, landing, etc.

Try both see what works for you.


Jetdesign 09-04-2010 08:37 PM

RE: SD10G: Motor
 
Anthony, things are going better than I could ever imagine. I'm headed out to Cincinnati to design combuster exit nozzles on large commercial aircraft engines for General Electric. It's an internship, hopefully with the possibility of a full-time career when it's done. I will look forward to flying against you next summer, in the D4-D1 shootout ;)

I will try both setups. I'm experimenting with the brake, too. I use it pretty much just because people say my plane accelerates in down lines. Truthfully, it's not very noticeable in Sportsman. I do use a small amount of throttle for my stall turns, carried over from a struggle I had with the Venus.

Anyway this radio is awesome. Tons of possibilities, and many ways to accomplish them. Haven't really had a chance to fly since the last contest a month and a half ago, but should have some time to warm up next week before the D4 finale and play with some settings. The big thing I was wondering was what to set the switch to, which I learned is anywhere below my low throttle point.

Thanks guys.


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