What the hell does proportional mean? Like when it says Throtle: Proportional, Elevator: Proportional

means that basically the amount of movement (distance, speed, etc) of the surface (or servo) are the same as the movement of the stick on the radio.....
ie: move the aileron control stick 1/2 way...the aileron only goes 1/2 way...
move it fast... the surface goes fast, move it slowly the surface goes slowly

I'm sure there is a much better description of it somewhere... but that is how I describe it....

Have a look at the glossary

http://www.rcuniverse.com/community/glossary.cfm

The retract servo isn't proportional; You can only switch it up, or down. Full travel, one way or the other.

The throttle (or elevator, or rudder, or aileron) servo will move a distance proportional to the distance you move the transmitter stick.

Best wishes,
Dave Olson

Ahem... Time to show my age here.

Some of the early radios back in the 60's were NOT proportional. You had toggle switches that would return to center when released. One switch per channel. But these were the first radios to give you 4 channels! (A big deal in those days!) It even had it's own name - "Full House". But you had to "blip" the switches to avoid getting full deflection of the control surfaces. (the Throttle switch returned to center, but the servo stayed where it was last set)

The next generation of radios featured "Full House Proportional" Those were some of the first "2-Stick" transmitters, and WOW!!!! That was the hottest thing ever!

Of course, nowadays you rarely hear the word "Proportional" unless it is used to say things like "Retract Servos are NOT Proportional"

Hey Mike B.,

What about Galloping Ghost and Escapement? <heeheehee> I'm showing my age, too.

Dr.1

MinnFlyer:

I know that this is not the appropriate thread, but I must say thank you, job well done on the recent "covering"
videos you did for RCU. Thank you, I learned a lot and will be a lot less nervous with my first covering job.

Thank You