Ive set my dual rates for the first time today i have a dx7 radio and im setting up my eflite mini pulse ive got a few questions : on travel adjustments i have my L aileron at 130% and my R aileron at 135% my elevator was ok at 100% L and R and my rudder was L 100% and R 105% is it ok to have different settings or should each rudder ,aileron and elevator be the same i set my expo to -40 on low rates should the hi rates be set at -40 also and last everywhere i read it says to rebind after setting the rates do i need to unhook all servos from my receiver to rebind or is there a way to do it with everything hooked to the receiver?

G'day Mate,
First off, you need to set your Expo to "+" not "-", Futaba uses "-" for Expo, JR or Spektrum use "+", leave the servos plugged in & bind when ready to fly.
If I were you I would set my low rates to about 40%, or you may find it very hard to control, for the first few flights, until it is trimmed.

i was told + would make it way more sensative and i wouldnt want that?

He's right on Spektrums and JR's "+" is LESS sensitive around center.

Minus settings make the plane more twitchy and harder to control.

Remember that you DO NOT want to over do it on Expo.

Expo is a way of re-obtaining the linearity of stick to control surface movement.

If you go too high on expo ( say well over +50% ) you are pushing most of the movement to the extremes of stick travel.

That means the plane will not appear to be too responsive around center stick, but as you move the stick to the side to compensate, control surface travel ramps up quickly, which results in you overcontrolling the plane.

so what would you guys say i should set the expo at and do i set it on hi and low rates both

For my first flights, I set up my throws so that at HIGH rates I'm using the recommended throws in the manual.

For low rates I'll use 50 to 60% of that.

In a corresponding manner I set up the Expo for HIGH rates to be 50% and 20 to 30% on low for ailerons and elevator.

Rudder you want lower so I have it at 35% Expo for high rates and 15 - 20% expo on low rates.

The idea is to keep the plane easily flyable for it's maiden flight...


Then I fly the plane and see how it goes.

If it's two responsive I can bring it in on low rates.

If I find it too sluggish I'll dial up the throws so that the surfaces move beyond the recommended for high rates, but within or less than the recommended for low rates ( remembering to leave in enough elevator for landings ).

I leave the Expo the same, and just adjust the throws.

thanks opjose i think i got it now but just to double check instead of the -40 expo i have on my elevator and ailrons i should have around +20 or 30% and on my rudder i should have +15?

With the higher deflections or throws of the higher rates, you want more expo when using high, which is why I use about 50% for high rates.

You do not want to do this to the rudder to the same degree, or else you'll find that if the plane yaws at takeoff, you'll slam the stick and overcontrol.

I typically use lower expo on the rudder to give me better, but less "finer" control during takeoff.

ok i am going to set the rudder at +35% on hi rates and +20 % on low the ele at +50% on hi and +25% on low rates and the aileron at+ 50% on hi and +25% on low hopefully that will get me flyin anyway! thank you very much for you help!!

Set all the high rates on the radio to be 100%. The radio is most accurate and the servos most accurate when the radio is working at 100%. Then set your surface throws on the airplane with the servo arm, pushrod, and horn to give you whatever throw the manual suggests for high rates.

Pretty simple so far. And easy to do.

Then setup each function in the radio to whatever percentage gives the low rate throw recommended by the manual.

As for expo..... If you've never used it before, try something like +30 for JRs and -30 for Futabas. And you set it for each surface at each rate setting for most of the better radios.