hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 understanding
 

No matter how many times i try to understand the manul for the hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 receiver i still know nothing ok here it goes i know it has mixing for like a flying wing and V tail mixing but can i use 2 servos for a plane were it would only have one servo on the wing and if so do i hook each servo up to a channel it self and not use the mixing like channels 1 and 2 am i way off and it cant use 2 servos in the wing or do i hook them up and still use the mixing for elevon (quote) this plane i have is not a flying wing it is a H9 cessna needs 2 servos for the wing.i did find out it does have a flap variable switch or knob #8 witch you use on channel 6 in the manul But it says nothing of what to do with it The manul only tells you what the radio has as far as specifications nothing of what you can do with it except it has mixing and a couple pictures of that type planes you can mix who answers explain in a manner were i can understand It really needs BETTER MANUL thank you

RE: hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 understanding
 

You have a standard radio, not a computer radio. YOu can't put the aileron servos into their own channel slots.

For two servos that operate the ailerons ( not a flying wing ) you use a Y cable to join the servos and place the connector into channel 1, the roll channel.
Y cable
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXWB69&P=7
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXWB70&P=7

On a plane with ailerons, channel 1 in your radio is for the ailerons.
Channel 1 is for the ailerons ( if you don't have ailerons, the rudder goes here)

Channel 2 is for the elevator

Channel 3 is for the throttle

Channel 4 is for the rudder

Channel 5 is for the landing gear

Channel 6 is for flaps.

You can NOT put them into separate channels. You would need a computer radio to do that. The Laser 6 is a standard radio.

Laser 6 manual
http://www.hitecrcd.com/Support/Manu...LASER4and6.pdf


Unless you are flying a V tail plane or a flying wing using elevons, you should not be using those mixes. That is their only use as stated on page 3 item F.

You use the flap knob to contol flaps. Your plane does not have flaps, so ignore it.

Clearly you are not at all familar with RC flying.

RE: hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 understanding
 

Based on your first post, I am assuming you are new to RC flying and that you don't have anyone to help you or explain things to you. Hopefully the next few posts will be helpful.


FIRST TIME SERVO SET-UP
by Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums

If I am setting up the plane for the first time, I make sure all the settings in the radio are at zero or 100, whichever is the radio default so that the radio is not providing any adjustments. Trims are centered. If there is a reset adjustment to get everything back to zero, that is where you want it all to be.

All sticks, switches, dials should be in their zero or centered position. throttle all the way to zero.

If you are working with an existing plane and want to "start from scratch" start a new set up on a new memory location so you don't screw up the set-up you have now. Then you know the settings are all at default.

Mount the servos solidly in place. Make sure that control arms can swing with no interference. Get the control rods to approximately the length they need to be to reach the servo control horn when the servo is centered and the surface is at a neutral position.

Now, take the control horns off the servos.

Turn the radio on. (always turn the radio on first)

Apply power to the plane - the servos should all jump to center.

Now put the control horns back on the servo in such a way that when the
surfaces are centered, the control horns are centered along the path they are going to travel as you use them. This may take some trial and error. I usually tape or clip the rudder and elevator at neutral position during this process..

The control arm should be at approximately 90 degrees to the direction of travel when the control rod is attached.


Photos:

See the photo of my Sagitta 600, "servo set-up spoilers down" - red fuselage with yellow wings. The two servos that are side by side are at zero/neutral rudder and elevator position. The small servo to the left is in the extreme end of its travel which is spoilers down for that servo. Ignore that one.


Forward Electronics area - that is my Spirit. Again those servos are
at neutral position. Elevator and rudder are aligned with their surfaces.
Trims are at zero and servos are centered.

Tail control horn detail photo.

Now, you will probably have to adjust the length of the control rods so that
you can put the servo arms back on the servos in this position. See the metal/nylon
ends on my control rods? they screw on and off the rod to allow me to adjust
the length of the rod. I may have another like it at the surface end.

If you have Z bends on both ends, you will have to make new bends, or make a V bend somewhere in the control rod. This is a common practice or small planes. This can then be narrowed or widened. However be aware that a shot to the surface might stretch or compress this V, so check you alignments before every flight.

You must do this with the radio on and the plane on or you can't be sure what
position the servo is sitting in. So, if your rudder is centered the control
arm should just drop right onto the servo and look something like mine, plus or minus a little. Same for all the rest of your servos.

Any adjustments you do from the radio once you have this set should be minor
and only need to be done to make minor corrections in the way the plane flies.

If you are using Z bends and having trouble getting the control rod length right, you might consider adding Dubro EZ connectors. I use them a lot!
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXAHE6&P=ML

Hope that helped.

RE: hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 understanding
 

SETTING SURFACE THROWS - EPA AND ATV

After you have built your model and installed your electronic
components, you will want to set your surface throws. If they are too
large, the model will be overly responsive and hard to handle. If they
are too small, you may have not adequate control of your model.

Mechanical Adjustment

Regardless of what kind of radio you have, I feel it is always best to
do your first adjustment mechanically, at the servo and control horns.
The simple rule is that the further the control rod is from the hub of
the servo, the more movement you will get on the control surface. The
opposite applies to the control horn at the surface. The closer you
move the control rod to the control surface the more movement you will
get from the surface. By making a combination of changes at the servo
and the control horn, you can maximize or minimize your control throws.

Let's assume you have your control rod at the outermost hole on the
control horn of the servo, and the control horn hole closest to the surface.
This
will be your max throw position. If we stay with the rudder as the
example, measure the throw of the rudder when you move the control stick
all the way to one side. How does this compare to the recommended
throws in the instructions. If they recommend 1 inch left and right and
you have 1.5 inches, you want to reduce the throw or your model may be
too responsive.

In this case you can move the control rod at the servo and/or the
control horn to minimize the movement of the surface. Let's say you
move 2 holes up on the control horn and one hole in on the servo and you
hit the 1" mark, you are all set. However I have found that sometimes I
can not hit the desired throws. Either the movement is too large or too
small. Now what?

Staying with the mechanical approach you will either have to lengthen
the arm of the servo if you are trying to get more throw, or lengthen
the control horn if you are trying get less throw. While there may be
some formula for doing this, for the most part this is a trial and error
process and sometimes it doesn't really yield the desired results.


ATV and EPA

Today, all computer radios and many standard radios have End Point
Adjustment, EPA, or Adjustable Travel Volume, ATV features. Essentially
these are the same feature by different a name. They allow you to
control how far the servo arm moves when you give a full stick command.
This allows you to adjust how much surface movement you get by using a
dial, or by entering numbers into a menu. For convenience I am going to
call this feature EPA from here on, but you will understand that EPA and
ATV are essentially the same.

Mechanical First Please

First, I encourage you to make mechanical adjustments first, within the
limits of your standard servo and control horn. Use ATV and EPA after
you have done this. You will get the best service out of your servo if
you do the mechanical adjustments first.

Staying with the rudder as our example, you have gone to the innermost
hole on the servo arm, and the outer most hole of the control horn but
you still have to much throw. Using EPA, you go into the menu, or turn
a dial that controls how far the servo moves in response to a full throw
command. In other words, when I move the rudder stick all the way to
the left, how far do I want the servo to rotate in order to give me the
right amount of surface throw. On many radios this is expressed as a
percentage with 100 being full movement by the servo and 0 being no movement
of
the servo.

When I was setting up my ZAGI slope wing, I was planning to use standard
servos and a three channel standard radio that did not have EPA as a
feature. No matter how I moved the control rods, I had way too much
movement on the elevons. This was going to make my plane very very
responsive; too responsive. I had to reduce the throws. I could have
moved to larger control horns on the elevons, but I felt this would create
more
opportunity for damage due to large horns that stuck out far from the
surface.

Fortunately I own a computer radio, so I changed the receiver to one
that was compatible with my ZAGI wing and my computer radio. I had
moved the control rods to minimize the control throws already. All I
had to do now was make some adjustments from the radio to get the
control throws I wanted. The operation took only a few minutes.

Summary

I have found that EPA/ATV is a very very valuable and useful feature.
Without it my models would be hard to adjust and I would have to go
through some difficult or inconvenient manipulations of the servo horns
or control horns. It is so much easier now with EPA/ATV on the radio.

When you go looking at radios, I encourage you to make sure it has this
feature.

Clear skies and safe flying.

RE: hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 understanding
 

DUAL RATES AND EXPONENTIAL EXPLAINED AND COMPARED

by Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums

Perhaps you are buying your first plane. Or perhaps you are thinking about
upgrading your radio. You read all those feature lists and don't understand
what they do for you. This may help you understand two of the features that
are listed so you can get the radio that will really help you enjoy this new
plane and future planes, whether electric, glow, gas or glider.

Dual rates and exponential allow you to change how responsive the plane is to
your stick movements. If you have them set-up on a switch, you can make these
changes while the plane is in flight. This might be useful as you move from
take-off to normal flight. Perhaps an instructor has a trainer plane she would
like share between new pilots and more experienced pilots. It would be
convenient to be able to change the plane's behavior depending on the pilot
without having to move the linkages.

Changing how the plane responds might be useful if we move from normal flight
to highly aerobatic flight. The large throws for aerobatics might make the
plane "twitchy" or hard to control during normal cruising around. Dual rates
and exponential, when tied to a switch, or some other trigger can be changed
while the plane is flying. They are used for similar reasons but accomplish
the task in different ways.


DUAL RATES

Of the two, dual rates has been around longer and is simpler to understand.
Dual rates are based on changing how much a surface can move. Let's use rudder
set-up to illustrate this.

If your instructions say to set 1" of throw left and right, that would be the
recommended surface movement at full stick movement. When you move the stick
1/4 of the way, you would get 1/4" of rudder movement. At 1/2 stick you would
get 1/2" of rudder movement. You get a direct, proportional and linear
relationship between stick movement and surface movement. At 100% stick
movement you get 100% of the maximum surface movement that you have set. In
this case 100% stick equals 1 inch.

With dual rates we can change to a second maximum at the flip of a switch.
Let's assume you have the standard throw set as the high rate. Then, using the
procedures outlined in your manual, you low
rate, say 50%. At this setting, when you move the stick all the way over you
will only get 1/2" of surface movement. However stick movement and surface
movement remain proportional. So at 1/2 stick movement we will get 1/2 of the
1/2 inch maximum or 1/4 inch of surface movement. Your rudder movements remain
directly proportional but are now based on a smaller maximum.

We can say that control and response are both proportional and linear. That
is, all the way through the stick movement the rudder will move with us in a
linier fashion. If we move the stick 20% we gets 20% rudder. Move the stick
62% and the rudder will move 62% rudder movement. If we plotted a graph with
stick movement on one axis and rudder movement on the other, the graph would
have all points along a straight line at a 45 degree.

How does this effect the handling of the plane?

Continuing the example above, we have high rate, at full stick movement equals
1" and low rate set at 1/2" maximum rudder movement.

On low rate, for each small movement of the stick, we get less movement of the
tail surface. So, on low rates the plane will be less responsive to the same
amount of stick movement. This may make it easier to fly as we can make
smaller adjustments when we move the stick. We have finer grain control. On
high, we get more movement of the rudder for each unit of movement of the
stick. We get a faster response from the plane for the same stick movement. If
you have ever worked with a precision tool or instrument, this is like having
course adjustment and fine adjustment.

As new flyers often have a tendency to over control the plane, it is not
uncommon to set-up the plane with smaller throws so that the pilot is less
likely to get in trouble by over controlling the plane. Later when she gains
confidence and the right feel for control, surface movements can be increased
to make the plane more responsive. Originally this had to be done on the
plane. Many RTF planes come set-up this way. They are set for mild response
for initial flights. Then the manual explains how to increase the rates as the
pilot gains experience. Some RTF planes now include a dual rate style control
on their radios.

With dual rates on the radio, this can be done at the radio rather than
working on the plane itself. This is much more convenient. Dual rates can even
allow the instructor to take control, flip to high rates and pull the plane
out of a tough situation that the student could not handle. Dual rates can be
very helpful during training.

Of course we can always have it the other way where the low setting is the
"standard" recommended by the instructions and a high setting might be our
aerobatic setting or our 3D setting where we want 1.5" of deflection at full
stick. This allows us to take the plane from mild to wild at the flip of a
switch. However having it set to high might make the plane uncomfortable for
"normal" flying so we switch to low.

OK? You with me so far? If not, go back and read through it again as the next
section is based on your understanding of dual rates. Imagine how your plane
will behave on high and low rates. When you are comfortable then you can go on
to the next section.


EXPONENTIAL

Exponential changes the relationship between stick movement and surface
movement. When using exponential, stick movement and surface movement will no
longer be linear. What does that mean?

Exponential is going to allow us to shift some of the rudder response so that
we get a different amount in the early part of the stick movement as compared
to the later part. Let's stay with the rudder example above.

At 100% stick movement we would still get 100% surface movement, but at 50%
stick movement we might only get 25% rudder movement. This would be like
having low rates on the first half of the stick travel and high rates on the
second half of the stick travel. That would give us a "softer" response around
the center of the stick area, and a faster response toward the end.

How is this beneficial? This gives us finer control when we are making those
typical small adjustments to the plane when we are cruising around, just like
low rates. However if we suddenly want a big surface movement to get out of
trouble, to respond to a gust of wind or to perform that big stunt, we still
have the big surface movements we need without having to manually switch to
high rates. One of the criticisms of using a low rate for "flyability, is that
it limits the pilot's ability to get out of trouble when you are on low rate.

Let's look at that aerobatic or 3D pilot we mentioned above. He has BIG
surfaces and BIG throws set which makes the plane very responsive to small
inputs. If he were to set exponential rather than dual rates, then he could
have a very soft center to the stick. He could make fine adjustments when
needed, but get big response when he needed it and there would be not need
to flip a switch during the flight. Cool?

Let's try some examples that involve numbers. The numbers I am going to use
may not map directly to your transmitter as different manufacturers have
different interpretation of exponential and what the numbers mean, but the
overall impact on flying is the same. They just express it differently.

Let's say that under standard set-up conditions exponential will be expressed
as zero. This means we have the same linear response we have always had. Now,
if I put in -50% exponential, that might mean that for a 50% movement in the
stick I only want to get 1/4 surface movement but when I move the stick to
100% I want full 100% surface movement. An input into the set-up menu of +50%
might mean that for the first half of the stick movement I want more of the
total surface movement. This would make the center area very responsive while
leaving find grain control at the ends of the stick movement. I am not sure
where this would be used, but that is how it would work.

It is important to note that exponential does not imply a sudden change in
rate. Rather it is a smooth change in rate. So the further we move the stick,
the faster we get more stick movement. If we were to plot the percent stick
movement to percent surface movement we would not get a straight line as we
normally get. We would get a curved line indicating that the further we move
the stick the less linear the relationship between the stick and the surface.

This is one of those things you are just going to have to try to fully
understand. At first it seems it would make it difficult to predict how the
plane will behave depending on how much you move the stick. However in fact
most people tend to fly more by input/response rather than where the stick is
in its travel. You move the stick and watch the plane. After a while you
develop a good understanding of how the plane
will respond to a given stick movement, but you know that it will be
influenced by wind, air speed, and other factors.

I typically set up my controls with about 35% exponential so that I have a
softer response around the middle but gradually faster response as I move
toward the extremes of stick movement. On my radio I have dual rates and
exponential available and I can use them together. I can also set them by
surface.

Computer Radios

While I have seen dual rates on a some "standard" radios I have never seen
exponential. So for this discussion, we are going to assume that exponential
is a feature of computer radios. If you don't have a computer radio, this
might be a reason to move up to one.

Whether you ever use dual rates or exponential is, of course, is up to you.
However I would encourage you to give them a try if you have them. They are
just tools and like all tools, it takes a little while to get the feel of how
to use them. So, if the first time you try dual rates you don't see an
overwhelming benefit, don't walk away. Try different settings.

Most radios will allow you to set different rates to each surface. So, for
example, my ZAGI flying wing slope glider has dual rates set up on the
elevator. Tailless planes like this tend to be very sensitive to pitch, so
under normal circumstances I find I like to have the elevator controls set on
a low rate. However when I want to "crank it up" and get aerobatic that low
rate does not give me the action I want, so I flip the switch and get the kind
of pitch control I want for stunts.

On my 3M sailplane I find I like to have high rates set up for launch where
the plane can get in trouble very quickly and I might need a fast response,
but then switch to lower rates for normal flying. I even have a third rate set
for working thermals which is lower so I can make very find adjustments and
more easily to get the most lift I can out of each thermal.

On my electric planes, I tend to have a mild and wild set-up for cruising and
for stunting.

I have been experimenting with exponential and find that I like it. I could
see myself going totally to using exponential and doing away with dual rates
all together, but that is not the case today. Right now I am having fun trying
out different settings to see what works for me. I encourage you to do the
same.


Clear skies and safe flying!

RE: hitec laser 6 with a RCD 3500 understanding
 

SIX KEYS TO SUCCESS
by Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums

Whether you have a coach or you are trying to learn to fly on your own, you
will need to be mindful of these six areas if you are going to become a
successful RC pilot. After two years of working with new flyers at our club,
and coaching flyers on the forums, there are a few things I have seen as the
key areas to stress for new pilots. Some get it right away and some have to
work at it. They are in no particular order because they all have to be
learned to be successful.

WIND
Orientation
Speed
Altitude
Over Control
Preflight Check

1) Wind - The single biggest cause of crashes that I have observed has been
the
insistence upon flying in too much wind. If you are under an instructor's
control or on a buddy box, then follow their advice, but if you are starting
out and tying to learn on your own, regardless of the model, I recommend dead
calm to 3 MPH for the slow stick and tiger moth type planes. Under 5 MPH for
all others. That includes gusts. An experienced pilot can handle more. It
is the pilot, more than the plane, that determines how much wind can be
handled.

The wind was around 10 mph steady with gusts to 12. That was strong enough
that some of the experienced pilots flying three and four channel small
electric planes chose not to launch their electrics. This new flyer insisted
that he wanted to try his two and three channel parkflyers. Crash, Crash,
Crash - Three planes in pieces. He just would not listen. Sometimes you just
have to let them crash. There is no other way to get them to understand.

Many parkflyers can be flown in higher winds by AN EXPERIENCED PILOT. I
have flown my Aerobird in 18 mph wind (clocked speed) but it is quite exciting
trying to land it.

Always keep the plane up wind from you. There is no reason for a new flyer to
have the plane downwind EVER!


2) Orientation - Knowing the orientation of your plane is a real challenge,
even for experienced pilots. You just have to work at it and some adults have
a real problem with left and right regardless of which way the plane is going.
Licensed pilots have a lot of trouble with this one as they are accustomed to
being in the plane.

Here are two suggestions on how to work on orientation when you are not
flying.

Use a flight simulator on your PC. Pick a slow flying model and fly it a lot.
Forget the jets and fast planes. Pick a slow one. Focus on left and right
coming at you. Keep the plane in front of you. Don't let it fly over your
head.

FMS is a free flight simulator. It is not the best flight sim, but the price
is right and it works. There are also other free and commercial simulators.

FMS Flight simulator Home Page
Free download
http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

Parkflyers for FMS
http://gunnerson.homestead.com/files/fms_models.htm

The links below take you to sites that provide cables that work with FMS. If
your radio has a trainer port, these cables allow you to use the trainer port
on your radio to "fly" the
simulator. This is an excellent training approach.

http://www.allthingsrc.com/webshop/
http://www.simblaster.com/
http://www.customelectronics.co.uk/

An alternative is to try an RC car that has proportional steering. You don't
have to worry about lift, stall and wind. Get something with left and right
steering and speed control. Set up an easy course that goes toward and away
from you with lots of turns. Do it very slowly at first until you can make
the turns easily. Then build speed over time. You'll get it! If it has
sticks rather than a steering wheel even better, but not required. Oh, and
little cars are fun too.


3) Too much speed - Speed it the enemy of the new pilot but if you fly too
slowly the wings can't generate enough lift, so there is a compromise here.
The key message is that you don't have to fly at full throttle all the time.
Most small electrics fly very nicely at 2/3 throttle and some do quite well at
1/2. That is a much better training speed than full power. Launch at full
power and climb to a good height, say 100 feet as a minimum, so you have time
to recover from a mistake. At 100 feet, about double the height of the trees
where I live, go to half throttle and see how the plane handles. If it holds
altitude on a straight line, this is a good speed. Now work on slow and easy
turns, work on left and right, flying toward you and maintaining altitude.
Add a little throttle if the plane can't hold altitude.


4) Not enough altitude - New flyers are often afraid of altitude. They feel
safer close to the ground. Nothing could be more wrong.

Altitude is your friend. Altitude is your safety margin. It gives you a
chance to fix a mistake. If you are flying low and you make a mistake ....
CRUNCH!

As stated above I consider 100 feet, about double tree height where I live, as
a good flying height and I usually fly much higher than this. I advise my new
flyers that fifty feet, is minimum flying height. Below that you better be
lining up for landing.


5) Over control - Most of the time the plane does not need input from you.
Once you get to height, a properly trimmed plane flying in calm air will
maintain its height and direction with no help from you. In fact anything you
do will interfere with the plane.

When teaching new pilots I often do a demo flight of their plane. I get the
plane to 100 feet, then bring the throttle back to a nice cursing speed. I
get it going straight, with plenty of space in front of it, then take my hand
off the sticks and hold the radio out to the left with my arms spread wide to
emphasize that I am doing nothing. I let the plane go wherever it wants to
go, as long as it is holding altitude, staying upwind and has enough room. If
you are flying a high wing trainer and you can't do this, your plane is out of
trim.

Even in a mild breeze with some gusts, once you reach flying height, you
should be able to take your hand off the stick. Oh the plane will move around
and the breeze might push it into a turn, but it should continue to fly with
no help from you.

Along this same line of thinking, don't hold your turns for more than a couple
of seconds after the plane starts to turn. Understand that the plane turns by
banking or tilting its wings. If you hold a turn too long you will force the
plane to deepen this bank and it will eventually lose lift and go into a
spiral dive and crash. Give your inputs slowly and gently and watch the
plane. Start your turn then let off then turn some more and let off. Start
your turns long before you need to and you won't need to make sharp turns.

I just watch these guys hold the turn, hold the turn, hold the turn, crash.
Of course they are flying in 10 mph wind, near the ground, coming toward
themselves at full throttle.

6) Preflight check - Before every flight it is the pilot's responsibility to
confirm that the plane, the controls and the conditions are correct and
acceptable for flight.

Plane - Batteries at proper power
Surfaces properly aligned
No damage or breakage on the plane
Everything secure

Radio - Frequency control has been met before you turn on the radio
A full range check before the first flight of the day
All trims and switches in the proper position for this plane
Battery condition is good
Antenna fully extended
For computer radios - proper model is displayed
All surfaces move in the proper direction

Conditions - No one on the field or in any way at risk from your fight
You are launching into the wind
Wind strength is acceptable ( see wind above )
Sunglasses and a hat to protect your eyes
All other area conditions are acceptable.

Then and only then can you consider yourself, your plane, radio and the
conditions right for flight. Based on your plane, your radio and local
conditions you may need to add or change something here, but this is the bare
minimum. It only takes a couple of minutes at the beginning of the flying
day and only a few seconds to perform before each flight.

If this all seems like too much to remember, do what professional pilots do,
take along a preflight check list. Before every flight they go down
the check list, perform the tests, in sequence, and confirm that all is right.
If you want your flying experience to be a positive one, you should do the
same. After a short time, it all becomes automatic and just a natural part of
a fun and rewarding day.

I hope some of this is useful in learning to fly your plane.