On / Off to Proportional

[toesup]

Just a thought...

I have a 6 channel transmitter that has 2 gimballed sticks (4 channels) and two on / off switches for the other 2 channels..

Would i be right in assuming that i can change one of the on / off switches for a rotary type rheostat switch.... and it would become another proportional channel?

[ropanach]

I have a Fataba Sky port 6 that is set up that way, for the Enovy tug, it controls a home made cam that turns on the lighting one section at a time as I rotate the rheostat, where I stop the rotation that is where it holds, and it holds alot of lighting 51 LEDs, when fully rotated it works great, with out a problem.
Hope this helps.

PS. The cam is mount on a 3003 Fataba servo.

[Stu :)]

Welcome to a can of worms Toes...

I'll leave this up to more experienced radio-fiddlers to answer correctly...
...However all I was told was-
'You can upgrade a three wire switch (meaning three wires coming from the circuit board to the switch) with a Potentiometer (aka:Rotary Variable Resistor) and upgrade binary to a proportional channel. But this does not work with a two wire switch that is normally found on Channel 5 (gear)'
This also applies for the MCD switch keypads.

Stu :)

[Ghost 2501]

well toes, when the Futaba 6EXA became the 6EX with the move to 2.4ghz, they in their ultimate wisdom at Futaba changed the rotating pot for a 2pos switch like that of ch5 :mad: :mad:

[johnmca72]

For many Futaba transmitters, & others that use the NE5044 encoder chip, channel 5 is on/off, period, end-of-story. Any other channel, that has a voltage divider input, can have a knob, switch, or multiple switches installed. There's also a pretty easy hack to "enable" the proportional 7th channel. Any hacks or mods are guaranteed to void the warranty, though.

JM

[toesup]

Welcome to a can of worms Toes...

'You can upgrade a three wire switch (meaning three wires coming from the circuit board to the switch) with a Potentiometer (aka:Rotary Variable Resistor) and upgrade binary to a proportional channel. But this does not work with a two wire switch that is normally found on Channel 5 (gear)'

Thanks Stu..

I've just taken the back off of the transmitter and found that the two on / off switches (Channel 5 and 6) both have 3 wires from the circuit board to the switch...
So it looks like it might be worth a try... :D

[daves_revenge]

Just a thought, but does anyone know if the programmable channel for the "flap position" on the DX7 would be considered a proportional channel?

[Ghost 2501]

i think its programmable end-point as opposed to the dial in type pf the 6exa.

if its a rotating knob it may well be proportional, however I think a dx7 owner will be able to inform us better, ask around in the aircraft forum as there is a dedicated board for radio gear there i think

[Stu :)]

Toes, also I should add that those three wires should be the ground, positive and signal (sometimes called a wiper) lines. NEVER EVER short the ground and positive lines, never.

Just voided the warranty on my 6EXA again...
I tried bridging a 5k 'pot' on the two CH5 wires to see what would happen. When I rotated the pot for first part of the travel nothing happened, then the servo went all jittery, a tad more of a turn and the servo shot across it full arc of travel. So we can add an extra dimension to the CH5 switch, neutral, jitter and full :D ;)

Stu :)

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Yes there is the issue that the total resistance on either end of the pot match the total resistance on the full throw switch. Something like that any way,...
I know that Cliff Shaw did a balancing act on all the mods he made on radios through the years. Since he passed away, we have been left with his back up method that
he calls, " Monkey See,... Monkey do..." :o

We can see what he did to our old radios, and copy it to other matching radios.
However we are limited to ACE, JR, and a few Futaba radios..
He is probably screaming at us daily,... "YOU can't Do that!!!" :rolleyes:

[CaptLee]

Use a 10K pot linear not audio, and it works on some but not all Channel 5's, but 6 seems to be Ok for conversion.

[Reckless]

I'm gonna revive this old thread ...

I am looking to modify my FASST 6EX ... not a proportional modify (well not totally I guess)

but I want to switch either the 'on/off' of chan 5 or 6 ... to an on/off/on switch.. basically full throw one way... off.. full throw the other way

is this possible?.. if I open my case how would I beable to tell?

basically I want a winch switch ;)

[LtDoc]

Reckless,
I'm afraid you will have lots of 'fun' doing that with a single, non-proportional control channel (two wires from the switch instead of the three wire type switch thingy). If the controlled device operates in two directions (like a rudder) then it requires a proportional control. To change the direction of the winch travel, the polarity of the voltage being sent to the winch is swapped. Two terminals on the winch. If '+' is fed to one terminal '-' to the other, the winch turns in one direction. Swap the '+' and '-' and it travels in the other direction. Don't feed '+' to either terminal and the winch stops. The 'trick' is being able to swap between the two terminals, or swap the '+' and '-'. With a simple on/off switch (non-proportional control channel) you just can't do that. With two of those on/off switches you can, but the circuit can get sort of complicated. You basically end up with a forward/reverse switch and an on/off switch. So far, all of this switching being talked about is in the radio. It can also be done by putting the switching in the boat (at the winch motor) by using switches at the limits of the motor travel, a 'mechanical' polarity switch sort of thingy. The radio's control turns on the power, the switches at the motor control which terminals that power is supplied to on the motor. It also means that the winch has to go full travel, in either direction, to be able to go back in the other direction.
It sounds complicated till you get the idea, then it's not really all that complicated, especially if it's me trying to do the explaining. Much simpler if you've got a proportional channel available (somebody else already did all that thinking part about directions and stuff).
So the answer is that it can be done. It isn't exactly easy, but it can be done.
- 'Doc

[towboatjoe]

The switch you need for reversing a winch is a double pole/ double throw center off/ momentary on.

That means the switch always returns to off position and it can be operated by a servo. here's a drawing showing how I wired up the AmClyde crane

A mini switch should work in a radio, but your winch motor will have to work from a modified servo as a winch motor.

[Reckless]

wow... that's for the winch directions that'll help alot later

but I need to know if I can mod the radio itself from a 2 pos switch .. to a 3 pos switch

basically servo one direction... nuetral .. servo other direction ;)

can the Futaba FASST 6EX handle said change?

[Reckless]

it was also mentioned before that you could 'turn on" chan 7 with is proportional .. but that was the 'old' crystal 6EX(a?) .... anyone know if the FASST 6EX follows the same?

[Reckless]

wow... that's for the winch directions that'll help alot later

but I need to know if I can mod the radio itself from a 2 pos switch .. to a 3 pos switch

basically servo one direction... nuetral .. servo other direction ;)

can the Futaba FASST 6EX handle said change?

was end of last page and my other post rolled it over... just throwing this back into view ;)

[Hugh P]

Contrary to popular belief there is nothing hard coded in the NE5044 chip to make any channel just two positions. Just vary a voltage between 2 and 3 volts for the 1 to 2 ms channel out.

If you ground a channel input it turns that channel and all higher channels off. Helpful with some 3 and 4 channel receivers with timing problems in the decoder.

It was a good chip, used it to design a 6 channel encoder for the last of the Royal Super Sport TXs. Servo reversing by reversing the plug from the stick pots.

Still have some of the prototype development boards and chips that I use to build custom encoders. Mate them with a HiTech Spectra synth module and you have a simple modern FM legal tansmitter.

Just recently did some deep service on a JR S400. It no longer uses a 5044 equilvent chip. Has a microprocessor chip same as the S600 with no display and just reversing switches. Looks hackable.

Hugh
Quincy IL

[Reckless]

lots of great info.... but... don't take this the wrong way....


can it be done???? .. lots of awesome info.. but no one is answering :( or atleast I can't see the answer :(

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I think everyone is waiting for you to experiment on your transmitter.

The switch could be installed, then the voltage on each end of the switch would
have to be matched to the output of the original switch. When the switch is centered
the voltage would have to be mid way between the high and low setting of the original switch.

This is all good theory, but it is still debatable whether the transmitter's chips
will accept this mid voltage reading as an acceptable signal.
Unless someone experiments, or Futaba provides the signal/voltage
specs and programming data for your transmitter no one can really say "yes".

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Have a look down at about the 14th post on Model boat Mayhem...

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10776.0;topicseen


PMK describes some programming hacks that might be possible with a futaba.

:cool:
.
.
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[Hugh P]

With the advent of micro processor encoders the radio manuf's got the ability to do a two wire two position control switch.

There is no 0V - signal - 5V involved. Ground the signal line and the encoder used one adjustable value from the Flash memory that you set like an end point and with the signal line high use another value.

I have also seen a three wire switch doing the same thing plus floating the signal line for the third value. Three position flaps

Neither of these are possible / easy to turn into a fully proportional channel. The places where you need to tap into the signals are only available inside the chip. So much for progress.

Just spent part of a day scoping a JR S400 encoder. Used the same 6 channel encoder that the S600 uses but no display no programming switches. Just servo reversing via tiny switches. All the circut is there for the S600 so the S400 must be using the encoder power up defaults.

Hugh

[Reckless]

yeah but he doesn't say WHICH pins to jump :( I did a little more searching on the service menu's ... I've seen 1-6 and 1-7 ... maybe I should check and see if I even have this connector?...