OK. Now I got the default settings, checked all and made a test flight. The behavior is still the same.

My problem is, during navigation from 1 point to the next, the plane continuously rolls from left to right and back. It did not do that in the beginning, so that is why I checked the default settings. But I actually did only minor changes in the Flight parameters and set them back to default.

Can someone explain to me the functions of the PID settings in real English, (not Chinglish). I have been reading the manual from yiny0730, but is very chinglish and very confusing. On one page it says: "If the plane flies in big s line, decrease pitch stabilization". Next paragraph it says" "If the plane flies in big s line, you can increase the related D value/reduce the related I value". On the next page it says: "Increase "side offset damping" if plane fly like a "Big S" pattern".

Well, it could not be more confusing than that.

The problem is that I have been trying to understand the various values and their meaning, but I am totally lost.

I simply don't want to change anything if I don't understand it. The Feiyutech manual is also no help at all. It just explains the words, not the function and meaning.

Forgot to mention: I don't even know whether I am flying Big S or small S. It takes about 8-10 seconds to roll from left to right and back. Big S could be much longer, so also here I have no clue.

its tough without seeing your flight pattern.

1) create a box pattern where there is a good distance between boxes.
2) only watch to see how the plane acts when it gets to a waypoint and forget in between for now
3) if the plan turns sharply and never quite reaches the waypoint then your P is too high, if the plane overshoots the waypoint then the P is too low.
4) adjust untill it is somewhere between over shooting and turning so tightly that it has to turn back to get on course.
5) now start looking at the big s little s between waypoints. 99% of the time you will have a big slow S that wanders back and forth across the intended waypoint path. to correct for this increase the side offset dampening like I have suggested a few times in this thread. Put it at like 70 for a heavy skywalker.
6) now if the actual path is "beside" the inteneded path then I belive you increase the side offset integer... or decrease hahaha.... anyway it's the number beside the side offset dampening number. play with it and you will see immediate results.

This all MUST be done in the air via the GCS or you will never get a feel for how any of these numbers work.

If you don't have gcs in the air and are afraid I would leave everything at default and just increase side offset dampening to 70 if your flying a skywalker and try that... it will fix most of your issues I think.

Steve

that is a huge S.... a small s is over correction and usually means too large P value... usually... the big S needs side offset damp increased... usually.... hahah... nothing is written in stone with this stuff.

Autpilots take time to learn belive me I have been flying many different ones for 7 years now... and trust me this one is the easiest... you will get it!

Steve

Originally Posted by Pattaya01

Forgot to mention: I don't even know whether I am flying Big S or small S. It takes about 8-10 seconds to roll from left to right and back. Big S could be much longer, so also here I have no clue.

Thank you very much for your quick reply. It is helpful. Maybe you can also explain what the numbers represent: %? degrees? just numbers? And what are the maximum and minimum values?

Dear Steve,

Just came back from a test flight and did as you suggested. Increased the value "Side Offset Dampening" from 60 to 70 and left all other settings to default.

Fantastic !!!!!!!!

The wobbeling has gone...... Very stable flight with only a fraction of the swing left, but hardly noticeable.

I am very glad I did not start experimenting by myself. I would never have imagined such a small change in number would make such a big difference.

Thanks again for your advice, you probably saved me a crash.

More silly questions coming, as I had promised!

1 - Video Tx Connecting to Hornet OSD
OK, it is all more or less clear about the connections now...
However, here is the picture: the video Tx has its separate battery connection cable. The manual says that OSD feeds both the camera and the VTx, and warns in big bold letters against trying to connect DC input to more than one point.
a - Does it mean that the VTx does NOT have to be connected to the battery at all and that it will receive its DC input through the video cable (which as usually has +12, Gnd and Signal wires)?
b - Does it mean that if I decide to feed DC to the Vtx it will be perfectly OK as long as I do not at the same time feed DC to the OSD (so OSD will get fed through the VTx)?
c - Does it mean that if I (merely theoretically) decide to apply DC to both OSD and VTx, I should sever the red and black wires connecting the VTx to the OSD leaving only the signal wire?

2 - Throttle Setting while using Datalink 606
We know that 31AP does not measure air speed, hence the plane can stall in certain conditions. To avoid this, we usually choose not to connect the ESC signal cable to AP unit, leaving it plugged into the receiver.
However, if we decide to use Datalink radio instead of regular receiver, there is no such a thing as a receiver on board any more, and the AP gets all information from the GCS through a single cable. What should we do in this case, how to keep throttle not controlled by the AP?

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Cathay Stray

More silly questions coming, as I had promised!

1 - Video Tx Connecting to Hornet OSD

2 - Throttle Setting while using Datalink 606
We know that 31AP does not measure air speed, hence the plane can stall in certain conditions. To avoid this, we usually choose not to connect the ESC signal cable to AP unit, leaving it plugged into the receiver.
However, if we decide to use Datalink radio instead of regular receiver, there is no such a thing as a receiver on board any more, and the AP gets all information from the GCS through a single cable. What should we do in this case, how to keep throttle not controlled by the AP?

Thank you!

I can answer this one.

Yes, you connect throttle to the 31ap:

During binding your receiver to your transmitter, you set a "failsafe throttle position". So when your receiver signal gets lost, the failsafe throttle is what the 31ap gets as input. It will continue to control your throttle.

I have set my failsafe to about 60%. Works perfectly.

Originally Posted by Pattaya01

I can answer this one.

Yes, you connect throttle to the 31ap:

During binding your receiver to your transmitter, you set a "failsafe throttle position". So when your receiver signal gets lost, the failsafe throttle is what the 31ap gets as input. It will continue to control your throttle.

I have set my failsafe to about 60%. Works perfectly.

Thank you,
But it is sometimes more than a failsafe setting. I thought there might be a way to get around and still maintain greater control over the throttle but looks like in datalink mode it is not an option. OK, we have to learn to live with it.

i believe most values have a max of 99 so you can think of it as percentage.

Steve

Originally Posted by Pattaya01

Thank you very much for your quick reply. It is helpful. Maybe you can also explain what the numbers represent: %? degrees? just numbers? And what are the maximum and minimum values?

I managed to upgrade my unit to version 2.0
Well I think I did as the reading still reports 1.11 - I take that as a known bug.
The unit needs some time to report correctly what soft it is running.
I have windows VISTA. I can not use their GCS. How do I get rid of the way points?
If I switch to nav mode I would like the fy31 to maintain heading and altitude.
How do I do that. Presently if I switch to nav the plane dives and flies away to honkong I suppose. It would dive in to the ground before getting there though.

Ever since my first contact with FY-31AP, I've never connected the throttle to the 31ap and have set my failsafe to about 50%. I've no complains!

I did that because other pilots says so, but I actually never got any proper explanation for not using the throttle connected to FY-31AP and I always wondered why not?

Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by Pattaya01

I can answer this one.

Yes, you connect throttle to the 31ap:

During binding your receiver to your transmitter, you set a "failsafe throttle position". So when your receiver signal gets lost, the failsafe throttle is what the 31ap gets as input. It will continue to control your throttle.

I have set my failsafe to about 60%. Works perfectly.

As far as hooking up the vTX to the Hornet, basically don't have more then one power source coming INTO the Hornet, ALL of it's 12v rails are connected and non-isolated, so if you hooked up a powered vTX to the Hornet which is also powered, you would have 2x12 volts going into it. Let the Hornet OSD give power to the vTX, and keep it disconnected from any other power source. This is how mine is hooked up, infact my Hornet powers my Camera and vTX.

Also as far as throttle goes, if you are using the data radio as your RC control radio as well your throttle will still work as normal as long as you have signal because you are still the one flying it, failsafe on the throttle is for when signal is lost and you have no control.

Granted too that some AP functions will control throttle for you such as RTH, but you can configure it all to your liking and what works best for you plane. For the record I do not use the throttle port of the FY31AP either.

Originally Posted by Cathay Stray

We know that 31AP does not measure air speed, hence the plane can stall in certain conditions. To avoid this, we usually choose not to connect the ESC signal cable to AP unit, leaving it plugged into the receiver.

Having the autopilot system know about air speed is very important to prevent stalling during failsafe mode and other autonomous modes.
I stalled my Skywalker twice this past summer while trying to fly slow and low while trying to do some aerial photography .
It would also be very nice to have an air speed indicator on my On Screen Display.

I need some help.
I have installed the GCS 3.0
It openes up but I am getting no map. I am a new user of this all, learning. So far I was able to update the 31AP to version 2.0, installed google earth, but that is all.
I thought the map would somehow opened automaticaly once the google earth is installed ant the pc is connected to internet.
Thanks