Originally Posted by DavidN

How about a Y connector and a SWITCH on the arm going to Guardian mode channel. No fumbling with connectors just the switch. You would need to be anal about checking switch is in the correct position before flight.

A y would likely work and most likely you would only need to switch a single lead (singnal). The Mode and Rudder signal leads being the ones in Y configuration.

It would be nice if Bill or John would join in on this subject.
I do not have a Guardian that I want to risk smoking .

I felt from the beginning that there should be a remote means to Set Level and to Reset trims without tieing up a receiver channnel but after my request for a remote mounted Status LED was ............................ I decided there way little chance of having any PCB changes made.


Flew my Lil Banchee 3D with Guardian 2D/3D aboard this morning and had a ball with it. I have been flying helis only for the past 4 months or so. The sky was dark and it was raining off and one so I flew the Lil Banchee between showers. 3D Mode launches nose up at around 45 degrees and one with nose up and canted to the right around 45 degrees (knife edge). Just point it the direction you want it to go flip 3D on run up throttle and release and enjoy the show.

Skys finally cleared enough for me to get a couple of Blade 400 converted to FBL in. Wish a really great Heli bail out control system ,such as 2D mode on Guardian for fixed wing did not cost so darn much. Would love to have the $550 but perhaps Guardian 2D/3D will provide something similiar in the next six months or so..

Demo Rescue Mode HeliCommand HC3-SX (1 min 15 sec)

Charles

Prof & choochoo22 - Thanks much for the detailed explanations of HH on takeoff. At my paved field I bring my A/C to the fence line, set it down & then have to taxi out & make a 90º right or left turn to line up with the runway before takeoff. So I fly with a TX tray & have Guardian off until I am lined up for T/O. Then I switch it on in 3D HH mode. So at this point I understand is when I need to stir the right stick to set HH. And when I land the first thing I do is turn G off so my taxiing back & carrying the plane doesn't overdrive my servos.

So what I'm doing already may work with a tail dragger if I stir the stick just before applying power. The tail down attitude with the runway heading should be what the G is stabilizing - or not - or until I make any control surface changes with the TX. Probably just need to get it working right in the air with a tail dragger & then do some experimenting with 3D HH takeoffs. Thanks again for the advice.

Jed

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

Wish a really great Heli bail out control system ,such as 2D mode on Guardian for fixed wing did not cost so darn much. Would love to have the $550 but perhaps Guardian 2D/3D will provide something similiar in the next six months or so..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_BpX...eature=related

Charles

Charles I had the older HC Rigid on my Trex 450 Sport, it did its job, but for a true bail out system, you might want to look into FMA Co-Pilot II with Hard Deck module, it was recently released to the public, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more "proficient" heli pilots popping up at out local fields

Have Fun,

FCA

More imnterested in a Mems verus IR sensors and HD of 50 feet is to high for my liking. I fully understand their reasons but just happen to disagree.

They do make the best chargers / Battery WorkStations however.

Charles

Originally Posted by jedorme

So I fly with a TX tray & have Guardian off until I am lined up for T/O. Then I switch it on in 3D HH mode. So at this point I understand is when I need to stir the right stick to set HH.

With that method you shouldn't need to stir the stick as G will lock-in the attitude when you activate 3D mode, but it won't hurt. With a tail dragger the resting nose up attitude will probably work fine for climb out, as you suggested, or may not. With nose gear though, the level resting attitude will not likely give adequate angle of attack to lift off.

Here is a tidbit that may be useful to you in either case. Moving the rudder does not reset the flight attitude. You can use this to your advantage. You can turn on 3D and set any climb-out angle you want before you set the plane down. Taxiing into position will not reset the attitude as long as you use only rudder and don't touch the right stick (mode 2). You should be able to just line the plane up on the runway with the rudder, hit the throttle and watch G fly the plane to altitude.

Or there is always the simpler method of letting 3D hold the plane straight on the runway until rotation and then just bump the elevator. If you bump just the elevator, it should rotate and hold that angle for climb-out.

Originally Posted by choochoo22

With that method you shouldn't need to stir the stick as G will lock-in the attitude when you activate 3D mode, but it won't hurt. With a tail dragger the resting nose up attitude will probably work fine for climb out, as you suggested, or may not. With nose gear though, the level resting attitude will not likely give adequate angle of attack to lift off.

That's kind of what I thought before I read the "stick stirring" suggestions, as I have had HH working on takeoff, but you never know what you might be missing! But I really appreciate the added ideas about using it with the taildraggers & just hearing from others who have been using the G is really a big help. So far I am the only one using it at my field, & I traveled in an RV this summer & flew at another field, & the folks there also had not seen one before. So this forum is as far as I know the only real source of info & help with using it, other than contacting Eagle Tree. So many thanks again.

Jed

Trying to decide what to put my guardian in, Thinking about a small foamy i have just to play with not much into planes right now still waiting for the guardian to be flyable in a helicopter.

Originally Posted by choochoo22

This is mode dependent. In 3D Direct, the up elevator will be telling the Guardian to maintain a mild rate of loop! It will feed in as much elevator as it needs to achieve that rate, most likely resulting in a stall if you don't correct it first.

It doesn't do that for me. I use it on three planes and it works great in both 2D and 3D.

Steve

Originally Posted by jedorme

That's kind of what I thought before I read the "stick stirring" suggestions, as I have had HH working on takeoff, but you never know what you might be missing! But I really appreciate the added ideas about using it with the taildraggers & just hearing from others who have been using the G is really a big help. So far I am the only one using it at my field, & I traveled in an RV this summer & flew at another field, & the folks there also had not seen one before. So this forum is as far as I know the only real source of info & help with using it, other than contacting Eagle Tree. So many thanks again.

Jed

To the best of my knowledge I was the first to use the phrase Stiring the Sticks and that was when I was using 2D and 3D only by way of Gear Switch.

I would point the aircraft in the desired heading for a hand realease then Stir the Sticks while in 3D mode so that all surfaces would center add throttle and release.

If yo have Off available as I do now with a 3 Pos. Mode Sw. I just leave it switched to Off ,point it ,Sw. to 3D advance throttle and release.

Fo takeoff same thing Off till lined up for takeoff run Sw, to 3D advance throttle and takeoff just same as normal. Guardia manages the rudder to maintain the disired heading and the Ails. to keep the wimngs level all the pilot has to do is manage throttle and elevator. Same thing during landings. Turn onto Final. Reduce throttle ,add a little up elevator and hold it and use throttle to control decent and Guardian maintains heading and keeps the wings level.

IMO most are over thinking and or figfhting with the Guardian. 2D if great for a taring aid and for emergency bailouts but to me does not feel natural at all.

Off is great for use when carrying the model to prevent servos from getting stalled and could save your bacon if the guardian was not securely mounted and start to flop around. Not really aan issue as same applies to any gyro system, if it moves during flight you crash.There is no Off for most Gyro systems ,Heli tail gyros and FBL unit are either in Rate Mode or Head Hold Mode.

I believe most experienced pilot would be completly happen with only 3D (set as Default and using a remote Gain for aircraft which have a vey large flight speed envelop.


Charles

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

To the best of my knowledge I was the first to use the phrase Stiring the Sticks and that was when I was using 2D and 3D only by way of Gear Switch.

I would point the aircraft in the desired heading for a hand realease then Stir the Sticks while in 3D mode so that all surfaces would center add throttle and release.

If yo have Off available as I do now with a 3 Pos. Mode Sw. I just leave it switched to Off ,point it ,Sw. to 3D advance throttle and release.

That certainly helps to explain the origin of doing this & the reasons for it. Also helps to confirm that what I have been doing with my TX set up to have all three modes (3D, 2D & Off) gives me the same result. And I totally agree with your opinion of 2D. I check to make sure it is working when I first fly so that I can flip it on if I get out of control but other than that, I leave it off. I find it kind of confusing as I can't really tell if its the Guardian or me flying the plane half of the time. But with 3D, its just the opposite. Which is funny because before I used it I thought that it would be the reverse. Now I just want to save up enough money & for the supply of Guardians to meet the demand so that I can put one in more of my planes!

Jed

Originally Posted by everydayflyer

IMO most are over thinking and or figfhting with the Guardian. 2D if great for a taring aid and for emergency bailouts but to me does not feel natural at all.

I agree. With at least one plane 2D is also great for landing. Line up the plane, switch to 2D, and manage the glide slope with the throttle. G keeps it straighter, flatter, smoother, and much slower than I can, and with great corrections for turbulance.

Hi Guys,

I ordered a unit from HK on 03Sept and it has not been shipped yet.

What have you been seeing as to how long for them to ship and deliver to US?

Thanks for the help.

Jim

Originally Posted by LakeTahoeJim

Hi Guys,

I ordered a unit from HK on 03Sept and it has not been shipped yet.

What have you been seeing as to how long for them to ship and deliver to US?

Thanks for the help.

Jim

Guardians are back ordered pretty much everywhere. HK had some a month or more ago but sold out in about a day. Did they indicate yours was back ordered? If so, I'm pretty sure they haven't received another allotment yet. Otherwise, my only order from HK took 2-3 weeks, which is what they told me.

I would like to propose two firmware changes for the Guardian 2D/3D:

1. For reseting trims/level with the tx, use the aileron stick instead of the mode switch, still with the 15 sec window. We have seen comments here from a number of people who are not using a mode connection or are using a 2 pos switch. This makes the current method very awkward or impossible. Everyone has a connection to the aileron channel even if the plane has no ailerons (may be connected to the rudder servo). The downside is that it could be easier to inadvertently reset. After powering up some people immediately stir the stick to test their radio connection. This could be minimized if the trigger required aileron only, with no more than 10% movement on other channels.
   
2. Add a mode to the field tx setup to tweak the level setting without changing anything else. The current method of setting level works well to get it in the ballpark but if you need a bit more or less angle of attack, adjustments can be an exercise in frustration. Enter this mode like other tx settings. Once activated, blipping the elevator up or down adjusts the level setting in half degree increments. Two seconds after adjusting, the elevator confirms the current level angle by wagging up or down once for each half degree.

Has anyone found a source for reasonably priced (cheap) extension to connect Guardian to laptop connector cord? One about 6" would work well for units installed in fuselage. I have installed it in an EFlite SuperCub 25 and it is a royal pain to connect the heavy, inflexible cord from ET to the G inside the cabin. Hard to get it connected without jostling the plane while setting S&L or resetting trims. Eagle Tree should look into this, or source a much more flexible alternative to the cord they are selling. I have installed G units in three planes, purchased 6 more (3 from HK @ $50!) but I am finding mount location with secure, level, accessable difficult Anyone else have this problem?
Jim D