Hello Everyone
Ok here is an install example of a standard wing aircraft with dual ailerons.
MB339A Turbine PST1300R Futaba 14MZ

Ok first I disassembled the main radio area so I could re-run servo lines to the guardian, since everything was out I got the bright idea to re-do my retract airlines. The airlines that I used were getting old and cracking I have had the plane since 2008 what a mess lol.

Ok after getting all the servo wires identified and untangled I found the area that was best to mount the Guardian that was near the CG and close to the rolling axis.

I used cardboard for a template and cut a light ply board for the guardian to mount to. I made sure to leave space behind the guardian for the RX, and servo connections. I also cutout a faux carbon abs plastic sheet that was a little bigger than the guardian and glued it to the shelf so the 3M dual lock / gyro 2 way foam tape had something smooth to stick too. For and install like this which is semi buried you have to take into account that you have to provide access to the back of the guardian so you can plug in the guardian harness, your servo leads, and to the top so you can adjust the gain pots.

After knowing the mounting position of the guardian I could now extend my RX wires so that they would reach the receiver. (Not an issue for most normal sized planes, this MB339 is 95” long)

You must be careful to not solder the wrong wire to the wrong receiver connector, so I first extended the aileron lead. When I got to extending the individual signal lead’s I made a chart of the functions and the corresponding color I was using from the 3 color servo wire that I was using. Then I cut the individual leads one at a time and completed soldering and shrink tubing each lead before moving on to the next lead to make things less confusing. You can also follow the wiring diagram on page 4 of the manual if you cut some leads and are unsure of where they go to.

Before taking apart my plane, I made a data sheet listing down the receiver channels used for the Guardian, the function on the RX lead they plugged into, and the pulse width at the limits for the Aileron, Aileron2 (aux input), Rudder, and Elevator. This really helped me when I plugged in the receiver connection harness to the receiver, and as you will see later with servo limits.

I turned on the airplane, plugged my usb cable from my laptop to the Guardian and started up the configuration software. You can have the usb connected and Set the model type to fixed wing, this plane has separate flaps and ailerons, so I unchecked flaperon inputs unmixed. The MB339 has crow (ailerons up, flaps down) mixed at the radio, at first I had this checked and my ailerons were acting very weird, then I noticed my mistake. You have to apply or save your new configuration before it will take effect on the guardian as you are configuring it.

2D tab: Set my auto coordination to 2, center stick stabilization only mode to enable and 4.

3D tab: Disabled 3d heading hold for the first flight.

Servo configuration tab: Before I started the install I used an old hitech servo controller to measure the pulse width of maximum aileron, elevator, and rudder throw. This is a really cool feature; you can set servo limits so that when you use 3D direct mode the guardian won’t over throw the control surfaces and bind, strip a servo, or break something. When in 3D direct rate the Guardian will attempt to move your servos to their maximum throw to match the roll, pitch, or yaw rate that you have programed in on the 3D tab. The default is 1Hz or 360 degrees per second; it makes the airplane feel like there is no gyro dampening your inputs while still keeping the plane stabilized. I set my other plane to 1Hz and it rolls pretty fast, it also felt much more responsive with direct rate on. Dual rates also work to limit throws so if you want to have some control over sensitivity you can.

Now to setting the servo output ranges, I went to each surface and set the pulse width to the measurements that I had gotten before I started the install, depending on how you setup your plane there will be a low and high setting. Default is min 801 max 2199, typically for my plane it was 1150 to 1860. You can then fine tune the throw to stop just before the surfaces bind or to a preset deflection. Please remember that for the minimum setting you have to go lower for more throw, and for maximum higher. Also when you have the usb attached and you’re making fine adjustments and you type in a new pulse width value tab or click to the next box, then apply or save to have the settings apply.

Advanced tab: Since I’m running digital servos that have an update rate of at least 250 Hz I set the slider to 250. This will allow the Guardian to update your servos much more quickly and it will give you better stabilization performance, be careful however that you do not set an update rate that is higher than you servo is designed for, that will burn it out. If in doubt leave the Guardian set at 50, the digital servos will work at a lower than optimum setting.

Confirmation of settings: After I finished the setting the guardian up I made sure I clicked reset neutral servo deflections and level pitch/roll, it was time to make sure that the guardian was moving the servos the correct way. To make it easier I switched the mode switch to mode 2 and tilted the wings to check roll, in mode 2 the correction will stay as the plane is trying to roll the airplane back to level, if you’re in 3D mode the correction will only move quickly then back to neutral again. The control surfaces should counteract the way you are moving your plane, for example if you roll the plane left the ailerons should attempt to roll right. Please reference page 6 of the manual to see all the proper reactions of the control surfaces should be.

If your control surface moves the same direction as your moving your airplane you need to correct that by turning your manual gain on the top of the Guardian to the other side of the dial 0 is straight up to the left it reacts one way to the right it reacts the other. This is critical that you have this correct; if you are unsure please ask for help, if you get this wrong the likely hood that you will crash is very high when you turn the unit on. Do not feel bad if you are confused, I have setup many stabilized airplanes and it is not an intuitive thing.

If you have automatic turn coordination on in 2D, your rudder may move in the direction of the roll. For example if you roll the plane right the rudder might give right rudder to coordinate the turn. This might throw you off during the testing. If you only spun the plane in yaw plane the rudder would react the opposite way, the coordination feature might throw you off during testing you may want to disable it until your done.

edited

Originally Posted by Floater73

Mine came in today. Ordered in Feb. Here it is installed in my Techone SU-31 and ready to fly. But I have to wait until after the fourth. I'll be out of town.

The setup was straight forward after I commandeered my daughter's smart phone USB cable. I have 15-20 USB cables but none had a micro USB end. It already had version 1.17 installed. I have the ailerons on separate channels so I needed seven channels. I swapped out the six channel orange receiver I was using with a nine channel one. Getting it and the Guardian installed and connected was very simple.

All the servos went the wrong way using the factory settings in the pots. I just moved them all to the opposite side of 0. I'm using about 70 on all the pots. I also did the Servo Config to set the servo limits. Both 2D and 3D modes would drive the servos past their limits if the gain was high. All the setup was easy. The pop up helps in the windows program are really helpful.

I have a FY-20a so I expect 2D mode to work the same, only better. I'm really looking forward to the 3D mode. Maybe I'll surprise the 3D fliers before they realize I'm cheating. Hey, they use mixes.

Steve

Hey Floater

Probably a silly question but isn't your guardian installed upside down. The unit has "top" written in the airplane artwork to the right of the pitch control adjustment. From your picture it looks like "top" is on the landing gear side or the bottom.

Are you able to have guardian reverse top and bottom?

Thanks
Gadget 99

Hi Gadget 99

You can have it upside down, more importantly the printed plane needs to point fwd. However you do need to be able to get to the axis adjustment pots on the top during the initial flights.

I mistakenly installed my first one with the plane pointing backwards and it still worked. However won't do that again lol now that I know.

Aero good description of set up. I see why you get to be a beta tester.

Originally Posted by Aero65

If you have automatic turn coordination on in 2D, your rudder may move in the direction of the roll. For example if you roll the plane right the rudder might give right rudder to coordinate the turn. This might throw you off during the testing. If you only spun the plane in yaw plane the rudder would react the opposite way, the coordination feature might throw you off during testing you may want to disable it until your done.

Thanks for all your notes.

With similar systems (e.g. FY-20A) you should permanently turn off turn coordination when using gyro stabilizer. The purpose of turn coordination is to compensate for adverse yaw when the plane rolls. But the stabilizer will do that for you. If you have coordination mixes turned on in your TX, then the gyro is told to over-compensate for the yaw.

Frankly I'm not sure I could tell the difference, but I have adjusted my TX so that when I'm in the GYRO-ON flight mode, mixes are turned off.

Originally Posted by Floater73

Mine came in today. Ordered in Feb. Here it is installed in my Techone SU-31 and ready to fly. But I have to wait until after the fourth. I'll be out of town.

All the servos went the wrong way using the factory settings in the pots. I just moved them all to the opposite side of 0.
Steve

The pots needed to be switched to the other side because you installed the stabilizer "upside down." It's the same as if you had installed it right-side-up-but-backwards.

So to answer a later question, you can install these devices with any 180 degree rotations, then adjust the pots. You might even be able to install with 90 degree rotation, then switch some of the outputs to different servos. (E.g. the output labeled "elevator" would go to the ailerons.) I'll have to try it when I get one. a

Originally Posted by Reegor

... You might even be able to install with 90 degree rotation, then switch some of the outputs to different servos. (E.g. the output labeled "elevator" would go to the ailerons.) I'll have to try it when I get one. a

From what I know of flying knife-edge, my guess would be to leave ailerons alone and swap the elevator and rudder outputs.