Hey guys,

What is the correct position for the antenna? Up or to the side?

Originally Posted by JGrn

Hey guys,

What is the correct position for the antenna? Up or to the side?

To the side. Think if the antenna signal as a big donut going around the end of the antenna--as if the end of the antenna went thru the hole in the donut. If the antenna is pointed at the model, the signal isn't. It has to be pointed off to the side so that the model is in the donut.

Here's something I found on the googles:
http://henrycountyrc.com/blog/2009/1..._dynamics.html

Rafa

Originally Posted by Rafa's CB100

To the side. Think if the antenna signal as a big donut going around the end of the antenna--as if the end of the antenna went thru the hole in the donut. If the antenna is pointed at the model, the signal isn't. It has to be pointed off to the side so that the model is in the donut.

Here's something I found on the googles:
http://henrycountyrc.com/blog/2009/1..._dynamics.html

Rafa

Don't see where your getting that from that article, the picture doesn't even show that, point the antenna straight up in the air. That's why they have a bend / joint so you can get the antenna to point directly at the sky, straight up, when you hold your radio in a natural position. This angle then puts the "fat" part of the donut pointing directly at your target, perpendicular to the ground is wrong, period. Ever see a trucker going down the highway with his antennas flat, no, never, same applies here.

Lay your antenna to the side, your laying the dounut on its side, much less sky is covered. Your narrowing the radiated signal.

OK, I can see (and now read) what you are saying. I must admit that I didn't read the whole article at first, it was just that donut picture I was looking for. The thinking I was following was that if the antenna is pointing to the side, the null will never be pointed directly at the model, since one tends to turn and follow the model (heli in my case), thus having the tx itself pointed at the model, which would leave the model in the 'donut'.

The trucker analogy makes sense, but this seemed a bit different here in that one truck is not generally anywhere near above the other, it's well off to the side. If one has the tx antenna pointed straight up, and the model happens to get right above you, won't the model be in the null? I guess that's why the article mentioned pointing the antenna at your head, sine the likelihood or having the model above and behind you is less.

I don't want to sound like I have any expertise here, I'm interested in learning--this is just how I'd rationalized it in my head so far.

Rafa

Originally Posted by Muskoka1

Don't see where your getting that from that article, the picture doesn't even show that, point the antenna straight up in the air. That's why they have a bend / joint so you can get the antenna to point directly at the sky, straight up, when you hold your radio in a natural position. This angle then puts the "fat" part of the donut pointing directly at your target, perpendicular to the ground is wrong, period. Ever see a trucker going down the highway with his antennas flat, no, never, same applies here.

Lay your antenna to the side, your laying the dounut on its side, much less sky is covered. Your narrowing the radiated signal.

Rafa, no problem. It's a point of contention with a few people at our field and they wonder why they sometimes seem to loose signal when the plane gets a bit far. Nothing wrong with their equipment, it's the way they position their antenna, and then get to the fringe of the signal. If they had it positioned properly they wouldn't have a issue.

And yes, if you flew over your head all the time then I suppose laying the antenna on it's side would work fine, kinda tough on the neck though.

Another benefit to pointing the aerial at the model is that if you lose signal in the dead zone then chances are it will fall into a zone of stronger signal almost immediately unless your flying a few m above the deck at max range...

First, newbee here, sorry. I'm a bit confused on using the trim system on the devo 10 with my Quadcopter (Turbo Ace X830-D Devo 10 TX, RX1002) There are 4 switches on the Devo 10 for trim. The top two show a vertical graph on the screen and can move up and down past the center point, the bottom two show horizontal graphs and can move right or left past the center point. Can someone explain how moving these will effect each engine and how I can use these to trim to cut down on drift when I'm trying to just hover? Thanks all!

Peter

Newbee here again. Turbo Ace X830-D Devo 10 TX, RX1002) There are 4 switches on the Devo 10 for trim. I'm finding that the throttle as well as pitch, rudder, and aileron controls are extremely sensitive, I'm getting into trouble because my fingers are still getting trained on the controls and for each movement I make, my quad bolts in the direction that I send it. Is there any way to soften these controls so that I can make greater movements on the sticks and get less reaction from the quad?

Thanks all,

Peter

Originally Posted by pspero

Newbee here again. Turbo Ace X830-D Devo 10 TX, RX1002) There are 4 switches on the Devo 10 for trim. I'm finding that the throttle as well as pitch, rudder, and aileron controls are extremely sensitive, I'm getting into trouble because my fingers are still getting trained on the controls and for each movement I make, my quad bolts in the direction that I send it. Is there any way to soften these controls so that I can make greater movements on the sticks and get less reaction from the quad?

Thanks all,

Peter

Lower your D/R (Dual Rates) for ELE (elevator - forward/back) and AIL (aileron - side to side) from (probably 100%) to around 70 or even 60 at first, and add positive expo to make the sticks less responsive around center (add 20%) at first. I don't have a proper steps to give you but you can find everything in the Function Menu, provided you run official firmware. If you find the rotation speed is too great, lower Rudder D/R too.

Fly it again, and then modify above values to suit your taste.

Don't play with the trims (controllers like Naza don't like trims). I don't have one but I recall there is special software for configuring the controller.


The quad drifting might be the effect of your inputs if you're a newbie.

Edit: I found some reports saying that Naza natively drifts a bit to the right. Is yours the same?

Thanks for your response and the heads up about the NAZA. I have decided to practice with my Ladybird and Devo 10 to get used to the flight controls. The Ladybird drifts but I'm not sure how to trim it, or if I can.

I'll take a look at the method for softening the controls that you mentioned. Do you have any specifics on how I get into the D/Rs for ELE and AIL on my Devo 10, I'll search for it myself as well.

Again, thanks for writing.

Originally Posted by pspero

Thanks for your response and the heads up about the NAZA. I have decided to practice with my Ladybird and Devo 10 to get used to the flight controls. The Ladybird drifts but I'm not sure how to trim it, or if I can.

I'll take a look at the method for softening the controls that you mentioned. Do you have any specifics on how I get into the D/Rs for ELE and AIL on my Devo 10, I'll search for it myself as well.

Again, thanks for writing.

I don't have the exact steps as I no longer run stock firmware on my Devo 10, but they should be in Function Menu.

I think LB can be trimmed using the trim switches around the right stick for ELE/AIL (if you fly mode 2) and under left stick for RUDDER. So if your LB drift right, use the switch under the right stick and nudge a 2-3 notches to the left until she no longer drifts.

(mode 2 is when you have throttle and rudder on left stick, ele/ail on right stick).

But, don't use trims on the NAZA controller. It's probably safe to use subtrim, but you are not there yet. I recommend reading around these forums as much as you can, you need to have good command of your transmitter and you should become familiar with the lingo used around here too.

BTW you'll find here a quadcopters section too, a lot of good information there.

Great info, thanks!!!

I recently started using a Devo 10 with a custom built quadcopter using a KK2 Flight Controller. Everything seemed fine for a couple months until (long story short) a couple of nights ago my quad seemed to freak out and took off, flew a few blocks and eventually after battling and trying to recover it disappeared into the snow somewhere. I'm not sure if it was pilot error, a technical issue or something went wrong with the hardware itself.

So now I'm looking at replacing the quad (and investing in some sort of locator) but also trying to plan what to do about the TX/RX. I think I need to flash the firmware to 100mw + mount the antennae wires differently this time. Maybe one vertical and one horizontal since the quad is used for acrobatics as well as some short-distance LOS flying?

I was wondering if it's best to get another RX1002 (I actually only need 5ch for this setup) or if I should look at another RX? I'm searching and trying to find out what RX's are compatible with the Devo10 as I'd love to add telemetry or GPS locating etc. - I just don't know how that all works as I haven't tried it before.

So any suggestions on the RX or links to a compatability list etc.?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by rexless

I recently started using a Devo 10 with a custom built quadcopter using a KK2 Flight Controller. Everything seemed fine for a couple months until (long story short) a couple of nights ago my quad seemed to freak out and took off, flew a few blocks and eventually after battling and trying to recover it disappeared into the snow somewhere. I'm not sure if it was pilot error, a technical issue or something went wrong with the hardware itself.

So now I'm looking at replacing the quad (and investing in some sort of locator) but also trying to plan what to do about the TX/RX. I think I need to flash the firmware to 100mw + mount the antennae wires differently this time. Maybe one vertical and one horizontal since the quad is used for acrobatics as well as some short-distance LOS flying?

I was wondering if it's best to get another RX1002 (I actually only need 5ch for this setup) or if I should look at another RX? I'm searching and trying to find out what RX's are compatible with the Devo10 as I'd love to add telemetry or GPS locating etc. - I just don't know how that all works as I haven't tried it before.

So any suggestions on the RX or links to a compatability list etc.?

Thanks!

Sorry for your loss. One of the 400's?

I got my Devo 10 this afternoon. If you want to look at a receiver other than Devo then check out Deviation. It's a firmware update to allow Devo TX's to work with non-devos and non-Walkeras. I just installed it and tonight's project is to get it working with my V120D02S old Walkera receiver.

Thanks The quad was an Armattan M370 (370mm shaft to shaft) custom build. I'm not sure what class that is but I would guess it's in the 300 range?

I forgot about the firmware! I think I downloaded it and figured I didn't need it yet. Thanks for the reminder. So now I just need to figure out if the Devention RX1002 (or similar) RX like I had is good or if there is something else better suited. Now the choices have grown!