Futaba 401 gyro and JR DS285 servo compatibility?

[jahunter]

I remember reading somewhere that the new JR DS285 did not work well with the 401. Am I imagining this? It looks like a good combination with the DS285 only Weighing 9.1g.

[DavidH]

If your going to use any digital servo that is not Futaba brand. Then make sure you have the switch on the gyro set to NON DS position. DS setting is only to be used with Futaba digital servos.

David

[BarracudaHockey]

Thats not entirely true, some servos can take the 270 hz frame rate that the 401 dishes out but if you don't have printed specs that show the frame rate, then its best to stay on the safe side and run DS off.

[DavidH]

From the GY 401 instructions:

Other precautions
•DS switch setting precaution
When the DS switch is set to the ON position, the rudder servo is driven by
approximately 270Hz high-speed pulses. This mode is for use with Futaba
digital servos only.
When using servos that are not compatible with high-speed
pulse drive, other than digital servos, never set the DS switch
to ON.
The servo may be destroyed.

From what I have witnessed. The GY 401 will drive some of the JR servos to full travel in one direction when the gyro initializes. That is not good for the servos.

David

[SteveL]

It will do that even with the DS switch set to off. I tried an 8700 on mine and it like to tore the linkage right out of the heli

[clear4takeoff]

I used the DS285 with GY401 for many flights, great results. Then, it locked up in flight and caused a major hard landing. The servo was frozen, wouldn't move either direction. Then I found out about the frame rate thing. Now I use a Hitec HSG5048 MG which handles the GY401 frame rate.