SpartanRC DS760 Gyro Review and Setup Vids

[raptorheli2]

i run my own spartan 760 on a 3153 on the trex 450 (thats me flying the video a few pages back with the 450) a 9256 in a trex 600 nitro and an 8900g in a pair of synergys. hope that helps.

cheers

[ghtracey]

I'm curious about something. In order for the gyro to recognize that a DX7 hasn't synched yet, you recommend binding it with full left yaw? If that's the case, God fobid you should ever experience a lockout. Is that actually the recommended method?

[Angelos]

I'm curious about something. In order for the gyro to recognize that a DX7 hasn't synched yet, you recommend binding it with full left yaw? If that's the case, God fobid you should ever experience a lockout. Is that actually the recommended method?

As far as I have seen only the throttle goes to failsafe. The other channels stay on the last known position. Please try it and let me know if you find it working different than I have seen.

-Angelos

[ghtracey]

Ahh ok Angelos, that sounds good then. I don't have one, my friend does, I 'll check it out next week and see. What you say makes sense though, and I think I remember seeing somewhere that all channels but Throttle go to hold and the Throttle goes to failsafe.

It might be the AR9000 Rx that got my mind down this track, as it has a dual stage failsafe, but I think that was hold all, and then throttle failsafe after a delay.

Cheers, and congrats on what appears to be a great product.

[bullaculla]

It might be the AR9000 Rx that got my mind down this track, as it has a dual stage failsafe, but I think that was hold all, and then throttle failsafe after a delay.


There are two fail-safes. Fail-safe, and SmartSafe.
SmartSafe holds last good signal except throttle, the preset fail-safe goes to settings at bind.
So make sure you bind correctly to set desired type of failsafe.

[ghtracey]

Ahhh thanks, I knew it was in there somewhere with those Spektrum Rx's.... I guess you don't need to worry unless you are using the 9 channel.

[Angelos]

Firmware update version 1.03 has just been released. This version improves piro consistency and adds 250Hz mode to support the older JR servos. Page 8 of the user guide is also updated to reflect the addition of the 250Hz mode and is available on our website. Doing the update will erase all your parameters as on this version I had to reorganise the internal memory of the gyro. Remember to set up the gyro again before flying.

-Angelos

[bullaculla]

Ahhh thanks, I knew it was in there somewhere with those Spektrum Rx's.... I guess you don't need to worry unless you are using the 9 channel.

Yep, just the 9ch ones. All the rest only use smart-safe. :thumbup:

[highland flyer]

Angelos. Would it be possible to add the version number to the website for the firmware updates as it saves having to download the file to check when an update has occured. thanks Brian

[IcemanCharlie]

Angelos !!

What about us using Mac:s, any chanse for OS X or...

[Angelos]

highland flyer
Yes, I can do something for the firmware version.

IcemanCharlie
Unfortunately we don’t have the expertise or even the equipment and software tools to program it on OS X but I will be happy to share the required info with someone who is willing to write an OS X firmware loader.

[ghtracey]

Can't it run on a Mac in emulation mode?

[ozace]

Angelos, i just recieved my 760 but the store i purchased from doesnt have the cable for updating, where can i get the cable from ?

[mporlier]

You can buy direct from Spartan. I did.

or here http://www.spartan-rc.com/distributors.htm

[ozace]

Thanks , i just ordered it direct

[stupidz]

Mark,do you get the USB cable in your web store?
I can't find it ....

[NTM]

I am using a 9256 on my 600N.
This gyro is the only other gyro I know of other than the 611 that can support the faster frame rate Fuatab 9251/56 servos.

Bob


The mikado v-bar does as well.

[MarkWebber]

I've got an order in for the USB cables. Just awaiting shipping info from Spartan. I had to take the USB page down because customers were placing orders that I was unable to fill. When I have an estimated arrival date, I'll put that page back up.

[Ade_Law]

the frame rate that the 611 uses isnt actually any faster than normal digital servo mode. its still 333hz

meaning the servo gets a position update 330 times a second.

the diffiference is the width of the pulse at servo centre. normal DS mode is 1500us which means there is 1500us from the start of the pulse to the end of the pulse.

on the 9256 servo this centre pulse is only 760us so really there is nothing to gain other than futaba lining their pockets charging more for the 9256 over the 9254

Ade

[Angelos]

Half correct Ade. 760us or 1520us is the pulse width (time from start to end) that makes the servo go to mid-point. Here is a copy of a post I made on another forum a few weeks ago....

There has been a lot of misinformation and confusion about what people call frame rate so I will try to shed some light and also explain what is beneficial and what is not.

First some background information. The servo position is controlled by an electrical pulse or variable duration which in electronic terms is called pulse width. The pulse repeats at constant intervals and this repetition frequency is also known as frame rate. The majority of RC receivers will produce a frame rate of around 50Hz which means that they will instruct the servo where to go 50 times each second. The position of the servo horn is defined by the pulse duration. For a typical RC servo a pulse duration of 1520uSec means that the horn should be at the mid-point of the servo travel. If the pulse duration becomes shorter or longer the servo horn will move clockwise or counter-clockwise respectively.

As gyros evolved it was apparent that 50Hz was not enough to achieve the desired performance as the time intervals between pulses were too long. So manufacturers starting pushing the frame rate up. JR gyros went to 250Hz and Futaba pushed as high as 333Hz. This allowed the gyro to talk to the servo more frequently but the position command remained the same (1520uSec still means mid-point).

Then the GY601 came along to create confusion with the non standard 760uSec. With this system the servo travel mid-point is at 760uSec as opposed to 1520uSec. In theory by shortening the pulse to half it can reach the servo faster and therefore the servo can react sooner. In reality the benefit is negligible as the savings are less than 1mSec. Considering the inertial of the motor windings and the helicopter as a whole 1mSec does not give any noticeable benefit. In my view the only reason for doing this non-standard 760uSec system was to lock customers to a specific gyro/servo combo.

So when buying a new servo the important things to look at are… speed, torque and 333Hz frame rate. With the exception of the older JR servos 8700G etc most new digital servos will work at 333Hz. This includes all Futaba servos and therefore the S9254 will work as good as the S9256 since they have the same torque and speed spec but perhaps a little hotter due to the lack of metal case.

-Angelos

[Finless]

And ya know.... I have known Angelos for a long time over the years and one thing I can say is "HE KNOWS HIS SH*T". He is one of the most technical guys I have ever met online (JKOS is another smart man)!
I may know some basic stuff but Angelos is like a "rocket scientist" and that I kid you not!

So thanks Angelos for setting the record straight about frame rate.

Bob

[stupidz]

waiting for some test on Trex450........

[BruceW]

Talked to Bob on the phone tonight about the gyro reverse settings for the DS760 and even after I went and checked it again I think I did the correct configurations in the first place but let me throw it out here since changes may need to be made to the manual if so.

In the end, this gyro is destined for my Logo5003D but I was fitting it on my Trex450SE just to compare size to the 401. So far I'm not planning to run it on the 450 but maybe I'll change my mind later.

First thing I did was teach the gyro about the servo type (type 1 - S9650) with the servo unplugged and the gyro right-side up and everything worked as expected and documented.

Second, I strapped the gyro in the inverted position (label facing down) under the tail with the wire lead pointing towards the motor and plugged in the gain, servo->gyro, and gyro->RX. Basically I just strapped it on top of the 401 to hold it in position while I went through the configuration mode.

Third step involved going into the configuration mode to teach gyro direction, and low/high endpoints.

Now I know the manual says to push the rudder stick to the left during the gyro direction reversing step to match the radio. This works as expected when the gyro is right side up but with the gyro in the inverted position I need to push the stick to the right during this step to reverse the gyro direction. With reversing enabled, the gyro now works as expected in rate and HH modes and the direction of the rudder with left/right stick input is correct as well. This is just like switching the direction bit on the 401.

Now if I'm doing something wrong in this step by pushing the rudder to the right instead of left with the gyro in the inverted position, let me know. :flamesuit If this is the correct adjustment in this situation, then the manual should be changed to state that its OK to push the stick to the right to reverse direction as desired. The wording seems to only imply that the left direction is allowed.

Other than that I really like the setup of this gyro with separate low/high endpoints.

Other points I found while playing with the DS760 that are not in the manual are:

1. Besides switching between rate and HH mode to recenter the rudder you can also quickly toggle the rudder back and forth 3 times to recenter. This is a feature like on the 401 (all that I know right now).

2. The gyro seems to be fine with initializing in rate or HH mode and then just being switched to HH mode for flight. The 401 needed to be powered up in HH mode for it to work properly otherwise the error light would come on and who knows what will happen.

Just throwing out my first experiences with the DS760. Maybe I will go fly with it since my Logo won't be built for a little while.

[MarkWebber]

Are you saying that following moving the stick right that you then reversed the tx rudder channel?

[Finless]

Hmmmm interesting!
I just played with an inverted configuration myself and it looks like I WAS WRONG! I had to go RIGHT to get it to work inverted.

I will wait for Angelos to respond but it does look like if the gyro is mounted inverted you must go RIGHT on the stick.

Bob