EricLarson
03-29-2005, 09:19 PM
Hi all, I wanted to say welcome. This is a place to ask questions and hopefully get all of your questions answered. Will asked me if I would like to be a moderator in this forum and I am happy he did.
First I will give you my impressions of the new radio. #1 I am very impressed with the radio system. Most of the reviews you read online are covering the fancy touch screen and the 14 channel's, but those are very small parts of the significant advantages of the radio system. When the radio is combined with the new R5014 receiver you get the full benefit of 2048CCPM and a 40% faster transfer rate over the 9Z. That resolution and speed are very apparent when flying an electronic CCPM helicopter.
The second best feature in my opinion, is the true ability to run any frequency on your modules band. At a recent funfly I changed frequencies several times and the system works very well. Unlike the old 309 receiver, the new R5014 is safe to use in helicopters.
The feel of the radio has taken me a few weeks to get use to. If you currently fly a 9Z the transition will be very easy. I transitioned from a 9C radio and it was a bit more severe especially considering I was just breaking it in at one of the larges funflies of the year (Bham)! The first thing I noticed over a 9C was that the throttle stick travel is reduced. This turns out to be standard in the top models of Futaba radio's and I have not gotten a very good answer why the stick travel is limited. This can be easily removed, but the radio will need to be sent to Hobby Services for the removal and recalibration. Also the spring on the sticks are a bit soft even when full tight. This is also easily fixed, but again you need to send the radio to Hobby Services. If you take the radio apart yourself just use some caution, as I am told the main board in there is around $600!
Other than those issues the radio feels very high end in my hands. The sticks are very smooth and accurate. The case is nice and smooth which allows you to clean it very easily.
The radio programing is pretty straight forward. The main menus are separated into 3 groups. Link, model, and system. A few hour of playing with the menu's and you will be right at home. The only menu that confused me some is the Swash Plate Detail menu in the Linkage section. As it turns out this menu is one of the most valuable tools in the radio for Electronic CCPM helicopters. Cliff Hiatt and Wayne Mann are working on a 14MZ heli guide that should be very valuable, but it will be a little while until it is done. Until then, here is a bit of information Cliff sent me (note, there will be updates to this):
Note: It is very critical that the balls on the inner ring of the swash plate are in perfect line with the balls on the outer ring of the swash plate when performing this tuning exercise, otherwise you will be introducing fore and aft cyclic when you give right and left cyclic and vise versa. Also when you give a full cyclic command make sure that you are only giving that command and that you are not inadvertently holding a small amount aft cyclic with right cyclic and so on.
Here you will adjust the servo throws to keep the swash plate level throughout the entire collective range and eliminate interaction with cyclic inputs while at either end of the collective range. In the Linkage Menu click on Swash then click on Swash Detail in the top right corner of the screen. In the Mixing Rate box the first two mixes you see are PIT to AIL and PIT to ELE. These two mixers are used to level the swash plate at both ends of the collective travel. If you move the collective stick up you will notice that the two left boxes are highlighted and if the collective stick is down the two left boxes are highlighted. To make adjustments click on the highlighted box that you want to adjust then use the data input keys on the right side of the screen to make adjustments. With the collective stick up at full pitch and looking at the nose of the model adjust the PIT to AIL mix so that the swash plate is level. Move the collective stick to the bottom and do the same thing. Tip: Set a pitch gauge to 0 and put the gauge on one of the fly bar paddles. You can use the top of the rotor head for a level reference. This makes any movement in the swash plate very easy to see. Now turn the paddle with the pitch gauge 90 degrees so that you are looking at the side of the model. Now adjust the PIT to ELE mix so that the swash plate is level at high and low collective.
The next three mixers are used to stop interactions in the swash plate when the collective stick is at 50% or centered. Adjust the AIL to PIT Mix so that when you give full left and right cyclic the swash plate stays level in the fore and aft plane as viewed from the side of the model. Next adjust the next two mixers, ELE to AIL and ELE to PIT so that the swash plate stays level in the right and left plane when full fore and aft cyclic inputs are made. This is best viewed from the nose of the model.
Next we will adjust the Linkage Compensation. This adjustment compensates for interactions in swash plate deflection at extreme collective settings. There are four adjustments for high collective and four adjustments for low collective. With the collective stick at the top and viewing the swash plate from the side adjust the Aileron mix so that there is no fore and aft cyclic change in the swash plate when full right and left cyclic is applied. Now turn the rotor head 90 degrees and do the same adjustments for Elevator. Now lower the collective stick and go through the entire process again.
Speed Compensation. This adjustment is for 120 degree ECCPM only. Because of the mechanical advantage of the Aileron and Pitch servo they are twice as fast at getting from full forward cyclic to full aft cyclic than the Elevator servo is. This problem is usually only seen when operating the fore and aft stick back and forth rapidly. Adjust the Speed Compensation so that the Heim Ball in the middle of the swash plate doesn't jump up and down when operating the fore and aft cyclic stick rapidly. This setting seems to be close when adjusted between 15 and 20.
If you are loading in pictures you need to have them in BMP format and the size should be 168x80 pixels. Music needs to be in WMA format and formatted for lower resolution. Audio files need to be in WAV format.
With a simple Compact Flash card reader you can back all of your information up on your computer. What a sense of security to have all of the files backed up!
Also don't worry about the win CE operating system. The radio contains 2 processors and you will not crash a model due to a system crash. I have locked up the radio by using music files that where too high of a resolution and then trying to use other menu's in the radio. When it locked up it would not even turn off. I use the opportunity to go fly to check the use of the radio if it locked up and it was fine. To unlock it, I just removed the battery for a few seconds and reinstalled. All was well.
I am sure there will be lots of questions, so I hope together we can fine the answers. The radio is very impressive, and I am looking forward to getting to know every last feature in the radio.
First I will give you my impressions of the new radio. #1 I am very impressed with the radio system. Most of the reviews you read online are covering the fancy touch screen and the 14 channel's, but those are very small parts of the significant advantages of the radio system. When the radio is combined with the new R5014 receiver you get the full benefit of 2048CCPM and a 40% faster transfer rate over the 9Z. That resolution and speed are very apparent when flying an electronic CCPM helicopter.
The second best feature in my opinion, is the true ability to run any frequency on your modules band. At a recent funfly I changed frequencies several times and the system works very well. Unlike the old 309 receiver, the new R5014 is safe to use in helicopters.
The feel of the radio has taken me a few weeks to get use to. If you currently fly a 9Z the transition will be very easy. I transitioned from a 9C radio and it was a bit more severe especially considering I was just breaking it in at one of the larges funflies of the year (Bham)! The first thing I noticed over a 9C was that the throttle stick travel is reduced. This turns out to be standard in the top models of Futaba radio's and I have not gotten a very good answer why the stick travel is limited. This can be easily removed, but the radio will need to be sent to Hobby Services for the removal and recalibration. Also the spring on the sticks are a bit soft even when full tight. This is also easily fixed, but again you need to send the radio to Hobby Services. If you take the radio apart yourself just use some caution, as I am told the main board in there is around $600!
Other than those issues the radio feels very high end in my hands. The sticks are very smooth and accurate. The case is nice and smooth which allows you to clean it very easily.
The radio programing is pretty straight forward. The main menus are separated into 3 groups. Link, model, and system. A few hour of playing with the menu's and you will be right at home. The only menu that confused me some is the Swash Plate Detail menu in the Linkage section. As it turns out this menu is one of the most valuable tools in the radio for Electronic CCPM helicopters. Cliff Hiatt and Wayne Mann are working on a 14MZ heli guide that should be very valuable, but it will be a little while until it is done. Until then, here is a bit of information Cliff sent me (note, there will be updates to this):
Note: It is very critical that the balls on the inner ring of the swash plate are in perfect line with the balls on the outer ring of the swash plate when performing this tuning exercise, otherwise you will be introducing fore and aft cyclic when you give right and left cyclic and vise versa. Also when you give a full cyclic command make sure that you are only giving that command and that you are not inadvertently holding a small amount aft cyclic with right cyclic and so on.
Here you will adjust the servo throws to keep the swash plate level throughout the entire collective range and eliminate interaction with cyclic inputs while at either end of the collective range. In the Linkage Menu click on Swash then click on Swash Detail in the top right corner of the screen. In the Mixing Rate box the first two mixes you see are PIT to AIL and PIT to ELE. These two mixers are used to level the swash plate at both ends of the collective travel. If you move the collective stick up you will notice that the two left boxes are highlighted and if the collective stick is down the two left boxes are highlighted. To make adjustments click on the highlighted box that you want to adjust then use the data input keys on the right side of the screen to make adjustments. With the collective stick up at full pitch and looking at the nose of the model adjust the PIT to AIL mix so that the swash plate is level. Move the collective stick to the bottom and do the same thing. Tip: Set a pitch gauge to 0 and put the gauge on one of the fly bar paddles. You can use the top of the rotor head for a level reference. This makes any movement in the swash plate very easy to see. Now turn the paddle with the pitch gauge 90 degrees so that you are looking at the side of the model. Now adjust the PIT to ELE mix so that the swash plate is level at high and low collective.
The next three mixers are used to stop interactions in the swash plate when the collective stick is at 50% or centered. Adjust the AIL to PIT Mix so that when you give full left and right cyclic the swash plate stays level in the fore and aft plane as viewed from the side of the model. Next adjust the next two mixers, ELE to AIL and ELE to PIT so that the swash plate stays level in the right and left plane when full fore and aft cyclic inputs are made. This is best viewed from the nose of the model.
Next we will adjust the Linkage Compensation. This adjustment compensates for interactions in swash plate deflection at extreme collective settings. There are four adjustments for high collective and four adjustments for low collective. With the collective stick at the top and viewing the swash plate from the side adjust the Aileron mix so that there is no fore and aft cyclic change in the swash plate when full right and left cyclic is applied. Now turn the rotor head 90 degrees and do the same adjustments for Elevator. Now lower the collective stick and go through the entire process again.
Speed Compensation. This adjustment is for 120 degree ECCPM only. Because of the mechanical advantage of the Aileron and Pitch servo they are twice as fast at getting from full forward cyclic to full aft cyclic than the Elevator servo is. This problem is usually only seen when operating the fore and aft stick back and forth rapidly. Adjust the Speed Compensation so that the Heim Ball in the middle of the swash plate doesn't jump up and down when operating the fore and aft cyclic stick rapidly. This setting seems to be close when adjusted between 15 and 20.
If you are loading in pictures you need to have them in BMP format and the size should be 168x80 pixels. Music needs to be in WMA format and formatted for lower resolution. Audio files need to be in WAV format.
With a simple Compact Flash card reader you can back all of your information up on your computer. What a sense of security to have all of the files backed up!
Also don't worry about the win CE operating system. The radio contains 2 processors and you will not crash a model due to a system crash. I have locked up the radio by using music files that where too high of a resolution and then trying to use other menu's in the radio. When it locked up it would not even turn off. I use the opportunity to go fly to check the use of the radio if it locked up and it was fine. To unlock it, I just removed the battery for a few seconds and reinstalled. All was well.
I am sure there will be lots of questions, so I hope together we can fine the answers. The radio is very impressive, and I am looking forward to getting to know every last feature in the radio.