Setting up the Futaba T8FGS (or 14SG) with the P2

[ianwood]

I have not made any mods to the P2 with respect to onboard flight controls. Stock receiver, stock antenna length and routing. I am curious to install the Futaba receiver and longer antennae, but that's not a high priority at the moment. The video Tx is the ImmersionRC 250mW mounted in the typical position underside on the belly, near the back, on the centerline of the 'fuselage' with the connector facing aft. The antenna 2" extension bends down ~60 degrees, and the SpiroNet antenna connects from there. I have been playing with SpiroNet on the centerline, versus rotated away on port side, to "peek" around the hull when the video RX (googles or Lilliput) are off the nose of the ship. Not sure yet what is optimal orientation.

Pics soon, but nothing special going on here. Next expirment is using $20 patch antenna on Fatsharks instead of SpiroNet.

Kelly

Makes sense. Pics probably optional as it is stock with respect to the receiver. I thought you had the Futaba receiver with the extra long antennas. But vTX routing and positioning does make a huge difference on both FPV and RC range so that could still be interesting.

 

[wkf94025]

Above are pics of my setup that is getting very good flight control and fairly good FPV out to 3,000 meters.

Kelly

 

[extrememc]

Nice setup! Where did you buy 2" extension?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wkf94025]

See my two Monday posts below for details on products and vendor. Extensions are cheap. Patch antenna cheap, tho sensitive in its orientation. Nice to get decent VFR from 3,000 meters away. Next experiment is trying 600mW vs 250mW ImmersionRC video transmitter.

Kelly

 

[MontanaMike]

I have to admit, this has been my favorite thread over the last couple months I've been on this forum as it pertains to my goals of making decent aerial video. I think I've read through it 3x, and parts of it, more than that. Such great information.

The other day I intended to get the t8fgs for my P2.. I ended up with a 14sg from tower hobbies in the US, because they didn't have the 8fg anymore. If you are in the market, they have a decent price, ship quick, and the ability to pay in 3 installments, which made decision a no-brainer for me on my budget. The 14sg also made sense because eventually, I'd like to build a heavy lift copter for my DSLR's.. Telemetry might be nice.

Anyways.. I followed Ianwood's instructions to the T on installing the profile.. process took me 30 min total, for install and calibration. Haven't flown yet, but bench tested and everything seems to work the way that it should. 3 words: INCREDIBLE!, and THANK YOU!.. -to Ianwood and others who have added input to refine his V4 profile. The Gimbal action is Like Buttah...Can't wait to see LD and SC channels in action.. It would've taken me a month of trial and error to get it figured from reading the manual.. As soon as it warms up a bit today, I'm flying.

Ianwoods, you're the man! You're probably too intelligent to run for POTUS I'm sure, but I'd vote for you if you did..lol . If you are ever in NW MT near Glacier NP.. give a shout. I'll buy the beer. -Any of you, for that matter. lol.

Thanks again..

 

[MontanaMike]

oh and btw, I found this vid on T8fg.. Not sure if it was posted yet, but it's a good one about modifying the return spring and right slider..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpaOrs5Hdl0

 

[DesertFlyer53]

oh and btw, I found this vid on T8fg.. Not sure if it was posted yet, but it's a good one about modifying the return spring and right slider..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpaOrs5Hdl0

Note: This differs from mine. I had to actually install the centering spring in the throttle stick. I'm not sure why the difference.

 

[ladykate]

oh and btw, I found this vid on T8fg.. Not sure if it was posted yet, but it's a good one about modifying the return spring and right slider..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpaOrs5Hdl0

Note: This differs from mine. I had to actually install the centering spring in the throttle stick. I'm not sure why the difference.

Mine, too. I posted on that link that there are different versions.

 

[ladykate]

Please keep me posted on how open heart surgery on your radio goes...

Kelly

Other than disassembling all the circuitry (taking out the main board) I didn't see a way of getting to the potentiometers. So... didn't try it.

An update on this. You can take the detents off the slider switch on the side of the transmitter. Open it up, the switch just comes right out. Remove the spring on the side (one small cross-point screw). I put the screw back in so I wouldn't lose it.

 

[christianjou]

@Ianwood : do you plan to make an Dji A2 profile for the T8FGS ?
Thanks for your answer.

 

[ladykate]

@Ianwood : do you plan to make an Dji A2 profile for the T8FGS ?
Thanks for your answer.

I'm using the Ianwood profile on my Tarot 810 with A2M.

 

[christianjou]

And it' s ok ?


Envoyé de mon iPhone à l'aide de Tapatalk

 

[ladykate]

And it' s ok ?


Envoyé de mon iPhone à l'aide de Tapatalk

Sure. Works just like you would expect. You just have extra channels to play with. Yaw works with the knob and so on. I think I had to program the IOC switch in the A2 assistant. That was it.

 

[wkf94025]

Please keep me posted on how open heart surgery on your radio goes...

Kelly

Other than disassembling all the circuitry (taking out the main board) I didn't see a way of getting to the potentiometers. So... didn't try it.

An update on this. You can take the detents off the slider switch on the side of the transmitter. Open it up, the switch just comes right out. Remove the spring on the side (one small cross-point screw). I put the screw back in so I wouldn't lose it.

LK -- glad you were able to make that tweak. I did as well last month, and now can't imagine life with ratcheted right slider.

Ian -- I had a thought about additional use of the sliders: would it be possible to program left slider to control tilt in the 0 to 45 degrees down range, in addition to right slider controlling tilt 0 to 90? I rarely need full range, and similar to yaw on the original radio, am looking for slower, smoother action than I am getting today with right slider through 90 degrees.

Kelly

 

[Uncle Meat]

Okay I need some suggestions....

7 out of the 10 flights I've made with my T8FGS has resulted in this same instance occurring. I'm flying around and I look down at the LCD on the radio to see how much time has passed. Instead of seeing the main display I'd hoped for I now see that I'm two or three levels deep into one of the zillions of menu screens this radio has! This is due to the palm of my right hand rubbing the thumb pad during operation. Of course my unfamiliarity with the navigation of this thumb pad means I end up fiddling with it for a minute or more TRYING to get back to the main display screen. Most times I am UNSUCCESSFUL at this and have to land my 550 and power everything off and back on again to get back to the main screen. However this erases the timer and I now have no idea how much of the battery has been used up. Is there a one button push I can make that will return the display back to the main screen option on this radio regardless of which menu or sun-menu you're currently in? If not I will have to devise a cover I can tape over the pad to prevent unintended menu selections while in flight. I mean what the hell am I going to do if I unintentionally change something IMPORTANT in the middle of my flight!!!

Personally I feel this is a design flaw in the radio. Thumb pad should be in the middle of the radio where the power switch is currently located IMHO.

U.M.

P.S. I got my parts kit in to convert my throttle to self-centering. Is there a decent write up with pictures on how to do this?

 

[ladykate]

Okay I need some suggestions....

7 out of the 10 flights I've made with my T8FGS has resulted in this same instance occurring. I'm flying around and I look down at the LCD on the radio to see how much time has passed. Instead of seeing the main display I'd hoped for I now see that I'm two or three levels deep into one of the zillions of menu screens this radio has!

U.M.

P.S. I got my parts kit in to convert my throttle to self-centering. Is there a decent write up with pictures on how to do this?

You can lock the screen. Open the manual and look it up (trying to explain it here would probably be confusing). It takes one move. I've also looked down and seen menus I didn't want up while flying. I'm surprised you haven't locked it by accident (that was how I found out about the feature ;-})

For the throttle spring mod, there is a video that goes through it all but you don't need to do what he does. Just take the spring clip off the top, remove the wiper nylon, thread the cam under the gimbal axle, attach the spring to the provided arm and screw down the adjustment (I put mine almost all the way down). To see how it all fits together, just look at the other gimbal which is self-centering.

Here is the vid of a T8J but don't do what he did - he took it all apart and you don't need to do that. However, it does show what you are aiming for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUmpVEemJnk

 

[ianwood]

I've been neglecting this thread a bit. Some work travel plus I am neck deep deep in dissecting telemetry out of the CAN bus protocol to identify the smoking gun in the compass issue. With the CAN opened (awful, I know) there will also be tons of other potential benefits including telemetry for the 14SG users. Will be back to advanced gimbal tilts soon enough as that is what I would rather be focusing on!

 

[ladykate]

And it' s ok ?


Envoyé de mon iPhone à l'aide de Tapatalk

Sure. Works just like you would expect. You just have extra channels to play with. Yaw works with the knob and so on. I think I had to program the IOC switch in the A2 assistant. That was it.

Oh.. and you also have to map the gimbal in the assistant. Channel 5 for the GoPro H3-xx (there is a mapping reserved for it - just tell the A2 to use channel 5 for that map). However, none of that is part of the profile - just configuration of the A2.

 

[wkf94025]

I've been neglecting this thread a bit. Some work travel plus I am neck deep deep in dissecting telemetry out of the CAN bus protocol to identify the smoking gun in the compass issue. With the CAN opened (awful, I know) there will also be tons of other potential benefits including telemetry for the 14SG users. Will be back to advanced gimbal tilts soon enough as that is what I would rather be focusing on!

On my 14SG I set up the servo speed to 25 (versus previous value of zero) on channel 5 ("gear" aka camera tilt). Its a fabulous enhancement to the right side slider. Still curious about left side slider being programmed to a 0 to 45 degree tilt, with slow servo speed, for better smooth tilts.

Kelly

 

[tomic]

This is my first post on this forum. Thanks to ianwood and all the others who have contributed to this thread, its been incredibly helpful.

my issue....

I have set up my futaba 8fgs with v4 profile, and i love it, but i am getting some inconsistent jitter when using the SB gimbal movement. At times it would be silky smooth and other times it jerks (see vid below). Has anyone had this problem and found a solution?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFhdLXVACzw