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

[SJBrit]

Gimbal Post #2

The first program trim uses SG to create three modes. In all modes, LS gives you fine adjustment (trim), but the coarse adjustment changes:

SG Up: The gimbal coarse control locks at about -10 degrees from horizontal. This is my "lookahead" mode.
SG Mid: Manual control - the gimbal sits wherever RS tells it to.
SG Down: The gimbal coarse control sits at about -80 degrees from horizontal. This is my "lookdown" mode.

Here's how you set that up. This is the program mix with SG as master and GEAR as slave:



SG is the master, NOT the switch that activates the mix. The mix should be set to always on.



There's one last piece. In "lookahead" and "lookdown" I don't want to accidentally move RS and mess up my coarse setting. So, I have another mix that disables RS in those modes. Check next post.

 

[SJBrit]

Gimbal Post #3

Here's my funky RS disable, which remember we want to be enabled in "lookahead" and "lookdown" i.e. when SG is up or down.

Here's the mix. It's a GEAR/GEAR mix which basically subtracts the RS setting from whatever the RS setting is:



It needs to be enabled with SG:



And it needs to be on with the switch up or down (in the middle it's off so that's the only place RS does anything):



And here you have it! Now SG switches the gimbal from lookahead to manual (RS) to lookdown and always has fine control on LS.

Calibration note: when you calibrate in the Naza Assistant you'll need to have SG in the center.

 

[SJBrit]

So that's what I've been working on! I may tweak the POV mode some more but it works pretty well the way it is. I'm loving the gimbal setup, although you might want different "set points" for lookahead and lookdown. Just tweak the +/- 80 points in the mix. That's why I love this thread - it taught me a bunch and made me brave enough to experiment

Once comment on POV: it's not real POV, it's just a pre-programmed open-loop circle. It works great, but the center can drift and you have to tweak to get the center where you want in the first place. Remember that in any of the cinematography modes all the controls continue to work too, so you can move the center using the right stick as the Phantom does it's thing.

Enjoy!

 

[SJBrit]

I thought I should reiterate the notes:

Gimbal calibration in the Naza Assistant: Set LS to center, SG to middle and move RS all the way up and down several times.

Pre-flight checks: Set SB and SC all the way up.

 

[Frendel]

Awesome job and great walkthrough!

 

[ianwood]

Giving the cinematic functions a shot. Will report back.

 

[SJBrit]

If anyone is interested, here is my calibration of the Phantom's rudder and aileron response:



And here is the POV model and predicted performance (which seems to match reality pretty well!)

 

[ianwood]

So I added the program mixes for pan and POV. The pan was very similar to what we had set up before on LD as a basic trim but this time it is switch enabled which is a nice addition. As for POV, I am glad you thought this one out as I had been meaning to for a while now. Works very nicely. The radius is a little small, about 20m on the slower end of the scale but I guess you can simply apply some additional aileron to make it as big as you need it to be.

I couldn't figure out the tracking setting. It seemed to be a switch enabled trim for the elevator. Let me know if I am missing something there. But the pan and POV will be in the v5 profile for sure.

 

[SJBrit]

Tracking is indeed a switch enabled elevator mix. Very simple: just dial-in up to 100% elevator on the dial. I did it as a program mix rather than on trim since as a mix it can be switch enabled. You can use it in course-lock mode so that you can yaw around your track if you want, or just use it without IOC. It also makes a nice hands-free "come home" feature in home-lock.

In terms of POV, it's easy to change the radius - I can mess with the numbers in my spreadsheet to adjust radius and the period of the circles and then the mix numbers just pop out. So, everyone let me know what kind of radius you think you want as max and min and I'll get it dialed in. It's a little complicated since the aileron response is non-linear but the spreadsheet takes care of that.

 

[SJBrit]

Here's a mix that doubles the radius. Aileron settings are now [0,70,50]



PM me your e-mail address if you want the spreadsheet to dial in your own settings - I can't attach it to a post.

 

[wkf94025]

SJBrit, Ian,

Whomever is putting together the next Futaba profile, would you please consider adding the Manual Mode momentary switch feature described in this thread?

http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?t=2995

Manual Mode (idling with no stick inputs) It is a great way to scrub altitude quickly, and the momentary nature of the SH switch makes it very hard to accidentally find yourself in Manual Mode and flying inverted.

On my own radio, I will likely assign SH to enable a buddy box for teaching others, but for those not doing the buddy box thing, I think a brief foray into Manual Mode is a great use of SH.

Kelly

 

[Xrover]

Futaba T8FGS on P2/H3-3D

Is there a setting on my Futaba to decrease the Yaw input speed/Sensitivity?
When I give a slight amount of Yaw input on the stick, The yaw reaction on the P2 is too fast.

 

[wkf94025]

If you are using Ian's v4 profile, two options for less-sensitive yaw:
1) put SC switch in middle or lower position, and that desensitizes the yaw input
2) use volume dial LD to program in a fixed amount of yaw, which is sometimes useful in circular pan shots.

Kelly

 

[Xrover]

If you are using Ian's v4 profile, two options for less-sensitive yaw:
1) put SC switch in middle or lower position, and that desensitizes the yaw input
2) use volume dial LD to program in a fixed amount of yaw, which is sometimes useful in circular pan shots.

Kelly

I'm not using Ian's profile yet. Mine is just setup pretty basic.
I wanted to keep it simple while getting used to using it.

I'll look into Ian's profile and see if it's something I am comfortable using.

Thanks..

 

[wkf94025]

I would highly recommend Ian's v4 (and forthcoming v5). It will save you a ton of time and brain damage reading funky, counter-intuitive Japanese UI documentation. Said differently: if you decide to reinvent the wheel re Futaba Phantom 2 super-controller setup, it will definitely put hair on your chest.

I have not heard of anyone having control issues switching from P2 stock radio to Futaba + Ian's v4 config.

Kelly

 

[DesertFlyer53]

I would highly recommend Ian's v4 (and forthcoming v5). It will save you a ton of time and brain damage reading funky, counter-intuitive Japanese UI documentation. Said differently: if you decide to reinvent the wheel re Futaba Phantom 2 super-controller setup, it will definitely put hair on your chest.

I have not heard of anyone having control issues switching from P2 stock radio to Futaba + Ian's v4 config.

Kelly

Ditto!

I am eagerly awaiting v5.

 

[ianwood]

I think I can do a v5 by some point this weekend. I want to see if I can get SJBrit's tracking mode figured out. I've already done the POV mode. I also want to tweak the triple rates a bit for smoother yawing. I am only using the first one and not the second so I want to see if I can make them both more useful. Maybe have the first position be just a smoother yaw with all other controls as normal. And then 2nd position would be slower yaw with other controls easing in and out as well. The manual mode momentary switch is interesting but also a little scary.

 

[wkf94025]

How about Manual Mode on SH implemented but disabled, so those that want it are only a few menu clicks from enabling it? Just a thought...

Kelly

 

[SJBrit]

I think I can do a v5 by some point this weekend. I want to see if I can get SJBrit's tracking mode figured out. I've already done the POV mode. I also want to tweak the triple rates a bit for smoother yawing. I am only using the first one and not the second so I want to see if I can make them both more useful. Maybe have the first position be just a smoother yaw with all other controls as normal. And then 2nd position would be slower yaw with other controls easing in and out as well. The manual mode momentary switch is interesting but also a little scary.

That's close to what I do on mine. Switch up is all channels on normal, middle is yaw eased off a bit and a small amount of expo on each channel, then bottom is yaw significantly desensitized with lots of expo on each channel. Even when I switch in a bunch of expo on AIL and ELE I let them swing to 100% in case in need to take some evasive action. So far I like it, but it remains to be seen how much I use each mode in practice.

Here's something else I've been pondering but I don't know enough about the Futaba yet to know if it is feasible. Can we set up this program in helicopter mode so that we can use conditions? So then you could have a normal flight condition, and a "freestyle" condition (or whatever) to provide some manual controls. I have some other cinematography modes I want to play with and I'm all out of program mixes, so maybe conditions gives me some more degrees of freedom? I'll have to read up on how conditions work to see if it's helpful. Anyone else here used them? I thing they work for gliders too.

 

[DesertFlyer53]

Even when I switch in a bunch of expo on AIL and ELE I let them swing to 100% in case in need to take some evasive action. So far I like it, but it remains to be seen how much I use each mode in practice.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Ianwood uses expo. I think he just limits the throws. I think expo might be fun to try.