How do you find the limits of your TX/RX range and recover should you exceed it?

dogzilla · July 28, 2014, 03:55:27 PM

Yeah your Radian will turn nicely with a bit of rudder.

And it makes no difference whether your Rudder is off-centre and only centred by sub-trim, that's the point of sub-trim.

Sounds like a decent way to make sure your plane goes throttle off and then begins a slow turn.

Loopdreams · July 28, 2014, 04:03:19 PM

I'm not sure that RX is going to do what you think it'll do, though. I think it might hold the last command on all the other channels except the throttle which you can set. Just do a quick test by holding the stick in the corner and switching it off. When it's still on the ground, obv. :D

Ratty · July 28, 2014, 04:11:12 PM

The failsafe is set when you bind. So you need to mechanically put a little bit of rudder in when the servo is centred, then trim it out for level flight.

Or you can try and bind it with a little bit of rudder in.

jweaver · July 28, 2014, 04:22:51 PM

Quote from: Ratty on July 28, 2014, 04:11:12 PM
The failsafe is set when you bind. So you need to mechanically put a little bit of rudder in when the servo is centred, then trim it out for level flight.

Or you can try and bind it with a little bit of rudder in.

My TX only remembers "Throttle".. In a FS condition, the rest of the channels just get no PPM, so they SHOULD go back to zero..

So tonight I am going to fly, and 'trim' the plane until it flys in a nice big circle.. And will then move the servo position (mechnically) so that this is the zero position.. Hopefully this will work, and then when I go out of range, it should cut the motor and start a nice gradual turn, hopefully bringing it back into range!

Jon

Brod · July 28, 2014, 04:47:48 PM

if its only throttle failsafe and your mechanically flying straight,loss of signal will remember last stick positions and carry on flying straight,if I remember my basics on rx,s

jweaver · July 28, 2014, 05:02:51 PM

Quote from: Brod on July 28, 2014, 04:47:48 PM
if its only throttle failsafe and your mechanically flying straight,loss of signal will remember last stick positions and carry on flying straight,if I remember my basics on rx,s

Hmmm.. I can't say you are wrong, as I don't know.. The instructions say that it just stops sending PPM out to the other channels, so my assumption is that this would make the servos go back to zero.. But I could easily be wrong.

Looks like I had better do some tests later before I start messing around with my throws... Cheers for that.. I hope you are wrong, but if you arnt' then its saved me some work!

Jon

RaySky · July 28, 2014, 05:40:14 PM

On my orange receivers they power up to centre position without the tx powered up so I assume when it losses signal all channels are zero'd
on the odd occasion when I have flown out of range I always think I am lucky that it returns to level flight but in reality its probably because all the servos centre :)

FPVSteve · July 28, 2014, 05:45:45 PM

Ah - dihedral and rudder changes everything I said, I thought you meant ailerons.. I foresaw a crater :D

I can't help but feel you're fighting a losing battle though :) It may be worth seriously considering investing in some "proper" kit for this purpose, i.e. the FrSky gear .. it has decent failsafe on all channels, audible telemetry so you can't run out of range very easily .. and not to mention it'll give you a very nice range boost to alleviate the strain on your nervous system :)

FPVSteve · July 28, 2014, 05:46:49 PM

Please also remember - what if you lose RC connection while flying inverted or in a sharp turn :P

jweaver · July 28, 2014, 06:05:28 PM

Quote from: Steve W on July 28, 2014, 05:46:49 PM
Please also remember - what if you lose RC connection while flying inverted or in a sharp turn :P

:) Radian. "Inverted"? Would like to see that....

Edit: Looks like its possible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmIjGHQQBB0

But lets not get this out of proportion.. What I am doing no different to what am doing now (LOS) and have done before countless times.. I just wanted to check my range.. There is little chance that i am going to exceed it.. But just wanted to find out waht my limits were.

Ratty · July 28, 2014, 07:52:10 PM

The servos will return to centre on failsafe. Easy to check, just turn it all on, hold rudder to one side then turn off the Tx, youll see the rudder centre.

jweaver · July 28, 2014, 08:05:37 PM

Quote from: Ratty on July 28, 2014, 07:52:10 PM
The servos will return to centre on failsafe. Easy to check, just turn it all on, hold rudder to one side then turn off the Tx, youll see the rudder centre.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.. As others have said above, the Servos just stop where they are when you power off the TX!

The AR500 has a throttle FS so it cuts teh throttle to what ever I set it to when I bound it.. But the rest of the controls just freeze where they are.. I am gutted as I expected them to atleast level out, but apparently not!

On the range front, I tested my Radian tonight in Low Power mode on the TX and I can get 90m..

I did the same on my quad (with an AR8000) which gave me 400m last week, and also got 90m.. But at one point I left my TX 50m from the quad (on full power) and when I went back, the orange LED on the RX was flickering.. Not sure what this means, but it doesn't look good.. So I am going to have to get a friend to help me and do some tests!

Jon

Jon

Ratty · July 28, 2014, 08:55:08 PM

Hmm, just checked my AR500 too, and it also stays where you lose connection. That's a pain.

Maybe get another Rx that has a better FS. Otherwise its guna be a painfull failsafe.

The AR500 isn't a proper full range Rx anyway. Its a parkflyer with an extended antenna. I have flown mine til the plane was tiny tho, so they do have decent range.

RaySky · July 28, 2014, 10:15:44 PM

I plan to use these for FPV IF they ever come back in stock...

http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=45177

It has fail safe on all channels and only 8 quid... Lovely Jubbly.. You know it makes sense ;D
Obviously posting the link will result in less stock lol but I can wait my time... still lots to do before I need full range for FPV ;)

jweaver · July 29, 2014, 10:18:21 AM

Quote from: RaySky on July 28, 2014, 10:15:44 PM
I plan to use these for FPV IF they ever come back in stock...

http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=45177

It has fail safe on all channels and only 8 quid... Lovely Jubbly.. You know it makes sense ;D
Obviously posting the link will result in less stock lol but I can wait my time... still lots to do before I need full range for FPV ;)

I think you are right.. My limited FS capabilities could be a problem.. Last night I took the Radian for a quick flight, to test my Rezembi.. I was amazed how quickly I got 300m out.. And it made me realise that the last time I flew it FPV (with no camera), I must have flown 500-700m out, just because of the time that I traveled in each direction.. And I had no problems with range then.

But after my problems with my Quad last week, I am now paranoid that the Radian will just fly off into the sunset.. So I am certainly going to pick up one of those receivers so that I have more FS options.

Let night I managed to do another range test.. I am not sure how scientific it was, but it certainly showed something.. I put the TX in my car (on the drive) transmitting on full power and then took a bare AR500 with battery and walked down the street.. I got to the end of the road (blocked by trees and houses) before the LED went out.

Whilst I was in this location, I fiddled with the antenna wires and the conclusion is that their orientation/layout makes absolutely no difference.. Whether I stretched the wire out straight, folded it up, or screwed it into a bundle, it made no difference.

Then I took my Radian (with another AR500) installed, and in the same test got exactly the same distance (or perhaps a bit further).. Then I did the same with the quad (using an AR8000) and again, got to exactly the same point.

So I don't know what conclusion I can draw from this, but to my mind, the 'range' of each of the 3 RX's i tried was pretty much the same..

Jon