Eagletree or flight controller?

[Sgt Bigglesworth]

I have over the past few weeks, tried out using a flight controller (Matek F405 wing)  and inav for fixed wing. Previous to this I've always used Eagletree gear. There are two issues starting to put me off flight controllers. Firstly the servo action seems jerky. I've looked at a few posts which describes the same problem. The other issue is the direction to home arrow. In the Eagletree gear this is rock solid and the radar/map works flawlessly. With inav I just haven't been able to get the same results . The direction to home arrow is just a flashing line. This is of course to be expected. The direction to home arrow can't work on gps alone until the model starts to move. So after a full
gps fix and arming Ive run up and down the road and the arrow is still just a flashing line. The symbol on the radar/map also appears as an arrow but it's behaviour is erratic . I have not enabled the magnetic compass as this is the recommendation for fixed wings.
Is it just that flight controllers don't work well for fixed wing?

[FPVSteve]

DM English Turbines he might be able to help - he has iNav on a few aircraft if I remember correctly.

[Sgt Bigglesworth]

Thanks Steve. I'll give that a go

[English Turbines]

 I wouldn't use the Radar option in iNAV. From what I can see, its rather confusing, especially if you are a beginner.
    It also requires you to be flying / moving before it starts to make sense.
  I have recently upgraded to iNAV 3.0 and can recommend it. The constant trim option works great, just set it to on and forget it. You still need to set the board angle in pitch to get the plane to fly right though of course, but the trims are now taken care of, you just need to fly the plane level for a few seconds and iNAV learns the trim.
  You dont need a compass if its a fixed wing. get a decent GPS receiver, over 20 Sats means its a good one set up properly. On a plane, RTH is almost guaranteed if you have a half decent GPS, so pay attention.
  Cruz Mode is a good function or Horizon to get your trim fixed, but its way easier now IMO.

Jerky / unresponsive servos...You have to arm and then run the throttle at low speed to activate the PID loop.
  I always test in Horizon to check correction direction and servo throws...



                                                 :vulture:

[Sgt Bigglesworth]

Really comprehensive reply - really helpful and much appreciated.
I don't have the compass wired up just GPS. I can see why the radar/map won't make sense until the plane is moving .
To be honest I'm not too concerned about the radar or RTH. What I want to get working is the direction to home arrow. I have this at the top of my screen like I've always done with the vector. When flying home the arrow should be pointing up, when flying away it should point down. When I switch on ,the arrow is there. After I arm the arrow becomes a flashing line. I have tried running up and down the drive but the flashing line remains. Is it just that the model really needs to take to the air before the direction to home arrow appears? And when it does appear , which way around is it up for going home and down for away from home?

[FPVSteve]

I would assume it's because the groundspeed reading from the GPS is too low. Cyclops OSDs used to do the same for me and to test them out I simply threw the model up and either recorded some DVR footage of the OSD to watch back later or just did a quick circuit in the goggles watching to see if the OSD reacted properly.

[English Turbines]

   Until you fly it, it wont make sense. The Radar function is aimed at pilots flying in pairs, so each knows where the other is. Like I said, ignore it unless you are doing this is my advice.
  The direction to Home arrow is enough and very reliable, I also like to use the heading numbers. Zero is north, 180 South etc. Better and way more accurate than the standard OSD Compass, which I find is rather vague.
  iNav 3.0 is really good now, the constant trim function means no more fiddling about getting the plane trimmed when switching to manual. You can still adjust clevis of course if youre a bit OCD...lol.
  Cruze Mode is particularly useful, heading hold, Altitude, all maintained automatically.
It also works on my quads too...

                                                      :vulture:
 

[Sgt Bigglesworth]

Thanks both - really helpful.
So I'll put it in the air and try it out.
Not sure if your direction  to home arrow is at the top
of your screen. If it was at the top , which way round does it work.
If it points up are you flying to home?

[English Turbines]

Thanks both - really helpful.
So I'll put it in the air and try it out.
Not sure if your direction  to home arrow is at the top
of your screen. If it was at the top , which way round does it work.
If it points up are you flying to home?

  If you are NOT using radar function, you can put the direction to home arrow wherever you like. With the Home arrow pointing vertical on the OSD,means you are heading home.

  If you need to know which way to set the board trim angle, simply switch the screen centre dot on and the AHI.
Fly the plane level (no loss of altitude) in say Cruz and note if the AHI is above or below the centre dot on the OSD.
   When you have it right, the AHI will run thru the centre of the dot cruising in level flight and maintaining altitude.

  I usually switch off the AHI once this is established, unless you want to go flying in clouds...

                                                                      :vulture:




                                                                                     

[ASBO]

I have 2x MFD flight controllers.
Are they actually any good?

[FPVSteve]

Ask Coyote :D

[Coyote]

Very good OSD / AP

Prone to sometimes bursting into flames for no apparent reason though :)

That aside though, I trusted them that much I flew a 10km + maiden on one. Thinking about it that one was faulty too because I lost my current sensor reading lol.