So I Bought A Horus

Another certain person (no name at present) installed an S6R upside down (well it was upright in the plane) but forgot to tell the LUA script that the RX was inverted. In stabilise mode the model suddenly rolled upside down and flew for a short period before accelerating into terra firma whilst trying to understand why and pulling on the stick.

I'm expecting something similar, it'll be short but magnificent. As I'm using the Extravanganza there's a chance I'll knock it back into shape! Actually I'll be impressed if the stabilisation manages to fly it at all. It'll be a good test if it does.

I used S1 to adjust the level of stabilisation. You should see in the file I sent how to set it up. With the knob in central position or just below seems about right otherwise you might end up fighting it. Auto is "Panic mode" and it reacts bloody fast. Make sure the RX is level with plane's centre line. If that is not possible then you have to make compensation changes in the LUA script. My Mustang's battery floor I thought was level - it wasn't and I struggled to stop it climbing like a rocket . :ohmy:

AlanF wrote: I'm expecting something similar, it'll be short but magnificent. As I'm using the Extravanganza there's a chance I'll knock it back into shape! Actually I'll be impressed if the stabilisation manages to fly it at all. It'll be a good test if it does.

Can't believe you're using my Extravaganza as a test bed Alan, no respect for a top spec airframe, I didn't sell it to you so you could abuse it!

JonTappin wrote:

AlanF wrote: I'm expecting something similar, it'll be short but magnificent. As I'm using the Extravanganza there's a chance I'll knock it back into shape! Actually I'll be impressed if the stabilisation manages to fly it at all. It'll be a good test if it does.

Can't believe you're using my Extravaganza as a test bed Alan, no respect for a top spec airframe, I didn't sell it to you so you could abuse it!

It's mostly bullet tape and UHU POR now. Each time I crash it it's getting more and more difficult to tell if I've actually broken anything. The motor is gradually migrating out of the remains of the fuselage and is giving 10 to 15 degrees of side thrust. The tailplane stays about 30 degrees behind the main wing in a roll and the servos are starting to give up the ghost with lots of jitter on the elevator and one aileron. It's not boring to fly!, but it's a plane that definitely needs a dodgy Rx to complete the picture.

AlanF wrote: It's not boring to fly!, but it's a plane that definitely needs a dodgy Rx to complete the picture.

Now we get it! Alan wants a perfectly good air-frame stabilised to cover up piloting skills and then blame the "dodgy" RX. :lol: :evil:

"Perfectly good airframe" have you seen it? The only things good about it are my hand crafted light ply wheels - and they're rubbish. Anyway, I have a list of excuses that is as long as it is dubious.

Just completed a full model setup using OpenTX and it has been a relativly pain free experience largely because of the amount of online help to set you off in the right direction.

I'm quite impressed with OpenTX having used it in anger and will continue to use it in the short term. I'll switch back to FrOS at some poiint to do a real comparison when FrOS is a little more mature.

The Good and the bad:

The Horus switches are designed to be used with FrOS and make no sense when using OpenTX

There's the abilty to adjust the screen brighteness on the fly in FrOS, you can't in OpenTX. The screen is bright and will need turning down in dull light.

As an Futaba user I felt comfortable with the FrOS menus and had a model setup and servos moving within a couple of hours of getting the Radio. It's taken a couple of days to get to understanding the basic functionality of OpenTx and I daresay it will take more hours of headscratching before I feel comfortable with it.

The programming of a model in OpenTX is likely to be difficult to understand when you come back to modify it after a couple of months unless you keep copious notes. There is a simulator in Companion which will help.
I spent a happy hour with OpenTX trying to work out why my telemetry special functions weren't working only to discover that the set of logical switches I was using had been set up in the wrong order. Very powerful functionality, very confusing when you get it wrong.

The FrOs Tx screen has a largely fixed layout with the abilty for some limited customisation, OpenTX allows much greater freedom with multiple pages if required. I like the flexibilty which OpenTX offers although you can waste a ridiculous amount of time making unusable screen layouts.

Probably the best thing about OpenTX is that whatever you are trying to do someone will have done it before you and will have posted a “how to” youtube or written an article on it, perhaps even providing a downloadable template.

Anyway, here's an example of getting screen customisation wrong. I just need to work out how to undo what I've done.

Um! Alan you keep referring back to FrOS which is not very helpful considering that you had not really used Frsky's OS as such.

I will keep this simple otherwise it does and will get technical. Not sure why you are using the logical switches on all the cells. I appreciate you are trying to be warned of a low cell. You have jumped in to the deep end here and personally I don't think you need it at this early stage. The battery widget will display the cell voltages and total value.

If you want a simple warning of battery pack going low then use one logical switch. See my Valkyrie file or read below.

L 1. a<x V1 tele X (x being the line in your telemetry list which corresponds to the total voltage of the Lipo pack Assign in Special Functions a spare switch, eg: SG up. Action = Play Value, Parameters = tele x, Enable = Number of seconds ie; 15 secs. This will every 15 secs call out the battery voltage. Because it may not be necessary at the early part of the flight you use the switch to disable it. (Note: if you go high throttle for a while the pack volts will drop and it will tell you and can get annoying. I use my switch once I know my flight time and switch warning on later on in flight).

Note: Any switch on control surfaces and most of them are three way must have a value, ie; rates/expo.

Keep at it in the meantime and keep it simple till you get to use it in action. Hopefully we can get up the field soon and you can see how my Horus is set up.

Phil Ford wrote: Um! Alan you keep referring back to FrOS which is not very helpful considering that you had not really used Frsky's OS as such.

Not quite sure what you mean Phil, I have had enough exposure to both FrOS and FrOS style operating systems to start looking at advantages and disadvantages, whether people are at all interested is perhaps a different matter.

I will keep this simple otherwise it does and will get technical. Not sure why you are using the logical switches on all the cells. I appreciate you are trying to be warned of a low cell. You have jumped in to the deep end here and personally I don't think you need it at this early stage. The battery widget will display the cell voltages and total value.

If you want a simple warning of battery pack going low then use one logical switch. See my Valkyrie file or read below.

L 1. a<x V1 tele X (x being the line in your telemetry list which corresponds to the total voltage of the Lipo pack Assign in Special Functions a spare switch, eg: SG up. Action = Play Value, Parameters = tele x, Enable = Number of seconds ie; 15 secs. This will every 15 secs call out the battery voltage. Because it may not be necessary at the early part of the flight you use the switch to disable it. (Note: if you go high throttle for a while the pack volts will drop and it will tell you and can get annoying. I use my switch once I know my flight time and switch warning on later on in flight).

The intention was to provide a low voltage warning and a critical voltage warning for the Lipo lowest cell voltage and the total pack voltage. The additional bits of logicary are to stop both a low voltage warning and a critical voltage warning being given when the Lipo voltage drops to a critical value. Just a bit of playing about to find out how things work. I may use this in the Avanti where I get paranoid about running out of electricity.

Note: Any switch on control surfaces and most of them are three way must have a value, ie; rates/expo.

That one had me stumped for a while, I couldn't work out why the expo curve didn't change on my dual rates when I hit the rate switch, at least the Tx gives you a clue that some thing is wrong providing you've done the setup in the inputs not the mixer.

Keep at it in the meantime and keep it simple till you get to use it in action. Hopefully we can get up the field soon and you can see how my Horus is set up.

GVARS next