Cyclic and Collective Pitch limits

[Dr. M]

Hi guys,

New TG user here; came installed into a used bird I recently purchased. I'm walking thru the setup and everything looks good, except I can't seem to get more than 8° cyclic and 10° collective even with the ATVs at max on both my DX6i and the TG software. In the software, it seems that I can't increase the collective ATV past 60, or the cyclic past 50....

This is an Audacity P6 with an Align 600 FBL head (not DFC).

Any suggestions?

[CF_Machete]

when the cyclic gyro is plugged in to the pc, On the advanced tab, you should see a field for collective in the Travel adjust section, as with a conventional flybarred head... this is similar to a swash menu

[Dr. M]

Yep, I've got those maxed out: collective seems to max out at 60, and roll/pitch at 50.

[CF_Machete]

what are your transmitter travel adjust settings?

[Dr. M]

125% which is the max on the dx6i. I really appreciate your help

[CF_Machete]

if you have all of your travel adjust settings set to 125 and your Dual Rate (DR settings maxed out as well, check your geometry...make sure the balls on the servo arms are directly under the swash-plate balls at mid throttle stick so that the ball link arms are parallel to the mainshaft. I'd rather pretend that your a newbie just to cover all the bases... plus you bought it used and the guy before you may have been a newbie... who knows. Also, the swash type is set to 1 servo, right?

if every thing is maxed out in the tx, you can always move your servo arm balls out a hole. It might be an issue with the blade grip arms being too short. Is the swash an align?

[Dr. M]

I was afraid it might be the geometry. Swash is the stock Audacity P6, and balls on servo horns at the end. I might have to get longer horns to make this setup work. However, I somehow think the servos should move more. It looks like I'm only getting about 30-deg travel end to end... I can plug in the servos to a tester and get far more travel.

[pctomlin]

May not be the case but got to ask, is trim lock and FC gain disabled while doing your set up?

[CF_Machete]

if you plug your servos directly into an rx... no total G, do you get full servo travel?

[Dr. M]

Originally Posted by pctomlin

May not be the case but got to ask, is trim lock and FC gain disabled while doing your set up?

Do I need to disable trim lock and FC gain during setup? If so, how? The manual does not appear to mention this...

Originally Posted by CF_Machete

if you plug your servos directly into an rx... no total G, do you get full servo travel?

Yes, both regular Rx and servo tester give me full travel: 900-2000µs pulse width.

[CF_Machete]

To disable fc gain, simply set your trave ajust to 0 in your tx for your fc channel.i usually set one of my fc modes to 0 for leveling my swash, setting my pitch curves and for my trim flight.

[Dr. M]

I've got FC gain set to GView mode in the software. Trim lock is set to Throttle, so I gather that with the Tx in TH, the gyro goes to trim lock mode automatically.

[pctomlin]

When in GView mode go down to your cyclic gain and set it to zero during set up. Also set up a flight mode to turn off trim lock when using throttle. All my TotalGs need to be at 28% or lower to turn it off.

[Dr. M]

Thanks for the help, guys. I've tried turning off FC gain and Trim Lock and the collective still refuses to go past 10° or so, cyclic at about 8°. Is there a digital cyclic ring, or another servo limit type setting somewhere in the software? I know those servo arms can move much more than the T-G moves them. I also know (i.e. measured) that the head and swash geometry I'm working with can get up to +/-21° total pitch on the blades before binding, so it's not a mechanical issue here.

[pctomlin]

At the top right of the set up controls there is a little check box with advanced beside it. Click in the box and you will find a travel adjust menu to give yourself some more travel through the TotalG. Default settings are 35 aileron, 40 collective, 35 elevator. If you have not been here yet, that should solve your travel issues.

One thing we don't know is how far the linkage ball are from center on the cyclic servo arms.

Keep us posted.

[pctomlin]

Another thing came to mind after going back and reading the thread from the start (sounds like you already found the travel adjust under the advanced menu). This is a used TotalG that came on another heli. It is possible the flight control limits are your issue. Maybe restart the set up with a clean slate in the TotalG. Under the advanced menu toward the bottom is a button to reset all parameters back to factory defaults. This will clear out the previous set up and allow you to start from fresh with your Pantera. It still may also come down to servo arm ball distance.

What firmware version do you have. FC11_3C7 is the latest.

If you don't have it already the TotalG Detail Instructions PDF is a big help too. It is to large to attach in HF so here is a link to it. You will find it towards the bottom of the page.
http://curtisyoungblood.com//TotalGS...pectacular.php

[Dr. M]

I've got fc11_2a2 and definitely read thru the entire manual. Cyclic servo arms are, unfortunately, as long as they get for these servos: last hole=20mm.

[pctomlin]

Are you sure it is not fc11_2a2? I believe 20mm should be okay, I used 17.5mm on my Ballistic set up and everything was good. I don't know how old that firmware (a2a) version is, I suggest you contact CYE at (979) 779-2172 and talk to Brian. If you are flying Spektrum it may be worth while sending it in for updating to DSMX/failsafe with the new firmware verion. This may be a 14 deg. set up firmware version and not 11 deg. (2a2 is 11 deg.).

I still suggest using the reset parameters function and start from scratch since it is a used unit.

[Dr. M]

oops, you're right it's "2a2", which I got from Jeremy here on the forums. If I decide to keep the T-G, I will definitely send it in to get the DSMX and failsafe updates installed. OK, reset it is. Let's see where it goes. Thanks again for your help.

[pctomlin]

Glad to help, just hope we can get you up and running.

Keep us posted on how it goes.