Well I'm back again my friends. I have all the radio eq. set in the Katana and I'm almost done with the build. I now need to set my control surface throws. My question is, How do you do the low and high rates? Do you set the low rates by adjusting the servo travel limits for flight condition 1 until you have the desired control surface throw distance? And then set the servo travel limits 3D (or flight condition 2) to obtain the max level throw for the surfaces. I also wonder if you tie in the elevator and alierons to the flight condition switch and leave the rudder on rudder d/r so it can be set up to give a high rate of throw for stall turns while flight condition 1 is still active. Wow, I hope you can understand that mess! Also the expo values that might be good to use as a starting point for each condition. Mazjag had mentioned 50% travel and 40 expo. I will start there. The travel he mentions must be the servo travel for low rates which I take to also mean flight condition 1. The receiver I'm using is the Spectrum 8000 and the radio is the DX7S. I would also like some input, or advise on a good charger for 5 cell, 6 volt, 2300Mah NiMh receiver packs. That is what I will be running in the planes this year. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out. I am a serious newbie to this generation of flying! Heck, Helicopters are easy compared to these. I guess it is all what you are familiar with. Thanks again.
-Bill
Hey Bill, glad to see you here asking the big newbie questions! It wasn't to long ago I was in your same position.
On your quest, I would try the manufacturers (suggested reading by GYRO) recommended low settings, and set the D/R just a little higher (use position '3' as noted below for a reference to whats really high) with a little more EXPO than the first for position '2'.
Once you get that baby trimmed, and a few landings in on position '1,' start adding or subtracting (Expo and D/R) to position '2' until you feel like you have basic aerobatic maneuvers dialed in. Position '3,' or 3D rates, for me, is the max travel (**see note below.) I can get without binding
Your rudder should be a max travel throughout the various D/R settings, only expo will change. As Gyro mentioned, I would tie all D/R and Expo surface controls to one easy-to-reach switch. Since the rudder is at max through all of the positions, you won't have another switch to flip.
Remember EXPO softens the feel of the surfaces around center stick and then moves them quickly as you move the stick away from center in any given direction.
For help with the mechanical linkages, I would suggest picking a few manufactures web sites (3DHS, Extreme Flight, Etc.) and watching their build videos for some tips. I know Extreme Flight has a great build video series on the MXS.
**Please note: Travel limits or "Travel Adjust" is there for your servo/surface protection, it will limit the travel of the whole so that one or the other doesn't become damaged. All suggested throws should be adjusted in the D/R screen, not travel adjust. For my own sanity, I think of "Travel Adjust" and D/R as two totally separate entities, even though they essentially do the same thing. (ie. limit travel.) If you set the Travel Adjust to the mfg. recommended minimum settings, the D/R will not be able to move the surface further than that set point, to counter this, if you turn this up to 140 or 150 you may begin to break things if the mechanical setup doesn't allow for it. To have this set correctly, you want the travel adjust to be equal (on the screen and in the degrees of movement on the control surface) on both sides (up, down, right, left) as well as the movement to be at a mechanical maximum without buzzing or binding. Than use the D/R to dial it back.
