MattyB

I was just talking about removing -be values from the Inputs screen, but had not considered MAX (I only ever use that on the Mixer page, had never thought of applying it in Inputs). Splash warning screen it is then!

Cooling is always advisable, but if the system is running well below it's max ratings (I.e your 40A ESC is not operating at a current >30A at full power) you will probably be ok. Remember though if you do drill holes you need to ensure there are some more of larger diameter in the aft rear fuselage, otherwise the air has nowhere to go.

I have lost count of the number of times I've helped newcomers to OTX sort the issue where -ve inputs cause reversed trims. Not sure if the problem is that -ve values should not be selectable, or servo reverse should just be a bit more obvious! It is one of the few areas where I think a little less flexibility would help - I've never seen a real world problem that required -ve input values as the only possible solution. I will raise a GitHub functionality request about it; I'm sure they won't want to get rid of the option to use negative values, but I'm sure a short splash screen warning could be created warning of the trim effect whenever you select a negative value.

Can't speak to that charger I'm afraid, but I will say here what I said in a parallel charging thread the other day... There are lots of places you can save money in this hobby now with little or no negative impact, but a Lopo charger is not one of those IMO. One problem and you could have a fire - is it really worth the risk of a cheap clone charger from a no-name supplier on eBay? Save your cash for a bit and buy a better, higher wattage unit that will last and that you can have high confidence in. The Turnigy Reaktors are based on the iChargers and have a great rep online for a very reasonable price.

Yes, well aware of that, hence why I questioned your original post on the last page where you stated you would use the onboard ESC BEC. A word of warning on the cheap HV BECs... the Turnigy one that I was going to put in my Miss Wind failed during initial testing in the plane on a 6S pack despite running happily for 3hrs burn in on the bench on 3S. The learning for me was always test BECs for a good few hours using your intended input voltage before installation; if they are going to die, it's normally within the first few hours of operation.

I think there is something wrong with that too - the first half of the list says it's an opto ESC, then the last four lines are specs for a switching BEC. I assume that is a completely separate unit? Edited By MattyB on 27/01/2017 16:40:08

8S power and you are still going to use the ESC BEC? Brave man. Personally for anything above 4S I install a separate switching BEC or RX pack; I can't imagine the additional weight would be a major issue for this model. Alternatively you could stick with the ESC BEC but add an Optipower Ultraguard for additional peace of mind.

Posted by Dave Bran on 26/01/2017 20:42:07: If you are talking a motorised Thermal "starter", then the Radian is IMO unbeaten, trouble is, it's been discontinued! Errr, nope! They just rebranded it from Parkzone to Eflite. The 2m is still very much alive and available from Staufenbiel, Wheelspn and plenty of other UK vendors.

Posted by Phil Green on 26/01/2017 14:39:39: Does it have to be a foamy? the Graupner Amigo is an excellent thermal soarer and perfect for a beginner. It tows easily and with perfect stability, bungees well, and slopes in calm conditions. You really dont need ailerons on a thermal soarer IMHO. Or a motor. Assuming CJD is a beginner, then yes, a foamie is almost certainly a better bet - they are easier to repair in a bump and get you in the air quicker. If he can already fly power then obviously he could buy a more expensive wood or composite ARTF or kit, but if he's unsure the BNF or PNP foamies are a better bet as they are easily sold on if it soaring isn't your cup of tea. As for no motor, well yes I suppose if you're purist that's fine, but when learning the advantages of having an onboard power source are too great to ignore - you don't need any kit to carry or setup, just a charged battery, and you can range downwind without the threat of a landout. Posted by Phil Green on 26/01/2017 14:39:39: PS if you fancy a plan build, the DB Rookie is well worth looking at. Flashback! Learnt on one on the slope, and frankly wouldn't want to go back. Alright on a calm summers evening I suppose, but for the 99% of the time those conditions don't prevail there are much better options.

Avoid the Radian Pro, not a great choice for gliding beginners and not a great thermaller either! Whilst the Easyglider is a good beginner ship it has limited flat field performance too. Assuming you already fly power already (not clear from your post) then I would not choose either as a first glider. For the easiest model to learn to thermal with the original 2m Radian is probably best - easy to fly, indicates well, and goes up on a budgie's gaseous emissions! The disadvantage is it is lightweight and somewhat draggy, so does not come back upwind that well. As a result you cannot range a far looking for lift. he Solius is much higher performance overall, but covers the sky and does take more flying. Finally (and my personal favourite) there is the Mpx Heron, a Solius with a full house (4 servo) wing. This is a great plane, but obviously the learning curve will be steeper and you need a radio that can drive all those surfaces. Edited By MattyB on 26/01/2017 13:38:05

I think we have a success! The only thing to do with that X6R if you want to validate it as faulty is to try and get it bound to another persons TX, but it does look to be U/S. If you bought it from T9 I would give them a call - if you have a receipt (or even if you don't) I suspect they will look favourably on your request for a swapout.

I have no real practical experience in FPV, but I know lots of people who use the various Bixlers for that - they are stable, have lots of room for gear, offer an unobstructed view to the camera and are very tough. Having flown a friends I did not like how it flew particularly (it was rather imprecise and bus like(!) and needed a lot of throttle to elevator mixing to avoid uncommanded changes in pitch), but it would suit a beginner and make a decent first FPV platform. Please make sure you understand the rules on FPV before you start, though.

Posted by Andy Meade on 25/01/2017 15:17:03: There is a large (94mb or thereabouts) manual on FRSky's website if you need it. Blimey, you are right - that is quite some bedtime reading...

Posted by Martin McIntosh on 25/01/2017 14:58:19: ...On a more serious note, really there are only a few things which could initiate failsafe: 1) A failure of one cell on a four cell Rx pack causing a brown out. 2) A Rx aerial breaking. A total Rx failure would probably not result in failsafe anyway. 3) A Tx failure. 4) Total signal loss due to interference, unlikely on 2.4 but would apply to 35mHz. As Steve points out the loss of a cell will not cause a failsafe. Either the RX sees enough voltage to operate and puts out commands to the servos based on what it is receiving, or it doesn't have enough voltage so shuts down and doesn't send any signal to the servos.  You missed the most prevalent cause of a failsafe though - receiver aerial blanking due to a poor installation. This is far more likely than all the others you list put together, and I have seen it quite a few times during crash investigations... "What, you can't just stuff the aerials anywhere? I put mine down the sides of the battery, it's the only place I could get em to fit..."! Edited By MattyB on 25/01/2017 16:50:36

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 25/01/2017 15:29:00: Thanks Andy, but I'm thinking in terms of FrSky attracting sales from those who don't think they should have to go online to find a manual, the people who want a boxed unit with everything included to get them up and running. Not likely to happen anytime soon methinks. 1) Frsky (like most RC manufacturers) are pretty hopeless at instructions(!), 2) the rate of change in RC firmware is now so high that printed instructions go out of date quickly, and 3) good quality instructions are very expensive to create in multiple languages. Since the main part of their appeal is based on beating their price point competition on functionality they are not going to do anything that increases their costs and erodes that advantage. Get used to loving the badly translated PDF! Edited By MattyB on 25/01/2017 16:42:58

Nice, but it would need to be petrol for me...

The FlySky Dave recommends are good - I've been impressed with the ones I've seen - but I would still personally want to go a little further up market just to ensure a slightly higher physical quality. Maybe the new Frsky Taranis X7 might fit the bill? It's very affordable at around £120 (by the time you have added the battery), but still has 16ch and essentially unlimited programming. Receivers are cheap and reliable, and there is lots of affordable telemetry option too. With one of those you should not need to upgrade anytime soon, and even if you don't like the feel of the gimbals there are new Hall effect ones coming out very soon as a £40 upgrade. Edited By MattyB on 25/01/2017 14:32:01

Yes, that sounds like the right file - to be absolutely certain, here is where you download it from the FrSky site. Assuming you have got he right file the issue must be the method you are using. Are you sure you chose the right file from the Firmwares folder, and that you chose "Flash internal module"? from the menu?

True, but if we were required to fly only at registered sites that could actually be enforced (at least if the police have the resources to do so). I suspect your local constabulary is going to find it a whole lot harder to estimate 401ft however...

Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 24/01/2017 17:41:01: I too had my reservations about the size and Weight, Matty. But for me at least, it was a perception thing. I'm now completely used to it. I fly thumbs with no strap and Horus now feels totally natural. In fact now I'm used to that, Taranis feels very light and toy like.. Sadly as I fly slope and DLG it isn't just a perception thing for me - I just don't think I could launch at full power with a Horus, and for trekking up a big hill and flying long slope session in the cold it doesn't offer me enough extra over an X9D to be worth the disadvantages. If I only flew power I would get shorter sticks and adjust to the weight, but I think it's M9 gimbals for me and (possibly) a second run X7 as a backup TX for my daughter to use. Edited By MattyB on 24/01/2017 18:07:43

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 24/01/2017 15:42:40: It's arrived. Did JCB have a hand in building it? The case alone feels as though it should withstand a nuclear blast. The transmitter certainly feels solid and the sticks seem to have stronger springs than the Taranis. This is why I haven't jumped on one - when I picked it up it was just too big and heavy to be comfortable for a "thumber" such as myself. I don't doubt that it will suit some people down to the ground, but I do wonder if by releasing Hall effect gimbals at £20 each for the X9D and X7 Taranis' they have cannibalized the market for the Horus. The sticks are the only part of my Taranis I don't really like, so spending forty quid to fix that rather than >£500 is a no brainer.

Some relatively hopeful information from the BMFA - I asked them about whether a new "UK Soaring Association" might be needed to formally own public access slope and flat field sites, and Dave Phipps responded saying it is not likely to be needed, and certainly not yet. It sounds like the negotiations are going relatively well at present, though I understand we thought that originally until EASA came out with the draft regulations v0.1 that were less than satisfactory! Edited By MattyB on 24/01/2017 12:44:03

If your TX can do it set it up with two switch activated flight modes - one using elevators inboard and ailerons outboard, the other using both surfaces together as elevons. Fly it whilst switching between the two to decide which you prefer. You could even have a crow brake setup for landing, though trimming those out can be a pain on flying wings. Full span elevons is the way high performance wings on the slope tend to be setup; this is because inner elevators and outer ailerons can give adverse yaw issues and get draggy when you start pulling hard through turns, though on a true plank like the Bluto the elevator movements are so tiny it's less of an issue. Optimising turn performance probably isn't a major consideration with this model though! Edited By MattyB on 24/01/2017 12:06:24

Posted by Peter Christy on 20/01/2017 15:41:57: I don't think there are any "bugs" - its just legal niceties! The EU - for some strange reason - decided that they wanted systems to check a channel was free before transmitting - hence LBT - "Listen Before Transmit". But that overlooks the whole point of spread spectrum transmission - that it reduces any interference between systems to a minimum anyway! Not strictly correct; there are a few different ways to comply, of which LBT is just one of them (indeed FrSky's original EU firmware did not use it). Lots of info on the technical aspects here...

I always set a smidgeon of rudder into my f/s plus throttle idle (if it's powered). Rationale - after a power failure (which f/s won't help with anyway) the most likely failure of a 2.4 system is blanking of the aerials. If you have set up your aerials correctly and your model is not pure carbon(!) almost any change in aspect should improve your chances of getting it back, even a slow arc due to a spot of rudder trim. I saw this work on the field for someone else a few years ago and have done it ever since; YMMV. Edited By MattyB on 24/01/2017 00:26:13