14 SG door sequencing with Robart electric retracts

[Henning Strand]

I am also using Malcolm Holt's great book to set up my sequencing. The problem I'm facing is that the Robart electric rotating retracts for my 1/5 Corsair take about 12 seconds to fully cycle (6V battery). I am finding no ways to configure the program mixes so that the door servos will wait for this long until they start closing.

I would think I am not the only one to use a 14 SG with Robart electrics + gear doors. Please provide tips on how to get this to work. Thanks

[Malcolm Holt]

Have you set all four In and Out speeds in the Motor Menu to their maximum (27)? This gives a total sequence time of 44 seconds on my 14SG allowing 11 seconds for the doors to open, 22 seconds for the gear to move and 11 seconds for the doors to close again.

(I sent you a message via the Futaba direct support forum)

[Henning Strand]

Thanks Malcolm. Spent some time this evening going over my settings. What surprised me is the big difference in speed only a slight change of the In and Out speed settings make. I got it working by slowing down just one step, but that actually made it way too slow, so I had to change the door point curve to move the action of the doors nearer to the gear cycle. Otherwise there was a big pause between the two.

One odd thing about the Robart gear is that it starts at 13% on the point curve, so if starting at 0 the cycling does not start immediately after flicking switch. Finding that out was simply a trial and error job. See pictures of my setup in my album: **LINK**

Not really too user friendly this. Would have liked Futaba to add better ways of connecting functions, setting the times between them, and the actual time needed for the movement to complete. OK, so it works - but it's more of a work around than a proper sequencing functionality.

[Malcolm Holt]

I'm glad you've got it working. The In and Out speed values in the Motor Menu and also on the Throttle Delay work exponentially. As you discovered, a small increase in value at the high end of the scale increases the delay quite significantly.

To be fair to Futaba they do not sell this radio with a sequencer. What I have suggested is very much a work around which requires a bit of "creative" programming. That said, it saves the cost of buying a dedicated sequencer and adding an extra gadget which is yet another item with the potential to go wrong.

For the benefit of others who may wish to experiment with sequencing please note that I suggest initial values of 23 in my book simply for convenience when programming. They allow sufficient time to see what is going on while watching the sequence in the servo monitor but avoid having to sit and wait for 40+ seconds each time you experiment with a switch. I then add, "These values determine the total time for one complete sequence and can be adjusted later as required".

[Henning Strand]

Thanks again, Malcolm. Appreciate your dedication and love for Futaba. I too am a Futaba guy at heart, never straying away from the 'chosen path'. That is also why I expect a lot from them and of this radio. I know that Futaba do not say that it has a sequencer, and thus I am happy that the work around is possible. That being said, I am sure that adding a sequencer functionality linking two or more functions, with the possibility of defining timings between them, would be useful for many. (Undercarriage/doors/landing light); bomb doors/bomb drop; ...) If Futaba are listening - just my two cents. At least for us scale guys this would be very useful.

On the topic of separate dedicated sequencers, I actually did buy the EMS sequencer recommended to me by Robart. That did not do a lot of good, though. The main issue with the electric retracts is that they do not behave like normal servos where the cycle times correspond with the speed defined by the radio system. They simply take the time that they need, defined by the input voltage. More volts, faster cycle times. When using a 6V battery they take around 12 seconds. The EMS sequencer does not have the capacity to wait that long before triggering the doors. So much for trying out the recommended way.