Sebart / Futaba Rate Settings

[Ross McWhirter]

I have built up a Sebart Angel s30 and am looking to set the rates. I believe the settings quoted in the Sebart instructions which are in percentages need some kind of conversion so you can set the rates on a Futaba radio. An example is the ailerons in the Sebart booklet say for low rates they should be 20 degrees up and 20 degrees down with expo set at 40%. Any assistance would be appreciated.

[Denis Watkins]

Hi Ross,

Expo is subjective to the user, so it should be set or not set at all, to your taste.

The Expo will soften the control before authority is reached, or if used more scientifically, this can be used to make the stick movement more linear, or not as the case maybe. I could not recommend just sticking 40° Expo into a stick from instructions.

20 ° up and down is not a huge deflection, and is easily judged from a protractor at the side of each control surface.

[MattyB]

20 degrees sounds fine for maiden Ross. Beware Sebart high rates though; despite most of them (incldung the Angel) being designed for F3A not 3D, Seba tends to recommend rearward CGs and big movements for hovering around! His high rate recommendation on the Angel for ailerons is 50 degrees, but unless you do want to try 3Ding it I would suggest setting up the servos to give no more than 35-40 degrees at full servo throw; this gives more torque and better centring, and still offers plenty of movement.

[Ross McWhirter]

Thanks for the replies. I only intend to use low rates so will go with the 20 degrees and try the same expo as my Shark trainer - hopefully at the weekend - and see how it goes.