10CH TXT Essential Instructions v1.docx 2024-09-05 12
By the time you’ve finished the initial flight(s) you should have a good sense of the model’s stabilization
behaviour and have achieved flyable basic settings on the receiver.
13. Fine tune stabilizer gain
Optimal stabilization occurs when gain on each of the three axes is just below the level where oscillation occurs
at the highest normal flying speed. This requires a series of flights to tune the individual gain settings, with
repeated landings to adjust the receiver pots, followed by retesting in flight. Many people find that a “quick and
dirty” setup, with minimal adjustments to the settings provides adequate stabilization for every day flying, but
it’s a good idea to experiment a bit.
If you have an 8+ channel transmitter, Master Gain can accelerate the process of optimizing gain. For example,
you can, one by one, turn down the gain pots on two axes and experiment with various levels of Master Gain on
the third. It’s best to aim for a Master Gain setting around 0% (in the middle) for normal flying.
If you don’t have Master Gain, here’s one possible approach to optimization:
1. Increase the Rudder pot setting by about one to two “hours” (15-30°).
2. Take off with stabilization OFF. Turn ON at a safe height. Watch for oscillation on the yaw axis (“tail
wag”). Do a shallow dive to pick up speed and again watch for oscillation.
3. Land and adjust the rudder pot as required. If there was no oscillation, even when diving, turn the pot
up another “hour” or so. If there was oscillation, turn the pot down a similar amount.
4. Test and repeat as necessary.
5. Now do the same procedure for the elevator gain pot.
6. Finally do the same procedure to set the aileron gain pot.
Usually, the aileron pot requires the lowest setting (typically below 11 o’clock), with elevator in the mid-range
and rudder highest of all. However, the settings can vary considerably with factors such as design, flight speed
and control surface setup.
HINT: It’s best to do the initial setup and tuning in fairly calm conditions to avoid confusing stabilizer-induced
oscillation with buffeting caused by turbulence. Once adjusted, test the effectiveness of stabilization by flying in
windier weather, turning stabilization on and off and adjusting Master Gain. You should see a noticeable
improvement in smoothness with stabilization turned ON.
14. Restrict Master Gain (if applicable)
Master Gain is very useful to allow for varying wind conditions. But you don’t want to accidentally set it to very
high gain, which can cause disconcerting oscillation. Hence, once you’ve set up the receiver pots with the Master
Gain knob or slider about the middle, you probably want to limit the maximum available Master Gain.
The simplest way is to use Travel on the Servo Setup menu to limit the throw on channel 8 (Aux3) to, say, 20%
on the high side, (numbers -100, 20).
Another way is to use Channel Assign to change channel 8 (Aux3) to control by a switch, then use Digital Switch
Setup to set it to, say, -20%/0%/10%. Adjust the values as required to give a suitable choice of three settings.
Note that those settings are good for flight but don’t allow Master Gain to be used to shut down stabilization.
Thus, they thus should probably not be used together with Always-ON.
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