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South Cotswold Soaring
Association: Radio Advice
The radio
set
: (R/C) set consists of a transmitter (the bit you hold)
and in the model are a receiver, servo's and a battery. As you move the
stick on the transmitter (Tx) it sends a signal to the receiver (Rx), which
sends a signal to the servos, which then move the arm on top of the servo
in response to you moving the TX stick. This arm is then connected to the
control surfaces on the model via some sort of pushrod. Please see the pictures
below The most popular manufacturers of radio control radios are Spektrum,
FRSky, Futaba, plus others such as RadioMaster, FlySky & Hitec. A 4
channel set will cost about £100, however if you can afford it you are much
better off spending a bit more and getting a 6 or 8 channel set with mixers.
Useful features include servo reverse and "rates". These make
it easy to set up your model so that the controls work in the right direction.
Another very useful feature is extra model memories. This enables you to
easily use the same Tx with several models.
Modern computer radios can preform
100s of mixes and functions including talking to you
Important facts:
R/C sets are available on 4 radio frequency "bands":
The newest is the 2.4Ghz band now used
by most
The 35Mhz band - reserved for aircraft
only still OK to use
The 40Mhz band - purely for ground based models, i.e. cars and
boats, NOT airplanes or gliders.
And finally the 27Mhz band - for use by anyone, i.e. planes, boats,
cars.
The best choice is a 2.4Ghz radio.
The main reason for this is that 2.4Ghz sets are pretty much interference
free, because they work on a totally different principle to the other
3 types of sets. The 2.4Ghz radios frequency hop
the 2.4Ghz band, meaning
frequency clashes are impossible.
Typical manufacturers include Spektrum,
Futaba, JR, etc and the radios can easily be identified by a short
aerial (approx 4" long)
Stabilization:
helps you fly the model without crashing, often in three
modes: manual (no help), safe mode (bank
and pitch angle limited to safe limits) full
auto (puts model back to level flght)
Telemetry:
a new consept, you can have flight information
sent from your model to your TX screen, height battery voltage, speed,
GPS and many more. Flaps can be automatically lowered as flying
speed is below certain speed, alarms can be set for low battery
voltage
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Telemetry screen |
Spectrum DX6i 2.4 ghz |
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