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Things you did not know about the Radian

Discussion in 'Radian' started by Tabb Firchau, Sep 26, 2012.

  1. Tabb Firchau

    Tabb Firchau Administrator
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    From one of JohnC's posts:

    1. You can connect a spektrum satellite and sbus/ppm receiver simultaneously to the radian.

    The Spektrum data is used over the others - so if your single operator radio comes in on SBUS or PPM and the second operator comes in on Spektrum then it will work as single-operator until you turn on the Spektrum when it becomes dual operator.

    The Radian even swaps around the PPM/SBUS/Spektrum channels so they will match as you go between them. For example, the aileron stick is the same selection numder for slew even though the radios are different (well, at least with the receivers I tried).

    The 'Input Channel Monitor' will show you what is going on as you switch between operators.
     
  2. John Cunningham

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    Further to Mr Tabb's beautiful cut-and-paste, the Spektrum channels appear in the first 8. The second 8 will be the SBUS or the 8 channels of the PPM receiver (it reflects channels 1-8 into 9-15 for the PPM) - so it is also possible to use 2 radios simultaneously (for example with the pilot commanding the mode over SBUS and the operator controlling the camera with Spektrum).

    Just connect them up and watch the 'Input Channel Monitor' to see what happens.
     
  3. Josh Lambeth

    Josh Lambeth Well-Known Member

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    Now that is awesome!!!! Can't wait to get back to Phoenix to play with all this! :D Thanks guys!

    Josh
     
  4. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Now if only I could use an S.bus and a GR-12 (seeing as I got rid of my Spektrum at someone's recommendation.... <evil grin>).

    Andy.
     
  5. Tabb Firchau

    Tabb Firchau Administrator
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    That was not me Andy! AdamP takes the fall for that one.
     
  6. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Indeed it was he who said that. In somewhat forceful terms as I recall. :)
     
  7. John Cunningham

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    The Radian even has me owning some Spektrum equipment - and I never thought that would happen.

    I suppose it's because the hex doesn't fall out of the sky if the Spektrum fails ;-) - and a satellite Rx is really convenient.
     
  8. Nick Kolias

    Nick Kolias Moderator
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    John, welcome to the enlightenment. :D
     
  9. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Could you expand upon that a bit, John? Graupner's and Futaba's do bad things to the bird? As in "enable plummet mode?" ;)

    Andy.
     
  10. John Cunningham

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    Andy, I meant that when the Spektrum throws you a spanner, the result is not catastrophy if it is only on the gimbal. I read all kinds of stories about glitches and control-loss whereas my Futaba FASST systems have been very reliable.

    Nick: Here's how opening a new DX8 goes: mmm ... nice packaging ... nice range of goodies in the box ... OMG WHAT IS THIS PIECE OF CRAP (lifting out the radio).

    Having said that, this DX6 I have in Thailand is very nice (for the price) for the gimbal.
     
  11. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    A spanner? OK. Hold it. That identifies you, compadre....another peripatetic from Albion!
    What you really meant to say was that when the Spektrum throws you a wench....
    No. Wait a minute.... ;)
     
  12. John Cunningham

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    East Yorkshire born and bred ;) on a worldwide campaign to restore the true English lol.
     
  13. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Ayup, lad. Sheffield.
    Does thee think there's enough of us to do it? Worth a bloody try, int it? Owt stoppin' us.... :)

    For those not hailing from Yorkshire and puzzled by the secret linguistic handshaking, watch this to gain cultural insight.

    Sorry Dave. Other side of the Pennines.
     
  14. Nick Kolias

    Nick Kolias Moderator
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    :D :D Priceless!

    Does my English count as true and proper? Don't tell me I'm like the chav brother you never had or wanted!!
     
  15. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Anyone who knows chav is definitely on-side and not naffed up.

    (Cough....)

    OK, we better get back to Radians otherwise Tabb will ban us....

    John: I do have a question for you: Can you tell from the Radian PC software whether a sensor is oscillating (for example using input from from the sensor)? If so, I'd asked Tabb about the idea of autosetting the gain -- crank it up automatically from zero until the software sees incipient oscillation -- then back it off. It might help us get to within a first order approximation of the correct gain for a given mass in motion? It would certainly save a bunch of time...

    Andy.
     
  16. John Cunningham

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    Andy, The problem is that gain which seems OK on the ground is often not right in the air.

    My plan eventually is to allow another channel to be used as remote gain to allow in-air adjustment whilst watching the downlink. However, we are waiting until all issues around the current software are put to bed before we make it any more complicated ...

    Nick: lol - I'm afraid the answer is no.
     
  17. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Yeah, I could see how that ground/air gain could be different owing to the inertia/momentum changes.

    As a general rule do you have any data that suggests for specific axes whether what appear optimal ground-deteremined settings tend to be lower or higher than optimal air-determined settings? My hunch is that a ground based gain setting might tend be too high for the optimal air-based setting as ground-based settings are heavily dampened. But maybe the general rule is that there is no general rule?

    I can certainly see why pan would be a tough one to set as well because of the complex motions of the frameset.

    The idea of in-flight adjustment is a good one. Radian Xbee?

    I can also see the merits of waiting for the current issues to stabilize. I'm waiting for Windows 2000 to stabilize for the same reasons. ;)
    Andy.
     
  18. Tabb Firchau

    Tabb Firchau Administrator
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    Man, I let you guys drive the car for a bit and you crash straight into the ditch!
     
    Steve Maller likes this.
  19. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    I don't do ditches. I do trees. ;) This is, after all, the North West of the USA.

    A.
     
  20. zaxis

    zaxis New Member

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    Can I pick up on using an Xbee to trim in flight. I did post about the idea a few days back but got no real answer. I have an Xbee link that I currently use with an MK FC. It plugs in place of the MK USB dongle. Since the Radian has a pretty much identical dongle would it be safe to use the Xbee in place of the Radian dongle. I'd assume the pinouts would need to be altered but that the signal levels, etc would not. Can anyone in authority confirm this ?
    With a bit of programming it should then be possible to display the sensor signals in real time so you can look for any ringing or whatever. Also alter the angle offset in realtime to give a proportional control of the gimble in place of slew ?

    andy
     

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