It is crucial that a Radian module has it's orientation set correctly to stabilise an axis on a camera mount. If it is not it will do strange things on initialisation and most likely end up shutting the motor drive off (giving a slow flashing green LED). This is how you can check a Radian is configured properly: 1) Disconnect the servo from the Radian 2) Power up the Radian and connect it to the PC software as normal 3) Click the 'Connect' button and check the slew bar has gone green as normal. 4) In the Radian software 'Configuration' window you will see a box with 'Current-Angle-Demand' as the title. 5) Watch the value under 'Current'. It should change as you rotate the Radian axis by hand. You need to check that: It goes more positive when you rotate the axis nose-up (Tilt), roll-to-the-right (Roll) or clockwise (Pan) And of course more negative in the opposite direction. The angle shown is the actual angle in degrees - so check it is roughly correct (for example you move it 30 degrees and it does not show 2 or something like that).
Hi John. Thanks for this. I was getting a bit nervous as the time approches to plug my Roll radion in for the first time. As a engineer writing OM manuals I have to say the RTadion although very nicely laid out does not give good step by step guide. It has been written by people who know the Radion inside out. I ALWAYS have my OM's read by her indoors, if she cant understand it and be able to do simple things on a system like turn the system on then I have failed in my job. I know it may be tedious but for people like myself looking at the best part of £600 it would be nice to NOT have to go on forums looking for simple stuff.. like min max voltages. Dave
I have to agree with Dave. A step by step guide or something is needed. Tabb's videos are nice but lack detail. Radian was described as simple to set up, but I'm not feeling that right now. Andy's guide to building a Cinestar was fabulous. It would be great if you could explain to Andy how to set up the Radians for spectrum and sbus...and then let him explain it to the 'rest of us' in a video. In the meantime, I'll keep asking questions on the Forum. jim
I will get to work on a more in depth manual asap. Sorry you guys are finding it lacking, we had people with no RC experience successfully setup the Radian using only the manual so I thought it would be good to go. Keep in mind that in its most simple form installing the Radian only consists of 1. Mounting, wiring Radian 2. Setting defaults to "pan, tilt, or roll" 3. Setting Gain It really is a simple system at the core functionality...we added in a lot of features to provide options for different users but the core setup should be straightforward Dave - Good catch, will add in operating voltage to the manual
Yeh I have tried that in the past with expensive stuff only to see the little puff of smoke that mean ererer! WRONG! Sorry but I dont like seeing that anymore so before I do anything I like to have it clear in my head and know I aint guessing around for hours trying to find info on forums. If its clear from the start and your mum could set it up then your on a winner. I was a beta tester for the skyline and begged Kim not to release it but hey ho the rest is history and now I have yours, yes the documentation is 1000% better than the first release on skyline but after two years building MRs its still nice to be absolutly sure x goes to y rather than second guess it and get your trousers pulled down. RTFM rings loud and clear from my younger days but if you aint got it you cant read it. Dave Do I get a rophy Point for this or what?
Thank you for the compliment, Jim. It's very gratifying after the effort it took to make the DVDs to know that the DVDs are useful (you should have seen the cutting room floor with all the re-takes, out-takes, and mis-takes). In my day job I get to explain computers, software, and software-related patents to Judges and juries, but I rarely get feedback (unless a juror falls asleep while I'm testifying which kinda sends its own message...yeah, it's happened....so I talk LOUDER and they usually wake up!), so your kind words are much appreciated. Andy.
Put the tilt band on, hook everything up, activate radians. Then untighten you plate and adjust it so that it is level. Let the radians define level and match the plate accordingly.
Angelo just remember that the default for the tilt Radian in the software is 5 degrees tilt down. Put a bubble level on the plate with it just loose enough to rotate it around the tilt arm and then tighten down. Nothing wrong with Phil's method as long as you remember that any adjustments to the Fixed Pos (default is a -10) setting on roll will change the level of the mounting plate. If you want the tilt bars to be a a real zero point (vertical attachments perpendicular to the ground) then you need to changed the Fixed Pos value to '0'.
Also do this after you have the tilt band off, have balanced the roll and tilt, and then be especially sure that the tilt bars stay in the same position once the band is on and radian activates. Otherwise the servo has to work extra hard and this burns battery and could burn out your servo. Tabb has videos on this posted under media.
Angelo your mounting looks good. Here's how I got mine level. 1. Power up the radians and on the Mode Switch pick the middle postion. The tilt servo will find a level position. 2. Loosen up the clamps that are attached to the tilt gimbals. I just eyeball that so that it is perpendicular (vertical) to the ground. Tighten them back up. 3. Loosen the camera mount and with a bubble level on it tilt it back and forth until it is level on the bubble. You are done. If you look in the Radian software while it is connected to the tilt Radian you will see a setting in the middle that is labeled "Fixed Pos" This will have a value in it. Example the default is "-10". So the default tilt that the Radian will assume is NOT level but tilted slightly down, about 5 degrees. So if you do my instructions above and the starting point in the software is -10, if you change that to Zero then the camera plate will no longer be level, but tilt up about 5 degrees. So the "Fixed Pos" determines where the Radian thinks level is and then you adjust the tilt bar and camera plate from there. So in your photo it looks like the tilt bars are angled back and the camera plate is tilted down. Easy to change. Hope this helps. There are a lot of interdependencies.
Thank you. And what about the horizontal bars. They need a bit of an angle upwards? Like on my photo. How much ideally?
khabe: Firstly, if it's not too much trouble, would you be kind enough to change your user name to your real first name and last name, please? The reasons for this (and how to do it) are explained here: http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/real-names.497/ Secondly, I am pretty certain that the Radian will not work correctly unless you install it in the correct orientation. But I will check on that with JohnC, the designer. Thanks Andy
Well, you're almost there, Kristjan....now we need your surname/last name too, if that would be possible please! I hope to have an answer for you regarding the orientation shortly....I use Apple "me.com" for email and it's behaving badly today. Thanks Andy.
Hi All, I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but did the tutorials/manual ever get updated? I'm working my way through them on the FF site at the moment and am finding them really quite sketchy. Gain Tuning for instance: - How does doubling the gain, then flicking the gimbal, then decreasing the gain to stock again tune it for flight? I'm presuming I then work my way up incrementing a few % at a time to reach an optimum? How do I know when I've hit it? Sorry to be critical, I'm loving the CS and the gimbal, but the tutorials and manuals really need more work. I'd second Andy Johnson-Laird's great approach on his build CS8 DVD, if he does one for the 3 Axis gimbal / radian I'll be the first in line. (hint hint Andy!) But with the arrival of the Movi, I'm really hoping us customers using the 'old' technology don't get forgotten. Dave.