Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

[ryramZ]

You can see in the video that the gyro is directly above the nose gear, definitely not on the cg. Yes, it is recommended that the gyros are placed nearest to the cg as possible. In my case being visible was important. The mirage at speed did exhibit an oscillation, but only at speeds which are pretty quick on that jet. At slow speed and cruise the jet was locked in. The p40B 980 however never exhibited any oscillation and it's a quick ship as well regardless of slow or fast speeds. Also gyro not on cg.

[Konrad]

What is way forward and what does being too far forward effect?

The optimum location is on the CofG, as secondary acceleration forces won't dampen the sensory input on the gyro in any one axis.

[ryramZ]

Hey Doc. Try it out. Leave yourself a way out of course. In our 980mm P-40B vid with gyro I had the gyro way aft of cg it was fine. We also filmed the Mirage 2000 with a gyro placed way forward, that was fine too. I think you'll be fine, just try it out at altitude and start with the gains around 50% and play with it from there.

Regards
Ryan

[doctormike]

I wanted to put a gyro in my Dynam C-47, but there is no way to place it over the CG and have it accesable, short of taping it to the top. It would fit in the battery compartment, but would be way foreward of the CG. I wonder if it will work properly that way. Doc

[Konrad]

I see what your referring to now, that's something different! Now I ordered an A3L for the P 40, I'll have to check to see if that was included in the box, don't remember seeing that.

Now, my planes have a ESC/BEC combo, is that good enough Konrad?

Grossman56

Depends on the BEC that is integral with the ESC and the current draw of the servos. As the start and stopping of the servo takes more energy that a straight run it is very easy to over tax most BEC when asking for the servos to see a power command 333 times a second. This is common for digital servos most analog servos only see a frame rate of around 50 times a second. Whenever I use a gyro I like to add a larger one than supplied, if it is an ARF/BNF type model. Or at least add more cooling.

These are two families of ESC with large BECs I like, the Talon and Gecko

http://www.motionrc.com/ztw-gecko-155a-esc-with-8a-sbec/

http://www.castlecreations.com/products/talon.html

As I don't know what you have I can't say one way or the other. Again I wish MotionRC would spec their equipment. I know somebody in the supply chain knows this engineering data.

All the best,
Konrad

[Grossman56]

I see what your referring to now, that's something different! Now I ordered an A3L for the P 40, I'll have to check to see if that was included in the box, don't remember seeing that.

Now, my planes have a ESC/BEC combo, is that good enough Konrad?

Grossman56

[Konrad]

Thanks Roy,

Well, that is a rather small cap for any power application, like actually starting a servo motor. It looks like it is used to filter out any transient power losses that might trigger the reset of the micro processor. These caps are no substitutes for a larger properly spec'd BEC.

from the manual;

After installing the gyro, the servos will move more frequently than before, it is highly recommended that a reliable UBEC or ESC be used to provide sufficient working current for the servos on the plane, otherwise the gyro may become unstable by an occasional voltage drop. A large capacitor (3300uF/16V) can be used to get a more stable and secure voltage level. You just need to simply plug it into any open slot of the gyro or the receiver.




All the best,
Konrad

[boomer108]

Gee Retired, I'm not sure what you're talking about as regards a capacitor, but then I work better with a picture! LOL
I'm wondering if the guys from Motion R/C could chime in on this. Is it something we should all be considering if it increases our servo life??

Grossman56

Hey GMan!

The new A3-L comes with a capacitor. Look at the user manual on the Motion site under the support tab. They show a picture of it.

Roy B.

[Grossman56]

RE: Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

I maximized the travel on the Remote Gain channel, and turned the onboard Gain dial to maximum. This greatly improved the graduated sensitivity of my Hitec radio's rotary knob.

That's what I've done on BBD and The Pitts, the beauty of it, to my mind, is that I can fine tune the gain while in the air rather that landing and adjusting multiple times.
the trick is having an extra, unused channel, but well worth it if you can do it.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Gee Retired, I'm not sure what you're talking about as regards a capacitor, but then I work better with a picture! LOL
I'm wondering if the guys from Motion R/C could chime in on this. Is it something we should all be considering if it increases our servo life??

Grossman56

[Konrad]

I have an electrical connection gyro question for anyone. With the new A3-L gyro, it comes with a capacitor to install to help with servo longevity. It states in the user guide that it can be plugged into any empty slot on the gyro or the receiver. I'm using all my slots in my Tactic 6 channel receiver , HOWEVER the battery slot is open. Can I use that for the capacitor? I assume all the connection slots on the receiver use the same power bus inside so it should be OK. Any thoughts from you electrical types out there?

You have the correct idea, the bus is the same. Now I have to ask how large is the cap? To aid with motor life (start up currents) it would have to be rather large.

All the best,
konraK

[doctormike]

I am putting A3-L's in all my planes with great results... except for my Multiplex Funjet. It fishtails at high speeds even with the gain set at 9 o'clock. I turn the gyro off and it flys clean as a whistle. I've determined that it is so stable, it doesn't need a gyro, even in wind. Doc

[retiredflyer]

I have an electrical connection gyro question for anyone. With the new A3-L gyro, it comes with a capacitor to install to help with servo longevity. It states in the user guide that it can be plugged into any empty slot on the gyro or the receiver. I'm using all my slots in my Tactic 6 channel receiver , HOWEVER the battery slot is open. Can I use that for the capacitor? I assume all the connection slots on the receiver use the same power bus inside so it should be OK. Any thoughts from you electrical types out there?

[cferg]

Does anyone else have problems of this cycling and servo jumps every couple of minutes like it does at initial startup? I recently installed one in the FW F-15, don't recall this happening with my other a3l gyros.
Thanks

[StormyDog1962]

Lots of good information pilots and I also love the way the Gyro makes the plane feel. For me it just makes the experience that much better and relaxing.

[F106DeltaDart]

I just flew my Durafly Corsair with this gyro today, and it made a world of difference! I modded it with a scale diameter propeller, and it flew great except on landing. The huge prop produces so much torque that on landing that significant aileron movement with throttle pulses was necessary to keep the wings level. Now, it stays solid all the way to the ground and looks silky smooth it the air.

[Grossman56]

No prob friend, its all about having fun! If I can help anyone to enjoy this hobby, then so be it.

Grossman56

[Dewey H Lee]

Thank you for your response Grossman. The hellcat has all that space but to far down in the plane for my old hands to get to. That side rail looked good and after seeing yours there I just had to ask. Thank you for info.

[Grossman56]

RE: Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

So far so good Dewey, I try to get it reasonably close to the CG, but I haven't had a problem with any of my gyros.  Just make sure that you have it on a switch and that its turned off on the initial flight.  Old Crow got piled up because I forgot that important step.  Got her repaired and back in the air. 
It was a matter of making sure the gyro was correcting in the right direction.
The Pitts was the same, I got her up to a safe altitude and switched the gyro on briefly and the elevator wasn't right.  Be prepared to switch on/switch off.  If it performs correctly you can always turn it back on, if not, you land and correct rather that crash and cry.
A simple formula to remember the light patterns is "AER" as in aero.
Two flashes   - A (ailerons)
Three flashes - E (Elevator)
Four flashes   - R (Rudder)

Also, I have the P51D and the Pitts  Gyro gain on the knob of my DX8, so I can control the amount of gain since I had a spare channel in the receiver.  Its a cool feature, I just leave my gain cranked on the gyro and adjust it to where I want it with the knob.  The trick is remembering that as my other planes don't have that feature and I'm not buying a bunch of new receivers to accomplish that.
BTW, I turned the 3D setting right down to nothing, don't need it and I don't want to accidently click it to 3D!!

Also, (but don't tell anybody!) I use the dreaded Aileron/Rudder mix as well, but I love the way my planes handle with that and the gyro, its not an automatic pilot by any means but the response it crisp and exactly what I want.

Grossman56 

[Dewey H Lee]

RE: Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

Hey Roy, in the pilot hatch, here's a couple of pics of how I have it set up.  As I said, do all your adjusting before you mount it as you'll have to release the tape in order to get at it again.
I put the gain a little hotter as mentioned, should be able to get a flight in on Sunday if the weather is good.

Grossman56

Hey Grossman56
I was just checking in to see if you seen any adverse effects on your plane not having the gyro on center. I would like to do the same with a plane of mine.