Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

[Tom Smith]

None of my flying is aggressive so I doubt I would ever over amp the esc. I just putt putt around with an occasional loop or roll. Maybe I'll leave them off for now.

[xviper]

The capacitor thing is something that came with the last purchase. None of my older HobbyEagles came with it. I'm not sure what problem it's supposed to resolve. I think it's supposed to maintain a steady voltage during spikes in the current to the RX. I used it because it was there. However, this is the very first unit that made my plane go nuts. During a bank, the plane would lose altitude like crazy (alarmingly so) and I barely got it back down unscathed. This even happened when I flipped the switch to turn OFF the stability. Not knowing what it was, I took the plane home and yanked out the A3-L and just hooked up all the wiring back the way it was and the next time out, the plane flew perfectly. I don't if it had anything to do with that little capacitor but I will do a round of testing in my "junk" plane. I have a MAKO that I use for testing all new RXs and stabilizers before they go into any plane.

[Grossman56]

Hey Tom, personally, I just forget about them as I used several A3L's before they decided to put these in the kits. I'm not sure what the problem was or what it was supposed to solve, but all of mine (11) work fine without them.
Hopefully someone can give us an answer. Personally, if I have an unused channel, I use it for a gain control.

Grossman56

[Tom Smith]

So I just plug it into an unused channel and forget about it?

[Prowler901]

Hi Tom. The capacitors charge up when you plug in the battery pack.

[Tom Smith]

Thanks, that is what I thought. What about that capacitor thingy?

[xviper]

I have another question. I just bought 2 more A3-Ls (yea, I like these things) from a guy on RCG and they came with capacitors. The on line instructions say to plug them into any unused port on either the receiver or A3-L. My question is, do these take voltage from the fully charged pack as it gets plugged in and store it in case it is needed during that flight or are they "charged" in some other way. Never used one before and would like a little guidance. Also, can the A3-L be put in the plane upside down like for a low wing plane with no top hatch access. Again, the instructions say "it can be placed in the plane in many different ways" but no mention of inverted. Tom

Roll axis will be the same when you invert the unit. However, pitch and yaw axis will be backwards but mount it first, then test for control reaction to movement and use the internal switch menu to reverse what you need.

[Tom Smith]

I have another question. I just bought 2 more A3-Ls (yea, I like these things) from a guy on RCG and they came with capacitors. The on line instructions say to plug them into any unused port on either the receiver or A3-L. My question is, do these take voltage from the fully charged pack as it gets plugged in and store it in case it is needed during that flight or are they "charged" in some other way. Never used one before and would like a little guidance. Also, can the A3-L be put in the plane upside down like for a low wing plane with no top hatch access. Again, the instructions say "it can be placed in the plane in many different ways" but no mention of inverted. Tom

[Tom Smith]

Woo Hoo !!!! I got an e mail notification.

[Grossman56]

Great example today.
got the Pitts up and blasted it across the sky, I could see it jerking a bit so just reached up and turned the gain down a bit, worked great, its a nice feature if you have the spare channel.
Big Beautiful Doll has the same as she has an 8 channel receiver in her, the rest of the warbirds had 7's, so she's the only one I did the gain control setup.

Grossman56

[Tom Smith]

Yes, subscribed is checked, but some of my other stuff needed changing. Maybe now I will get notified when someone replies to this A3-L thread. Tom

[xviper]

And how do I get e mail notifications from this forum when someone posts to this thread. I clicked the subscribed button but still didn't get notified when you guys replied.

That's odd. Usually, it's automatic as soon as you post to a thread and certainly when you click on "subscribe". Does it have a check mark in front of "subscribed" at the top of this page? Also, go to your "user settings, notifications" and make sure all the right selections are made and all the right boxes are checked.

[Grossman56]

Yes, that's what I've done, had the Pitts up today and thank god for the gyro, we had some vicious thermals, saw the Pitts go sideways as it got caught up, she maintained her attitude and I was able to bring her around, only to hit another one when turning to final, circled a couple of times at the end of the field to reorient myself and lined her up for a crosswind landing, got down fine, and that was enough for the day. Plane is in one piece thanks to that gyro

Grossman56

[Tom Smith]

I do have the twist knob that isn't being used but I have it dialed in pretty good the way it is. Down wind it was really honking yet no oscillations, but it dampened the crosswind and gusts like nobody's business. I may try the twist knob for gain at a later date. Does one turn the gain up all the way on the unit and then use the knob to lower it to where you want it? And how do I get e mail notifications from this forum when someone posts to this thread. I clicked the subscribed button but still didn't get notified when you guys replied. No big deal, just wondering if it worked that way. Tom.

[Grossman56]

Hey Tom, welcome to the forum first of all.
I run a DX 8 as well and your settings are what I use. Also, with that model, if you have an extra channel in your receiver, you can take advantage of the knob on your radio and use it for your gyro gain. I do this in my Pitts and one of my Mustangs. What I do is crank the gyro itself and then use the knob to roll in how much sensitivity I want. I believe it was an extra cable running out of the mode channel in the radio, its been a while since I did it, but it's in the instructions. Its a nice feature to have, especially if you have a spare channel doing nothing.

Grossman56

[wpmay]

Told you you would like it!!!!! :D:D:D
Bill

[Tom Smith]

Test flew it today and it went perfectly. I took off in OFF mode and flew around for 2 or 3 minutes seeing how the model handled. It didn't need a single click of trim. So, I flipped it to normal (2D) mode and there was a noticeable difference in the stability of the little 40" Extra 300. It felt the same on the sticks but the A3-L took care of the 13.5 mph cross wind gusts like it was nothing. Constant wind speed was 8mph and the A3-L dampened any bouncing the winds created. I would not normally fly in a cross wing like that but this thing made it easy as pie. I flew 3 packs through it and each flight was better than the last. I am using a DX8 and it was very simple to set up. I am sold on this contraption and will definitely be buying more. This model is more of a sport model so I think I will disable 3D mode. I take it by lowering the gain to zero will do that. In normal (2D mode) I have the gain set at mid way, 12 o'clock high. I flew it downwind at full tilt and didn't notice any oscillations from too much gain so I am leaving it where it is. Tom

[OV10]

Pheonix,
I have a DX9 with an AR8000 hooked up to an A3L on my A6(my only bird with gyro, got tired of fighting grass strip ground effect on landing)
So what is your exact issue...........that way I am not trying to reinvent the wheel here on things that have already been documented.

[xviper]

I am having a heck of a time with the A3L and my Dx9 set up. No such issues with my Futaba radio. I know it is a programming issue with the radio. I cannot find much on the Internet on this one (Dx9 setup). I am using a 9-channel receiver. If anyone has any ideas, please share.

What are you trying to do? There are several options for how you want the A3L to work.
1. Do you want it to work automatically when you power the plane on? IE, you must set the gain via the gain pots in a trial and error or of way. Tweak the gain pots little by little after each flight till you get to the point just as the plane begins to shimmy with increasing speed, then land and back off the gain a little. This could take several test flights to get it right. In this case, there is nothing on the TX to program. You simply make sure all your throws are in the correct direction (proper servo "reverse" is done) AND all the stabilizer control surfaces are in the correct direction (this is done via the A3L itself via the little button and noting the light blinks).
2. Do you want to be able to turn the stabilizer OFF/ON in flight? This requires you hook the MOD lead to an empty channel that is controlled by a 2-way or 3-way switch. A 2-way gives you OFF/ON. A 3-way gives you OFF/ON/3D. ON is the blue light and is normal stabilization. 3D is the red light and is 3D. With most planes, I turn the gain to zero on the 3D as I don't need it. Then you only need a 2-way switch. Assign it to AUX1, unless you have flaps, then you must pick another switch. If your plane has flaps, then that switch (for AUX1) will be used. You can then select switch B, which is usually used for "flight mode".
3. Do you want to be able to adjust gain in the air? Then you should plug the GAIN lead to AUX2. This is controlled by the rotary knob. Having the MOD plugged into a switch will also allow you to turn it OFF/ON. If you don't care to turn it OFF/ON, then leave the MOD lead empty and it will automatically go to ON in normal stab.

The DX9 is not much different than my DX8 G2 in channel assignment. You just need to know how to assign a particular switch to control a particular RX port. I don't know how new your DX9 is and how familiar you are with it but there are 2 pages in the channel assign menu. Start with the first page and then go to the second page. That should make more sense as you fiddle with it.

[Pheonix]

I am having a heck of a time with the A3L and my Dx9 set up. No such issues with my Futaba radio. I know it is a programming issue with the radio. I cannot find much on the Internet on this one (Dx9 setup). I am using a 9-channel receiver. If anyone has any ideas, please share.