A3-L V2 Gyro Stabilizer

[Rbus]

I got everything set up on my Skyhunter 787 with an FrSky RX/TX. The ailerons move the wrong direction when i move the stick. I changed setting 2 to red. That should reverse the ailerons, but it didn't. I double checked it to verify that the change took. Should I reverse it in the TX? Also, I have an sbus output that I can use to cut down on the clutter. Will the stabilizer work with FrSky sbus and maybe a better option?

[xviper]

The "reverse" in the gyro is to change the direction of the gyro response, NOT to change the direction of the servo movement via stick input. When installing a gyro, always first make sure the sticks move the control surfaces in the correct direction WITHOUT the gyro ON. THEN, do any necessary changes to "GYRO" direction after that in the gyro. Then do the proper checks for both and for gain level before flying. The faster the plane, the lower the gain must be. 30% normal gain is a good starting point. Use the master gain on a knob so you can change it in the air or use a switch to turn the gyro OFF in case the plane begins to oscillate.
PS. The A3-L V2 has 2 gain pots. One is for "normal" gain. The other is for "3D" gain. Turn the 3D gain to ZERO unless you are putting it into a 3D plane or some very weird things will happen.

[rcaviator]

My A3L is set up on a 2 way switch, ON & OFF. Yesterday, first flight was all good as usual. The second time I flew my plane the plane would not arm, and the A3L had a solid RED led. I unplugged the battery and turned the transmitter off several time to no avail. When I brought the plane home, I tried it again on my workbench, and it worked. Later than evening, at home, I tried it again, and one out of five times, it again would not arm and the led was RED. What might be the problem??

[killickb]

Rbus, I would presume that by now you have the A-3 gyro working. If not suggest searching for and watching the video by James @ Motion RC on setting up this gyro -- is very well done and you can pause the video as you follow along.

[xviper]

My A3L is set up on a 2 way switch, ON & OFF. Yesterday, first flight was all good as usual. The second time I flew my plane the plane would not arm, and the A3L had a solid RED led. I unplugged the battery and turned the transmitter off several time to no avail. When I brought the plane home, I tried it again on my workbench, and it worked. Later than evening, at home, I tried it again, and one out of five times, it again would not arm and the led was RED. What might be the problem??

The A3-L (now discontinued) has 2 gain pots on the top of the unit. The one on the right is for "3D" gain. Turn it OFF (full counterclockwise) if you are not flying a 3D plane. The RED light means it's in "3D" mode and your 2-position ON/OFF switch end points could be "not quite" seeing full end points, so it now becomes (sometimes) "normal" gain and "3D" gain. If you turn OFF the second gain pot, it will then only see ON/OFF. Also, check your monitor to make sure your switch has full travel at both ends. I believe if you use a 3-position switch and set up the end and mid points, then you can have gyro ON/3D/gyro OFF. Most non-3D plane will fly very weird in 3D mode and sometimes will crash unexpectedly.

[Joehockey]

Hi all
I am on my 4th set up & loves these gyros.
however I am encountering some strange issues on power on .
I am getting a red flashing light not even solid ?
I am on 3 positions switch 1& 2 is off 3 is red.
I can get the red to blue with my TX but I feel like I am starting off wrong.
when it’s all set up my ailerons & elevator work together ?
Original set up without the gyro worked great

[Joehockey]

Ldm 0 miles from you in United States, PA, Lancaster Joined Jun 2006 18,436 Posts

Question I know its an old thread . I have set 4 of these up with zero issues even used the wheel to adjust gain in flight, great product , great value. My problem is -on this one model my gyro is mounted on the bottom of the model inverted. The light is blue indicating the correct position All settings test 100% correct for proper movement. Tracking on roll out is perfect. Lift off at proper non - stall speed wants to flip the model over . Now some details - the model is powered on inverted because the lipo box is on the bottom of the plane. Does this make a difference ? Does the model think its upside down ? All my control surfaces are 100% CORRECT , I have flown 4 planes on these Gyros, love them but don’t understand what is happening on this set up

[xviper]

Ldm 0 miles from you in United States, PA, Lancaster Joined Jun 2006 18,436 Posts

Question I know its an old thread . I have set 4 of these up with zero issues even used the wheel to adjust gain in flight, great product , great value. My problem is -on this one model my gyro is mounted on the bottom of the model inverted. The light is blue indicating the correct position All settings test 100% correct for proper movement. Tracking on roll out is perfect. Lift off at proper non - stall speed wants to flip the model over . Now some details - the model is powered on inverted because the lipo box is on the bottom of the plane. Does this make a difference ? Does the model think its upside down ? All my control surfaces are 100% CORRECT , I have flown 4 planes on these Gyros, love them but don’t understand what is happening on this set up

The only things that come to mind is as follows. Don't be insulted with any of it as I don't know what and how you've done things with this device. Nor have you indicated what kind of plane this device is in. Without this and other details, one is left to make certain assumptions. Having done 3 previous installations is no guarantee that the forth one will follow the same path.
1. Consider doing a "reset" and starting over.
2. It shouldn't matter if the gyro is mounted inverted. However, it may not like being powered up with the plane upside down, so you might want to do your best to have the plane level on a stand right side up and reach under to plug in the battery. Once it's initialized, then you can turn it upside down to close up the battery hatch.
3. Do you have the 3D gain turned to ZERO? If it's not a 3D plane, it should be set to ZERO. Even if it is a 3D plane and you are using 3D gain, you should have it OFF (on a switch or rotary) until you are in the air and about to do 3D.
4. You might possibly be observing the gyro responses incorrectly for each control surface. (I know people when they are checking stick response, all they do it wiggle the sticks and if they see the control surfaces move, they think they're good to go, NOT paying attention to whether or not each control surface actually moves in the direction they're supposed to. 99% of the time, they luck out and all is well. 1% of the time, they crash or lose the plane entirely.)
5. Are your wiring connections on all leads in and out of the gyro correct? Correct polarity? Especially the "mode" and "master gain" leads? Do they go to the correct pins on the RX? Are the channel assignments correct on the RX for those leads? Eg. If you plugged the "mode" lead into say, channel 7, did you assign your preferred switch to channel 7? If you plugged your master gain into channel 8, sure, it defaults to the rotary BUT did you check to make sure that the rotary is in fact, assigned to channel 8? IF you plugged those things into different channels, of course the channel assignment must change to reflect those.

What type of plane are you using this device for? IE, aircraft type? The TX should always be set to "normal" wing/tail, with the exception of having flaps. All wing types should be set in the gyro.

(To eliminate another possibility) - This troublesome unit ................... It IS an A3-L V2, correct? If it's not and it's one of the newer models, they no longer come with separate 3-wire leads anymore. They come with single 3-wire leads that split off into 3 separate plugs that go into separate channels. Even though those separate leads are color coded, you DO NOT follow the color coding. ALL those single wire leads, regardless of color, are SIGNAL wires.

Failing the above points, you may have a dud. I've got these gyros in over 2 dozen planes and not all of them have had a glitch free installation. Some needed careful review and something was amiss - something small and seemingly insignificant. One was defective.

[Joehockey]

Thank you for the response no offense taken at all .
1) model is a tail dragger, regular wing - no flaps no v-tail
2) model was set with the receiver ( no gyro ) all flight surfaces were correct
3) Gyro -is the A3L2 version - all connections are correct all wires to the receiver are correct
4) 3D is turned off - left pod was tested for movement at full gain and movements are 100% correct -check by a second party after issues.
5) Gyro was set at 25% to simply work for wind buffering and gain is active on a slider and slider does exactly what the slider was designed to do.
6) At power up - the variable is the inverted position of the model -I have the A3L2 in other models attached upside down however the models are powered up in the flight position with the lipos installed in a top deck.

For safety - every step was checked twice in the gyro settings from wing type #1 thru #7 and all functions were verified correct.
I am experienced tail dragger warbird pilot and visually you can tell the model is attempting to flip itself on takeoff after its gained proper speed and flying on the ground defined as ( tail up level -75% power controlled and graceful ) and lift off results in model correcting in the incorrect manner.

Flown on the same day an Fw190 with the same Gyro maiden with zero issues and perfect results. I know two sets-ups dont make one perfect plane but with all variables checked by me and then another experienced member we called it quits for the day.
After rechecking at home we will now go back and test the power up with the model in its flight position.
Thank you for the advice.

[xviper]

It sounds like you've got the bases covered. The only irregularity is the power up with the plane upside down. See what happens if you do #2 in my list.
I have never had a tail dragger with the HobbyEagle gyro in it. The closest plane to it was an Eflite 1500mm Mustang with the AS3X Safe Select and I always initialized it level on a plane stand. Subsequent flights on the same day with the wheels down, as soon as I plugged in, I lifted the tail so as to level it as best I could while it did its thing. A friend had another model that was also similarly equipped tail dragger and he also had to get at the battery from underneath. Never had great success with it until I suggested he plug it in while right side up and level. From then, it worked fine every time. However, these are "safe select" models so there are obvious differences.
One last thought .................... is the gyro attached with a cushion pad to isolate any vibration? This is of particular importance in "gas" planes but I assume yours is an electric one.

[Joehockey]

Thanks for the suggestions, its good to come to the same conclusions on the position of the model. I am hoping that does the trick.
As far as the gyro base, the base is a cushion base with super firm adhesive. In addition the model is electric with a balanced spinner and prop, I make that point because as you know a lot of guys skip the balancing work because they think electric is so smooth lol !
I have seen e-powered models sound like 4 stroke engines before the spinners exploded on low speed passes, too bad because the sound was awesome !

I will report my finding back because I think its important to know if this is indeed a variable in the power up process.
Thanks