Spirit with Geolink basic question

[trillian]

I am looking at trying a Spirit with the Geolink and just have a basic setup / channel question.

I downloaded the Spirit manual and it shows that the rudder gyro gain can be set in the unit (as opposed to needing a TX channel). I did not see what the situation is with swash gain, if it can also be set in the software (I would expect so) or if it needs a TX channel.

So my first question is this: What is the minimum number of channels needed for the Spirit with the Geolink (assuming just setting up an altitude limit function and no return home etc.) And I have never used bank switching on the Vortex so I don't anticipate needing that. Once I have the tail and swash gains tuned I would generally have those gain settings saved in the unit rather than needing anything from the TX. (this will be on an electric heli using the ESC gov)

Can I have the rescue tied in to the altitude limit so that one switch enables that entire function. So for example, I start with it off, no rescue or Geolink functions, I takeoff and get above my target minumum altitude and then flip one switch - which I then do not need to touch until I'm ready to land?

[Mikej]

I am looking at trying a Spirit with the Geolink and just have a basic setup / channel question.

I downloaded the Spirit manual and it shows that the rudder gyro gain can be set in the unit (as opposed to needing a TX channel). I did not see what the situation is with swash gain, if it can also be set in the software (I would expect so) or if it needs a TX channel.

Yep, on the Sensor tab with the Tail gain

So my first question is this: What is the minimum number of channels needed for the Spirit with the Geolink (assuming just setting up an altitude limit function and no return home etc.) And I have never used bank switching on the Vortex so I don't anticipate needing that. Once I have the tail and swash gains tuned I would generally have those gain settings saved in the unit rather than needing anything from the TX. (this will be on an electric heli using the ESC gov)

Can I have the rescue tied in to the altitude limit so that one switch enables that entire function. So for example, I start with it off, no rescue or Geolink functions, I takeoff and get above my target minumum altitude and then flip one switch - which I then do not need to touch until I'm ready to land?

Yes you can have rescue tied to to Vertical limit - this is what I plan to do. The theoretical minimum is different from what you really want (or at least what I want) - what I am planning is Rescue tied to Vertical limit - one channel for these two, plus I also plan to use Geo-Limit so that if it is getting outside the area that I fly in it will Return to Home (or at least a fixed point) - I fly at 2 different fields so I need to be able to set my RtH location (another channel). You can set-up so that one channel switched on Alt-limit/Rescue plus Geo-Limit on one channel. So for me it is at least 8 channels.

Ail / Pitch / Ele / Thrott / Rudder = 5
1 for Rescue
1 for Alt limit and possibly Geo-Limit
1 to set RtH location setting

I could theoretically get away with 7 channels if I didn't have one dedicated to Rescue - but I want to be able to check that Rescue is working properly as part of my pre-flight checks. I have been using the Spirit for a couple of years and whilst Rescue has always worked perfectly I want to be able to check it personally.

I "spoke" to Tomas (the main Spirit developer . owner) about this on the ir forum and he basically said the same - you can do it with 7 channels, but it's not ideal.

My main reason for getting the Geo-link is that I have just about cracked my inverted orientations and I want to move into inverted flight, there is every chance that I will get an inverted "fly-away" and hence want the Vert-Limit and Geo-Limit

[trillian]

Thanks! So, if you were not going to use RTH then it would appear 7 channels would be fine?

I have not yet tried a FBL unit with any kind of rescue, so I have no switch set aside for it nor have I developed the required reflexes.

So how do you test the rescue on the ground and would it not be possible to do so if the rescue is setup to be triggered by a minimum altitude?

I "spoke" to Tomas (the main Spirit developer . owner) about this on the ir forum and he basically said the same - you can do it with 7 channels, but it's not ideal.

My main reason for getting the Geo-link is that I have just about cracked my inverted orientations and I want to move into inverted flight, there is every chance that I will get an inverted "fly-away" and hence want the Vert-Limit and Geo-Limit

[Mikej]

Thanks! So, if you were not going to use RTH then it would appear 7 channels would be fine?

It wasn't enough for what I wanted to do, but I can't completely remember why - sorry. I think that I needed about 7.5, I'll look back through the old threads and see if I can remember why.

I have not yet tried a FBL unit with any kind of rescue, so I have no switch set aside for it nor have I developed the required reflexes.

Neither have I, I tried flying with one finger on the switch but couldn't get it to feel natural. The one time that I tried to activate rescue "in anger", I hit TH not rescue by mistake - it didn't really help

So how do you test the rescue on the ground and would it not be possible to do so if the rescue is setup to be triggered by a minimum altitude?

I had Rescue on a momentary switch, when I pushed the switch down it would apply full positive, obviously it's not testing the flip - but at least I know that it is adding the correct collective - I would usually then test it 5 mistakes high. I could then test the Alt-limit activated rescue (by bringing it down to 5m) - but if there is a problem I'd have no chance of correcting it due to the low height.

[trillian]

Yeah, makes sense. My thought would be that in setting up the Spirit the thing to do would be to first have the rescue on a switch and test it to make sure that when it is triggered it is doing the correct things. Once you know it is setup correctly then the next step is setting up the Geolink to trigger the rescue under certain conditions which you can then test in flight.

One thing you cannot really test is if the rescue will maintain its orientation accurately throughout the flight so that if triggered it 'knows' which way is up. I would think that if the GPS is accurate enough it could theoretically help update the unit's sense of orientation (my crude understanding is that without something like GPS, these various rescue functions operate by essentially remembering all the moves you make in relation to a known level state (the initialisation before takeoff). So, you can randomly test the rescue in flight, but really once you know that it is set correctly you have to be able to trust it.

I had Rescue on a momentary switch, when I pushed the switch down it would apply full positive, obviously it's not testing the flip - but at least I know that it is adding the correct collective - I would usually then test it 5 mistakes high. I could then test the Alt-limit activated rescue (by bringing it down to 5m) - but if there is a problem I'd have no chance of correcting it due to the low height.

[Mikej]

Yeah, makes sense. My thought would be that in setting up the Spirit the thing to do would be to first have the rescue on a switch and test it to make sure that when it is triggered it is doing the correct things. Once you know it is setup correctly then the next step is setting up the Geolink to trigger the rescue under certain conditions which you can then test in flight.

One thing you cannot really test is if the rescue will maintain its orientation accurately throughout the flight so that if triggered it 'knows' which way is up. I would think that if the GPS is accurate enough it could theoretically help update the unit's sense of orientation (my crude understanding is that without something like GPS, these various rescue functions operate by essentially remembering all the moves you make in relation to a known level state (the initialisation before takeoff). So, you can randomly test the rescue in flight, but really once you know that it is set correctly you have to be able to trust it.

Yes exactly. I've done that - triggering Rescue at start / middle / end of flights and it has never got it wrong, always been perfect

[bergen50uk]

I clubmate has the Spirit/Geolink and it seems to work really well.

The Geolink applications only control the position of the heli

( in Lat/Long/Elevation )

thanks to the signals from the satellites The orientation of the heli is controlled by the sensors in the FBL unit...If that makes sense

[3dbasher]

I tried the spirit pro for a bit didn't really like the feel of it no matter what i tried so went back to Vortex

[Stevies]

Very very tempted to try the Spirit (use a Jeti tx) and also the Geolink to see what it would be like. Will be interested to hear what you think.

Stevie

[trillian]

I spent a little time in the Spirit forum on HF and what some were saying is that the altitude limit is not super accurate, so you have to allow some slack in case it does not trigger straight away right on the target height. Which I kinda assumed was probably the case. But there's also a geofence function and return home etc that could be useful.

For me what would be ideal is just a simple altitude limit, set for maybe 15 / 20 feet, then as long as it would reliably trigger within something like 5-6 feet of the target it should be fine for my flying as I'm not doing anything daring right off the deck.

If I put it on something like the Trex 500 then I wouldn't care that much about the feel of it because there's not much finesse or subtlety with that heli. My plan would be to have it on just one heli that I would use for trying new moves. We shall see.

Very very tempted to try the Spirit (use a Jeti tx) and also the Geolink to see what it would be like. Will be interested to hear what you think.

Stevie

[Made2Fade]

Sheryl, give me a shout if you get the Geo Link and ill send you a 3d printed mount for it (for whatever model your putting it on). For anyone else that already has a 3d printer here is one i designed for my Logo 550 SX2 boom (22m dia boom) - obviously it will fit other models also

- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3436025

Sheryl i can easily modify it to fit any diameter boom or model, just let me know what you want

[trillian]

Cool! That's great I will order the Geolink soon and then decide where it will go. I have heard the placement is important so that will partly decide what heli would be best for it.

Sheryl, give me a shout if you get the Geo Link and ill send you a 3d printed mount for it (for whatever model your putting it on). For anyone else that already has a 3d printer he is one i designed for my Logo 550 SX2 boom (22m dia boom) - obviously it will fit other models also

- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3436025

Sheryl i can easily modify it to fit any diameter boom or model, just let me know what you want

[Made2Fade]

Yeh just let me know the diameter of the boom and i'll modify it accordingly

[Mikej]

Lee,

Any chance that I can cheekily ask if you could modify a couple of sizes that would work for me - I have had the Spirit for a while, and bought the GeoLink at the end of unit last year. I bought a Taranis Q X7 last year to give me more channels and the Spirit integration and have been migrating a couple of models on to the QX7, and have now got the Spirit integration working as well, next step Geo-Link.

I'm setting it all up on a 450 Pro (12mm boom) and then move into on to my new Gaui X3 (15mm boom) - I'll be using the Spirit mounting tape which is 1mm thick. I know a couple of guys with 3D printers so printing won't be a problem.

Cheers,

Mike

[Made2Fade]

Mike, on monday when i get some time at work ill look at modifying the design to fit a few different boom diameters. Im guessing 12 - 14mm will need a completely new mount designing though due to the cut outs for the zip ties. I'll take a look and knock something up for you