Total G Review

[Martind]

Are you able to connect two Spektrum satellites?

It will take 3 sats

[Janek]

I acquired a TotalG last weekend, for a pal who didn't FBL much when he tried it.

I haven't yet flown it (maybe tonight !), but I already have some serious negative points:

1) The software install is crap, I've been trying all week to get the effin drivers installed on my laptop, no joy yet, but one last attempt is to build a Virtual Machine and try that. I got it installed easily on my home desktop, so the issue must be a USB conflict, but the install instructions are really crap and therefore no help in identifying the problem.

2) The main TotalG instructions are simple bullet points, which don't even make much logical sense. For an expensive unit, I would expect very detailed, fully tested instructions and software. Some of the software options aren't even mentioned in the instructions. (take a look at the PDF posted earlier, whoever designed this 2 sided A4 sheet needs shooting)

Curtis (or Dodger) if you're reading this, get this sorted please.

[Swashbuckler]

Agree with Janek, instructions are a total goke (did you see what I did there?). Flight performance with the default gain settings is just about passable, tail is way too soft and the stop gains are hidden in the gview section rather than being in the tail section. I sold mine. I'm sure it has great potential but I couldn't be bothered. May try again in the future. I have always used 2 pitch gauges for flybarless setups rather thn a flybar holder, universal then isn't it.

[Hangar-7]

^ & ^^ Sacko has already pointed these out much earlier in his review.

[sacko]

Once getting your head around it, it isnt that bad at all but you are better off binning the 'instructions'.

I had an issue with the software too, but Windows 7 found the driver automotically as it was a generic one.

Yup, instructions are crap. The help files in the software are pretty good.

Apparently its now the tail servo that is causing my lack of stops as it doesnt have much of a deadband, which the TotalG requires according to CYE.

Overall for a first release I think it is top banana, shame the documentation isnt up to scratch though.

Worth signing up to AllMyRC too as the support there from CYB himself has been first class.

http://www.allmyrc.com/forums/r-c-he....html#post7915

[ade999]

Hi Guys

I have spoken to Curtis and he has registered as a user but is awaiting his account to be approved by the moderaters.. as soon as this is done Curtis will answer all questions.. one thing is you need to be running the gains up as high as possible on the gyro before wagging occures. There is a new firmware coming out and it has some very interesting features that are being unlocked and new instructions as well.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me and i will do my best to answer them

Ade

[Stuart]

Hi Guys

I have spoken to Curtis and he has registered as a user but is awaiting his account to be approved by the moderaters.. as soon as this is done Curtis will answer all questions.. one thing is you need to be running the gains up as high as possible on the gyro before wagging occures. There is a new firmware coming out and it has some very interesting features that are being unlocked and new instructions as well.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me and i will do my best to answer them

Ade

Approved....

[Hangar-7]

Hi Guys

I have spoken to Curtis and he has registered as a user but is awaiting his account to be approved by the moderaters.. as soon as this is done Curtis will answer all questions.. one thing is you need to be running the gains up as high as possible on the gyro before wagging occures. There is a new firmware coming out and it has some very interesting features that are being unlocked and new instructions as well.

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me and i will do my best to answer them

Ade

That's a very positive action you've taken. Well done !! You deserve at least one pat in the back.

Cheers

[Helivig]

Hey guys, this is Curtis.

Ade pointed me to this post so I could try and help answer some questions.

First about the instructions, I am the one that wrote them. I was attempting to give enough information to setup and understand the Total G, but not so much as to get overwhelmed by the task. I have looked at a lot of instructions over the years and frequently got overwhelmed quickly. I would just put them down and decide to try and figure it out myself. So to avoid that we tried a different approach with the fold out sheet. While some people have gotten along fine with it, I will have to agree that most people do not find it that helpful. Sorry, we tried to do something different and it did not work that well.

Right now I am finishing up a full detailed instruction sheet to cover every detail of every step in the Total G. At the same time, we will have a "Quick Setup" bullet point sheet. That will take a user through the setup step by step with screen shots. Hopefully the combination of these two new instruction sets will help people in programming the unit. These will be available at the same time as the new firmware.

In the new firmware we are fixing a few setup bugs with the external receiver. We are also going to open up more parameters in the interface for fine tuning the setup. Everything is already available using the "G-view" option in the interface. But the more advanced settings are harder to find that way.

As for the issues with a "soft tail stop" that some have talked about here, honestly I am not sure of the cause. We can get ours to stop very hard without any special settings. We had similar issues with some customers in England with the Solid G and Min G. When we had the Solid G issue I even purchased the same machines they were flying and same servos and mine were stopping fine. So I do not have a direct answer.

The main thing I would look for is the types of servo, tail blades (carbon), servo arm length (17mm) and gain level (as high as you can get before wagging).

While I will not be on this forum all day, every day, I will be glad to try and answer questions or issues that come up. And if someone cannot get my attention, please send me an email to get my attention. I certainly want to try and help solve any issues that come up.

[raptorheli2]

in my experience poor stops, assuming tail is sound, are "usually" caused by excessive vibrations.

with X amount of wires going into a fbl unit you have multiplied the chances of it occurring by the X ratio. on a machine that is marginal with vibrations you may not have seen it with a gyro with 1 wire going to it but 7/8 wires or whatever is a fair amount of weight (more than the fbl itself maybe) to be vibrating and it can only pass those vibes upto the unit. this is one of the drawbacks with a single unit system-however the fact is, if my thinking is correct it is the heli that is the cause.

like everything i'm sure the total G is not that fussed about vibrations but there is a limit.

my own VBAR was REALLY poor in the stops and it was a vibration issue. at first i discounted it as the other 2 axis was ok. so i replaced lots of things and finally gave up and moved the sensor. my theory that all axis would be effected by the vibes was wrong in my instance. normally it's clutch/main mast or spindle that upsets them (or gyros) in my experience if mounted up front.

i'm not trying to "overrule" curtis for lack of a better word so please don't think that, it is great he's on here to back up the product but since he didn't know what maybe the cause was i'll throw my tuppence incase it helps anyone.

cheers

[Toolman]

Whats in the box, for those like me reading this thread to get to know about the Total G.

Goes through the instruction sheet layout - Tim.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rdYgG-DjE4]YouTube - Total G[/ame]

[sacko]

This unit also NEEDS a failsafe to be legally flown in the UK. I hope this is in the next firmware update?

Hold at last position is crazy and just asking for trouble.

The GView screen is pretty simple to use, but having all the paremeters displayed on one screen would definitely make it more user friendly.

[raptorheli2]

does the throttle not have a failsafe on this??????

cheers

[sacko]

Nope, just holds the last position!

[Andy from Sandy]

This unit also NEEDS a failsafe to be legally flown in the UK.

I thought that was only if the model was over a certain weight. Can point me to that ruling please?