ACE GT5 gyro upgrade with new dongle

[DFC]

I've just upgraded two old GT5.0 gyros using the upgrade for hardware 1.0 to install software version 2.02.

Resetting the parameters was a bit of a challenge and very different from GT 5.0 but the notes for GT 5.2 are very helpful.

Both models - mini-Titan 325 SE and TREX 500 DFC - are ok in the hover and I think will be ok in normal flight.

Has anyone else done this and is it worth exchanging notes?

DFC

[maddog7]

I've just upgraded two old GT5.0 gyros using the upgrade for hardware 1.0 to install software version 2.02.

Resetting the parameters was a bit of a challenge and very different from GT 5.0 but the notes for GT 5.2 are very helpful.

Both models - mini-Titan 325 SE and TREX 500 DFC - are ok in the hover and I think will be ok in normal flight.

Has anyone else done this and is it worth exchanging notes?

DFC

I've just done it but I have very little experience of the GT5 using the old FW.
I currently have the 2.02 FW on my 500DFC pro and it's getting there........
The new manual is defo a lot better than the original.

[maddog7]

When you say "resetting the parameters" do you mean setting up the PID equivalents? Stability, consistency, response etc?
Cheers
D

[DFC]

Yes; but that's only a part of it and probably the easy bit. There are other things like getting the swashplate motion right and setting the collective pitch and cyclic pitch movement amounts.

DFC

[maddog7]

Yes; but that's only a part of it and probably the easy bit. There are other things like getting the swashplate motion right and setting the collective pitch and cyclic pitch movement amounts.

DFC

I must be honest I didn't find any difficulty sorting out the motion, correction etc. It felt to me like many FBL setups, kinda working from the servos upward? I'm not really struggling with the PID stuff I suppose since the heli flys really well now (with a few v small things to iron out) It's more tuning for feel, if you know what I mean.
Is there any part in particular your concerned with or just want to know what others make of the process?

[DFC]

I think the important point for GT5 users to know is that the upgrade seems to reset all the parameters - which you may previously have set - back to their default values. Thus its important to check everything including the sense (normal or reverse) of each sensor. The new way of setting the cyclic pitch range is excellent. The collective pitch adjustments A & B for +ve and -ve pitch limits seem to work relative to a 0 degrees datum so if you set them at different values you get a form of pitch curve and not a linear change of pitch with stick movement. Probably best to set A and B at equal values I think and do the rest using the TX pitch curve facility. I have set the same PID values as in the original GT5.0 setup although with their different names and all seems well.

[Boggy]

What did you use to install the upgrade, was it a spartan data pod?

[DFC]

No; the standard ACE USB dongle product no2709 which has just got onto the shelves here.

[maddog7]

What did you use to install the upgrade, was it a spartan data pod?

Apparently it's possible to update it using a Spartan Flash Link but I didn't manage to do it that way, however that could be because I didn't know at the time that the V1 firmware won't connect to the software client but the software client will update the FW so it will connect. confusing I know.

If you want to update but don't have the stuff to do it, send me it and I'll do it for you if you like.


D

[maddog7]

DFC,
Did you ever fly your 500 DFC as a pod and boom/3d and if so can you share what you had stuff set to? I'd imagine the extra inertia and desire for more scale like handling would mean your current setup will be necessarily miles different than for a normal 500DFC?

Cheers
D

[shades]

I have a spare GT5.0 that I might put on a basher. How do I do the upgrade ? is there a procedure to follow anywhere and what connectivity will I need.

[DFC]

I think I know what you mean. After installing the ACE Thunder Tiger software on my laptop including the driver it wouldn't connect with the GT5.0. I had to upgrade the GT5.0 first then it connected and I could then change as many parameters as I wished. I then connected everything back on my TREX500 and did the rest using the GT5.? screen and touch pad.

[DFC]

See page 13 of the August edition of Model Helicopter World. If you have done ordinary software / windows upgrades on a laptop you should be ok; If you haven't then you may find it a challenge. I had to install JAVA and other software to unzip the downloads during the process.

[maddog7]

I think I know what you mean. After installing the ACE Thunder Tiger software on my laptop including the driver it wouldn't connect with the GT5.0. I had to upgrade the GT5.0 first then it connected and I could then change as many parameters as I wished. I then connected everything back on my TREX500 and did the rest using the GT5.? screen and touch pad.

That's pretty much exactly what I did.

Have any of you tried calibrating the sensors? I did it on mine since I was convinced the calibration was out, though not by much.
Again it was done prior to it's first fitting in a bird so I had nothing to compare to.

I do have a slight issue with piro consistency, it tends to stray off axis when piro'd in one direction, not so much in the other.
I've done the setup thing in the same way as the beastx (in fact I'm convinced either the HW or SW or both are made/developed by the beastx dudes!) ie Tilted swash maintains direction as airframe is piro'd.

Any thoughts....

[DFC]

I think you're asking about what happened when I put the TREX500 DFC in the Align Hughes 500 fuselage with an align 4 blade rotor head and spin blades.
First I don't fly 3D so the TREX 500 was set for ordinary circuits etc. At this point I was using the GT5.0 SAS. The governed rotor speeds on the Hughes were 1600, 1750 and 1900 rpm.
There were two main problems.
One was that with the 4-blade head at 1,600 rpm the tail rotor could only just hold the heading and sometimes started to let go. I solved this by fitting 550 blades (since cut down a bit).
The other was that the align ESC on governor control seemed to be too harsh and the tail gyro in the SAS couldn't keep things steady. It was very twitchy and no amount of adjustment would improve things. I solve this by fitting a Castle75 Pheonix ESC with the governor gain set quite low. Everything now worked very smoothly. I had the ESC connected to the RX via a long jump lead so I could break into he circuit to adjust the ESC parameters and to use its data logger to check currents, speeds and temperatures. I dropped from a 6 cell to a 5 cell battery to keep speeds down. (Already had 11T pinion).
At this point with everything working smoothly I did a tidy up, removed the jumper lead, and connected the ESC control lead direct to the RX before installing in the fuselage for the "final time".
On the next flight the Hughes 500 went berserk on take-off and crashed. I changed the gyro, the RX, the servos with no improvement a which point I stopped using the BEC in the Castle ESC and installed a separate BEC / battery system for the RX /servos. Hasn't been a problem since then. Castle say the BEC (5A) was probably being overloaded but I'm not entirely convinced.
I'm now flying the Hughes 500 with a GT 5.2 SAS not my replacement 5.0 and it's fine. I don't think the PID settings from the TREX 500 to the Hughes 500 needed to be changed much at all. It was all about tail rotor, smoother governor control, tail gyro adjustment and a 5 cell battery.