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Hi Guys,
Well, I've had my T14MZ for a day or two now, I've managed to get a semi decent program in for XTR and have been using it quite successfully.
The radio itself is superb, albeit a bit like the 9Z in as much as it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have worked it out it is rather nice to use.
There are some great features, like the ability to "group" any settings together so that if you make a change to expo for example in the normal mode, or condition in T14 terms, the same change is made in all other conditions. This can be switched off so by setting it to "singl" you are just making the change in that particular flight condition.
There is a really powerful editor for setting curves, the same one is used for throttle, pitch, AFR, Dual Rates and Expo. Like everything else on the radio it does take a bit of getting used to, but once you have got the hang of it, it really is good. One of the major features is the ability to define the number of points you want to use to set the curves, the options are basically anything between 3 and 17 !
As Dave mentioned earlier in the post, by default the radio comes with a ratchet throttle stick operation, suitable for aircraft, but just by adjusting a couple of 1.5mm cap head screws via an access hatch on the back of the radio, you simply unwind the aircraft tensioner all the way and then screw in the heli type stick tensioner until you have your prefered tension on the stick.
Similarly, all other stick axis have their own individual tensioning screws acessable behind the rubberised cheeks on either side of the radio at the back.
Some of the earlier myths about problems with the software, things like the display backlight shuts down afer a predetermined time, defaulted to 30 seconds, doesn't come back on until the radio is powered off and on again, is a problem that was on the Ripmax pre production display model that evidently had problems with a prototype version of the software. The production model like I have doesn't have any of these issues, as for example to get the backlight to come back on all you need to do is touch the screen anywhere.
The other nice thing about this radio is that any of the switches can be taken out and moved elsewhere on the radio or changed for a different type of switch is childs play. I found that out of the box mine had the four switches on the top of the radio (gyro mode, idle up, throttle cut and throttle hold) the oposite hand, so the gyro mode and idle up was on the right and the throttle hold and throttle cut was on the left. Simply by removing the cap head screws that secure the shoulders of the radio on, they come out, all the switches have little connectors on the bottom of them so that the wires can be unpluged. Once that is done, the radio comes equipped with a stylus, or tool box as it is termed with a couple of allen keys inside, a rubber cap on the top to use on the touch screen, underneath which is a nice little special nut driver, it has a couple of teeth, which locate in the cut outs on top of the decorative nuts holding the switches in place, by using this tool you can undo the nuts and remove the switches, move them around and secure them back in the shoulders. Inside the little compartments on each side is a little table showing you the switch position (E,F,G &H) and what colour wire goes to each one. All the wires are three core, the other two being red and black, then the third is colour coded to the table, so Orange is switch E for example, simply by following the table you plug the wires back into their relevant switches and secure the shoulders back on the radio with the cap head screws. All that remains to be done is to go into the System menu and select the Switches option, you can then define the type of switch in each position, whether it is 2 or 3 position and if it is a momentary or alternate operation. There is therefore no limit to what switch function you want in what position on the radio.
Another nice function is that you can change what function is on what channel, so you can put rudder and gyro gain on channels 1 and 2 for example. You can also have more than one servo operating the same function plugged into different channels on the receiver, so you can also setup things like the sub trim and end points individually yet still be able to control multiple servos on the same function. One example given in the manual is multi engined aircraft. In heli terms, one function that does spring to mind is that some people install a second pitch servo where the tail servo should go in Raptors. With this that is very easy to do.
The manual is in my view the biggest letdown of the radio, as in some cases it is very good at describing the functions and what they do but is at the same time a bit vague in places on actually how to set them up.
I will add some pictures to my gallery over the coming days and as I get more used to it, I will add more comments here.
Cheers,
Pete.
Well, I've had my T14MZ for a day or two now, I've managed to get a semi decent program in for XTR and have been using it quite successfully.
The radio itself is superb, albeit a bit like the 9Z in as much as it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have worked it out it is rather nice to use.
There are some great features, like the ability to "group" any settings together so that if you make a change to expo for example in the normal mode, or condition in T14 terms, the same change is made in all other conditions. This can be switched off so by setting it to "singl" you are just making the change in that particular flight condition.
There is a really powerful editor for setting curves, the same one is used for throttle, pitch, AFR, Dual Rates and Expo. Like everything else on the radio it does take a bit of getting used to, but once you have got the hang of it, it really is good. One of the major features is the ability to define the number of points you want to use to set the curves, the options are basically anything between 3 and 17 !
As Dave mentioned earlier in the post, by default the radio comes with a ratchet throttle stick operation, suitable for aircraft, but just by adjusting a couple of 1.5mm cap head screws via an access hatch on the back of the radio, you simply unwind the aircraft tensioner all the way and then screw in the heli type stick tensioner until you have your prefered tension on the stick.
Similarly, all other stick axis have their own individual tensioning screws acessable behind the rubberised cheeks on either side of the radio at the back.
Some of the earlier myths about problems with the software, things like the display backlight shuts down afer a predetermined time, defaulted to 30 seconds, doesn't come back on until the radio is powered off and on again, is a problem that was on the Ripmax pre production display model that evidently had problems with a prototype version of the software. The production model like I have doesn't have any of these issues, as for example to get the backlight to come back on all you need to do is touch the screen anywhere.
The other nice thing about this radio is that any of the switches can be taken out and moved elsewhere on the radio or changed for a different type of switch is childs play. I found that out of the box mine had the four switches on the top of the radio (gyro mode, idle up, throttle cut and throttle hold) the oposite hand, so the gyro mode and idle up was on the right and the throttle hold and throttle cut was on the left. Simply by removing the cap head screws that secure the shoulders of the radio on, they come out, all the switches have little connectors on the bottom of them so that the wires can be unpluged. Once that is done, the radio comes equipped with a stylus, or tool box as it is termed with a couple of allen keys inside, a rubber cap on the top to use on the touch screen, underneath which is a nice little special nut driver, it has a couple of teeth, which locate in the cut outs on top of the decorative nuts holding the switches in place, by using this tool you can undo the nuts and remove the switches, move them around and secure them back in the shoulders. Inside the little compartments on each side is a little table showing you the switch position (E,F,G &H) and what colour wire goes to each one. All the wires are three core, the other two being red and black, then the third is colour coded to the table, so Orange is switch E for example, simply by following the table you plug the wires back into their relevant switches and secure the shoulders back on the radio with the cap head screws. All that remains to be done is to go into the System menu and select the Switches option, you can then define the type of switch in each position, whether it is 2 or 3 position and if it is a momentary or alternate operation. There is therefore no limit to what switch function you want in what position on the radio.
Another nice function is that you can change what function is on what channel, so you can put rudder and gyro gain on channels 1 and 2 for example. You can also have more than one servo operating the same function plugged into different channels on the receiver, so you can also setup things like the sub trim and end points individually yet still be able to control multiple servos on the same function. One example given in the manual is multi engined aircraft. In heli terms, one function that does spring to mind is that some people install a second pitch servo where the tail servo should go in Raptors. With this that is very easy to do.
The manual is in my view the biggest letdown of the radio, as in some cases it is very good at describing the functions and what they do but is at the same time a bit vague in places on actually how to set them up.
I will add some pictures to my gallery over the coming days and as I get more used to it, I will add more comments here.
Cheers,
Pete.
.
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