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Anyone near me who would help a newb?

HighTechPauper

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Hey Kwad Guru's!
Looking for someone near Pasadena MD who can help a noob get his gear setup and possibly hang and fly with.

I have 2 things going against me, I'm old (was there when dirt was born) so I don't learn as fast as I used to, and I am a complete and utter newb so very little is obvious to this casual observer. I have most of the basics pieces but there is just too much to know and do to my RC (x9d+) Rcvr (xsr) and first real quad (starting with an wizard x220 but hope to build a better machine one day once i can fly better).

Thanks everyone.
HTP
 
Yeah, I don't think anyone is near you but we can help with the setup. It isn't as bad as it looks. There are only a handful of critical settings. I would start with a betaflight config video on a YouTube channel like Joshua Bardwell or Project Blue Falcon. YouTube has an awesome amount on the subject.
 
Thanks you guys, I am watching a lot of the vids by Joshua and JC from PBF, and I am rolling through the setups without too much issue. But when your new, you don't know what you don't know. I think I am making some progress from "unknowingly un-knowledgeable" to "knowingly un-knowledgable", so the next step is "unknowingly knowledgeable" when I will know a little more than I realize.
Right now I am focusing on my taranis and getting setup best I can since I don't have a bigger boy quad to mess with betaflight yet and the settings and config I will need to get off the ground.

Here is my first question if one of you can give me some insight...
I am not sure which way is best to set up my SF switch for arming, do you guys arm in the up or down position and why?
Also I have set up for a safe arm by toggling SH but saw a vid where they set up a "safe throttle" by using SE in the middle position. Do you recommend this (especially for newb's) and does anyone know if I accidentally flip SE out of the middle position will it kill my throttle in flight?

Thanks again everyone!
 
HTP,

The Taranis X9D Plus will want all of your switches in the forward/down (while holding in your hands, looking down at it) positions as the default. All switches on the top of the radio in the forward position and all switches on the front of the radio in the down position otherwise you'll get a switch warning message every time you turn on your radio.

I don't remember the switch nomenclature from memory and I'm not in reach of my radio right now. I'll look up how I have my switches set when I get a chance and post it here. There is no standard way to set them up, you can set them up anyway you like. What bird are you trying to program into your radio?

Jerry

Edit: Nevermind, I just re-read your original post and see that you have a wizard with an XSR. I'll post my switch settings when I get a chance.
 
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Hi Wayno, thanks for the input, that's what I was thinking too even tho it looks like Bardwell arms in the up position in his video and I thought there might be a reason I wasn't thinking of on why.
 
HTP,

The Taranis X9D Plus will want all of your switches in the forward/down (while holding in your hands, looking down at it) positions as the default. All switches on the top of the radio in the forward position and all switches on the front of the radio in the down position otherwise you'll get a switch warning message every time you turn on your radio.

I don't remember the switch nomenclature from memory and I'm not in reach of my radio right now. I'll look up how I have my switches set when I get a chance and post it here. There is no standard way to set them up, you can set them up anyway you like. What bird are you trying to program into your radio?

Jerry

Edit: Nevermind, I just re-read your original post and see that you have a wizard with an XSR. I'll post my switch settings when I get a chance.

Thanks a lot Jerry! I figured out how to mod the default switch position (put the switches where you want them as default and press a long enter while sitting on the "switch positions" in the model setup) so no more switch warning with my SF in the up position.
 
HTP,

No problem, we all learn from each other. I like leaving mine in the factory default position. I'm running 11-12 different quads on my Taranis now and I want everything that can possibly be the same to be so. Since some of the older quads have older hardware they can't be upgraded to the newer versions of BetaFlight and I've got one quad running RaceFlight hardware and firmware, therefore some of the switches have to be slightly different. Do you want my switch positions or do you think you've got a handle on what you want now?

Jerry
 
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HTP,

No problem, we all learn from each other. I like leaving mine in the factory default position. I'm running 11-12 different quads on my Taranis now and I want everything that can possibly be the same to be so. Since some of the older quads have older hardware they can't be upgraded to the newer versions of BetaFlight and I've got one quad running RaceFlight hardware and firmware, therefore some of the switches have to be slightly different. Do you want my switch positions or do you think you've got a handle on what you want now?

Jerry

Hey Jerry,
I'm beginning to understand a little with everyone's help so I won't need your specific switch positions, but I assume from what you said that you are set to arm when the switch goes up, is that right?
I think it is a good idea to stay at defaults so I will likely change the switch and logic to down/disarm and up/arm.

Couple more things to pick your brain about...

Is the arm switch also used as a Emergency Stop function?

Also since I don't have my quad/rcvr yet but want to try and learn and setup as much as I can in the taranis, I am trying to grasp something and hope you can set me straight.

I set my 5th channel in the taranis up as arm/disarm and set an idle up when armed so my motors don't stop on low throttle while in the air. I am assuming I will link channel 5 to a arm/disarm function in betaflight, and then plug the qwad up to the pc once I get it, and load that config onto the quad so that it all lines up. Is that right?

Thanks again Jerry!
Randy (HTP)
 
Wayno52,

Arm should be in the up position. I too fly with a Taranis and the standard turn on position is every switch away from you. This should be your unarm position in my opinion. Now you can program the remote to do anything but I keep it simple and set the unarm function away from you and the arm to you because the standard voice warnings will help at power up. So when you power up the taranis it will say switch warning if you have hit it or forgot to switch it before power up.

I love the taranis but like you I am fairly new to the sport and am not a young man any more. So if you have questions don't hesitate to reach out. By the way I am flying the wizard as well. So I bet our setups should be exactly the same.

Later!

Todd
 
Randy,

Yes, everything is "off" (default) when my switches are in the down/forward position. The "emergency stop" function is actually called "failsafe". I do have failsafe set-up as the 3rd position on my arm switch. So it's disarm (default/down), arm (middle) and failsafe (up). You have to be careful with it set-up this way. When I first set it up I was high in the air, got confused about something and inadvertently switched to failsafe. Needless to say, the bird dropped like a rock. It only happened that one time!

The "idle up" function is actually called "air mode". Many people (better pilots than me) don't use a switch for air mode and just set it to "always on" in BetaFlight (BF). I set air mode to a switch as it makes it much easier for me to land with it turned off.

When you get your quad and receiver you will install your receiver, you will "bind" the receiver to the radio, then you will connect the bird to the computer and open BF. All configuration settings for the bird and radio will be done in BF. Setting up your radio is a separate process. Nothing that you set-up on the radio will be ("load that config") loaded or transferred from the radio to the quad or BF. I hope that makes sense.

Jerry
 
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HTP,

Just for reference, here's the switch positions I'm using:

SD=AUX 1 (Disarm, Arm, Failsafe)
SG=AUX 2 (Acro, Horizon, Hybrid)
SF=AUX 3 (Beeper Off, Beeper On)
SA=AUX 4 (Airmode Off, Airmode On, Not Used)

Jerry
 
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Wayno52,

Arm should be in the up position. I too fly with a Taranis and the standard turn on position is every switch away from you. This should be your unarm position in my opinion. Now you can program the remote to do anything but I keep it simple and set the unarm function away from you and the arm to you because the standard voice warnings will help at power up. So when you power up the taranis it will say switch warning if you have hit it or forgot to switch it before power up.

I love the taranis but like you I am fairly new to the sport and am not a young man any more. So if you have questions don't hesitate to reach out. By the way I am flying the wizard as well. So I bet our setups should be exactly the same.

Later!

Todd
Hi Todd,
I am assuming you meant this for me (HTP), I am the newb who doesn't know much and Wayno52 was one of the pilots who was helping me.
I really appreciate your input on this and I am quite sure I won't get very far without reaching out to this unbelievably fantastic group again!

Thanks again Todd!
Randy (HighTechPauper)
 
Hi Jerry,

Your explanation makes perfect sense, and that is exactly what I needed to know!
A couple of questions about your switches...
What is Hybrid mode? Is it an auto level (Horizon) with higher angle rates?
What is the beeper off/on used for? I know my cheap starter quad (Rise Vusion 250) has a beeper that will sound when the battery gets low, and if it loses comm to the RC to help you find it in the field. Is it something like that?

You guys are friggin AWESOME and I can't thank you enough!

Randy
 
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Hi Jerry,
About the Failsafe...
I have set mine in the taranis to Pulses per Joshua Bardwell's vid, but I don't understand what that means, or if it takes the place of, or works in conjunction with your switch for Failsafe.
Do you have a Failsafe set in the taranis? And if so, is it set to pulses or something else?

I know I am going to nickel and dime you guys to death until I get more comfortable with what I am doing, if anyone ever makes it to the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland there will be all the pizza and beer you can consume on me!

Randy
 
HTP,

Yes, I believe Hybrid is a variant of Angle Mode but honestly I'm not certain as I never really used it. I used Horizon at the beginning because I started out with aerial photography drones. It made things a little easier making the transition to race drones. I never fly anything but Acro now but I leave Horizon on there in case any friends want to try one of my bang around quads.

I use the beeper if I crash or land but my battery is still good and I don't want to turn off my radio. If I'm in high pasture grass, a corn or bean field, the quad could be 20' away from me and I may never be able to find it. The beeper switch makes it easy to find and to get it back in the air without shutting anything down.

I probably wouldn't be flying race quads and I certainly wouldn't be helping others if great members here hadn't helped me. This is a great site and most of the regulars aren't pro's either so we all help each other out. This is a small and slow forum sometimes but it's probably the best forum I've ever been on. No ego's around here so very little, if any, bickering. Folks around here don't make you feel intimidated.

Jerry
 

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