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[Eddy Matthews]

Hi Guys,

I have a small problem with my SPektrum DX6i and wondered if anyone could help....

I have a boat with twin throttles and rudder - if I connect one throttle to the left stick, one on the right stick, and the rudder on the right stick - Everything works fine.....

Now I added a mixer to make control easier..... If I put the throttle on the left stick and the rudder on the right, nothing happens - A problem with the mixer you'd think, but read on....

If I put the thottle on the left stick and the rudder also on the left stick (still with the mixer connected) it works flawlessly - Again if I put them both on the right stick it works perfectly....

So why won't it work with throttle on the left and rudder on the right using the mixer??

Obviously everything is in full working order, but why does this happen? Can anyone give an answer, or better still tell me how (or if) the problem can be sorted!!

Regards
Eddy

[jonny shoreboy]

I'm sorry I have absolutely no idea... But, and this is purely a guess, could it have anything to do with being set up in either Mode 1 or Mode 2??

[wideawake]

Hi there Eddy

I dodn't have a magic answer I'm afraid.   One thought though.   You don't have any programmed mixes or the like set up on the DX6i do you?   I could think of a scenario where if that was the case weird things might happen.   In any case I have to ask why use an external mixer anyway, given that you can mix two channels flexibly in the DX6i TX?    I'm sure you have a good reason but I just wondered.

I think if in doubt I'd be tempted to reset the TX to factory defaults and try again.

HTH

Guy

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks chaps,

I don't have any programmed mixes on the Tx at all....

Guy, bear in mind that I want BOTH throttles to work off the left hand stick, and the rudder off the right stick - With the degree of mixing of the throttles controlled by the rudder input..... As far as I can see there's absolutely no way to do that without using a mixer, or am I mistaken?

Regards
Eddy

[stallspeed]

.........
If I put the thottle on the left stick and the rudder also on the left stick (still with the mixer connected) it works flawlessly - Again if I put them both on the right stick it works perfectly....

So why won't it work with throttle on the left and rudder on the right using the mixer??

Obviously everything is in full working order, but why does this happen? Can anyone give an answer, or better still tell me how (or if) the problem can be sorted!!

Regards
Eddy

You are spot on with the description.The mixer will only work with two sequential channels.
There is no solution on the mixer other than to rewrite the software on the mixer chip........
But on the transmitter,can you can reassign the sticks on the Spektrum to the correct order?.......much like opening an F14 and plugging the two mixed sticks to adjacent channels.

[wideawake]

Thanks chaps,

I don't have any programmed mixes on the Tx at all....

Guy, bear in mind that I want BOTH throttles to work off the left hand stick, and the rudder off the right stick - With the degree of mixing of the throttles controlled by the rudder input..... As far as I can see there's absolutely no way to do that without using a mixer, or am I mistaken?

Regards
Eddy

Hmmm I'd need to give that some thought!   I'd not cottoned on to the fact that you wanted the rudder channel to influence the motors.  I assumed you just wanted the two motors to follow one stick.    I now assume that you want the throttle on the "outside" motor to increase in a turn as you move the rudder stick.  Is that right?   

Guy

[stallspeed]

At present,you should be able to work the right hand up/down (throttle) with the left hand side < > side.
Are you able to open the case and see if the stick potentiometers plug in to the circuit board?If not is it possible to swap over the gimbal mechanisms or rotate one of them by 90⁰?

[FullLeatherJacket]

As Wideawake Guy will confirm, we both had issues with the failsafe on the Spektrum DX5e at one stage. The details aren't relevant, and we have since found a couple of fixes around it anyway. In the process I did open up the Tx and found that the gimbal pots which control the two channels in question have two sets of common contacts and a third signal wire. I simply swapped these two signal wires over and I now have the failsafe channel on the RH stick.

Now this may not be the same as the inside of the DX6 and doing so would void the warranty - it's up to you. Quite why the mixer should behave like this is beyond me; I shall try one of our own stand-alone types and see if it does the same thing with a different set (I don't have a DX6).

FLJ

[FullLeatherJacket]

I shall try one of our own stand-alone types and see if it does the same thing with a different set (I don't have a DX6).
FLJ

Folllow-on: I've now tested a P40C Motor Mixer using my Hitec Focus 7. Channel 1 is Steering; Ch 2 is RH stick up/down; Ch3 is LH stick up/down. With the mixer steering lead connected to Ch1, the unit works 100% with the throttle connection in either of Ch2 or Ch3.
Clearly Mr Stallspeed's statement "The mixer will only work with two sequential channels" doesn't apply to all  mixers.
Ball's back in your court, Eddy.
FLJ

[Eddy Matthews]

As far as I'm aware (correct me if I'm wrong), it's normal to use channel 1 for steering and channel 3 for thottle, at least that's how I do it on all my models... So I don't understand the bit about sequential channels either.

The mixer I'm using is one I've borrowed from a friend to test with - I have no idea who made it.... It works perfectly with my older Futaba Tx, but refuses to work (unless I have rudder and thottle on the same stick) with my Spektrum DX6i :(

As more and more people are switching to 2.4Ghz gear, and the Spektrum DX6i is probably the most widely used at the moment, it would seem logical that someone would develop a mixer that will work with these sets. So a question to people like FLJ who know a LOT more about electronics than me! What could be different in the DX6i that would cause this behaviour? Will it need a hardware change in the mixer, or a software change, or both?

And finally, would FLJ or anyone else for that matter, be prepared to work on developing a mixer that works correctly? I would be more than happy to test such a device, but I have zero knowledge of electronics!!

Regards
Eddy

[Andy K]

Hi Eddy, I use a DX6i with a mixer (Action P94 Mixer & 2 speed Controllers). I have it set up as you stated CH 1 for Rudder, CH 3 for motor.
I have 2 boats both containg P94s and they work fine with my DX6i. I have also owned a boat with a standard Action controller and that also worked fine. I purchased my DX6i when they first came out and i have had no problems with it. The only question I would ask is does the light in the RX flash after you have been sailing for a while. If the answer is YES then the problem is the BEC Voltage. These RX units require a minimum of 6V shoul dthe voltage drop below this then the RX partially resets. This does not mean that you loose control of your model, it is a warning that your BEC voltage needs to be higher. I know that the spec sheet for the RX stays about 4 volts to 9 volts (I cannot remember exactly), but on speaking with the technical people at Horizon Hobbies they told me that the RX prefers 6 volts or above. This means that if you use on of FLJs units you will also need to fit a 6 volt regulator. Hope this helps.
Andy

[Eddy Matthews]

That's superb Andy, exactly what I wanted to hear!! :)

I'll get one of the ACTion P40C units from FLJ - The Rx lights don't flash at all once the Rx has bound to the TX at switch on, the power is coming via one of the speed controllers using BEC and should be a constant 6v supply.

Regards
Eddy

[stallspeed]

.............................
As more and more people are switching to 2.4Ghz gear, and the Spektrum DX6i is probably the most widely used at the moment, it would seem logical that someone would develop a mixer that will work with these sets. So a question to people like FLJ who know a LOT more about electronics than me! What could be different in the DX6i that would cause this behaviour? Will it need a hardware change in the mixer, or a software change, or both?
.......................

If the servo plugs sit side-by-side in the receiver that mixer will work and not otherwise.It has nothing to do with the DX6i at all.

Like I said, it is a technical limitation of the mixer meaning it will only work with adjacent channels which output their servo pulses signal one directly after the other. 1+2  2+3 3+4 etc
The old Futaba set has channel 1-4 apportioned to different sticks.

[Eddy Matthews]

Sorry Stallspeed, but I disagree....

I always use channel 1 for rudder and channel 3 for throttle, and using your logic that shouldn't work with a mixer - Yet it does! Certainly with Hitec and Futaba sets that I've used in the past.

The only time it hasn't worked is with this new Spektrum 2.4Ghz DX6i set....

Thankfully Andy has tried the ACTion mixers with his DX6i and they appear to work without problem - So I'll be buying one from them when I go down to the CADMA show at Doncaster in a couple of weeks.

Regards
Eddy

P.S. Unless your talking about the mixing functions built into the Tx, in which case we're at crossed purposes?

[FullLeatherJacket]

P.S. Unless your talking about the mixing functions built into the Tx, in which case we're at crossed purposes?

I think this is the most likely case.
FLJ