futaba Mode 1 - 2 conversion

Hi All, A question for the electronically literate... which rules me out!

I have a Futaba Skysport 6 in Mode 1 (throttle right) and I want to convert it to throttle left. I have done the mechanical bit, swopping over the throttle ratchet an centering spring but, of course the ATV on the throttle and dual rate switches are still assigned to what is now, the wrong stick.

Question, can I swop the wires from the Throttle and elevator stick potentiometer and trims over? Will that put everything back in the right place?

Having looked at the boards in there, I don't feel capable to unsolder the wires from the PCB but it does look possible to cut the wires leading back from the pot / trim and make the swop there.

Will this work or will it let the smoke out?..... or is there a better way?

thanks in advance

Stu K UK

Reply to
stuart knowles
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If you have a soldering iron you should be able to de-solder the wires off each pot, just note the colour of the wire to each pot connection and make sure you match them up correctly on the other pot. Also, be caureful with the wiring - make sure it's routed properly, secured properly and not under tension, as you don't want anything disconnecing mid-flight due to fatigue.

Reply to
Russ

"stuart knowles" schreef in bericht news:HBrdd.118994$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...

Hi,

I tought it was only necessary to swop the centre wire from each potmeter you want to change (also from trimpotmeters).

Olivier

Reply to
Olivier tx2tx

Just switch the reciever servo outputs so that the elevator is now the throttle and vice versa.

Reply to
Sport_Pilot

"Sport_Pilot" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

Hi Switching the reciever servo outputs so that the elevator is now the throttle and vice versa does work indeed, except if you use this transmitter as a slave transmitter. Then you really need the same channel assignment. And that's what I guess "Stu K" wants to obtain. Olivier

Reply to
Olivier tx2tx

"Olivier > Switching the reciever servo outputs so that the elevator is now the

What I was really seeking to gain was to restore the Dual rates and throttle ATV to the mode 2 stick configuration. Although I have swopped the rachet and centering spring, I now have ATV on the elevator and a dual rate throttle!

Unsoldering the wires from the pots is a no no because the stick and trim pots are both soldered directly onto the PCB

The stick PCBs are connected to the main PCB by wires, a bundle of 4 and a separate 2 which I am guessing come from the trim. The big question is which wires to cut/swop? Bit like a bomb disposal movie without the big bang!

I had another long look at it last night I chickened out for the moment but I am thinking of swopping the pair of wires first and checking if that changes the trims over. After that it will be a trial and error to determine which of the bundle of 4 wires control elevator & throttle. ... unless a better suggestion appears here innthe next 24 hours

Thanks to those who have commented so far

Stu K

Reply to
stuart knowles

Is it 6 wires from each stick? In that case, it'll be the 2 for the voltage rails, and 4 for the wipers of each of the 2 stick pots and 2 trimp pots.

If it is 6 wires covering both sticks, it'll be 2 for the voltage rails as before, but the other 4 will be for the wiper of each stick pot and not trim pots (ie. trims are a mechanical adjustment).

Either way, you can work out the wire you're after by observation. You need to find the pot for the elevator and throttle (they'll be the fixed units on the side of the stick assembly), then find the *middle* pin of each pot and follow the copper track to the plug header, then just identify which wire on the plug that corresponds to. You just swap these 2 wires. (note that the same 2 voltage rails go to the outside pins of every pot, which is why you only need to swap the middle wire that goes to the "wiper" ).

If there are pots for the trims, you'll need to swap the centre wire over for these as well.

Provided you're careful you're unlikely to kill anything too badly - the only real risk is accidentally connecting the voltage rails together - depending on the design, that'll blow a fuse or expose the smoke within.

Reply to
Russ

Hi Stuward,

Just one more thing : please do disconnect the battery pack during fiddling. DO NOT ask me how I know it's usefull...

Olivier

Reply to
Olivier tx2tx

Russ / Olivier Two really helpful suggestions...... I'm going in!

Stu K

Reply to
stuart knowles

"stuart knowles" wrote in news:rDSdd.92484 $ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

Stu, not having it in front of me, it almost sounds like in order to be able to lower costs, they have now fabricated the PC board and stick pots to mount directly to the PCB without any wires. If that is the case, it sounds almost not worth it to modify.

Older transmitters sticks and trim pots had individual wires or a header to which a cable was connected, which made it relatively easy to relocate wiring.

Swapping stick functions will require unsoldering the pots from the board and remapping them through some soldered on jumper wires. It is something I might try as I've messed around alot with electronics, even built a couple R/C radio kits.

But given the fairly low cost of systems these days, it almost makes it not worth it.

Anyway, my 2-cents.

- HPT

Reply to
High Plains Thumper

I checked out my 6XAS after Stuart's last post and found that it had little PCBs for the pots with a pin header and plug for the connection to the main board. While he's talking about a different radio, I doubt they'd have designed it so that the pots are soldered directly onto the main board, as it would require fairly difficult positioning of the main board, or a custom stick design.

It sounds more like it's wired like the 6XAS, but perhaps with mechanical trims rather than pots on the trims.

Reply to
Russ

"Russ" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:

That sounds more reasonable. It's hard to picture what's going on when you're troubleshooting by usenet. (Try figuring out some of the explanations on rec.motorcycles.) As manufacturers are always trying to bring down price, I could envision something highly simplified.

Perhaps one of these days we may be faced with a touch pad similar to laptops instead of sticks.

- HPT

Reply to
High Plains Thumper

I'm thinkin' some kind of mind control, but then again, when I think about how I feel on the flightline when some guy decides to tune his gas plane for

10 minutes right next to me before he takes off, it may be not such a great idea.
Reply to
Russ

"Russ" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:

Or his thoughts are on the same wavelength as yours and he proceeds to shoot you down.

- HPT

Reply to
High Plains Thumper

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