3. Using the SoarOTX models
If the plane is put in Launch mode while the receiver battery reads 0 V, then the program will warn with a siren sound and haptic shake. This is to prevent you from launching a model with the radio off. Please do not ask me how I came up with this feature 😳
Most telemetry screens have a help function that will show you what the buttons do. Press MENU (or SHIFT or ←+→) to toggle the help text on the screen. The first telemetry screen is used for score keeping, the second for graphing of log data, and the third for model configuration.
| If you do not know how to get into the telemetry screens, please refer to your transmitter's user guide; it varies by model. But on most transmitters, it is a long press on PAGE, and then PAGE again to change screen. On Xlite, hold down SHIFT and pull down the joystick. Please watch the following video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXCcg2S3_RE |
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When gliding, the three flight modes Float, Cruise, and Speed can be selected with the Flight mode switch (B). RE models do not have Float, but they do have Speed so you can give it a little extra down trim to help penetrate against the wind.
Camber preset can be adjusted with the throttle trim in each individual flight mode. Camber preset is not active in Speed mode, and also not in Zoom mode for F3K.
Other trims are generally set to mode 0 (Cruise) plus own trim, so you should first trim the model in Cruise mode, before Float and Speed. You can change this behavior on the transmitter's FLIGHT MODES menu, if you so desire.
Camber is adjusted with the throttle trim for the current flight mode. You can do that any time, as long as no configuration menu is active.
- Camber is not active in Speed and Zoom modes.
- Camber is subtracted from snap-flap, so the snap-flap position at full up elevator is the same in all flight modes. If camber preset exceeds snap-flap, then no snap-flap is added. If you setup snap-flap in Speed mode with zero camber, then you can see the full snap flap movement.
- Snap flap can only move down - not up.
The motor has to be armed before starting it. Arm the motor with the Arming switch (C↑). The motor stays armed until it is either started or the Arming switch is off. When the motor is armed, the transmitter will warn you with a siren sound and shake.
When the motor is armed, then it can be started by activating and releasing the Trigger switch (F↓). Starting the motor also starts the flight timer. The motor stops when either the Trigger switch is activated, the Arming switch is deactivated, or the motor timer expires. In F5K, the motor is also stopped when the altitude reaches the set limit, if the altimeter sensor is present and configured.
The motor is de-armed after a motor run. To restart the motor, it must be re-armed by moving the arming switch to off and then on again.
Open the first telemetry screen. A few different "plugins" are available:
The FxK plugin provides the official FxK tasks. Select the task with ± or rotary and press ENTER. Press ENTER again, or start a flight, to start the window timer.
In the Poker task, use "Pokr" input (S1) to call the target time. When your first attempt has been committed, then you must make your called time before moving on!
The window timer is stopped automatically when a task is complete, but you can also stop and restart the window timer between flights by pressing ENTER.
After flying a task, press EXIT to return to the task menu. You will be prompted to save the scores first. In F5K, you can edit the scores before saving (e.g. to read the recorded launch heights from an AMRT instead of using a built-in altimeter).
The Saved scores plugin is used to view the scores that have been saved to the SD card. Use ± or Rotary to browse the saved scores. If you see the text “Log getting too large” flashing, then it is time to delete all, or some, of your log file located in “/LOGS/JF FxK Scores.csv”, before you run out of memory.
There are three different F3K models: F3K, F3K TRAD, and F3K RE. The F3K model has two non-traditional refinements to the mixes:
- Normally, deploying full flaps will reduce the available aileron movement, but if needed, this model will "bump" up the flaps to allow full aileron movement at any time. This improves the responsiveness on the landing approach.
- Snap-flap is subtracted from camber preset, so the maximum downwards snap-flap position remains the same in all three gliding flight modes, to avoid that the total amount of camber + snap-flap exceeds the wing's design envelope. The maximum upwards snap-flap position is zero camber, as in Speed and Zoom flight modes.
The F3K TRAD (traditional) model has traditional mixes with none of the above described refinements. Otherwise, F3K and F3K TRAD are similar.
F3K RE (rudder elevator) is for models with only rudder and elevator.
When you throw the plane, activate the Trigger switch (F↓) for Launch flight mode. After the Trigger switch is released, the Zoom flight mode takes over. The plane should be trimmed for a nice straight climb-out in this mode. When you move the elevator or aileron to push over for level flight, then the selected gliding flight mode is activated.
Launch disables the air brake, and the radio yells “Flaps up” if the throttle stick is not pushed forward after Launch. This feature helps you come in for a quick relaunch without having to worry about flaps being down during the launch.
When the window is running, then the flight timer is controlled by the Trigger switch. There is a 10 sec. "grace period" after the flight timer is started, before the flight is committed. So if you activate and release the Trigger switch by mistake, then just activate and release again immediately to cancel. There are two different modes for the flight timer:
- In normal mode, you activate and release the Trigger switch to start the flight timer, and activate and release again to stop the timer.
- In QR (Quick Relaunch) mode, the flight timer is stopped and started immediately again every time you activate and release the Trigger switch. You toggle QR by pressing + or Rotary right.
If you land off the field, and need to score a zero, then short press the EXIT button instead of activating the Trigger switch, to stop the timer.
When the EoW (End of Window) option is selected, then the flight timer freezes as the task window ends. That way, you do not overfly the task window, and you can decide whether to keep the score by pulling the Trigger switch, or score a zero by short pressing the EXIT button after you have landed. EoW is toggled by pressing - or Rotary left when the window timer is running.
The Practice plugin provides a “Just Fly” and a “Quick Relaunch” task. The Quick Relaunch task is meant to practice fast turnarounds, and you set the target time as for Poker. Mickey Nowell's "Deuces" task is also present.
The Altimeter plugin provides four tasks based on height data from an altimeter. Always 7 min. window.
- "Height gain" scores the three biggest height gains from launch until the highest point of the flight. 50 m max.
- "Under ceiling" is like "Last flight" in F3K, except that the timer is also stopped if the height exceeds the ceiling. The ceiling height can be set as for Poker.
- "Throw low 2:00" scores 100 minus launch height, if the flight time is at least 2:00 min. I.e. lower launch gives higher score.
- "Height poker" is similar to "Height gain", except that the target height gain is set as for Poker, and must be made to get a score.
Scoring and time keeping is similar to what is described above for F3K, with a few differences. The timer is started when the motor is started, and there are no "grace period" or "Quick Relaunch" options. "EoW" is always on. There is a plugin with the F5K tasks that have been defined so far, and one with the F3K tasks.
In the Launch Settings plugin, you can set the nominal launch height and the motor run time. That way, if you have a receiver with altimeter, you can fly everything without an AMRT.
Before starting a flight, use ± or Rotary to set the target time between 1 and 99 minutes. Press EXIT to browse the saved scores. Use ± or Rotary to change the saved flight being viewed.
During flight, you can press ENTER to set a new target time, e.g. if you "made it" to altitude, and want to shoot a landing for practice. Change the timer with ± or Rotary, and press ENTER again to set the new target time. Or press EXIT to escape.
After landing, set landing points with ± or Rotary, and press ENTER. Then set the start height and press ENTER. Then flight time. You can press EXIT to go back and edit the previous value. If you restarted the motor, then everything will be zeroed, and you cannot edit anything.
If you have an altimeter, then the altimeter start height will be pre-filled for you, otherwise, it defaults to 100 m. That way, you can practice and fly informal contests with a receiver with built in altimeter instead of an AMRT. But you can also fill in the "official" value from your AMRT and your time keeper. That way, your radio can be used as an electronic score card during contests.
Press ENTER to save, or EXIT to start a new flight without saving.
The KAPOW mode for landing moves ailerons and flaps 100% up, and the elevator goes to a fixed position that can be adjusted with the elevator trim when the plane is in KAPOW mode (It uses the BkE global variable). On F3J, KAPOW is enabled by the KAPOW switch (C↓), on F5J it is disabled by default. The radio announces “Landing mode”. KAPOW is then activated by giving full down elevator.
In “classic” KAPOW, the elevator is set to full down, to “dork” the plane into the ground. I used to have KAPOW setup with full up elevator instead to get a “belly flop” landing on my F5J planes. But I abandoned that idea, after it kicked in high and the plane subsequently stalled and crashed on the nose, breaking the fuselage.
Release and activate the Arming switch (C↑) to activate Launch mode. Launch mode deactivates the air brake. Activate and release the Trigger switch (F↓) to start the task window timer. When the tow line releases, activate the Trigger switch again to start the flight timer and deactivate Launch mode. The flight timer is stopped when the Trigger switch is activated for the third time.
Motor and KAPOW mode disable air brake until the throttle stick is pushed forward afterwards. Since air brake is disabled, by default the throttle stick is used for power control when the motor is on. A timer counts up and stops the motor after 30 sec. After the motor stops, you get a 10 sec. count until the start height is recorded.
When the motor is running, a power-to-elevator mix is active. More power gives more down elevator. This mix can be adjusted with the elevator trim while the motor is running.
| Be careful with the power-to-elevator mix. Too much could cause the model to dive into the ground under full power after launching! |
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You can adjust camber preset with throttle trim as for other flight modes, but the camber is reduced to zero as power is increased to maximum, to enable the fastest possible climb rate.
The power response is defined by Curve 9: Mot. I have set it to jump from 75% up to 100% just before the throttle stick is all the way forward. I have done this to avoid “almost full” power, as this can burn out the ESC on hard pressed systems. At the low end, I have et the curve to idle the motor without stopping. You can, of course, edit Curve 9 to your own liking.
| Use the curve to set your motor's power response, rather than editing the outputs in channel configuration. If you edit the outputs instead of the curve, then your ESC and/or AMRT may not work properly because they do not get the right end points. |
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The flight timer is started with the motor, and stopped when the Trigger switch is activated again.
If you have an altimeter sensor connected to your receiver, then the program can report your start height and the current altitude. The start height is reported 10 sec. after starting the flight timer, when the Altitude switch (A) is active. The variometer sound is turned on when the Altitude switch is down (A↓). The current altitude is reported every 10 sec. when the Report switch is down (D↓) and the Altitude switch is active.
| When flying contests, you are not allowed to have altitude feedback, and therefore the Altitude switch should be deactivated during contests (A-). |
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The graphing telemetry screen is used for viewing log data that was saved to the SD card. Notice that data logging only occurs when the flight timer is running and the Logging switch is on (H↓). You can view data such as e.g. altitude, receiver battery voltage, and RSSI.
Data for the current model on the same day is shown. If you want to look at yesterday's file, then you must either set back the date on your radio, or rename the file in the transmitter’s SD CARD menu. You cannot view data while logging occurs, because the log file is locked by the system.
Use ± or Rotary to change the flight, press ENTER to change the parameter being plotted, and press EXIT (short press) to view statistics:
Press EXIT one more time to select time intervals. Use ± or Rotary to move the markers, and ENTER to change between the left and right marker. Notice that you can see the rate of change between the two markers (as units per second, e.g. m/s for altitude). This can be used e.g. to find the climb rate for an electric glider, or the sink rate to optimize camber settings.
Press EXIT to zoom in on the selected time interval:
Press EXIT again to get back to the initial view of the graph only.
Individual flights are identified by time gaps and by the flight mode sensor “FM” being equal to Launch mode. If there is a problem with identifying the flights correctly, then please check that the FM sensor is working correctly, and that its data is being recorded.