Gyro / Gov

Heading Hold Gyro & Rotor Speed Governor for Model Helicopters

760/1520 μs System / MEMs Technology

Instruction Manual

6/15/2009
 Table of Contents

1 Specifications...................................................................................................................................... 5
2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 2
3 Precautions ......................................................................................................................................... 2
4 Package Contents ............................................................................................................................... 2
5 System Overview ................................................................................................................................. 2
5.1 Gyro/Gov Layout ................................................................................................................... 2
5.2 Interfacing the Gyro/Gov ...................................................................................................... 3
5.3 Voltage Requirements............................................................................................................ 4
5.4 Mounting Considerations ...................................................................................................... 4
6 Governor Sensor Installation............................................................................................................. 4
6.1 Step 1 – Magnet Install on Cooling Fan ............................................................................... 5
6.2 Step 2 – Sensor Install on Mounting Bracket....................................................................... 5
6.3 Step 3 – Sensor Install on Engine.......................................................................................... 6
6.4 Step 4 – Fine Adjust of Sensor Position................................................................................ 7
7 LCD Programming Interface............................................................................................................. 7
7.1 Connecting the LCD............................................................................................................... 7
7.2 Menu Hierarchy ..................................................................................................................... 7
7.3 Navigation Joystick ................................................................................................................ 9
7.4 Entering/Exiting Programming Mode................................................................................ 10
7.5 LCD Backlight Control........................................................................................................ 10
8 Model Utilities................................................................................................................................... 10
8.1 Loading a New Model .......................................................................................................... 10
8.2 Renaming the Active Model ................................................................................................ 11
8.3 Save & Exit ........................................................................................................................... 11
9 Servo Setup ....................................................................................................................................... 11
9.1 Throttle Servo....................................................................................................................... 12
9.2 Rudder Servo........................................................................................................................ 13
9.3 Save & Exit ........................................................................................................................... 14
10 Transmitter Model Calibration ........................................................................................................ 14
10.1 Throttle Stick Calibration ................................................................................................... 14
10.2 Rudder Stick Calibration .................................................................................................... 15
10.3 Tx Model Calibration Testing ............................................................................................. 15
10.4 Save & Exit ........................................................................................................................... 15
11 General Model Setup........................................................................................................................ 15

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 11.1 Setting Model Type .............................................................................................................. 16
11.2 Setting Gear Ratio................................................................................................................ 16
11.3 Main Rotor Direction........................................................................................................... 16
11.4 Governor Target Direction.................................................................................................. 16
11.5 Gyro Orientation .................................................................................................................. 16
11.6 Governor Sensor Type ......................................................................................................... 17
11.7 Governor Activation ............................................................................................................ 17
11.8 Stick Enable .......................................................................................................................... 18
11.9 Stick Disable ......................................................................................................................... 18
11.10 Gyro Gain Mode ............................................................................................................. 18
11.11 Tx Gain Function............................................................................................................ 19
11.12 Save & Exit...................................................................................................................... 20
12 Flight Mode Setup ............................................................................................................................ 20
12.1 Flying Style ........................................................................................................................... 20
12.2 Setting Target RPM ............................................................................................................. 21
12.3 Governor Mode .................................................................................................................... 21
12.4 Electronic Correlator........................................................................................................... 21
12.5 Max Yaw Rate ...................................................................................................................... 22
12.6 Rudder Curves ..................................................................................................................... 22
12.7 Save & Exit ........................................................................................................................... 22
13 Advanced Setup Options................................................................................................................... 23
13.1 Gyro Gain (P) ....................................................................................................................... 23
13.2 Gyro Gain (I) ........................................................................................................................ 23
13.3 Gain Adapt with RPM ......................................................................................................... 23
13.4 Clockwise Pirouette Braking............................................................................................... 24
13.5 Counter-Clockwise Pirouette Braking ............................................................................... 24
13.6 Throttle to Rudder Mixing .................................................................................................. 24
13.7 Rudder to Throttle Mixing .................................................................................................. 25
13.8 Gov Gain (P) ......................................................................................................................... 25
13.9 Gov Gain (I) .......................................................................................................................... 25
13.10 Gov Ramp Up Time........................................................................................................ 25
13.11 RPM Frame of Ref.......................................................................................................... 26
14 Setup Verification............................................................................................................................. 26
14.1 Governor Sensor Signal Strength ....................................................................................... 26
14.2 Governor “Hit Count” ......................................................................................................... 27
14.3 RPM....................................................................................................................................... 27
14.4 Governor Stick Activation Test........................................................................................... 27

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 14.5 Governor Switch Activation Test........................................................................................ 28
14.6 Governor Switch/Stick Activation Test .............................................................................. 28
14.7 Yaw Rate Commands........................................................................................................... 28
15 System Stats ...................................................................................................................................... 28
15.1 Avg RPM with Standard Dev.............................................................................................. 28
15.2 Max RPM.............................................................................................................................. 29
15.3 Max Clockwise Yaw Rate .................................................................................................... 29
15.4 Max Counter-Clockwise Yaw Rate..................................................................................... 29
15.5 Time on Engine..................................................................................................................... 29
15.6 Reset System Stats................................................................................................................ 30
15.7 Reset Engine Time................................................................................................................ 30
16 Preflight Checklist............................................................................................................................ 30
17 In-Flight Setup ................................................................................................................................. 30
17.1 Rudder Servo Setup ............................................................................................................. 30
17.2 Throttle to Rudder Mixing .................................................................................................. 31
17.3 Pirouette Braking ................................................................................................................. 31

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 List of Figures

Figure 4-1 Gyro/Gov Complete Contents........................................................................................ 2

Figure 5-1 Gyro/Gov Electronics ..................................................................................................... 3
Figure 5-2 Interfacing the Rx, Sx, and Governor Sensor ................................................................ 3
Figure 5-3 Interfacing the LCD Programming Module..................................................................... 3
Figure 5-4 Gyro/Gov Mounted on Radio Tray ................................................................................. 4
Figure 6-1 Magnet Installed in Engine Cooling Fan ........................................................................ 5
Figure 6-2 Sensor Mounting Brackets ............................................................................................. 6
Figure 6-3 Sensor Mounted on Bracket – View 1............................................................................ 6
Figure 6-4 Sensor Mounted on Bracket – View 2............................................................................ 6
Figure 6-5 Sensor Actuation Diagram ............................................................................................. 6
Figure 6-6 Sensor Install on Engine ................................................................................................ 6
Figure 6-7 Sensor Position Fine Adjust........................................................................................... 7
Figure 7-1 Summary View ............................................................................................................... 7
Figure 7-2 Summary View (RUD full Left) ....................................................................................... 8
Figure 7-3 Summary View (RUD full Right)..................................................................................... 8
Figure 7-4 Summary View (THR to Max) ........................................................................................ 8
Figure 7-5 Top-Level Programming Menus..................................................................................... 8
Figure 7-6 Programming Menu Heirarchy ....................................................................................... 9
Figure 7-7 Navigation Joystick ...................................................................................................... 10
Figure 7-8 Simulated LCD Backlighting in Night Conditions ......................................................... 10
Figure 11-1 Gyro/Gov Vs Transmitter Gain Conventions ............................................................. 19
Figure 11-2 Gyro Mode Functionality Vs Gain Range................................................................... 19
Figure 11-3 Tx Gain Function Diagram ......................................................................................... 20
Figure 12-1 Flying Style Yaw Rate Responses............................................................................. 20
Figure 12-2 Rudder Curves ........................................................................................................... 22
Figure 17-1 Rudder Servo at Trim................................................................................................. 31

1 Specifications

Gyro/Gov System Specifications:

Min Typical Max Units

Voltage Rating(*): 3.6 6 12 V

Current Draw (⊗): 45 70 150 mA
PWM Resolution: 16 16 16 bits
Servo Frame Rate (¥): 76 152 305 Hz
Length 2.4 2.4 2.4 in
Width: 1.5 1.5 1.5 in
Height : 0.5 0.5 0.5 in
Weight: 35 35 35 g
Operating Temperature 15 68 115 deg F
Gov Sensor Voltage: 4.8 5 5.2 V
Gyro Sensing Range: -1600 +/-1600 1600 deg/s

(*) Max volatage corresponds to Gyro/Gov only, not receiver, servos, switch, etc…
(⊗) Max current draw represents LCD Programming Interface at full backlight illumination.
(¥) Servo frame rate corresponds to Analog, 1520 μs Digital, and 760 μs Digital Servos

v
2 Introduction product in a safe manner as its improper use
could result in serious injury otherwise. It is
also recommended that you seek the
Congratulations on your purchase of the
assistance of other more experienced radio
Gyro/Gov, a high performance Heading Hold
control modelers or associations if you are
Gyro and Rotor Speed Governor in a single
at all in doubt of your own abilities. As
package. This device was designed from
manufacturer, we assume no liability for the
the ground up with the full dynamics of the
use or mis-use of this product.
helicopter in mind and exploits the
relationship between the throttle and yaw
channels with its hybrid control system to 4 Package Contents
improve upon both rotor speed and yaw
stabilization / heading control, while offering While unpacking your Gyro/Gov Complete
capabilities not possible with two product, you should find the following
independent devices. contents included in your package, as
shown in Figure 4-1:
Programming is performed using a
detachable LCD and 4-direction joystick to Gyro/Gov Complete
navigate through the highly intuitive
hierarchical menus, with all setup • Gyro/Gov Electronics (1)
parameters stored for up to 8 models. The • 2-Line Backlit LCD Module (1)
Gyro/Gov is also universally compatible with • 3” Ribbon Cable (1)
all governor sensor types and throttle / • 6” Jumper Wires (5)
rudder servo types, so once setup,
• 18” Hall-Effect Sensor Harness (1)
swapping between 8 helicopters with
• Sensor Mounting Brackets (2)
different governor sensor types, servo types,
• Magnets (2)
gear ratios, sign conventions, travel limits,
flight mode settings, governor enable • Instruction CD (1)
criteria, gains, etc... is done by simply
loading that model's name into memory.
The Gyro/Gov also tracks the total engine
run-time on each of 8 models with its unique
"Time-On-Engine" display for help with
scheduled maintenance... designed to
support the entire fleet.

This instruction manual contains a warning

message, a list of package contents, a
system overview of the Gyro/Gov to
familiarize you with its layout, electrical
requirements, and interface polarities, as
well as a step by step guide through each of
the setup menus of the Gyro/Gov to get it
configured for flight. At the end is a Quick
Setup guide that covers the minimum setup
procedure for those who want to get flying
as quickly as possible.
3 Precautions
Figure 4-1 Gyro/Gov Complete Contents
Note that if you have placed an order for
something other than the Gyro/Gov
Complete package, you will have received a
subset of these contents, as specified in
your particular order. In that case, verify
that the contents matches your order, and
keep in mind that at least one LCD
Programming Interface is required to
program any number of Gyro/Gov’s you may
have purchased.

This product is not a toy! It is a high 5 System Overview

performance flight control system for radio
controlled helicopters requiring proper setup
to avoid accidents or injuries. It is the 5.1 Gyro/Gov Layout
responsibility of the owner to operate this

2
The Gyro/Gov electronics package, shown printed at the top of these input pins to
in Figure 5-1, contains the hybrid controller’s further help with the proper orientation, in
microprocessor as well as the gyro sensor the event a FutabaJ type connector is not
and amplification circuits. The pins on the used with the Gyro/Gov. In general, the
right hand side of the package are the inputs signal side is at the left, power is at center,
for the throttle and rudder servos, up to five and ground is at the right. Make sure to
receiver channels, and the governor sensor. orient your inputs properly, as an improper
A dividing line separates each category connection could potentially damage the
(servos, receiver channels, and governor Gyro/Gov’s internal circuitry. Figure 5-2
sensor) for help with identifying where each shows the Gyro/Gov properly interfaced with
plugs in. The servo inputs are at the top, two servos, five receiver channels, and
labeled “Throttle Servo” and “Rudder Servo” governor sensor to illustrate the proper
for the throttle and tail rotor pitch control orientation of these inputs.
respectively. After the first divide, the
receiver channels are next, labeled “Rx
Throttle”, “Rx Rudder”, “Gain / Bias”, “Flight
Mode”, and “Gov Enable”. After the next
divide is the input for the governor sensor,
labeled “Gov Sensor”. Across the bottom of
the device is a row of 16 pins for the LCD
Programming Interface, and the 4-directional
navigation joystick used to move through the
programming menus on the LCD is just to
the right, labeled “Menu Select”.

Figure 5-2 Interfacing the Rx, Sx, and

Governor Sensor
The LCD Programming Interface is
connected via the included ribbon cable with
the LCD facing the user as illustrated in
Figure 5-3.

Figure 5-1 Gyro/Gov Electronics

5.2 Interfacing the Gyro/Gov

Please note that the ground side for all

servo, receiver, and sensor inputs (usually
colored black on Futaba & Hitec products
and brown on JR products) is at the far right
(edge facing) side of the Gyro/Gov, labeled
“Ground Side“ for clarity. The signal side
(usually colored white on Futaba, yellow on
Hitec, and orange on JR products) is at the Figure 5-3 Interfacing the LCD
left (center facing) side of the inputs toward Programming Module
the input label names. Notches at the left of
each input accommodate the tabs on the Note that the LCD programmer must be
FutabaJ type connectors (supplied with the plugged into the Gyro/Gov at power on for
Gyro/Gov Complete package) to force the LCD to be properly initialized.
proper orientation of these inputs. The Otherwise, either cycle power or flip the gyro
labels “WHT”, “RED”, and “BLK” are also gain switch 3-times to re-initialize the LCD

3
while it is plugged in. Note that using the
gyro gain switch to re-initialize the LCD with
3 successive switch flips a) only works if the
gyro gain actually changes with each switch
flip, and b) also re-initializes the gyro bias
capture, so the helicopter should not be
moved during this procedure.
5.3 Voltage Requirements
The Gyro/Gov was designed to operate off
of a wider range of voltages than either your
servos or receiver for maximum
compatibility. It will run off a battery supply
voltage anywhere from 3.6V – 12V.
However, it should be noted that the
Gyro/Gov receives its power directly from
the input receiver channels and the throttle
& rudder servos receive their power directly
from the Gyro/Gov power bus (the same as
the receiver voltage), so do not use a
voltage that will damage either your servos
or receiver. Note that while many digital
servos can run off of 6V or even higher with
some brands, most high-speed tail rotor
servos are only rated at 4.8V. So if, for
example, you are using a 6V battery and the
maximum voltage rating on your high speed
rudder servo is 4.8V, be sure to either:
a) Regulate your entire system at 4.8V so
that the receiver, Gyro/Gov, and rudder
servo all operate off of this 4.8V level, or
b) Power the receiver and hence Gyro/Gov
with the 6V battery, but place a 4.8V
regulator between the Gyro/Gov and rudder
servo.
5.4 Mounting Considerations
The Gyro/Gov employs the top-of-the-line
MEMs gyro with vibration & shock rejection.
Thus, it is not as imperative, as with other
gyro systems, that you go out of your way to
dampen vibration externally with an
expensive gel material or foam padded
double-stick tape, etc… The Gyro/Gov’s
built-in vibration & shock rejection allows it
to work while simply mounted with velcro
strips to your radio tray. With this type of
installation, you can more easily move the
Gyro/Gov from one helicopter to another
using the Model Utilities menu to load up the
setup parameters for each model. While
external vibration dampening is not required,
you should still look for a suitable mounting
location with as minimum vibration as
possible. If, for example, your radio tray is
noticeably resonating in a hover, this is not a
good situation and you would want to either
relocate the Gyro/Gov or stiffen the radio
tray to prevent this type of vibration. Also
note that while the Gyro/Gov may be
mounted either right side up or upside down,
it must be mounted such that it is parallel
with the ground while landed (i.e. on a flat
radio tray) so that it’s internal sensing z-axis
is aligned with the helicopter’s main mast.
DO NOT mount the Gyro/Gov on an inclined
radio tray or the sensing axis will be rotated
from the helicopter’s yaw axis, and you will
not get the correct result. Figure 5-4 shows
an example of the Gyro/Gov properly
mounted to a radio tray, using Velcro strips
and oriented parallel to the ground while
landed.
Figure 5-4 Gyro/Gov Mounted on Radio
Tray
6 Governor Sensor
Installation
The Gyro/Gov can be easily configured to
work with any R/C governor sensor type
through its setup menus, so if your machine
already has a governor sensor installed that
you are happy with, this entire section can
be skipped. If, however, your helicopter
does not already have a governor sensor
installed, and you would like rotor speed
governor control capability, follow the
instructions in this section to install the
provided magnet & sensor with your
Gyro/Gov Complete package.
4
6.1 Step 1 – Magnet Install on
Cooling Fan
In order for your Gyro/Gov to measure rotor
speed with the included hall-effect sensor, a
magnet must be installed on the bottom side
of the engine cooling fan with its South Pole
facing out. Most models have pre-drilled
holes for one or two magnets to be installed
here. If yours does not, you will need to drill
these holes yourself. Drop the engine from
your helicopter in order to get to the cooling
fan more easily & determine whether pre-
drilled holes are there that fit your included
magnet(s). Note that only one magnet is
required for proper operation. If additional
magnets are used (perhaps as a counter-
balance to the sensed magnet), make sure
that only ONE magnet has its South Pole
facing out, and all others do not, as the
South Pole is the side the Gyro/Gov sensor
will be detecting once per revolution.
Installing multiple magnets with more than
one South Pole facing out of the engine
cooling fan would result in incorrect RPM
measurements and thus must be avoided.
<center-push> and navigate to the “Gov
Sensor Value” submenu. In this submenu,
pass the sensor over a given side of the
magnet & watch if the digital value changes
between 0 & 100% as the sensor moves
over this side of the magnet. If not, flip the
magnet over and try this experiment again.
When you see the Gov Sensor Value
change upon passing the sensor over a
given side of the magnet, this is the South
Pole you want facing out of the engine
cooling fan. If the reader is concerned that
their machine has a pre-existing magnet &
sensor combination installed with the
magnet's North Pole facing out, this is not a
problem as long as your pre-existing sensor
is compatible with that magnet configuration.
i.e. As long as you leave your pre-existing
magnet & sensor combination in place, no
modifications are necessary. If, in the
future, however, you decided to change
such a sensor out for your Gyro/Gov sensor,
you would then need to flip the magnet such
that its South Pole was facing out.

Once you have access to your engine

cooling fan and have either verified that a
pre-drilled hole already exists or have drilled
a small hole yourself, install your magnet
with a fast drying epoxy making sure its
South Pole is facing out. If you wish to
install another magnet on the opposite side
of the cooling fan to act as a counter-
balance (although this is not required), make
sure that its North Pole is facing out. Figure
6-1 shows the proper installation of a single
magnet on the bottom side of the engine’s
Figure 6-1 Magnet Installed in Engine
cooling fan with its South Pole facing out. If
Cooling Fan
you are unsure of which side is the South
Pole, either test with a magnet having
labeled North and South poles (the South
6.2 Step 2 – Sensor Install on
Pole of your disk magnet will repel the South
Pole of your marked magnet & be attracted
Mounting Bracket
to the North Pole ofyour marked magnet), or
Two different sized mounting brackets are
use your Gyro/Gov’s “General Model Setup”
provided for machines with smaller 30/50
menu to verify you are getting governor
size engines, and larger 60/90 size engines
events (or “hits”) when the correct side of
as shown in Figure 6-2. The lower, wider
the magnet is held to your sensor. To do
side with large adjustment slots will interface
this, interface your provided sensor with the
with your engine using your engine mount
Gyro/Gov as described in Section 5.2, enter
bolts, while the upper, thinner side will be
programming mode by applying a joystick
used to affix the sensor harness.
<center-push> for at least one second, and
navigate to the “General Model Setup”.
Enter this menu with another joystick

5

Figure 6-2 Sensor Mounting Brackets
Choose the appropriate mounting bracket
that best fits your model and install the
governor sensor as shown in Figure 6-3 and
Figure 6-4.
Figure 6-3 Sensor Mounted on Bracket –
View 1
Figure 6-4 Sensor Mounted on Bracket –
View 2
Use two small zip ties around the sensor
harness going through the slots on each
side making sure they are secure. Then
bend the sensing element over 90 degrees
and use a quick drying epoxy to affix the
back (flat) side of the sensor housing to the
top edge of the mounting bracket. Note that
you want the beveled side of the sensor
facing out (as this is the sensing side), and
the flat side of the sensor attached to the top
edge of the mounting bracket.
The workings of this sensor are illustrated in
Figure 6-5 showing that as the South Pole of
your disc magnet passes over the beveled
side of the sensing element, the sensing
element is activated, which will occur once
per revolution as your engine is running.
Figure 6-5 Sensor Actuation Diagram
6.3 Step 3 – Sensor Install on
Engine
Next install the mounting bracket with your
two engine bolts as shown in Figure 6-6 .
Figure 6-6 Sensor Install on Engine
You will need to remove the engine bolts
temporarily in order to install your governor
sensor mounting bracket. The bracket
should be oriented such that the top sensor
side is close in towards the engine, bringing
the sensing element in line with the path of
the magnet you have installed. Do not
6
tighten these bolts down hard in this step as
you will want to perform a fine adjustment
next to get an optimal magnet to sensor
spacing setup.
6.4 Step 4 – Fine Adjust of
Sensor Position
To perform the fine adjustment of your
governor sensor position enter Programming
Mode on your Gyro/Gov by applying a
joystick <center push> for at least one
second and navigate to the "General Model
Setup" menu. Enter this menu & navigate to
the "Gov Sensor Type" submenu and
ensure "Digital" is selected if you are using
the sensor supplied with your Gyro/Gov.
Next move one submenu to the right until
"Gov Sensor Value" is displayed. From here
you want to verify that the distance you have
temporarily set will cause the value to
change from 0% to 100% as you rotate the
engine such that the magnet passes over
the sensor. Adjust the sensor to magnet
spacing until this happens consistently.
Figure 6-7 Sensor Position Fine Adjust
7 LCD Programming
Interface
7.1 Connecting the LCD
Connect the LCD Programming Interface to
the Gyro/Gov as described in Section 5.2
with the LCD oriented as shown in Figure
5-3 and then apply power to the system for
proper LCD initialization to take place. If
you wish to re-program in the field without
shutting down and re-starting your
electronics simply flip your gyro gain switch
3 times to re-initialize the LCD for
programming.
7.2 Menu Hierarchy
7.2.1 Summary Views
When proper initialization occurs, you will
see the “Helo Controls” splash screen
displayed for 2 seconds followed by the
setup summary view. The setup summary
view was designed to provide the pilot with a
quick summary of the most important setup
parameters at a glance. It displays the
active model name on line 1 for verification
that you have loaded the correct model into
memory, and shows the battery voltage,
RPM commands, gyro mode, and gyro gain
on line 2. The RPM value reflects the
command for the current state of the
transmitter, thus flipping through flight
modes, i.e. Normal, Idle-Up1, and Idle-Up2,
the RPM setting for each mode can be
quickly verified. The gyro mode is displayed
as either “HH” for heading-hold or “NM” for
normal rate mode and the gyro gain is
displayed as a percentage from 0 to 100%.
Flipping your gyro gain switch or adjusting
the gain on your transmitter you can verify
the gyro mode and gain setting at a glance
in this summary view. An example of the
setup summary view with default model
name for model 1 is shown in Figure 7-1.
Note that the model name can be
customized to any 16 character alpha-
numeric name you desire.
Figure 7-1 Summary View
Additional summary information is displayed
from here when the rudder is moved full left,
full right, and the throttle moved to max.
When the rudder is moved full left, more
detailed information about the flight mode
setup is displayed as shown in Figure 7-2.
With the rudder held to the left, by flipping
your flight mode switch you can view the
Flying Style setup for that flight mode
7
(defining the base gyro and governor gains)
as well as the max pirouette rate for that
flight mode in degrees per second. In the
example above, the user sees that for the
current flight mode they are in 3-D mode
with a max pirouette rate of 1440 deg/s. In
this way, the user can quickly verify the
flying style & pirouette rate setup without
having to re-enter programming mode.
Figure 7-2 Summary View (RUD full Left)
When the rudder is moved full right, the user
can verify the governor enable status while
moving the throttle up and down and/or
flipping the governor enable switch. As
shown in Figure 7-3, the user has the rudder
full right to view the governor enable status
and has the throttle and/or switch at a
position which would engage the governor.
In this way, the governor engagement status
can be quickly verified without having to re-
enter programming mode.
Figure 7-3 Summary View (RUD full
Right)
When the throttle stick is moved to its
maximum value, you can view your engine
run-time at a glance as shown in Figure 7-4.
In this view, the user has moved the throttle
to maximum to see that the engine run-time
for “Model 1” is 2 hrs and 26 minutes. Note
that if you are viewing these summary
screens with your transmitter in Idle-Up flight
modes with a V-shaped throttle curve, you
may see this engine run-time summary view
when the throttle is at bottom as well. (i.e.
since this might be full throttle in Idle-Up 1 or
Idle-Up 2.)
Figure 7-4 Summary View (THR to Max)
7.2.2 Programming Menus
To enter programming mode, push & hold
the navigation joystick with a <center push>
for at least 1 second. The words “Entering
Programming Mode” will be momentarily
displayed and you will enter the top-level
programming menu at the first item, “Model
Utilities”. From here you can move across
all top-level menus with <left> and <right>
movements of the joystick. When you see a
menu item you wish to enter, use a <center
push> to enter that programming menu and
remember that another <center push> will
bring you back out to the top-level menus
again. At the top level, <up> and <down>
movements of the navigation joystick
controls the LCD backlight illumination. You
can either bring up the LCD backlighting in
small incremental steps with successive
<up> pushes or push and hold in the <up>
direction for a smooth and rapid increase in
backlight illumination until the maximum
lighting is reached. Always remember that
the LCD uses a large amount of current to
run, and an even greater amount when the
backlighting is active, so use this feature
only when necessary. And remember to
disconnect the LCD Programming Interface
when programming is complete to eliminate
the current draw in supplying power to the
LCD. So, in summary, a <center push> for
1 second enters programming mode, <left>
and <right> joystick movements move
across the menu choices and the selected
menu choice is entered with a <center
push>. Within a menu choice, another
<center push> brings you back to the top
level, and from the top level, a <center
push> held for 1 second exits programming
mode to lock the Gyro/Gov settings during
flight. The words “Exiting Programming
Mode” will be displayed and you will be left
back at the Summary View at this point.
Figure 7-5 shows a block diagram of the top-
level menu options and the flow that would
occur with successive <right> joystick
depressions.
Figure 7-5 Top-Level Programming
Menus
8
 7.2.3 Sub-Menu Heirarchy
Once a top-level menu choice has been
entered with a <center push> of the
navigation joystick, you can move across the
sub-menus within that choice with either
<left> or <right> movements of the joystick.
To change values or selections associated
with any sub-menu, use the <up> or <down>
motion of the joystick. In general, digital
values will typically rail at their maximum or
minimum allowable values when their limits
are reached while selectable options will roll
over with continued <up> or <down>
movements. So, for example, when setting
the maximum yaw rate for Normal mode
from within Flight Mode Setup, continued
Figure 7-6 Programming Menu Heirarchy
7.3 Navigation Joystick
A close-up image of the 4-directional
navigation joystick used to program your
models by moving through the heirarchical
programming menus is shown in Figure 7-7.
It is located just right of the LCD
Programming Interface pins and labeled
“Menu Select” on your Gyro/Gov. Arrows
show the <left>, <right>, <up>, and <down>
directions of joystick motion and the joystick
can also be pressed in with a <center push>
like a button. In general, <left> and <right>
<up> depressions of the joystick will
eventually saturate at the maximum
allowable yaw rate when reached, while
setting a selectable parameter such as
Rudder Servo Type from within Servo Setup
will continuously roll from Analog to Digital
with successive <up> depressions. The
function of each programming mode will be
explained in detail later on, however, the list
of all sub-menu options under each top-level
menu item is shown in Figure 7-6for review
with representative values/settings
associated on Line 2. This graphic can be
used to help first time users familiarize
themselves with the programming heirarchy
and all menu selections available.
motion is used to move across menus or
submenus. A <center push> Is used to
enter and exit programming mode, enter &
exit top-level menus saving model
parameters on return to the top level. And
an <up> or <down> motion changes values
or selections of a sub-menu item, or
changes the LCD illumination if used at the
top-level menus. The use of this navigation
joystick was chosen as a more intuitive
means for traversing the hierarchical
programming menu & user friendly
programming method than the use of
9
embedded switches requiring a small tool to
reach each individual switch.
Figure 7-7 Navigation Joystick
7.4 Entering/Exiting
Programming Mode
To enter programming mode, press & hold a
joystick center push for > 1 second. Once
complete, exit programming mode with a
press & hold from the top-level menu to
eliminate the chance of the joystick getting
bumped in mid-flight. Or simply toggle
power on Gyro/Gov and it will come up in
non-programming mode by default.
7.5 LCD Backlight Control
The LCD backlighting is adjusted with an
<up> or <down> motion of the joystick
anytime you are at the top-level menu.
Once a sub-menu item is entered for
programming, however, the <up> and
<down> joystick functionality is used for
parameter modification, so remember to
make your backlighting adjustments at the
top-level only. The joystick can either be
nudged successively for step changes in
backlighting or, if held for 1 second, the
backlighting will be continuously increased
or decreased until a desired lighting level is
achieved. Remember that the use of full
backlighting will drain your battery more-so
than no backlighting, so use this feature
sparingly and only as needed, i.e. for night-
time programming. The figure below shows
the effect of successive LCD backlight
increases.
Figure 7-8 Simulated LCD Backlighting in
Night Conditions
8 Model Utilities
All setup params for
up to 8 machines
are stored to
custom model names within the Gyro/Gov.
The model utilities menu is where you can
access these models. You can either load a
new model into active memory, or simply re-
name the existing active model from this
menu. Each of the 8 models have default
names of “Model 1”, “Model 2”, … “Model 8”,
but can each be customized within this
menu if desired. Use the navigation joystick
to move across the top level menus until
“Model Utilities” is found and then apply a
joystick <center push> to enter this menu.
8.1 Loading a New Model
To load a new
model into active
memory (when
either swapping the Gyro/Gov between
machines, or simply to store a different
setup configuration for the same machine),
apply a joystick <center push> to
acknowledge the “Switch Models?” sub-
menu prompt. Once entered, use the
joystick <up> / <down> motion to scroll
through your saved models in memory.
When you see the model name you wish to
load, apply a joystick <center push> to
select this model. If you have not yet
changed your model names, you will see the
default model names, “Model 1”, “Model 2”,
etc… scrolling by with each <up> / <down>
motion. If you have re-named your models,
you will see your custom names, such as,
“Green Synergy N9”, “Yellow Vibe 90”,
“Silver Raptor 50”, etc… as you scroll
through and again simply apply a joystick
<center push> to select the model you wish
to load when you see it.
Once you change the active model, your
Gyro/Gov is now configured for that
helicopter in every respect. It has now
loaded all setup parameters from gear ratio
to servo types to gyro and governor gains to
governor sensor type to governor enable
criteria, gyro and governor sign conventions,
max piro rates, etc… and, after a “Save &
Exit” is performed as described in Section
8.3, will remain configured for this helicopter
10
until a different model is loaded. The total
engine run-time will now only accumulate for
the new active model as well. Once the
programming mode is exited, the new active
model will be displayed in your LCD
Summary View for a constant reminder as to
which model is currently loaded into the
Gyro/Gov’s active memory.
8.2 Renaming the Active Model
To rename a model,
first load the model
you wish to rename
into active memory following the procedure
outlined in Section 8.1. Next use the <left> /
<right> joystick motion to move across the
“Model Utilities” submenu items until
“Rename Model?” is displayed. Apply a
joystick <center push> to enter this
submenu. Within this submenu, the current
name for the active model will be displayed
with a blinking cursor at the position at which
the character can be changed.
Use <left> / <right>
joystick motion to
move the blinking
cursor to the position you wish to change the
character. Then use <up> / <down> joystick
motion to change the character, and note
that an <up> or <down> motion held for
more than one second will result in a rapid
movement through the alpha-numeric
characters. Once a character has been
changed to the desired letter, simply move
right or left to advance to the next letter to
be modified with <left> / <right> joystick
motion. In the image at left, the cursor has
been moved under the “M” in the default
model name, “Model 1”. At this point, any
<up> / <down> motion of the joystick will
begin changing this character as desired.
When you’ve
finished renaming
your model, apply a
joystick <center push> to return to the
“Model Utilities” submenu choices. Note
that it is not important that you center the
name on the screen as it will be auto-
centered for you once the name is complete.
Remember to perform a “Save & Exit” as
described in Section 8.3 to permanently
store these changes to your Gyro/Gov.
8.3 Save & Exit
After either loading
a new active model
or renaming the
active model, you must perform a “Save &
Exit” for this change to be permanently
stored within your Gyro/Gov. From within
the “Model Utilities” submenu, use <left> /
<right> joystick movements until you see the
“Save & Exit” menu displayed. Apply a
joystick <center push> to acknowledge the
save & exit and return to the top level menu
items. Your model utilities changes will now
be permanently written to the Gyro/Gov
memory and will remain in the Gyro/Gov
memory through subsequent power offs.
Note that powering off the Gyro/Gov prior to
this step, or failing to move to this submenu
& applying a “Save & Exit” will result in your
model utilities changes not being
permanently stored to the Gyro/Gov, so
always remember to perform this step.
After performing the
“Save & Exit” and
either toggling
power to the Gyro/Gov or exiting Program
Mode, you will see the new active model
name displayed in your LCD Summary
View, such as that displayed in the image at
left. This custom name will now always
remind you of which model parameters the
Gyro/Gov has loaded into active memory.
9 Servo Setup
The “THR / RUD
Servo Setup” menu
is where you
configure the active model’s servo settings
within the Gyro/Gov. This is an important
step in the setup process as it tells the
Gyro/Gov what type of throttle and rudder
servos you have installed on the active
model, which it uses to determine servo
pulse types to send out, pulse output rates,
and gain adjustments based on the servo
type and servo speed. This is also where
travel limits can be adjusted to prevent
binding on either servo. Use <left> / <right>
joystick movements at the top level menu
hierarchy until “THR / RUD Servo Setup” is
displayed and then apply a joystick <center
push> to enter this menu. Once entered,
11
use <left> / <right> joystick movements
within the “Servo Setup” menu to view the
various submenu servo setup options.
9.1 Throttle Servo
The first servo to setup is the throttle servo,
abbreviated “THR” within the Gyro/Gov
menu displays. You will need to tell the
Gyro/Gov whether this is an analog or digital
servo, if digital whether it uses normal pulse-
width modulation (PWM) or super-narrow
760 μs PWM, the speed of the servo
entered as its time constant to reach 60 deg,
and finally set its travel limits.
9.1.1 Throttle Servo Type
At the “THR Servo Type” display, use <up> /
<down> joystick motion to toggle between
“Analog” and “Digital” to set your throttle
servo type for the active model. Make sure
to only select “Digital” if you are certain you
are using a digital servo, as the higher frame
rate sent to a digital servo could damage an
analog servo.
At left, an “Analog” servo
type is selected.
At left, a “Digital” servo
type is selected.
9.1.2 Throttle PWM Type
At the “THR PWM Type” display, use <up> /
<down> joystick motion to toggle between
“Normal” and “Super Narrow” to set your
throttle servo’s pulse-width modulation
(PWM) type. The “Normal” PWM type is the
most common using a center pulse width of
1.5 ms, while the “Super Narrow” are the
high frame rate servos with a center pulse of
760 μs. It is very unlikely that you will be
using a throttle servo with Super Narrow
PWM as these are generally used only for
the rudder. However, this option is made
available for full universal compatibility. Do
not select the “Super Narrow” PWM type
unless you are actually using this type of
servo, as a digital servo using the “Normal”
PWM type will not function properly
receiving the narrower pulses and could also
be damaged. Note that this option will not
even be available if an “Analog” throttle
servo was selected, in which case the
“Normal” PWM type is used.
At left, the “Normal” 1.5
ms PWM type is
selected.
At left, the “Super
Narrow” 760 μs PWM
type is selected.
9.1.3 Throttle Servo Speed
The next throttle servo parameter to setup is
its speed spec, defined by a time constant to
reach 60 degrees. Typical values for a
standard PWM type digital servo are
anywhere from 0.09 to 0.18 sec. The high
frame rate Super Narrow PWM type digital
servos can be as fast as 0.04 to 0.06 sec.
Use <up> / <down> joystick motion to
change this value to the appropriate speed
for your throttle servo. The range of values
that can be entered here go from 0.01 to
0.25 sec.
At left, a 0.14 sec time
constant has been
entered for the active
model’s throttle servo.
9.1.4 Throttle Travel Limits
The last throttle servo parameter to setup is
its travel limits. Although this functionality
can also be done from most transmitters, it
is provided here as a fine tuning mechanism
that enables you to adjust your throttle
servo’s range of motion so that it reaches its
full extents without binding. The negative
side and the positive side endpoints are both
shown simultaneously, however, only one is
activated at a time based on the throttle stick
position on your transmitter. Move your
throttle stick to min throttle and then use
<up> / <down> joystick motion to adjust the
low end travel limits of your servo. Then
move your throttle stick to max throttle and
adjust the high end servo travel limits. Note
that depending on your transmitter’s throttle
servo sign convention, you may be adjusting
either the negative or positive parameter on
the Gyro/Gov’s “Throttle Limits” display at
each point. It is not important which
parameter is being modified, as sign
conventions will be taken care of later in the
12
“Tx Model Calibration” setup of Section 10.
In this submenu, an upward joystick motion
always increases the digital value displayed
and always represents further servo
movement outward increasing the servo’s
range of motion, while a downward joystick
motion always decreases the digital value
displayed and restricts the range of servo
motion.
At left, the throttle servo
travel limits have been
increased by 2% at the
low end & reduced by 4% on the high end.
9.2 Rudder Servo
The next servo to setup is the rudder (or tail
rotor pitch) servo, abbreviated “RUD” within
the Gyro/Gov menu displays. You will need
to tell the Gyro/Gov whether this is an
analog or digital servo, if digital whether it
uses normal pulse-width modulation (PWM)
or super-narrow 760 μs PWM, the speed of
the servo entered as its time constant to
reach 60 deg, and finally set its travel limits.
9.2.1 Rudder Servo Type
At the “RUD Servo Type” display, use <up> /
<down> joystick motion to toggle between
“Analog” and “Digital” to set your rudder
servo type for the active model. Make sure
to only select “Digital” if you are certain you
are using a digital servo, as the higher frame
rate sent to a digital servo could damage an
analog servo.
At left, a “Digital” servo
type is selected
At left, an “Analog” servo
type is selected.
9.2.2 Rudder PWM Type
At the “RUD PWM Type” display, use <up> /
<down> joystick motion to toggle between
“Normal” and “Super Narrow” to set your
rudder servo’s pulse-width modulation
(PWM) type. The “Normal” PWM type uses
a center pulse width of 1.5 ms, while the
high frame rate “Super Narrow” uses a 760
μs center pulse width. Do not select the
“Super Narrow” PWM type unless you are
actually using this type of servo, as a digital
servo using the “Normal” PWM type will not
function properly receiving the narrower
pulses and could also be damaged. Note
that this option will not even be available if
an “Analog” rudder servo was selected, in
which case the “Normal” PWM type is used.
At left, the “Normal” 1.5
ms PWM type is
selected.
At left, the “Super
Narrow” 760 μs PWM
type is selected.
9.2.3 Rudder Servo Speed
The next rudder servo parameter to setup is
its speed spec, defined by a time constant to
reach 60 degrees. Typical values for a
standard PWM type digital servo are
anywhere from 0.09 to 0.18 sec. The high
frame rate Super Narrow PWM type digital
servos can be as fast as 0.04 to 0.06 sec.
Use <up> / <down> joystick motion to
change this value to the appropriate speed
for your throttle servo. The range of values
that can be entered here go from 0.01 to
0.25 sec.
At left, a 0.06 sec time
constant has been
entered for the active
model’s tail servo.
9.2.4 Rudder Travel Limits
The final rudder servo parameter to setup is
its travel limits. Although this functionality
can also be done from most transmitters, it
is recommended that you set your
transmitter’s rudder endpoint adjusts to +/-
100% for all flight modes and, if using dual
rates, select the highest rate which gives the
maximum servo throw for this setup
procedure. Also note that while in this
mode, all yaw stabilization loops are
disabled and the rudder servo follows the
rudder stick commands directly for setup
purposes. Thus there is no need to enter
gyro rate mode prior to this setup procedure.
The negative side and the positive side
endpoints are both shown simultaneously,
however, only one is activated at a time
based on the rudder stick position on your
transmitter. Move your rudder stick to full
13
left and then use <up> / <down> joystick
motion to adjust the left side travel limits of
your servo. Then move your rudder stick to
full right and adjust the right side servo
travel limits. Note that depending on your
transmitter’s rudder servo sign convention,
you may be adjusting either the negative or
positive parameter on the Gyro/Gov’s
“Rudder Limits” display at each point. It is
not important which parameter is being
modified, as sign conventions will be taken
care of later in the “Tx Model Calibration”
setup of Section 10. In this submenu, an
upward joystick motion always increases the
digital value displayed and always
represents further servo movement outward
increasing the servo’s range of motion, while
a downward joystick motion always
decreases the digital value displayed and
restricts the range of servo motion.
At left, the rudder servo
travel limits have been
reduced by 3% at the left
side & increased by 2% on the right side.
9.3 Save & Exit
Always remember to apply a joystick
<center push> to save your work in a given
menu & return to the top level menu
hierarchy. Until you use a <center push>
and see the words “Saving Model
Params…”, as you are returned to the top
level, the setup for all of these sub-menus
has not yet been permanently saved to the
Gyro/Gov. If you forget this step, your setup
will remain in RAM memory and will persist
as long as the Gyro/Gov is powered on.
However, the setup data will only be
retained on subsequent power cycles after
applying a <center push> and saving your
setup to the Gyro/Gov’s ROM memory.
At left, this display is
provided after a joystick
<center push> saving all
setup parameters on the return to top level menus.
10 Transmitter Model
Calibration
Transmitter Model
Calibration is one of
the most important
setup items of the Gyro/Gov. This menu is
used to map the transmitter stick positions
(and associated pulse widths) to the
Gyro/Gov as well as automatically determine
sign conventions for both the heading hold &
rotor speed governor controllers, eliminating
the need for trial & error based sign
convention setting. This menu is considered
so important that the Gyro/Gov will actually
inhibit your model from taking off (with
control of the throttle channel) if you are
attempting to spool up an active model for
which the “Tx Model Calibration” has not yet
been performed, in an effort to prevent a
possible lift-off with reversed gyro sign
convention that might otherwise have
resulted in a crash. So if you are ever
attempting to lift off into a hover, and as the
blades are spooling up, the engine is
suddenly brought down to an idle, this is an
indication that you have forgotten to perform
the “Tx Model Calibration” for this model.
To perform this calibration, use <left> /
<right> joystick motion from the top level
menus to scroll thru your menu selections
until “Tx Model Calibration” is displayed.
From here, apply a joystick <center push> to
enter “Tx Model Calibration”. Once entered,
you will be prompted through the “Tx Model
Calibration” submenus with each <right>
joystick motion requiring you to 1) move
your throttle to its maximum and hit enter, 2)
move your throttle to its minimum & hit
enter, 3) move your rudder full right & hit
enter, and 4) move your rudder full left & hit
enter. The phrase “Hit Enter” refers to the
application of a joystick <center push> in
each case and should only be performed
when your stick is held at the appropriate
position requested by the Gyro/Gov. Once
complete, a verify window will allow you to
verify the accuracy of the calibration. A
center-push from here will return you to the
top-level menus.
10.1 Throttle Stick Calibration
Push your throttle
stick to its
maximum value and
apply a joystick <center push> once there.
Next bring your
throttle to its
minimum value and
14
apply a joystick <center push> once there.
10.2 Rudder Stick Calibration
Now move your
Rudder stick all the
way to the right and
apply a joystick <center push> once it is
there.
And finally move
your Rudder stick to
the far left and
apply a joystick <center push> once it is
there.
At this point the Gyro-Gov will save your Tx
Model Calibration to the Active Model’s
memory and move you to the next LCD
submenu for calibration testing.
10.3 Tx Model Calibration Testing
The “Verify Tx Sticks” submenu is provided
to test your transmitter model calibration and
verify that the Gyro/Gov is now reading your
transmitter sticks properly. In this
submenu, simply move your throttle &
rudder sticks to their limits & verify that the
digital display corresponds to the position of
each stick. When throttle is at the bottom, it
should display as “0”, and at top should
display as “100”. When rudder is at full left,
it should display as “-100” and at full right
should display as “+100”. Do not be
concerned if you see a “-99” at rudder full
left or “+99” at rudder full right, however,
perform the calibration again if the values
you see do not seem to correspond at all to
this convention. The calibration can be
redone by simply using a <right> joystick
movement to get back to the start of this
menu and you will be prompted to move
throttle to max again, and so forth. Or if you
have already applied a joystick <center
push> and are back at the top level menus,
simply re-enter the “Tx Model Calibration” to
perform it again if necessary. Note that you
want to make sure your flight mode is setup
so that when the throttle stick is brought to
the bottom, it really represents a minimum
throttle condition. For example, you would
not want to be in Idle-Up mode using a V-
shaped throttle curve for this calibration as
the throttle stick to the bottom may represent
50-60% throttle in this flight mode. The
images that follow show the displays you
should expect to see as you move your
throttle & rudder sticks around in the “Verify
Tx Sticks” submenu.
With throttle at minimum
and rudder stick
centered, you should see
values of approximately (0,0) on the display.
With throttle at maximum
and rudder stick
centered, you should see
values of approximately (100,0) on the display.
With throttle at minimum
and rudder full left, you
should see values of
approximately (0, -100)
on the display.
With throttle at minimum
and rudder full right, you
should see values of
approximately (0, +100) on the display.
10.4 Save & Exit
Once properly verified, apply a joystick
<center push> to return to the top level
menus and your Gyro/Gov has now
automatically calculated sign conventions
and transmitter stick extents for the heading
hold and governor controllers.
11 General Model Setup
General Model
Setup is used to set
all parameters that
remain constant for the active model
selected, i.e. parameters such as gear ratio,
governor sensor type, etc… that do not
change with flight mode. Use <left> /
<right> joystick motion along the top level
menus until “General Model Setup” is
displayed. At this point, apply a joystick
<center push> to enter this menu option.
Once in General Model Setup, use <left> /
<right> joystick movements to view the
different submenus to setup and use an
<up> / <down> motion to modify the
selection for the currently displayed
parameter. Remember to apply a joystick
<center push> when finished with General
Model Setup to return to the top level menus
& save all parameters.
15
11.1 Setting Model Type
The first General Model Setup parameter is
the “Model Type”. Use <up> / <down>
joystick movements to select the “Model
Type” that best matches the active model
you are programming. There are many
popular model types to choose from in the
Gyro/Gov database, however, if your model
is not listed simply select from one of the
generic options available, such as “Nitro 50”,
“Nitro 90”, “Gasser”, etc… and move on.
The selection of model type is simply used
to pre-load default setup parameters to
make the programming task easier for the
user, as well as estimate the mass
properties of the helicopter being flown.
At left, the Predator 90
Max was selected as the
model type for the active
mode being programmed.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after selecting an
appropriate model type.
11.2 Setting Gear Ratio
The next parameter to program for the
active model is its gear ratio. If your model
type was in the Gyro/Gov’s database, this
field will hopefully be pre-populated with the
correct gear ratio already. If you need to
modify this parameter, however, simply use
<up> / <down> joystick movements to
change this value to the correct gear ratio
for this model. Note that pushing & holding
the joystick <up> or <down> for more than
one second will result in the value changing
more rapidly so you can get to your desired
value faster. If you are unsure of your
model’s gear ratio, either look this value up
in its user’s manual, or simply count the
teeth on the main & pinion gear and divide
to obtain this value. For example, if the
main gear has 180 teeth and the pinion has
20 teeth, the gear ratio would be 180/20 =
9.0. The Gyro/Gov allows you to enter this
parameter to the hundredths place, so round
off to the nearest hundredth when dividing.
At left, the gear ratio
came up defaulting to
8.18 for the Predator 90
Max, which the user has left alone.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after entering your
model’s gear ratio.
11.3 Main Rotor Direction
The next parameter to program is your
model’s main rotor direction as observed
from above, i.e. looking down on the
helicopter. Most nitro helicopters have
clockwise (CW) spinning main rotors. Some
gassers use counter-clockwise (CCW)
spinning main rotors. Simply look at the
direction of spin & then use <up> / <down>
joystick motion to select the appropriate
value for this submenu item.
At left, the “CW” direction
was selected for this
nitro helicopter.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after entering your
model’s main rotor spin direction.
11.4 Governor Target Direction
The next parameter to program is the
governor target spin direction. The term
“governor target” refers to the target that
your governor sensor is looking for each
revolution, such as a spinning magnet for a
hall-effect sensor or switch, or a spinning
reflective surface for an optical sensor. For
single stage transmissions (most common),
this will be in the opposite direction as your
main rotor direction. But for multi-stage
transmissions you will need to look and
verify the governor target’s spin direction,
again as viewed from above the helicopter
looking down.
At left, the magnet’s spin
direction is programmed
for this model as
counter-clockwise (CCW) as viewed from above.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after entering your
model’s governor target spin direction.
11.5 Gyro Orientation
The gyro orientation will be “Right Side Up”
if you have mounted the Gyro/Gov so that it
16
is sitting right side up on your helicopter. If At left, the CSM RevMax
sensor is selected.
for some reason you needed to mount it
upside-down due (i.e. with the navigation
joystick facing downward), you would need At left, a generic Optical
to change this parameter to “Upside Down” sensor is selected.
with an <up> or <down> joystick movement
to toggle the parameter. This parameter is At left, the Spektrum
used in the automatic determination of the Backplate sensor is
heading controller’s sign convention. selected.

At left, the Gyro/Gov is Use a <right> joystick movement to move to

programmed with the the next submenu after entering your
information that it is model’s governor sensor type.
mounted “Right Side Up” on this model.

Use a <right> joystick movement to move to 11.7 Governor Activation

the next submenu after entering your
Gyro/Gov’s mounting orientation. The next submenu is called “Gov Activation”
and allows you to set the means by which
the governor function will be activated from
11.6 Governor Sensor Type your transmitter. You can use stick
activation only, switch activation only, or
The “GOV Sensor Type” sub-menu allows require that the stick & switch both meet
you to setup the Gyro/Gov to work with the their enable criteria to engage the governor
particular governor sensor installed on the if desired. The specific functionality of these
active model. Use <up> / <down> joystick activation types will be addressed in
movements to select your model’s sensor subsequent submenus. Here it is only
type. If you plan on using your Gyro/Gov necessary to choose whether you want
with multiple helicopters, it is not a problem “Stick Only” activation, “Switch Only”
if each machine uses a different type of activation, or “Stick & Switch” governor
governor sensor. Once setup, all of this activation. Note that if you plan on using
information is stored with your custom model “Switch Only” governor enable logic, the
name and loaded when you swap the governor will not disengage when you hit
Gyro/Gov between helicopters. your “throttle hold” switch to perform an
auto-rotation unless you additionally
The default sensor type program your radio to flip the “governor
is “Gyro/Gov”, the sensor
made by Helo Controls.
enable” switch along with the “throttle hold”.
If this is not done, and you attempt an auto-
At left, the Futaba GV-1 rotation by hitting your “throttle hold” switch
sensor type is selected. only, the governor will continue to run as
long as your “governor enable” switch has it
At left, the Throttle
enabled. For this reason, take extreme
Jockey sensor type is caution in using the “Switch Only” enable
selected. criteria and recognize that this will not
disable your governor until that specific
At left, the CY ATG
sensor type is selected.
switch is thrown. The safest activation
criteria is the “Stick & Switch” which requires
that two criterion be satisfied to keep the
At left, the Aerospire governor running. Also note that in addition
Multi-Gov sensor type is
selected.
to these transmitter based criteria, the
governor additionally will not activate until
At left, the Stator Gator your rotor speed has reached a value of at
sensor tpye is selected. least 70% of the commanded RPM to
prevent a runaway situation while starting on
At left, the CSM RevLock the ground. This 70% criteria is hard-coded
sensor is selected. within the Gyro/Gov and cannot be modified
by the user for safety reasons.

17

At left, the selection
“Stick Only” is made.
At left, the selection
“Switch Only” is made.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after selecting the
governor activation method you prefer.
11.8 Stick Enable
Whether you have selected “Stick Only” or
“Stick & Switch”, this submenu must be
programmed to set the “Stick Enable”
criteria. If you have selected “Switch Only”
this submenu will be marked “N/A” and you
may skip ahead. Note that the Gyro/Gov
employs dual-threshold governor stick
enable logic. One threshold sets the enable
criteria while a second threshold sets the
disable criteria. In this way, you can set a
higher enable criterion, such as 25%, to
enable the governor function and a lower
disable criterion, such as 10%, and thus not
worry that the governor will be inadvertently
disabled if you ever lower the throttle stick to
24% while flying. Use <up> / <down>
joystick motion here to set your governor
enable criteria, on a scale from 0-100% and
realize that this values DOES NOT also set
the disable criteria.
At left, the governor stick
enable is set to 25%
throttle stick.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after setting the governor
stick enable criteria.
11.9 Stick Disable
Next set the governor stick disable criteria,
noting that its maximum value is limited to
the governor enable criteria.
At left, a value of 10% is
used as the governor
disable criteria.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after setting the governor
stick disable criteria. The next three
submenus are simply governor enable logic
tests to help you verify you have
programmed the governor enable logic
correctly.
11.10 Gyro Gain Mode
The next submenu enables you to program
your Gyro Gain Mode as interpreted by the
Gyro/Gov’s heading hold and/or rate
stabilization controllers. Note that the gain
from your transmitter is always interpreted in
the so-called “GY” convention, in which the
center value is taken to be 0% gain, and the
gain increases from center to 100% in each
direction. So, if you are using a Futaba
transmitter setup in “GY” gain mode, your
gain values will correspond precisely to that
of the Gyro/Gov. i.e. A 0% gain (at center
pulse) will also be a 0% gain in the
Gyro/Gov, a 100% at the high end will be
100% in the Gyro/Gov and a 100% at the
low end will be a 100% in the Gyro/Gov as
well. If your transmitter does not use the
“GY” gain mode convention, and only goes
from 0% to 100%, note that your 0% will
correspond to the Gyro/Gov’s low side 100%
gain, your 50% will correspond to the
Gyro/Gov’s 0% gain, and your 100% will
correspond to the Gyro/Gov’s high side
100% gain. The question that is asked in
this submenu is simply whether or not you
wish the Gyro/Gov to change yaw control
modes when the gain crosses from one side
of the spectrum to the other. i.e. When the
gain crosses 0% in “GY” mode or crosses
50% in the normal mode. If you would like
the lower half of your gain channel values to
represent gyro rate mode and the upper half
to represent heading-hold mode, you would
select the “H-Hold / Rate” option here. If
you would simply like to always be in
heading hold mode, regardless of whether
your gain is on the upper half or lower half,
you would select the “H-Hold Only” option
here. Of if you would simply like to always
remain in rate mode regardless of which
side your gain is on, you would select the
“Rate Mode Only” option here.
At left, the Gyro/Gov is
programmed to interpret
a low side gain as Rate
Mode and high side gain as Heading Hold.
At left, the Gyro/Gov is
programmed to stay in
18
Heading Hold mode regardless of gain value.
At left, the Gyro/Gov is
programmed to stay in
Rate Mode regardless of
gain value.
The gain convention used by the Gyro/Gov
as well as how this compares with two
popular transmitter brands in typical setup
modes is shown in Figure 11-1 for
reference. Note that at minimum transmitter
gain (Min Tx Gain), the Gyro/Gov interprets
as 100% gain at the low end, and at max
gain from your transmitter (Max Tx Gain),
the Gyro/Gov interprets as 100% gain at the
high end, and mid gain from your transmitter
is interpreted as 0% gain by the Gyro/Gov.
Figure 11-1 Gyro/Gov Vs Transmitter
Gain Conventions
If you have setup your “Gyro Gain Mode” to
either “H-Hold Only” or “Rate Mode Only” a
100% at the low end (Min Tx Gain) or a
100% at the high end (Max Tx Gain) would
be equivalent. If, however, you have setup
your “Gyro Gain Mode” as “H-Hold / Rate”
the min transmitter gain would be interpreted
as 100% gain in Rate Mode and max
transmitter gain would be interpreted as
100% gain in H-Hold Mode by the Gyro/Gov.
And regardless of how your “Gyro Gain
Mode” is configured, the mid transmitter gain
(Mid Tx Gain) will be interpreted as 0% gain
by the Gyro/Gov effectively disabling all
electronic yaw stabilization and/or heading
hold control. The gyro mode functionality
versus gain range as interpreted by the
Gyro/Gov is shown in Figure 11-2 for each
“Gyro Gain Mode” selected for clarity.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after selecting your
Gyro Gain Mode for this model.
Figure 11-2 Gyro Mode Functionality Vs
Gain Range
11.11 Tx Gain Function
The next submenu enables you to program
the functionality of your transmitter’s “gain”
channel. The Gyro/Gov can be configured
to interpret this signal as either a gyro gain
adjust or an RPM bias from your pre-
programmed governor target values. If used
as a “Gyro Gain”, the value from your
transmitter is used to adjust the gyro gain
within the Gyro/Gov, with a center pulse (of
0% in GY mode) value taken as 0% gain…
i.e. no yaw stabilization control. If used as
an “RPM Bias”, the value from your
transmitter is used to digitally bias the RPM
in either the positive or negative direction
from center pulse. i.e. In this mode, a center
pulse (of 0% in GY mode) is interpreted as
no RPM bias, while a value of 40% on the
high side in GY mode would be interpreted
as “add 40 RPM to the commanded values)
and a value of 40$ on the low side in GY
mode would be interpreted as “subtract 40
RPM from the commanded values”. So in
the “RPM Bias” mode, if your Tx gain was
set at +40 on the high side and your RPM
settings for Normal Mode, Idle Up 1, and
Idle Up2, were 1500, 1700, 2000
respectively, your new commanded values
would be 1540, 1740, and 2040 for each
flight mode. In this mode, the gyro gain is
simply using its programmed values and
ignores this signal completely.
At left, the “Tx Gain
Function” is programmed
to act as a gyro gain.
At left, the “Tx Gain
Function” is programmed
to act as an RPM bias.
19
To further illustrate the effect of the “Tx Gain
Function”, Figure 11-3 is provided. The top
blue arrow labeled “Gyro/Gov” represents
the gain value from the transmitter as
interpreted by the Gyro/Gov, regardless of
mode or configuration. The next two blue
arrows labeled “Gyro Gain” and “RPM Bias”
illustrate how the Gyro/Gov will use this
value depending on the configuration of the
“Tx Gain Function” from this submenu. If set
to “Gyro Gain”, a gyro gain factor will be
applied, where a 50% applies a factor of 1.0
using the nominal factory default Gyro/Gov
gains, a 100% in either direction will apply a
factor of 2.0 on the factory defaults, a 25%
gain will apply a factor of 0.5, etc… and the
gyro modes will be interpreted as configured
by the “Gyro Gain Mode” submenu. If set to
“RPM Bias”, the gyro gains will not be
altered by the remote Tx value at all, and the
value will be used as a delta applied to your
programmed target RPM’s. With this setup,
you can remotely adjust your RPM targets
by up to +/-100 RPM.
Figure 11-3 Tx Gain Function Diagram
11.12 Save & Exit
Once finished with
General Model
Setup remember to
apply a joystick <center push> to save all
parameters & return to the top level menus.
12 Flight Mode Setup
The Flight Mode
Setup menu is used
to set all
parameters that can be changed as a
function of flight mode, i.e. Normal, Idle-Up
1, and Idle-Up 2. Use <left> / <right>
joystick movements to find the Flight Mode
Setup menu and apply a joystick <center
push> here to enter Flight Mode Setup.
Once entered, use <left> / <right> joystick
movements to move across the submenu
options, use <up> / <down> joystick
movements to change selections, and use
your 3-position flight mode switch on your
transmitter to view the settings of each
submenu. Note that the symbols “(N)”, “(1)”,
and “(2)” are used to let you know whether
you are setting a value for Normal Mode,
Idle-Up1, or Idle-Up2. To change settings,
an <up> / <down> motion of the joystick will
modify the submenu’s selection for the
currently displayed flight mode. Remember
to apply a joystick <center push> when
finished with Flight Mode Setup to both
return to the top level menus & save your
work.
12.1 Flying Style
The first flight mode parameter is “Flying
Style” which effectively sets both the gyro &
governor controller’s default base gains
based on this selection to produce a
particular flying quality for this flight mode.
The choices here are “Recreational”, “3-D”,
“Scale”, “Camera Ship” ,and “FAI” which can
be selected for each flight mode with <up> /
<down> movements of the joystick while in
the corresponding flight mode.
Figure 12-1 Flying Style Yaw Rate
Responses
Figure 12-1 gives a representative look at
how your helicopter will approach a pirouette
rate of 500 deg/s under several different
flying styles. In this example, the servo is up
against its limit during the acceleration
20
phase, however, the difference in the
responses can be seen as the final value is
approached.
At left, Normal mode set
to “Recreational” flying
style.
At left, Idle-Up 1 mode
set to “3-D” flying style.
At left, Idle-Up 2 mode
set to “FAI” flying style.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after selecting your
flying styles for each flight mode.
12.2 Setting Target RPM
The next flight mode setup submenu lets
you to set the target RPM values for each
flight mode. The phrase “Target RPM” is
used as a reminder that the commanded
value may not be achievable if your engine
is not tuned properly. For each flight mode
selected with your transmitter, use <up> /
<down> joystick movements on your
Gyro/Gov to set the desired RPM for each
mode. Note that a push & hold on the
joystick for more than one second will initiate
rapid value changes to help you get to your
desired value quicker.
At left, Normal mode set
to 1500 RPM.
At left, Idle-Up 1 mode
set to 1700 RPM.
At left, Idle-Up 2 mode
set to 1600 RPM.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after selecting target
RPMs for each flight mode.
12.3 Governor Mode
The next submenu allows you to set the
Governor Mode for each flight mode. The
choices here are “Governor”, “Limiter” or
“Off”. The governor mode operates at all
time once enabled by the transmitter &
activated. The limiter mode kicks in only
when you have exceeded your target RPM
and acts to bring the RPM back under this
limit. In the off mode, neither the governor
or limiter will run in this flight mode,
regardless of stick and/or switch positions.
Use <up> / <down> joystick movements to
set the governor mode you would like for
each flight mode, selected by your
transmitter.
At left, Normal mode is
set to run in governor
mode.
At left, Idle-Up 1 mode is
set to run in inlimiter
mode.
At left, Idle-Up 2 mode is
set to run in governor
mode.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after selecting governor
modes for each flight mode.
12.4 Electronic Correlator
The electronic correlator uses the
transmitter’s throttle curves to feed-forward
this predicted throttle position within either
the governor and/or limiter controllers. This
functions just as on a full-sized turbine
helicopter, providing phase lead to the rotor
speed governor control system, aiding in the
task of holding constant rotor RPM if
enabled. This feature should not be enabled
until you have properly setup your throttle
curves for the active model in use.
At left, Normal mode
does not use the
electronic correlator.
At left, Idle-Up 1 is
programmed to use the
transmitter’s throttle
curves by enabling the electronic correlator.
At left, Idle-Up 2 is
programmed to use the
transmitter’s throttle
curves by enabling the electronic correlator.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after selecting whether
21
you would like the electronic correlator Expo 2 selection provides a little more
enabled for each flight mode. exponential to provide even more resolution
around center stick, while still reaching the
12.5 Max Yaw Rate maximum value at the extents. These
modes are beneficial when using extremely
The next submenu allows you to digitally set high maximum yaw rates, such as 1,600
the maximum yaw rate that a full rudder deg/s so that the rudder stick is not so
stick deflection will command. As each touchy around center stick.
gyro is pre-calibrated, you can set values in
At left, the Normal mode
units of degrees per second (deg/s) to get a is set to use a Linear
very predictable pirouette rate for a rudder curve.
maximum rudder stick deflection. For
example, setting a value of 360 deg/s here
means that at full rudder stick deflection At left, the Idle-Up 1
your helicopter will execute a pirouette rate mode is set to use Expo
2.
of precisely 360 deg/s, or one revolution per
second. Setting a value of 720 deg/s would
give you a pirouette rate of two revolutions At left, the Idle-Up 2
per second. Setting a value of 1440 deg/s mode is set to use Expo
would give you a pirouette rate of four 1.
revolutions per second. The Gyro/Gov’s
maximum sensing range is 1600 deg/s,
beyond the pirouette capabilities of most
helicopters. Use the <up> / <down> joystick
movements here to set your maximum yaw
rates for each flight mode.

At left, a max yaw rate of

360 deg/s is set for
Normal mode.

At left, a max yaw rate of

1440 deg/s is set for
Idle-Up 1.

Figure 12-2 Rudder Curves

At left, a max yaw rate of
720 deg/s is set for Idle-
Up 2.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting the
maximum yaw rate for each flight mode.
12.6 Rudder Curves
The next submenu allows you to apply a
shaping function to your rudder stick
commands. The choices here are “Linear”,
“Expo 1”, and “Expo 2”. The linear performs
a one to one mapping from your transmitter
stick and does not modify the shape at all.
The Expo 1 provides a small amount of
exponential to your rudder stick to provide
more resolution around center stick. The
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting your
rudder shaping function type for each flight
mode.
At this point, DO NOT FORGET to apply a
joystick <center push> to save all your
settings to the Gyro/Gov’s permanent
memory & return to the top level menus. As
a reminder, this is repeated in the next
section entitled “Save & Exit”.
12.7 Save & Exit
Once finished with
Flight Mode Setup
remember to apply

22
a joystick <center push> to save all
parameters & return to the top level menu.
13 Advanced Setup
Options
13.1 Gyro Gain (P)
The next submenu lets you directly modify
the gyro’s proportional gain. The heading
hold & rate stabilization controllers are both
affected by this gain adjustment. This is
also the gain you can adjust remotely via
your transmitter if in the “Gyro Gain” mode.
If you do not wish to use an additional
receiver channel for remote gain control,
however, you can modify this parameter
through your LCD Programming Interface
instead. The proportional gain is primarily
responsible for setting the bandwidth of this
controller. The default proportional gains for
all controllers are at 50%, and should not be
adjusted unless necessary. The setting of
individual controller gains is considered an
advanced technique that should only be
done by experienced users.
The Normal mode gyro
proportional gain is set to
50%.
The Idle-Up 1 mode gyro
proportional gain is set to
50%.
The Idle-Up 2 mode gyro
proportional gain is set
to 50%.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting your gyro
proportional gains for each flight mode.
13.2 Gyro Gain (I)
The next submenu lets you directly modify
the gyro’s integral gain. The heading hold
controller is only affected by this gain
adjustment, as there is no integration in the
gyro rate mode. The integrator gain is
primarily responsible for the speed at which
the controller finds trim. If you would like to
keep your yaw axis bandwidth as high as
possible, but notice some lightly damped
oscillation in your responses, you may want
to reduce this gain before adjusting the
proportional gain to keep your bandwidth
high. What you will sacrifice with a reduced
integral gain is a reduced disturbance
rejection capability to gusts and/or
aggressive flight maneuvers. The default
integral gains for all controllers are at 50%,
and should not be adjusted unless
necessary. The setting of individual
controller gains is considered an advanced
technique that should only be done by
experienced users.
The Normal mode gyro
integral gain is set to
50%.
The Idle-Up 1 mode gyro
integral gain is set to
50%.
The Idle-Up 2 mode gyro
integral gain is set to
50%.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting your gyro
integral gains for each flight mode.
13.3 Gain Adapt with RPM
The next submenu provides a choice as to
whether or not you would like the Gyro/Gov
to dynamically correct its gyro gain on the fly
with RPM. Since the yaw torque is
generated by the tail rotor, whose thrust
increases with the square of rotor speed, the
effective gyro gain also changes with the
square of rotor speed as well. This means
that any over-speeds, under-speeds, RPM
changes with flight mode, mean your
effective gyro gain is changing as well. By
enabling the “Gain Adapt w RPM” feature,
the Gyro/Gov compensates for this effect by
adjusting gyro gain with changes in RPM on
the fly. Use <up> / <down> joystick
movements at this submenu to either enable
or disable this feature for each flight mode.
At left, Normal mode is
set to enable gain adapt
with RPM.
At left, Idle-Up 1 mode is
set to enable gain adapt
with RPM.
23
 At left, Idle-Up 2 mode is
set to enable gain adapt
with RPM.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting your gain
adapt preferences for each flight mode.
13.4 Clockwise Pirouette Braking
If you would like additional braking from a
clockwise pirouette, you can control this by
increasing the parameter in this submenu.
If, on the other hand, you feel there is too
much braking already, and would like a
slightly looser stop from a clockwise
pirouette, you can get this effect by
decreasing this parameter and entering a
negative value. The valid range of values
go from -25% to +25%. Use <up> / <down>
joystick movements to modify this parameter
for each flight mode.
The Normal mode is set
for 0% additional CW
braking.
Idle-Up 1 mode is set for
5% additional CW
braking.
Idle-Up 2 mode is set for
0% additional CW
braking.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting your CW
Piro Braking preferences for each flight
mode.
13.5 Counter-Clockwise Pirouette
Braking
If you would like additional braking from a
counter-clockwise pirouette, you can control
this by increasing the parameter in this
submenu. If, on the other hand, you feel
there is too much braking already, and
would like a slightly looser stop from a
counter-clockwise pirouette, you can get this
effect by decreasing this parameter and
entering a negative value. The valid range
of values go from -25% to +25%. Use <up>
/ <down> joystick movements to modify this
parameter for each flight mode.
The Normal mode is set
for 0% additional CW
braking
Idle-Up 1 mode is set for
5% additional CW
braking
Idle-Up 2 mode is set for
0% additional CW
braking
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting your CCW
Piro Braking preferences for each flight
mode.
13.6 Throttle to Rudder Mixing
The next submenu, “Throttle to Rudder
Mixing”, allows you to apply a throttle to
rudder mixing term in a way not possible
with transmitter mixing. As opposed to
setting up throttle to rudder mixing on the
transmitter, where a non-zero yaw rate
command would end up sent to the gyro
controller, this type of mixing is applied in a
feed-forward fashion (similar to the way in
which your throttle curves are fed forward in
the electronic correlator) while the yaw rate
command remains unchanged. For best
results, it is recommended that you setup
this parameter while in gyro rate mode.
From a hover, execute a rapid climb-out
maneuver & watch how much of a yaw
excursion takes place. Increase your
throttle to rudder mixing term until this yaw
excursion is minimized and note that only
positive values are allowed here as the sign
convention is determined from your model’s
main rotor spin direction entered in General
Model Setup. Once a throttle to rudder
mixing term is found that minimizes yaw
excursion to a rapid climb-out while in gyro
rate mode, you can leave this value in place
while flying in heading hold mode. This
correction is now applied in a feed-forward
fashion giving a pre-emptive rudder action
before the heading controller even senses
an error. Once again, use <up> / <down>
joystick movements to modify this mixing
term.
At left, the Normal mode
has 0% throttle to rudder
mixing.
At left, the Idle-Up 1
mode has 12% throttle to
rudder mixing.
24
 At left, the Idle-Up 2 the adjustment of the governor controller’s
mode has 12% throttle to
proportional gain, with the nominal value
rudder mixing.
being 50%. Use the <up> / <down> joystick
movements to modify this gain for each flight
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance mode if desired.
to the next submenu after setting your
At left, Normal mode is
throttle to rudder mixing terms for each flight set with the default 50%
mode. P gain.

At left, Idle-Up 1 mode is

set with the default 50%
13.7 Rudder to Throttle Mixing P gain.

The next mixing term available is the At left, Idle-Up 2 mode is

“Rudder to Throttle Mixing” which enables
pre-emptive throttle control action with large
yaw rate commands. This mixing term is
also fed forward in the governor control loop
and sums with the electronic correlator if
enabled. In this way, both your throttle
curves and rudder commands are used as
pre-emptive throttle control mechanisms
adding lead to your governor controller
without affecting its stability. Note that with
this mixing term, as well, the sign convention
is automatically taken care of and you are
prompted only for a mixer magnitude for this
model. Use the <up> / <down> joystick
movements to modify this mixing term for
each flight mode.
At left, Normal mode is
set with 0% rudder to
throttle mixing.
At left, Idle-Up 1 is set
with 16% rudder to
throttle mixing.
At left, Idle-Up 2 is set
with 16% rudder to
throttle mixing
set with the default 50%
P gain.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after adjusting the
governor controller’s proportional gain for
each flight mode if desired.
13.9 Gov Gain (I)
The next submenu item is the governor
controller’s integral gain. The default value
for this gain, as well, is 50% and should only
be modified by experienced modelers if
necessary. None of the Gyro/Gov’s
controller gains are expected to require
adjustment, however, the ability to modify
them is left in place for maximum flexibility.
Use the <up> / <down> joystick movements
to modify this gain for each flight mode if
desired.
At left, Normal mode is
set with the default 50% I
gain
At left, Idle-Up 1 mode is
set with the default 50% I
gain.

Use a <right> joystick movement to advance At left, Idle-Up 2 mode is

to the next submenu after setting your set with the default 50% I
gain.
rudder to throttle mixing terms for each flight
mode.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
13.8 Gov Gain (P) to the next submenu after adjusting the
governor controller’s integral gain for each
As with the gyro controller, you can also flight mode if desired.
modify the individual gains of the governor
controller if desired, although this is
considered an advanced technique and 13.10 Gov Ramp Up Time
should only be performed by experienced
modelers if desired. This submenu allows

25
The next submenu item is the “Gov Ramp
Up Time” which allows you to set the
Gyro/Gov’s RPM command fader’s delay
time when switching from one RPM to
another. A value of 3 seconds in Normal
mode, 1 second in Idle-Up1, and 1 second
in Idle-Up2 would result in a 3 second fade
to reach the Normal mode RPM, and 1
second fade to reach either the Idle-Up1 or
Idle-Up2 commands. If no fade is preferred,
these values can be set to zero, and the
new command will be taken instantly by the
Gyro/Gov in which case the only delay will
be that of the rotor’s response time in
reaching the new RPM command.
At left, the Normal mode
is set with a 3s ramp up
time.
At left, the Idle-Up 1
mode is set with a 1s
ramp up time.
At left, the Idle-Up 2
mode is set with a 1s
ramp up time.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu after setting the
governor ramp up times for each flight
mode.
13.11 RPM Frame of Ref
The last flight mode submenu is the “RPM
Frame of Ref” which allows you to enable
the Gyro/Gov to transform rotor speed
measurements from the body relative sensor
frame into an inertial coordinate frame for
more accurate RPM measurements while
executing a rapid pirouette maneuver. Use
<up> / <down> joystick movements to toggle
between “Relative” or “Inertial” for this menu
option.
At left, the Normal mode
is set to use the body
relative RPM
measurements.
For more aggressive
flying in Idle-Up 1 mode,
the Gyro/Gov is set to
transform RPM measurements to an Inertial frame.
The Idle-Up 2 mode is
also configured to
transform RPM
measurements to an inertial frame of reference.
At this point, DO NOT FORGET to apply a
joystick <center push> to save all your
settings to the Gyro/Gov’s permanent
memory & return to the top level menus. As
a reminder, this is repeated in the next
section entitled “Save & Exit”.
14 Setup Verification
14.1 Governor Sensor Signal
Strength
The “Gov Sensor Value” sub-menu allows
you to see the digitally sampled value
coming from your governor sensor. Use this
sub-menu to both a) ensure you have
selected the correct governor sensor type,
and b) to verify that the distance between
your sensor and magnet is adequate. In the
case of a digital sensor, you want to verify
that the sensed value changes from 0% to
100% as you rotate the engine moving the
target magnet (or reflective surface for
optical systems) over the governor sensor.
It is not important whether the value reads
0% or 100% when the target area is directly
over your sensor. It is only important that it
changes value only once as it crosses over
your sensor. If you see odd behavior, such
as multiple changes from one pass, chances
are you have selected the wrong governor
sensor type. In this case, use the <left>
joystick motion to go back to the previous
submenu & select the correct governor
sensor type. In the case of an analog
sensor type, it is again unimportant whether
you see a high value or a low value when
you move the target area over the sensor. It
is only important that you see an adequate
change in values. The low value must be
less than 20% and the high value must be
greater than 70% for proper sensing. If you
are not getting proper value changes adjust
the spacing between the governor sensor
and its target. After using this sub-menu to
verify you have selected the proper sensor
type & set the spacing properly, the next
sub-menu will let you verify the overall
governor functionality.
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Using an analog sensor:
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
With an analog sensor, the next submenu after verifying you get one
such as the GV-1, a
governor “hit” per revolution of your engine.
typical value when
magnet is away from sensor might be 4%.
14.3 RPM
With an analog sensor,
such as the GV-1, a The RPM display is simply used to verify
typical value when
magnet is directly over sensor might be 96%. that your RPM’s are being calculated
Using a digital sensor: properly. It is not advised that you run the
engine while viewing this menu. Instead,
With a digital sensor, simply rotate your engine cooling fan left
such as the one supplied and right past your sensor magnet and verify
with your Gyro/Gov, a that reasonable values are being produced.
value of 0% results when target is overhead.
If, for instance, the RPM value continued to
With a digital sensor, read 0, you would know you had a problem.
such as the one supplied
with your Gyro/Gov, a An RPM of 25 is
value of 100% results when target is away.
displayed at left.
Use a <right> joystick movement to move to
the next submenu after testing & verifying
your governor sensor strength with target
14.4 Governor Stick Activation
above & away from sensor. Test

14.2 Governor “Hit Count” If you have selected either “Stick Only” or
“Stick & Switch” governor activation, this
submenu will be active & allows you to move
The next submenu is called “Gov Hit Count”
the throttle stick around & view whether the
and is used as another aid in verifying that
governor would be enabled based on the
your governor sensor and target and
stick criterion only. So if you have selected
Gyro/Gov are configured properly for the
“Stick & Switch”, the switch position is
governor function to work. In this mode, a
ignored in this test phase. You are simply
counter variable is simply incremented every
attempting to verify that the enable logic is
time the Gyro/Gov senses the governor
working properly from the point of view of
target on your model. This value should
the governor stick only.
only increment by one each time the target
is moved past your sensor. If this is not With throttle at bottom
happening, something is not configured (0%), the governor is
properly. If you see odd behavior when you disabled.
rotate the governor target past your sensor,
such as the value running up 5 or 6 counts As throttle advances to
22%, the governor is still
in one pass, you have most likely selected disabled.
the wrong sensor type. In this case, go back
two submenus, change your sensor type, After crossing the 25%
and try this experiment again. When you activation threshold, the
have verified that this value increments by governor is now enabled.
one with each pass of your governor target,
Lowering throttle to 12%
you can be assured that your Gyro/Gov is the governor remains
configured properly and your governor enabled
hardware is also configured properly.
Lowering throttle to 9%
the governor is now
At left, the “Gov Hit disabled
Count” has accumulated
a value of 7 after the
user has moved the target passed sensor 7 times.

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Once you are satisfied that the logic meets
your expectations, use a <right> joystick
movement to advance to the next submenu.
14.5 Governor Switch Activation
Test
If you have selected either “Switch Only” or
“Stick & Switch” governor activation, this
submenu will be active & allows you to flip
the switch you have plugged into the “Gov
Enable” port of the Gyro/Gov and verify the
governor enable logic is working as
expected. You will see the words “Gov
Enabled” for one switch position and the
words “Gov Disabled” for the other switch
position. If you wish to reverse the
enable/disable switch direction, do this at
your transmitter end by reversing this switch
function.
At left, the governor is
disabled when switch is
flipped back.
At left, the governor is
enabled when switch is
flipped forward.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu if satisfied with the
switch enable tests.
14.6 Governor Switch/Stick
Activation Test
If you have selected
the “Stick & Switch”
governor activation
method (recommended by Helo Controls),
this submenu will let you verify the
combinational logic of stick & switch to
enable and/or disable the governor. From
within this submenu, move your throttle stick
up and down while flipping the governor
enable switch back & forth and verify that
the governor enable logic all works as
anticipated within the Gyro/Gov. If either
“Stick Only” or “Switch Only” was selected,
this submenu will show an “N/A” on its
second line display.
At left, the current
combination of stick &
switch positions would
disable the governor.
At left, the current
combination of stick &
switch positions would
enable the governor if rotor speed >= 70% desired.
Use a <right> joystick movement to advance
to the next submenu if fully satisfied with the
“Stick & Switch” enable tests.
14.7 Yaw Rate Commands
The yaw rate command menu is provided as
a quick verification of what calibrated yaw
rate your stick movements will command.
Move the rudder stick left & right while in this
menu to see what pirouette rate will be
commanded at each stick position.
At left, the rudder
stick commands
266 deg/s.
15 System Stats
The last top level
menu item is
entitled “System
Stats.” This menu simply provides governor
stats, pirouette rate stats, and total engine
run time for the active model for your review.
From the top level menus, apply a <center
push> with your joystick to enter “System
Stats”.
15.1 Avg RPM with Standard Dev
The first system statistic is average sensed
RPM for each flight mode. Use your 3-
position flight mode switch to toggle
between flight modes and view the average
RPM and associated standard deviation
calculated over the course of your flights
while in each particular flight mode. Note
that these values are only computed while
the governor is engaged. Also note that
these computations are cumulative over all
flights, so if specific stats are wished to be
accumulated over one particular flight, you
must first reset the system stats to clear
them from memory. Some example displays
for this mode are shown below.
In Normal mode, the
average sensed RPM
was 1500.2 with a
standard deviation of 8.
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 sensed.
In Idle-Up 1 mode, the
average sensed RPM In Idle-Up 1 mode, a CW
was 1700.4 with a 1260 deg/s piro rate was
standard deviation of 12. sensed.

In Idle-Up 2 mode, the In Idle-Up 2 mode, a CW

average sensed RPM 680 deg/s piro rate was
was 1599.8 with a sensed.
standard deviation of 8.
15.4 Max Counter-Clockwise Yaw
15.2 Max RPM Rate

The next system statistic to view is the
maximum RPM sensed while in each flight
mode. Note that seeing maximum values
higher than the standard deviations shown
in the previous submenu is normal, as the
standard deviation represents the RPM
range that was remained within
approximately 63% of the time. A direction through the course of your flights.
momentary dip or overspeed that may have
only occurred for a fraction of a second will
be captured and stored in the “Max Sensed
RPM” submenu for review. Use your 3-
position flight mode switch to view each
maximum.
In Normal mode, the
maximum sensed RPM
was 1518.
In Idle-Up 1 mode, the
maximum sensed RPM
was 1734.
In Idle-Up 2 mode, the
maximum sensed RPM
was 1624.
15.3 Max Clockwise Yaw Rate
The next system statistic for review is the
maximum clockwise yaw rate sensed for
each flight mode. Note that the maximum
yaw rate set for each flight mode may not be
physically achievable by your helicopter,
depending on several factors. The values
shown are simply the maximum clockwise
yaw rates measured in the course of your
flights since a system stats reset. If you
notice you are not achieving as fast a yaw
rate as you had hoped, try increasing rotor
speed and testing again, as you will be able
to achieve a higher pirouette rate with
increased rotor head speed.
In Normal mode, a CW
315 deg/s piro rate was
The maximum pirouette rate in the counter-
clockwise direction is also kept track of
independently, for reference. These values
have negative signs representing the
counter-clockwise direction and will show
you the maximum pirouette rate your
helicopter reached in the counter-clockwise
In Normal mode, a CCW
piro rate of -345 deg/s
was sensed.
In Idle-Up 1, a CCW piro
rate of -1048 deg/s was
sensed.
In Idle-Up 2, a CCW piro
rate of -694 deg/s was
sensed.
15.5 Time on Engine
Any time your model’s engine is running, the
Gyro/Gov is keeping track of its run-time.
This run-time can be viewed for the active
model in your Gyro/Gov’s memory by
viewing the “Time on Engine” display in this
submenu. The engine runtime is given in
hours, minutes, and seconds. You can use
this total engine runtime to help with
scheduling maintenance tasks and reset the
timer when that maintenance has been
performed. Or simply use to find out how
much run time you are getting out of a gallon
of fuel.
At left, the total engine
run time shows 1 hour,
26 minutes, and 18
seconds on the active model loaded in memory.

29
15.6 Reset System Stats
If you wish to reset the system stats
(excluding total engine runtime), this
submenu allows that option. From here,
with one joystick <center push> you can
reset the governor stats and pirouette rate
stats in order to have them re-calculated
fresh for your next flight. Do not worry about
this clearing your total engine runtime, as
this has its own submenu selection.
At left, the submenu
display asks if you would
like to reset system
stats. A joystick <center push> would achieve this.
15.7 Reset Engine Time
If you would like to reset your total engine
runtime, and start counting from zero again,
the “Reset Eng Time?” submenu selection
allows you to do this with a joystick <center
push> from this submenu. Note that all
other Models in memory will not be affected
by this… only the active model’s engine
runtime will be cleared.
At left, the submenu
display asks if you would
like reset the total engine
runtime. A joystick
<center push> would achieve this.
16 Preflight Checklist
Before each flight:
• Always check the transmitter and
receiver battery voltage to ensure it
is adequate to complete the flight
• Power on the transmitter and
Gyro/Gov with the transmitter’s
rudder stick centered. Do not touch
the Gyro/Gov, helicopter or rudder
stick for at least 3 seconds as the
Gyro/Gov initializes. If the
helicopter is inadvertantly bumped,
turn the system power off and on
and allow it to re-initialize properly.
• Do a quick control surface test to be
sure all servos are functioning and
moving the swashplate, tail rotor
pitch, and throttle correctly.
• Verify that the gyro is operating
correctly by quickly twitching it in
each direction and ensuring the tail
rotor pitch is compensating in the
correct direction. If this direction is
incorrect, perform the “Tx Model
Calibration” over again, or the model
could yaw uncontrollably in flight.
• Verify that the governor sensor is
plugged in and still at the correct
distance from engine cooling fan.
• Always exit programming mode by
applying a joystickc center push
held for at least one second from
the top level menus before flying.
17 In-Flight Setup
After setting up your Gyro/Gov for flight and
performing the preflight checklist, you will
want to perform the following in-flight setup
procedures on your first flight tests.
17.1 Rudder Servo Setup
Although the Gyro/Gov has Heading Hold
capability, and will find rudder trim itself, it is
still beneficial to ensure your tail rotor pitch
is set at trim when the servo horn is at a 90
deg angle. This ensures a linear action
about trim when corrections from one side or
the other. You would not want to be
operating, for instance, in a situation where
the servo has to remain almost fully
deflected just to reach the tail rotor’s trim
angle or the yaw response will be very
asymmetric and corrections to the deflected
side will have diminished control authority.
To perform the rudder trim setup, set the
Gyro/Gov’s “Gyro Gain Mode” in Rate mode
only from the “General Model Setup” menu,
configure your helicopter with approximately
8 deg of tail rotor pitch at center rudder stick,
and liftoff into a hover. Be prepared for
possible adverse yawing motion at first and
use rudder action to correct. Note the
direction you were needing to apply a rudder
correction, land the helicopter, and nudge
your rudder trim in that direction to correct.
Repeat this technique, lifting into a hover
30
again, noting the required rudder stick
direction to hold zero yaw rate, land and
nudge your rudder trim in that direction until
you can liftoff into a hover and the helicopter
does not yaw anymore, or at least has a
very low yaw drift rate. Once this is done,
you will want to re-position your tail rotor
servo such that the trim position you have
found is obtained while the rudder servo is
at a 90 deg angle as illustrated in Figure
17-1. This will ensure a symmetric, linear
action about the helicopter’s tail rotor pitch
trim angle and give you the capability to
switch between Rate mode and Heading
Hold mode while in flight.
Figure 17-1 Rudder Servo at Trim
The benefits of Rate mode include an
extremely snappy response with virtually
zero overshoot from a hover, and near
hands-off the rudder stick flying while in fast
forward flight as the tail rotor and/or vertical
stabilizer create a weather-vaning effect
allowing the helicopter to be flown around
with nearly bank-only inputs, not requiring
excessive turn coordination between the
lateral cyclic and rudder sticks. The
helicopter also flies with minimum drag in
this mode as the body will self align with the
relative wind due to the weather-vaning
effect. In advanced rotorcraft UAV’s this
mode is often referred to as Airspeed Mode
and used to conserve power and increase
endurance as flight with no sideslip
minimizes drag, and hence, power required.
17.2 Throttle to Rudder Mixing
Before switching out of Rate mode, this is
also a good time to setup your Throttle to
Rudder Mixing from the “Advanced Setup
Options” menu. Although you may be
accustomed to gyro’s requiring that you
disable all throttle to rudder mixing on your
transmitter so that the gyro does not
interpret this as a non-zero yaw rate
command, the Gyro/Gov allows a throttle to
rudder mix in a feed-forward fashion since it
is aware of both your throttle and rudder
stick positions. For example, during a rapid
punch-out maneuver with rudder stick
centered, the Gyro/Gov is aware that the
desired yaw rate is zero while a large throttle
command was applied, and can apply feed-
forward rudder action ahead of the Rate
mode or Heading Hold controllers while
leaving the rate mode command ZERO.
Note that you will still want to ensure all
transmitter mixes to the rudder channel are
disabed.
To setup this mixing term, make sure you
are in gyro Rate mode with 0% throttle to
rudder mixing initially set on the Gyro/Gov.
From a hover, perform a few rapid climb-
outs and observe the yaw transient that
occurs from this maneuver. Land and
connect your LCD Programming Interface to
adjust the throttle to rudder mixing term.
You will not need to worry about the sign,
only the magnitude, as the main rotor
direction has already been programmed
during your General Model Setup. Increase
the throttle to rudder mixing and repeat this
test until you have found the mixing value
that best attenuates the yaw excursions. At
this point, you can leave this value set in
your Gyro/Gov for either that flight mode
only, or copy it to each flight mode so you
will have this same level of throttle to rudder
control mixing for each flight mode while in
either Rate mode or Heading Hold. In
Heading Hold mode, this allows the rudder
to respond to a fast punch-out maneuver
before a yaw rate is even sensed by the
gyro system.
17.3 Pirouette Braking
With the Gyro/Gov setup in either Rate or
Heading Hold mode, from a hover perform a
series of heading turns in each direction
brought to a rapid stop and observe the
stopping behaviour. If you notice one side
seems slightly looser than the other, use the
CW or CCW Piro Braking gains from the
“Advanced Setup Options” menu to get a
more consistant result to each side. If, for
instance, you notice that when braking from
31
a clockwise rotation the response is slightly
looser than counter-clockwise, increase the
“CW Piro Braking” gain to compensate. This
gain is only applied during the braking
maneuver, and nominal gains resume once
the yaw rate has been arrested.

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