Setting up the Futaba T8FGS (or 14SG) with the P2

[ianwood]

Latest profile: T8FGS profile v5 for Phantom 2

Here is a profile for the T8FGS. It should get you off the ground (so to speak). As always, proceed at your own risk! Note, this profile is compatible with the Futaba 14SG transmitter as well (including the new version 4 firmware) but as I do not have a 14SG, I cannot test it. (Maybe someone can send me one!)

Before beginning, make sure everything works. Do a last test flight with the stock controller to confirm everything functions as it's supposed to.

The Futaba Receiver
The 8FGS will work directly with the stock P2 receiver or the Futaba receiver optionally supplied with the transmitter. Range with the stock receiver is considered to be very good. The process for installing the Futaba receiver hardware is the same as for the 14SG and you can find detailed installation instructions here. Be sure to never put anything in direct contact with the Naza flight controller. Always leave a small gap. Antenna placement is important for good range. Some tips for antenna placement:

• Placing the antennas at 90 degree angles is recommended by Futaba but might not be as important as the following.
• It is important the tips are as far away from each other as possible.
• It is important that the tips drop down as far as possible from the main body.
• Avoid potential sources of interference especially a vTX FPV.
• Longer antennas are recommended if you want to fly long range FPV (beyond 1,000m).

Recommended mounting positions for the receiver and antennas.

Do not close your Phantom up until you've completed the process of setting up and testing the 8FGS with the Phantom 2.

The Transmitter
This is where the installation is different from the other models. Profiles are model specific. I have built a model for the P2 on my 8FGS which provides the following capabilities:

1. All the basic flight controls of the stock P2 transmitter including similarly positioned "S1" and "S2" switches.

2. A timer that starts when you take off and stops when you shut the motors off. It will beep every minute and then a series of beeps will occur after 15 minutes to remind you to check your battery condition.

3. Triple rate flight controls on SB set up to help with filming especially reducing yaw sensitivity:

• UP: full linear controls. (Note: The UP position is away from you.)
  MIDDLE: YAW 75% -35 expo, PITCH 100% -25 expo, ROLL 100% -25 expo.
  DOWN: YAW 75% -50 expo, PITCH 90% -35 expo, ROLL 90% -35 expo.

4. Smooth gimbal control. The SC 3-way switch will move the gimbal from its current position smoothly up or down depending on position.

5. Forced fail-safe. Switch SF will force the Naza into failsafe mode regardless of mode switch position.

6. Auto YAW on SE and LD.

• DOWN: Off.
  MIDDLE: YAW based on LD trim.
  UP: YAW and ROLL based on LD trim (circle around an object).

Not present in this profile is a flat spot in the throttle curve to help with the non-centering stick. If you have the non-centering stick and you want to keep it that way, you may want to program a small flat spot in the middle of the throttle curve so that when you put the stick close to center, the Phantom will hover as opposed to slowly descending or rising if you didn't center it perfectly. If you need this, go to MODEL MENU > THROTTLE CURVE and set these values:

Here's a video demonstrating the smooth gimbal motion:

To put this profile on your transmitter, you will need to go through a couple of steps:

• download the Futaba file system utility here (windows only) and put it in a folder on your computer.
• download the 8FGS profile v5 I created, unzip it and copy the "Phantom 2" file to the Futaba folder on your computer.
• put an SD card (2Gb or less) in the transmitter and switch it on, select yes to format when prompted, switch it off.
• connect the SD card to your PC and run the FFS.EXE application. MOUNT the card, IMPORT the Phantom 2 profile and then DISMOUNT. You can only copy the profile to the 5th or greater position. The first 4 positions are not reserved.
• Put the card back in the transmitter and switch it on. Go to LINK MENU and then MODEL SELECT. Change TX to CARD.
• Select "Phantom 2" and then COPY. Press RETURN for 1 second to copy. Switch off, remove the SD card.

Calibration and Confirmation
Your transmitter should now be configured to operate the Phantom 2. Turn on the transmitter and then your Phantom 2 (without the props for now!). You should have a solid green light on the Futaba receiver. If it's not green, or the Phantom is blinking fast yellow indicating it doesn't have a link, you may need to bind the transmitter with the receiver. Do so by switching the transmitter on then the Phantom and press and hold the button on the RX for several seconds. If all is good, the next step is to connect the Phantom to the assistant software and check that each control is calibrated and working properly.

For calibration, make sure all switches are in the back-most position except for SC which should be in the middle position. Make sure LD is centered. Make sure each of the primary flight controls corresponds to the correct input in Phantom Assistant. They should rest at or near 0 and go to 1,000 at the ends. Next are the flight mode switches: again using the assistant software, make sure SD and SA go to the corresponding modes (for SD: GPS, ATTI, manual/FS and for SA: OFF, course lock, and home lock). Make sure that SF moves the flight mode to one of the two middle failsafe blocks (doesn't have to be centered, just has to be in it) from any other mode. Finally, calbrate X1 (the gimbal) by putting SC in the middle position and moving RS only.

Once this is done and working properly, you can button up your Phantom and go take it flying! Before each flight, check that each switch is in the right position. Make sure LD is centered.

One last thing: If you wan to have a centering left stick (recommended), this will require opening up the transmitter and adding a spring return clip if it is not already included with it. It wasn't included with mine but I emailed [email protected] and they sent me the missing part.

There you have it. It's late. I'm tired. I may have missed something or got something wrong. Let me know and I'll fix it. Hope it helps!

 

[goldfishrock]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

That's brilliant, another great guide. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Dtacmed]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Great Thank You !!

 

[mitchsden]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Many thanks for sharing, great tutorial

Could I ask what Futaba receiver you installed ?


Dave

 

[Jimpic]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Thanks a lot! Great tutorial! I must now try to find a T8FG Super as there's no stock anywhere.
I tried in French, German and British shops. None of them have it available.

 

[ianwood]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Many thanks for sharing, great tutorial

Could I ask what Futaba receiver you installed ?

Receiver is the one that came with the 8FGS. If I recall correctly, it is the R6208SB. The receiver installation seems to be pretty much the same for all of them.

 

[mitchsden]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Many thanks for sharing, great tutorial

Could I ask what Futaba receiver you installed ?

Receiver is the one that came with the 8FGS. If I recall correctly, it is the R6208SB. The receiver installation seems to be pretty much the same for all of them.

Many thanks, I think that was the one I received, but it is on my Wookong

I would imagine the Futaba R6303SB 3-18 Channel FASST 2.4GHz S.Bus Micro Receiver
would be OK, as I would only be using S-Bus, and they are a bit cheaper than the 8ch.


Dave

 

[Hiway]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

For clarification and the sake of argument- this is applicable to v1.1.1 as well, right? (same basic control options minus the gimbal- but it should work on an aftermarket gimbal I would think as it is all coming out of the NAZA- but I don't want to digress the thread)

 

[ianwood]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

For clarification and the sake of argument- this is applicable to v1.1.1 as well, right? (same basic control options minus the gimbal- but it should work on an aftermarket gimbal I would think as it is all coming out of the NAZA- but I don't want to digress the thread)

I don't see why it wouldn't work but I also cannot say for certain that it will. The gimbal settings are all directed at the X1 channel which on the 8FGS is set as the "GEAR" channel. That should be the same regardless of Phantom 1, 1.1.1 or 2 with Zenmuse or other gimbal. It does use some additional switches and virtual channels on the transmitter but those are transparent to the Phantom.

 

[goldfishrock]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

I would imagine the Futaba R6303SB 3-18 Channel FASST 2.4GHz S.Bus Micro Receiver
would be OK, as I would only be using S-Bus

I recently fitted a Futaba R2008SB to my P2 (to use with a T8J Tx) and had real problems finding a good place to put the antennae. Everywhere I tried caused it to lose signal at around 250-300m. In the end I found some Futaba 400mm extended antennae (P-RA2-4G/400) and was able to position them at the bottom of the legs to give maximum exposure. Since doing that, no more drop-outs and tested out to well past 600m.

http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7573#p67649

The R6303SB S.Bus should work fine.... just a single cable and you can remove the H2-3D cable as it's already dealt with on the S.Bus Channel 5 I believe.

 

[Hiway]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

...

I don't see why it wouldn't work but I also cannot say for certain that it will. ...

Thanks for the reply- I am sure somebody out there can confirm, and if not, then I will here in a month or 3 when I have upgraded the Tx and Rx with my set up.

 

[ianwood]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Started playing with the gimbal pitch to see how these slow movement settings work. Basically, one of the two-way switches on the Futaba will automatically pitch the gimbal when you flip it. It even slows down at the end before it stops. It's still a bit fast in the middle but it's much much better. Best of all, it is completely smooth and all you have to do is flip the switch and then you can get back to flying and framing the shot without having to control the gimbal as well.

Here's some shots I made while testing it out today. A hawk (I think it was hawk) decided to come and take a closer look at the odd bird that was buzzing around its backyard.

https://vimeo.com/87061821

 

[Hiway]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

@ianwood-

That is a solid and very nice looking rig there- I am really liking that preset feature for gimbal tilt- much more efficient. I could do some hacking and setup my goodluckbuy with the naza and make this all work, but I am considering holding off, setting up the T8FG with my v1.1.1 and hanging on for a 3 axis and then tweaking the Tx for presets for that gimbal.

This vid makes my decision tougher to wait- it shows me how tight this will be. Nice

 

[Dtacmed]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

couple quick questions in the 14SG receiver install it shows changing the receiver to make ch8 s-bus. Do you have to do anything on the 8FFG R6208SB receiver.


Thanks

 

[ianwood]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

@ianwood-

That is a solid and very nice looking rig there- I am really liking that preset feature for gimbal tilt- much more efficient. I could do some hacking and setup my goodluckbuy with the naza and make this all work, but I am considering holding off, setting up the T8FG with my v1.1.1 and hanging on for a 3 axis and then tweaking the Tx for presets for that gimbal.

This vid makes my decision tougher to wait- it shows me how tight this will be. Nice

I'd say go for it if you've already got the hardware. Waiting for new stuff is no fun unless you've got something to play with in the meantime. You can set up multiple profiles on the 8FGS.

couple quick questions in the 14SG receiver install it shows changing the receiver to make ch8 s-bus. Do you have to do anything on the 8FFG R6208SB receiver.

You don't need to do this. As I understand it, you can set up channel 8 if you want to add another item on the S-Bus but it isn't needed for this install. If and when I want to add an S-Bus item (maybe to add remote controlled LED lights), I'll set it up then.

 

[ladykate]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Thanks much for doing this. I downloaded your profile. Will spring for the 8FGS and rx. My aim is to put it on a Flamewheel but also use it with the P2/P1.

 

[Dtacmed]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

Great setup I did have to do the S.BUS Servo Channel Setting. Very simple plug short plug into the receiver blins red then green thats it turn it off and you're all set. Have the self centering spring enroute. As stated in the setup add a little flat on the throttle curve mid stick and it very managable. I hate to think how much time it would have took me to figure all this out. Thanks again.

 

[ianwood]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

I've updated the profile making the gimbal a little slower and simplifying how it works. I've set the normal gimbal function using the right finger wheel (RS) on the back of the controller as before. And I've made it so switch SB will very slowly add or subtract from the position set by RS. Switch SF is no longer used.

With RS in the middle, switch SF will slowly move the gimbal across its full range. So say if you switch from the top position to the middle position, the gimbal will rotate nice and slowly from 0 to 45 degrees. Switch it down to the bottom position, it will continue from 45 to 90 degrees. I went out and tested it this evening. It's really nice. I'll upload some footage shortly.

 

[Ozon8r]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

I've updated the profile making the gimbal a little slower and simplifying how it works. I've set the normal gimbal function using the right finger wheel (RS) on the back of the controller as before. And I've made it so switch SB will very slowly add or subtract from the position set by RS. Switch SF is no longer used.

With RS in the middle, switch SF will slowly move the gimbal across its full range. So say if you switch from the top position to the middle position, the gimbal will rotate nice and slowly from 0 to 45 degrees. Switch it down to the bottom position, it will continue from 45 to 90 degrees. I went out and tested it this evening. It's really nice. I'll upload some footage shortly.

I am looking forward to seeing your results and pictures of your settings.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[skeeter]

Re: Setting up the Futaba T8FGS with the P2

I've updated the profile making the gimbal a little slower and simplifying how it works. I've set the normal gimbal function using the right finger wheel (RS) on the back of the controller as before. And I've made it so switch SB will very slowly add or subtract from the position set by RS. Switch SF is no longer used.

With RS in the middle, switch SF will slowly move the gimbal across its full range. So say if you switch from the top position to the middle position, the gimbal will rotate nice and slowly from 0 to 45 degrees. Switch it down to the bottom position, it will continue from 45 to 90 degrees. I went out and tested it this evening. It's really nice. I'll upload some footage shortly.

I am looking forward to seeing your results and pictures of your settings.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

and a hearty +1 here as well! Let's see if we can get it working on the 14SG, too!

Cheers and thanks!