Before I start trying to dial out tail kick on pitch pumps, I’d like to ensure I’m set optimally on my Gov settings.

I have older 3S packs so not sure if they’re age is hindering dialling in Governor, but I’m not sure how to properly assess which gov response setting is best and which gov holding setting is best either.

With gov holding on 3, I ran tests on gov response settings from 1-6 and really didn’t notice a difference.

I’ve since read that I should set my holding to 1 while assessing the response setting, then tackle holding after optimal response is set.

This is being done on an Oxy 4.

Can you provide me with the best way to set these 2 parameters and what move to fly and what to look for specifically while testing each value?

Thanks in advance.


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Hello,

this is what you can find in the manual:

Performance tuning procedure
We recommend to set the following values for the beginning:

• Governor Response: 5
• Holding Performance: 1

1. You should start with increasing the Governor Response. You can do so until RPM is constant enough while doing aggressive collective pitch changes during hovering. When you will notice an overspeeding (RPM is higher than initially was) then the value is too high. In case that the value is too low or too high then the rudder performance can be affected negatively as well.

2. When the Governor Response is well tuned, you can continue with increasing the Holding Performance parameter. In case that the value is too low, you will notice poor holding performance during demanding maneuvers with longer duration such as loop or tic-toc. If the value is too high, you can observe that the head speed is unstable even during stationary hovering.


If you do not notice basically a difference and you feel RPM is not holding well enough, it mean that the Throttle Range - Max. parameter is not configured properly. So that governor is unable to use full range of your throttle. Very likely the Max. value is lower than Max. value programmed in your ESC. Throttle Range calibration of your ESC (with Governor turned off in the unit) should do the trick.

Other possibility is that your ESC is not configured to react fast enough (configuration for external governors).

Could you describe what ESC do you use and how did you configured it for external governor?

_________________
Spirit System developer

I tried following the manuals steps as you've pasted in but forgot to drop holding to 1. I'll try again today with it at one and see if that makes a difference.

Aside from RPM changes, I was looking for a setting that reduced the tail kick on hard changes too. Didn't notice tail change or RPM changes.

I'm using an HW 60A V4 set to "Fixed Wing". Any other settings I should have on this ESC?

I have entered 1100 to 1940µs in Spirit as the min and max. I see -100 and +100 for throttle in the Spirit Diagnostics tab. I was under the impression that doing a classic end point calibration on the ESC was unneeded as it would be defaulted to 1100 and 1940 which the Spirit is set for. So should I do a high stick/low stick ESC calibration and keep spirit settings of 1100 ad 1940 as is?

Well, basically when governor is holding too well, the tail kick will be more apparent as the motor is putting higher torque to the main blades so the rudder must act more as well. This increases demand for it.
But our governor is tuned to work well with tail even if it holds RPM well
Unfortunately if more things (such as mechanics) are coming to play, it is not that easy.

Yes, if your ESC was not calibrated previously then you can use such throttle range and all will be perfectly precise.

If you can observe tail kick also with hobbywing's governor, then I am afraid you can't improve it with a governor.

For Oxy helicopters the first thing that was necessary (at least what we have built here) was to make all ball linkages smooth. Otherwise it can't work whatever you will set. From out of the box ball miller is required ideally. This will improve rudder and cyclic performance dramatically and decrease load for the servos.
There must be no friction so each ball linkage/push rod is as when it is on a bearings.

Then you do not have to tinker with nearly any settings if servos are fast and tail will hold with or without governor.

_________________
Spirit System developer

Thanks Tomas.

I ordered a Lynx Ball Reamer over a month ago and it still has not arrived. I think it got lost in the mail. I may just score one of the extra balls and try to make the links smoother. They're definitely tight all around.

It was a brand new ESC so was never calibrated before so should be 1100-1940 from factory. I'll leave it as is then.

I'll try with the governor off and see if that affects the tail kick.

The thing I find really odd was that Luca specifically stated to NOT center the tail servo but I don't understand why.
"Install the servo arm on tail servo with the position closest to 90 deg. angle to the servo and do not use any trim to center that servo, this is very important." Maybe he means radio trim and it should only be done in FBL or not at all?

I have my arm as close to 90º as I can but did not use Spirit FBL sub trim to center. Maybe part of my problem? Other than that I have the tail setup up per Oxy instructions, equal travel etc.

Uploading my settings to see if you see any issues.

Oddly enough, I came home from flying and found the Lynx reamer in my mailbox. I'll get to loosening up the links and see what that does for me.

I was able to spend some more time playing with Gov settings. I think I am happy with the Gov set to 8 for response. I'm at 3 on Holding and it seems good, but can probably go higher. Does 8 seem high?

The tail kick is definitely less prominent at higher head speeds though. I fly 2600, 2800 and 3000 on the Oxy 4 and 2600rpm has a prominent kick but I have not adjusted the gain for the different head speeds yet. I'm thinking once I get the CF blades and no longer worry about these stock blades snapping off like has been happening to others, I'll feel more comfortable with going higher on tail gain. I'm using 70% @ 1.3X common gain. Likely needs a lot more gain on the lower HS's to help fight that kick.

Thank you for the info.

In the settings it is looking good, except I would put ball linkage at least one hole further from the center. So it will be longer. Then do not forget to decrease both Rudder end-points.

Definitively we recommend to center the tail servo arm with subtrims as close as possible. There is no reason to not use subtrims, but there are many to use it.
Completely all servos should be always at the center, when they are at the center position.
But the angle between tail blades can be 3-4° while servo is centered. This is what can help.

In any way for Oxy 4 flight RPM can be good around 3000 - 3200 RPM. With lower RPM tail efficiency is decreasing a lot, so the tail will not perform that well. This can explain behavior you described. So the tail might be not able physically to counter act the force. Possibly revomix for low RPM can help, but more than value 3 is not recommended.

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Spirit System developer

Ok Tomas, sounds good. I'll play around a bit more. As always, hugely appreciated. You're awesome.