Tarot ZYX - program box setup
last updated 2-25-2012
1. connect zyx to receiver
Connect the ZYX to your receiver but do not connect the servos right
now. Also if this is an electric heli I leave the ESC unplugged from
the receiver. I power the receiver by a 4-cell nimh battery. The idea
is to eliminate the possibility of the main blades spinning while you do the
setup. You can also disengage the motor pinion from the main gear. Or unplugged two of the three motor wires.
The gyro comes with two male to male extensions and another that
has three connectors on one end. All three extensions have a Futaba
style plug on one end.
These plugs have a key(ridge) on the side of the plug that will match the cutout in the ZYX case.
3plug extension - Black (tail gain, gear channel), Red (elevator), White (collective, Aux1)



2. radio - set swash to norm, initialize travels, trims, subs, d/r, hold pitch 0,50,50,50,100
NOTE: Make sure you set the radio swashplate type to Normal aka 1 servo, aka H1
If you started with a new model in your radio then the only thing
you would need to set is the throttle hold pitch curve. Note however
that some radios have the throttle hold function disabled. For example,
with the Spektrum DX8 you need to go to the system menu then to
function "F-Mode Setup" then set Hold to a value of Hold. This will
activate the Hold function and set it to the Hold switch.
3. zyx - Advanced menu, enter, data reset, enter, down
The following are in the "Basic Setup" menu
4. zyx - installation direction
This describes which way the ZYX is oriented in the helicopter.
It cannot be installed on a slanted surface. And when you mount it try
your best to align it straight. For example, if you have it on the
standard gyro tray of the helicopter then check that the edges of the
ZYX case are parallel to the gyro tray.
1 - mounted with label facing up or down & servo plugs either front or back
2 - mounted with label facing up or down & servo plugs left or right side
3 - mounted on side of heli with servo plugs front or back

5. zyx - load model
There are five selections. This presets the flying
characteristics. After you have flown it you can customize the way the
heli feels using the agility and acceleration settings as well as dual
rates and expo in the radio. Note that the programming box can store 5
models in addition to the 5 presets. Models 1-5 load different then
models 6-10. Loading a preset model 1 through 5 will only change flying
characteristic parameters such as agility. It will not effect things
such as gyro orientation, servo reversing, collective range, etc.
However models 6-10 will effect all settings.
6. zyx - Tail Servo Type. This is not labeled correct. It does set the tail servo type, but it also sets the cyclic servo type.
“1520us 71Hz”:All servos are 1520us analogs.
“1520us 250Hz”:Tail 1520us digital, swashplate servos are 1520us analogs.
“1520us 333Hz”:Tail 1520us digital, swashplate servos are 1520us digitals.
“760us 250Hz”:Tail 760us digital, swashplate servos are 1520us analogs.
“760us 400Hz”:Tail 760us digital, swashplate servos are 1520us digital.
“960us 333Hz”:Tail 960us digital, swashplate servos are 1520us digital.
7. zyx - Model type, sets the swashplate type ex. 120 degree
8. zyx - monitor. Move the aileron stick to the right and look at
the letter beside "A:". If you get "A:R" then it is correct. If not
then in your radio, go to the reverse function and change the direction
of the aileron channel. Do the same for each of the others. Note "E:U"
means elevator stick pushed forward toward the top of the radio. After
you have all four moving the correct direction you need to zero the
center positions. Place the collective stick in the center then use
sub-trim in the radio to zero each of these. Next hold full right
aileron then use travel adjust (aka end points, ATV) to acheive
100 on monitor. Hold aileron left and again adjust for 100. Do the same
for the other three channels. Note that the travel adjst values in the
radio should be close to 100. If they are more then 115 then you may
not have set the dual rates to 100% back in step 2.
There is another page on the monitor function, press 'down' button to
get to it. This is where you set the gyro gain or condition (aka bank
switching) if you have firmware version 2.5. If using the radio to
adjust tail gain then you can see if the gyro is in heading hold "G:A"
or standard rate "G:N". You can also see the gain value here. A good
starting gain would be 35.

9. zyx - connect the servos
Now that you have the correct servo type selected and swash type, it is
safe to connect the servos. In the picture below you can see an example
of a 120 degree swash. Channel 3 will always be the 'elevator' servo.
This is the servo that is between the frames. The side servos are
channels 1 and 2. On some helicopters the elevator (ch 3) is at the
front (ex. trex 600n, Furion6) which would put ch 1 on the left; while
others are at the back (ex miniTitan) which would put ch1 on the right.

10. radio - in hold and collective stick in middle. Because of the
flat throttle hold pitch curve you setup in step 2, this will tell the
servos to go to center.
11. heli - install servo arms. The servo arms need to be as close
to 90
degrees to the links as you can get them. Due to the way the splines
engage the servo arms, they may not go on at a close to 90 position.
Try rotating the arm 180 degrees and re-install it on the spline. You
will use the servo trim function later to get the arms exactly right.
In the picture below you see the link is not 90. This is due to the
relative positions of the servo and the swashplate. The important thing
here is that the servo arm is at a 90 relative to the main shaft.

12. zyx - on the programming box go to "Servo Reverse" in the "Basic
setup" menu. Here you will can select channel 1 to 4 and set each to a
plus or minus. Use the picture you used in step 9 to determine the
channel number you need to reverse to get the elevator direction
correct.
a. Move the aileron stick to the right. The servo on the right needs to
move the right side of the swashplate down and the servo on the left
needs to move the left side of the swashplate up.
b. Push the elevator stick forward (top of radio) and watch the
swashplate. Did the front of the swashplate go down and the back side
move up? If not then reverse ch3.
c. Move the collective stick up. Did the swashplate
move up(*see note below). If yes then move to step 13. If it was the
wrong way then in the "Basic setup" menu go to "collective range". You
will see a value such as 70. Hold the down button until you get to -70.
*NOTE: Most helicopters are designed such that the swashplate moving up
increases the pitch of the main blades. In this step it is important to
note that when the collective stick is moved up the leading edge of the
blade (thick side) moves above the trailing edge (thin side).
13. zyx - Tail servo reversing instruction. As seen in the first
picture shown below, the tail blade at the top is folded to point to
the front of the helicopter. In the 2nd picture you see the tail blade
is positioned so that it is parallel to the tailboom. Move the rudder
stick right; did the tip of the tail blade
move right as shown in this picture? If not then reverse the tail servo
in the programming box - servo reverse function channel 4.



14. zyx - servo trim. 90 all 4 servos, use non heading hold mode
for tail. Check your radio setup for the switch assigned to the gyro
gain/mode. You will know if you are in non-heading hold mode by looking
at the ZYX gyro. It will have a blue light instead of red.

15. heli - adjust links (servo->swash) to level swash. Remember the
collective should be in the middle. Fold the blades together to
check for a level swashplate at each of the 3 points. In each of the
three pictures below you see the folded blades are positioned over the
three balls on the lower ring of the swashplate. At each of these
positions the blades should be inline with each other. If they are not
inline but the gap between the blades is the same for all three
positions then it means the swashplate is level but the blades are not
at zero degrees pitch. Consult your helicopter manual for the correct
height of the swashplate. If the swashplate is at the correct height
then adjust the links that go to the main blade grips to achieve zero
degrees.
NOTE: For large helis like 600 class and above the blades are heavy so
the test in the three pictures below should be done by holding the
helicopter in each postion with the folded blades always pointing to
the ground.




16. heli - check gyro response to tilt and tail reaction. If any are wrong then in the ZYX go to function Gyro Direction.
When you tilt the nose of the heli down, the front of the swashplate needs to come up.

When you tilt the head of the heli to the right, the right side of the swashplate needs to come up.

When you rotate the nose of the heli to the left, the tail blade needs to move right as shown in step 12.
17. zyx - Servo Limit - tail servo limits. In this function you the
gyro should be in heading holding. The ZYX will have a red light
instead of a blue light. There is tail servo limit A and B. Start with
A and move the rudder stick all the way left. Adjust the value and note
if the servo moves. The servo will move in a jerky fashion so do not
worry about that. If it does not move then try rudder full right.
Adjust A and B so you get full mechanical travel of the tail pitch
slider. Compare the numbers you have for A and B. If the numbers are
not equal
then adjust tail control rod and readjust A and B again. If the numbers
are within 5 that is great. More then 10 you
should adjust it. Now what are the numbers you came up with? Are they
around 90 each? If so then you can move to the next step. If they are
less then 80 then move the ball on the tail servo arm in a hole toward
the center and try again. If your numbers are above 110 then move the
ball out a hole.
18. zyx - Collective pitch range. Set this value to 70. Check the
top and bottom pitch. If you have +12 to -12 that would be a total of
24 degrees. A common situation is that you have 30 or more degrees
total pitch. This happens when you convert a flybar heli to flybarless
and you leave the servo arm balls in the same place. Not all the time,
but a lot of the time the balls need to be moved closer in. Adjust the
value to get the collective pitch range you want. This is usually +-10
or +-12. A good
value to end up with is in the range of 60 to 80.
19. zyx - Servo Limit - aileron limit. I know the book says to adjust
this to prevent mechanical bind but in my experience with another
flybarless unit I found it to behave more predictable when I used this
function to set the maximum cyclic pitch I wanted. I recommend
not more then 10 degrees cyclic. I like to run 6 to 7 degrees max on
mine. Typical values are around 70. On one of mine that I measured, 80
gave 10
cyclic, 60 gave 8 degrees.
To measure Aileron cyclic pitch position the main blades inline with
the tailboom. Place the digital pitch gauge on one of the blades and
adjust the collective stick so that it reads zero degrees. Next hold
full right or left aileron on the radio and read the degrees of pitch
on the digital pitch gauge.


20. zyx - Servo Limit - elevator limit. Same as previous step but with elevator


21. zyx - piro optimization. When you activate this you will have
about 40 seconds to check it. The swashplate will tilt then you rotate
the helicopter and the swashplate will change the tilt direction like a
compass. For example, the helicopter is pointed North when you begin
the test. The swashplate tilts down on the South side. Now you rotate
the helicopter so that it is now pointed East and the swashplate should
still be tilted South just as it was at the start of the test. If not
then reverse the piro optimization direction and try again.
22. zyx - RC tail deadband (Tail tuning menu). The default is 60
which causes two problems. First is you notice that the stick has to be
moved a small distance from center before the heli will rotate. This is
the dead or no action zone. The second problem is that when you reach
the edge of the deadband and keep the stick there for a slow tail
rotation you instead get quick stop/starts. This looks like a wag
problem which would make someone think the gain is too high but it is
not. Some deadband is good to keep from working the tail servo too hard
due to tiny variances in the stick sensor of the radio. I suggest
setting this value to 10.
23. zyx - swash acceleration (Swash Tuning menu). The default is
maxed at 125. When you make a quick stick movement it responds with a
greater reaction. This is like the pitch pump function. This is good
for 3D smack type flying. For a more smooth 3D style I run 90.
24. radio - hold pitch. Set your throttle hold pitch curve to what you want to run. 0,25,50,75,100 is the default.