Futaba 14MZ - Basic Setup Instructions
Cliff Hiatt and Wayne Mann

Since the instruction manual is basically useless with regards to practical application Cliff Hiatt and myself (Wayne Mann) have decided to pool our mental resources and create a practical application guide or user manual... if you will.

Before we get started setting up your new radio I must do something that really pains me. In this era of frivolous law suits and sue happy individuals I feel it necessary to put a disclaimer in this manual. So here goes. This manual represents the ideas and opinions of Cliff Hiatt and Wayne Mann. We are not employees of Hobbico or Futaba. Any use of the ideas and opinions contained herein is done at your own risk. We assume no liability for the use of said material.

Upon turning on the radio there is a sequence that should be followed to get you started on the right path.

CHOOSING MODEL TYPE AND SWASH TYPE
Go to the Linkage Menu, this is the box on the right side of the screen down about the middle that has a wrench and a nut driver in the picture. Next, click on Model Select. On the right side of the page click New. Click on the diagram under Swash Type and choose the diagram that corresponds with the type of control system on your helicopter. If you are flying a mechanical mixing type of helicopter you will choose the diagram that reads H-1 PureFunction. Then click Yes. If you are flying an ECCPM machine then select the appropriate swash plate control type that your model is designed with from the menu. This will bring up the Frequency page. Select the frequency that you will be using and set the frequency in the receiver. We will not cover frequency setting as the factory owner’s manual does an adequate job of explaining this. Refer to the Owners Manual to get the receiver frequency changed and get the receiver up and running.

Setting Swash Mixing
If you selected an ECCPM model type, that uses 3 servos to control the swash plate, click on the Linkage Menu and click on Swash. In the Swash AFR section you will notice that all the values are set at +50% for Aileron, Elevator and Pitch. These are the standard values and will apply to most helicopters. Servos should be installed and servo wheels should be fitted and aligned at this time. A neat trick that I learned from Mike Swift is to go to the Linkage Menu and click on Servo Monitor. In the top right corner of the screen you will see Moving Test. Click on this and it will change to Neutral Test. Select ON and all the servos will move to their center position and hold there. This is ideal for setting up an ECCPM helicopter. Otherwise go to the Home Page and adjust the collective stick so that it is perfectly centered. Just under the timers on the Home Page you will see THR Stick Pos. and to the right of that Pitch. I use the numbers under Pitch for centering my collective stick as these numbers read out stick position in tenths of a percent which is much more accurate than the THR Stick Pos.

Set up the servo wheels as per the helicopter manufactures instructions making sure that the servo wheels are perfectly square to the bell crank post that they will be controlling. Adjust all pushrods so that bell cranks are square to the frames (or in “neutral”). Adjust the pushrods from the bell cranks to the swash plate to set the proper height and to ensure that it is perfectly square to the main shaft. At this point, determine whether the swash plate is moving in the right direction for collective and cyclic. If the collective is moving backwards change the +50% value in the Swash AFR to -50%. This will change the direction of the swash plate movement relative to the collective stick. Next check right and left cyclic and fore and aft cyclic and change those values to "-" if necessary. If while moving the collective stick up and down one or more of the servos is moving against the others, go to the Servo Reverse page in the Linkage Menu and reverse those servos and repeat the Swash AFR direction check. Be careful moving the collective stick to the extremes as you don't want to bind up any of the servos. If the swash plate is traveling too far and binding go to Linkage Menu and click on Swash. Under Swash AFR reduce the Pitch number to stop the swash plate from over throwing. With rotor blades on the model and a pitch gauge you can now use this Pitch number in Swash AFR to adjust the total throw you need from the swash plate to give you the pitch range you need.

Setting Swash Detail
Note: It is very critical that the balls on the inner ring of the swash plate are in perfect line with the balls on the outer ring of the swash plate when performing this tuning exercise, otherwise you will be introducing fore and aft cyclic when you give right and left cyclic and vise versa. Also when you give a full cyclic command make sure that you are only giving that command and that you are not inadvertently holding a small amount aft cyclic with right cyclic and so on.

Here you will adjust the servo throws to keep the swash plate level throughout the entire collective range and eliminate interaction with cyclic inputs while at either end of the collective range. In the Linkage Menu click on Swash then click on Swash Detail in the top right corner of the screen. In the Mixing Rate box the first two mixes you see are PIT to AIL and PIT to ELE. These two mixers are used to level the swash plate at both ends of the collective travel. If you move the collective stick up you will notice that the two left boxes are highlighted and if the collective stick is down the two left boxes are highlighted. To make adjustments click on the highlighted box that you want to adjust then use the data input keys on the right side of the screen to make adjustments. With the collective stick up at full pitch and looking at the nose of the model adjust the PIT to AIL mix so that the swash plate is level. Move the collective stick to the bottom and do the same thing. Tip: Set a pitch gauge to 0 and put the gauge on one of the fly bar paddles. You can use the top of the rotor head for a level reference. This makes any movement in the swash plate very easy to see. Now turn the paddle with the pitch gauge 90 degrees so that you are looking at the side of the model. Now adjust the PIT to ELE mix so that the swash plate is level at high and low collective.

The next three mixers are used to stop interactions in the swash plate when the collective stick is at 50% or centered. Adjust the AIL to PIT Mix so that when you give full left and right cyclic the swash plate stays level in the fore and aft plane as viewed from the side of the model. Next adjust the next two mixers, ELE to AIL and ELE to PIT so that the swash plate stays level in the right and left plane when full fore and aft cyclic inputs are made. This is best viewed from the nose of the model.

Next we will adjust the Linkage Compensation. This adjustment compensates for interactions in swash plate deflection at extreme collective settings. There are four adjustments for high collective and four adjustments for low collective. With the collective stick at the top and viewing the swash plate from the side adjust the Aileron mix so that there is no fore and aft cyclic change in the swash plate when full right and left cyclic is applied. Now turn the rotor head 90 degrees and do the same adjustments for Elevator. Now lower the collective stick and go through the entire process again.

Speed Compensation. This adjustment is for 120 degree ECCPM only. Because of the mechanical advantage of the Aileron and Pitch servo they are twice as fast at getting from full forward cyclic to full aft cyclic than the Elevator servo is. This problem is usually only seen when operating the fore and aft stick back and forth rapidly. Adjust the Speed Compensation so that the Heim Ball in the middle of the swash plate doesn't jump up and down when operating the fore and aft cyclic stick rapidly. This setting seems to be close when adjusted between 15 and 20.

CHANGING MODEL NAME
In the Linkage Menu click on Model Select, then at the bottom right side of the page click Rename. This will bring up a computer looking keyboard that you can use to change the model name. Use your stylus and touch the screen just to the right of the name in the bottom left corner. Then keep clicking the BS key at the top right of the keyboard until you have erased the name. Use the keyboard to input the desired name of the model and hit Return on the right side of the keyboard to save the name. Click ESC at the top left of the keyboard to exit this page.

Activating Conditions
Go to the Home Page and click on the Model Menu, the box with the helicopter picture. Next, click on Condition Select. This page is where we do our initial set up of our flight conditions or idle ups and throttle hold. In the red box you will see the word Normal. This is typically known as the hovering condition. Click on Add at the bottom of the page. Now click on Idle Up-1. Next, click on NULL on the right side Idle Up-1. This is where you assign whichever switch you want to activate Idle Up-1. Click on your desired switch, then, click on On Posi. for On Position. Once you determine which switch position you want to activate Idle Up-1 click on the "on-off" box to the right of the switch diagram that you want to activate the condition. Make sure that the other positions of the switch are clicked to be OFF. Now click Close. Click on Idle Up-1 to highlight it, then click Add again. Now using the same process add as many idle ups as you want or need and then add throttle hold at the end. Warning: If you are using two idle ups and throttle hold they have to be listed in the correct order.

Example: Normal
Idle Up-1
Idle Up-2
Hold

They can not be listed in any other order or they will not function properly. Now return to the Home Page. Turn all of your condition switches off. Just under the Model Menu box you will see the word Normal. Pull on your Idle Up-1 switch and make sure that Normalchanges to Idle Up-1. Do the same for your other conditions to ensure that they are working properly.

Separating Pitch and Throttle Curves, AFR's, Expo's and Dual Rates
Click on the Model Menu and then Pitch Curve. Just to the left of the graph you will see a red box that has yellow papers or files in it with Gr. in a small blue section. This stands for Group. And since our flight conditions are likely to have different pitch curves we need to separate the curves. Click on this box and it will change to Sngl for single, then click Yes in the Sure? box that pops up. Do this for Normal, each Idle Up and Throttle Hold. Click out of Pitch Curve and then click Throttle Curve and do the same procedure for all conditions in Throttle Curve. Click out of Throttle Curve then click on AFR ( D/R ). Aileron will be in the box at the left side of the screen. Change the Gr. to Sngl for each flight condition. Then click on Aileron and select Elevator and do the same procedure. Now click on Elevator and select Rudder and do the same procedure. We are just preparing all of these flight condition parameters for later adjustments. This will allow you to make changes to pitch, throttle, afr's, dual rates and expo's in one condition without affecting any of the other conditions. (Another option is to set the basic throws for Normal while still in Gr. mode and select Sngl for each additional flight condition for later fine tuning.) Now turn the transmitter off and allow it to save all the data that you have entered. You are probably in need of a break by now, so take one.

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