Hi all,

This is my first post here

I have plenty of experience with radio control cars but nothing with Quad copters so I am looking for a small racing drone to start learning.

I would like to Use the transmitter in "Mode 3" (because it feels more natural to me coming from RC cars)  but I have seen that all the quad copters in the market are available in Mode 1 and 2 only.

Is it possible to Swap the Motor 3 and Motor 4 connection using Mode 1 to get the Mode 3??

I think that would do the trick but I am not sure if the stabilization system and PID controllers would work using that walk-around.. 

Thank you very much,
Kind regards.
Ivan

Hi Ivan

yes Mode 1 can be changed easily in the software to Mode 3, as well as from Mode 2 to Mode 4.
Depends on the TX, maybe you can swap control between Ailerons and Rudder.
If not possible, all you need to to is by swapping the channel roll and yaw in the mapping. 

(31-Jan-2016, 11:11 PM)Oscar Wrote: Hi Ivan

yes Mode 1 can be changed easily in the software to Mode 3, as well as from Mode 2 to Mode 4.
Depends on the TX, maybe you can swap control between Ailerons and Rudder.
If not possible, all you need to to is by swapping the channel roll and yaw in the mapping. 

Hi Oscar,

Thank you very much for the reply, if I could do it on the TX would be fantastic! (I am looking at RadioLink AT9 TX). I didn't know you could do that on some TX. 

If you are completely new to multicopters, might as well learn Mode 1 or Mode 2... especially Mode 2 they are more common in the hobby.

Mean you will have more chance of selling your TX if you are not longer interested in flying... or easier to find a TX that you can use

(02-Feb-2016, 12:37 AM)Oscar Wrote: If you are completely new to multicopters, might as well learn Mode 1 or Mode 2... especially Mode 2 they are more common in the hobby.

Mean you will have more chance of selling your TX if you are not longer interested in flying... or easier to find a TX that you can use

Thanks for your reply Oscar! Selling the TX is a good point, I haven't thought about that...

My problem is that I race in RC cars with stick transmitters already so anything else apart from Mode 3 is going to feel un-natural for me

First of all, the transmitter mode has nothing at all to do with the motors. You definitely want to read up on how multi rotors work: unlike with cars and fixed-wing aircraft, there is no direct connection between your sticks and the motors because there now a computer (flight controller) in between. But basically:

- The position of the transmitter sticks tells the flight controller (FC) where you want the aircraft to go.
- Using complex software and lots of calculations, the FC decides what speed to spin each motor to make the aircraft go where you commanded it.
- There could be 3, 4, 6 or 8 motors and your stick commands would be exactly the same, but the motor outputs would be calculated completely differently for that motor configuration.

About what mode to choose, go for the mode your country uses (Mode 1 for Australia/UK, etc. Mode 2 for most other countries). It will allow you to fly with others and prevent a lot of surgery. Many radios can't do Mode 3 or 4 at all. The small advantage you get from familiarity with 2 of the 4 channels will be a drop in the bucket compared to all the other muscle memory you have to learn.

I fly both Mode 1 and 2 by the way (Mode 1 for fixed wing 3D flying line of sight, Mode 2 for FPV fixed wing or multirotor). I've lived in Mode 1 and Mode 2 countries and switched to match my flying buddies!

(07-Feb-2016, 04:04 AM)Relic Wrote: First of all, the transmitter mode has nothing at all to do with the motors. You definitely want to read up on how multi rotors work: unlike with cars and fixed-wing aircraft, there is no direct connection between your sticks and the motors because there now a computer (flight controller) in between. But basically:

- The position of the transmitter sticks tells the flight controller (FC) where you want the aircraft to go.
- Using complex software and lots of calculations, the FC decides what speed to spin each motor to make the aircraft go where you commanded it.
- There could be 3, 4, 6 or 8 motors and your stick commands would be exactly the same, but the motor outputs would be calculated completely differently for that motor configuration.

About what mode to choose, go for the mode your country uses (Mode 1 for Australia/UK, etc. Mode 2 for most other countries). It will allow you to fly with others and prevent a lot of surgery. Many radios can't do Mode 3 or 4 at all. The small advantage you get from familiarity with 2 of the 4 channels will be a drop in the bucket compared to all the other muscle memory you have to learn.

I fly both Mode 1 and 2 by the way (Mode 1 for fixed wing 3D flying line of sight, Mode 2 for FPV fixed wing or multirotor). I've lived in Mode 1 and Mode 2 countries and switched to match my flying buddies!

Thank you for the technical explanation, make more sense to me now knowing that the flight controller is doing the hard work. (I am used to have a channel for each servo.. haha)

I will try to learn both modes then.