4PM Set up for Dual ESC & MOA

[nathanotis]

SOLVED! SEE LUCKY 13th POST!

Morning all,

Seems like set up threads were plentiful all the way up to the 4PK and 4PL, but I haven't found one for my 4PM. Futaba likes to change up the menus, huh?

I've got it set up to run the dual ESCs, but I need a little help setting up the speed control and dig. I'm going to be pouring over the manual today at lunch, but would appreciate any nudges in the correct direction.

[nathanotis]

To say that the manual is difficult for a newb to understand would be an understatement. I think I've found the answer for the next step under the trim dial functions. There are two ESC mixing options: one for four channel ESC rate the other for drive mode select... But then there's also program mixing?! Guess it's time to start futzing with stuff...

[nathanotis]

Ok, watched Harley's 4PL video again and slowed down as I was flipping through menus. There's some different terminology, but the steps are the same.

BUT.

I have the rear throttle biasing set up and can see the results on screen (have yet to test in the real world), but the same settings for dig control aren't working.

Ideas?

[nathanotis]

Tried resetting the model and setting it up from scratch, in case any of the messing around I did last night was in conflict with the dig settings. No dice.

Also tried changing the switch I'm using to operate the dig settings from DT2 to DT3. No love there, either. Seems pretty simple to set up ... What am I missing?

[nathanotis]

Thinking about it this morning, I wonder if it's an ESC configuration issue? I have no reason to suspect my Holmes BR Mini Dual is malfunctioning or set up wrong, but it's another link in the chain. The truck runs and drives ok. Dialing back the speed on the rear works. The dig controls aren't switching on the transmitter's screen, or the vehicle.

[ferp420]

i would say for your 4pm set up just go ahead and.use the 2pm set up im sure jt wont cause a problem but after 5pm you might want a hotter set up as you might want to blow off some steam left over from the work day

sorry if this dosent help lol good luck

[Voodoobrew]

Sorry i never used futaba, rcsparks uses one though. He may have a writeup.
On a specktrum radio you pair the front and rear throttle together using mixing. Kinda like what you have on page 102

__________________________
Handy gearing spreadsheet

[Voodoobrew]

Maybe you need to adjust the trims while your in dig for dig? you need to have frag brake turned on in the esc, and throttle for that esc needs to be at zero in order for did to work. you need to have drag brake in neutral, for dig to work.

On spektrum after the escs are set properly the 3 modes all work the same initially, then for each function you apply the amount of forward to rear bias needed, so for forward it would be like 100/0, normal 50/50 or 100/100 and for rear drive 0/100.

__________________________
Handy gearing spreadsheet

[nathanotis]

Originally Posted by Voodoobrew

Maybe you need to adjust the trims while your in dig for dig? you need to have frag brake turned on in the esc, and throttle for that esc needs to be at zero in order for did to work. you need to have drag brake in neutral, for dig to work.

On spektrum after the escs are set properly the 3 modes all work the same initially, then for each function you apply the amount of forward to rear bias needed, so for forward it would be like 100/0, normal 50/50 or 100/100 and for rear drive 0/100.

Thanks. On the Futaba, all I'm seeing is the option to turn the Dual ESC settings on, then setting which switch is used to actuate CH4. It *appears* to only deal with the rear motor (there's a tiny "R" left of the settings). What's really frustrating is: my settings in this page match Harley's video. His worked, mine didn't.

I'll investigate trims and drag in more detail tonight.

[nathanotis]

I thought I was on to something last night, going through the manual, looking for things I might have missed. I spent some time making sure CH4 wasn't set up to mix somewhere else in the settings, but everything I'm seeing is set up as it should be.

Frustrated.

[nathanotis]

Just tried the last idea I have: Set everything up on a new memory slot.

No change.

I'm doing *something* fundamentally wrong, but I'm clueless.

Is a MOA rig without dig capability even considered a crawler? I might as well lower it, find some tiny slicks and start racing on carpet.

Frustrated. (Still)

[Joshs4x4toyz]

I am not familiar with the 4pm, however Futaba is usually pretty friendly. Like voodoobrew mentioned above it sounds like the trim. If you are getting it to slow down, you should be able to change the increments all the way from "0" or full dig to "100" giving 1:1 ratio with the front.

I will look over tthe manual and see but here is a little bit of info on setup. The terminology from radio to radio might be a tiny bit different but the functions are the same. Ive used the same technique on 4pl, 4pk, 4px, 7px and 7pxr. All work great. Ill see what I can find for ya.

The unofficial official axial portal buggy.

[nathanotis]

OMG. I figured it out. For anyone else using a 4PM, Harley's 4PL video gets you only PART of the way there. The settings are different on the 4PM. Here's all the details.

On Page 3 of the menu, select >DUAL ESC. That will take you to this screen. Make the settings on your screen reflect these:



Go down to the TRIM DIAL line and select it. You'll see this screen. What I've done here is make DT3 control the ESC-MD (Esc Mixing) AKA, the G** D*** DIG FUNCTION! As far as I know, you can assign any trim you like. DT3 is comfortable and makes sense in my brain. The other thing you want to set on this page is ESC-RT (Esc Rate) AKA: Motor biasing. This gives you control over the speed of your rear motor, allowing you to slow it down in various climbing and crawling situations. I've assigned it to the dial, again because it makes sense in my brain.



Almost there... On page 2 of the TRIM DIAL screen, find the trim or dial you assigned to the Dig function (ESC-MD) and set the steps to 100. Depending on how YOUR brain thinks the switch should work, you may want to reverse the direction. You may not. Finally, find the trim or dial you assigned to the motor biasing function (ESC-RT) and set the steps to 10. This makes the switch change the speed of the rear motor in 10% increments. Play with this til it works how you like it.



In closing, I wish this post came at the TOP of this thread and I could have saved you all from watching the dumpster-fire of my frustration, but there it is. I hope you enjoyed the journey. FWIW, ALL this information was sitting in the manual, THOUGH NOT THE *SHORT* MANUAL THAT COMES WITH THE VEHICLE. The full manual from Futaba has SO much more information. If you haven't already, you should download the pdf... Now.

[Kingmeow]

Glad you figured it out and took one for the team! Do you have a link to the PDF download?

[nathanotis]

https://futabausa.com/wp-content/upl...9/07/4pm-e.pdf

[Kingmeow]

Thank you sir! Holy crap! 144 pages! So their surface stuff is just like their airplane stuff. My Futaba airplane radio's manual has even more pages!

[3Gunner70]

Originally Posted by nathanotis

https://futabausa.com/wp-content/upl...9/07/4pm-e.pdf

Huge thanks for these steps with pics. I just purchased this radio to begin building my MOA. Dove into this without having any clue as I'm used to using the DX5c which will not do dual ESCs.

Question: Are there pre settings before you get to the part you explained?
Found this other video which seems easier but have not tried yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYR6jJznnPs

Have not tried these settings yet as waiting on parts for build.

Again thank you. Jim

[Ots]

You may get a response but you're replying to a post that's a year old.

[xxlostonexx]

lookup Harleys youtube channel. I think he has one on there. he is pretty skilled in Futauba gear. I know that the manual has channel mixing and dual ESC set up in it. I have a 4pv that I set up and tuned through the videos and manual.

[nathanotis]

Originally Posted by 3Gunner70

Question: Are there pre settings before you get to the part you explained?
Found this other video which seems easier but have not tried yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYR6jJznnPs

Have not tried these settings yet as waiting on parts for build.

Awesome screen name, Jim. I assume you compete?

It's been a while since I got this sorted out, and I've slept since then. I was pretty religious about resetting everything to stock each time I jumped in with a new idea. I wanted to be certain I knew what was fixing my issues and exactly which settings were making the changes I wanted. So I don't think there were "pre-settings" that I didn't detail here.

I'm confident that, if you follow the steps here, it'll get you *somewhere*. It worked very well with my Holmes Hobbies electronics. In the end, it's all about understanding the manual (which you should download right now!) and finding the settings you need to alter.

Enjoy the journey,
n.