DXS from RTF kit not working with WS2000 or bad mapping

[DifficultActual]

Hi All,

The DXS that came with my Blade 230S V2 has been difficult to get working with 9.5S. I'm flying the 230S model in the sim.

It seems I've correctly bound it to a separately purchased WS2000, but something is still off. No matter what I try, I can't get the flight controls, panic button, and flight modes to work appropriately.

I am able to get various mixtures of control surfaces and auxiliary functions to work, but only in incomplete groups (e.g. collective/rudder working, but no aileron/elevator and vice versa). Among the various combinations, I can get certain auxiliary functions to work (flight mode, panic switches), but they're all acting strangely.

Generally, but not always, the flight mode switches and panic button produce incorrect response (panic button changes flight mode). Throttle hold occasionally operates as expected, other times it has an effect on flight mode. The dual rate switch seems to always work normally.

I have run through the calibration function many times, and it is reporting full swing on both sticks, and all switches/buttons are readable. I've also adjusted controls via the 'edit' menu, and have made some progress there. Still stuck. I just can't get the controls mapped correctly.

I've factory reset the application a few times to wipe the slate as I experiment. On each subsequent start, the problems revert to as found, which is super broken.

I have searched for a solution to this with no luck. I think I have a good grasp of controls methodology, and what each switch on the radio should do. I need help at this point.

Thanks in advance, folks.

edit: spelling

[opjose]

All the sim can see from the WS2000 are channels, not buttons.

If a button activates a channel, then that channel can be assigned to a function in the sim.

Try this, with your WS2000 plugged in, go to the Joystick calibration page for the WS2000 in Windows.

Then move all of the sticks and you will see them move.

Now press the buttons and switches. Only those assigned to a channel will be viewable in the calibration screen, normally as AXIS not button presses.

The first four channels will work just fine in the sim, but the last three may either not work or may have to be manually assigned in your configuration for the transmitter in the sim, and then they may also have to be assigned again in the heli's definition, which you can do in Realflight.

While I also have a WS2000, I never bother with it. The InterlinkDX works very well without having to go through all of this.

This is not a limitation of the sim, rather it is a problem in the way that transmitters work when communicating with external devices.

[DifficultActual]

Thank you, opjose. I sincerely appreciate your helpful response.

I've read it a few times, and I think I'm comprehending a good portion of it. Some things are still not aligning in my head.

Understood that the WS2000 presents channels, and given that, I can see only a pure channel line up in the model tuning tabs for the 230S, under "spectrum flight controller". This makes sense.

I checked the joystick calibration page for the WS2000 and confirmed the behavior you described.

I've moved in the correct direction this evening, as I'm now able to get the flight controls working. Pulled off my first few hover orientation tests; I am able to control the heli (poorly). To get this working I had to manually adjust the channel assignments in the model setup page for the 230S for channels 1-4. They were set terribly wrong, and I've never been to that screen before. Perhaps the items you had me check whipped things into shape.

My remaining troubles now encompass odd switch/button behavior. While I can put the flight controller into "PANIC" mode, I do so with the 1st or 2nd position of the mode switch (CH5), while the panic button switch (CH6) does nothing. While I have assigned these buttons/switches (channels) correctly in the setup page, their behavior is as described. I'll have to keep experimenting. What I'd like to see is a working setup file for the 230S that's using the DXS/WS2000 for reference and learning. This feels like a long shot though.

I don't have access to an InterlinkDX. Part of my plan to keep costs down was to use the radio in my RTF kit, along with the WS2000. With this plan I get to fly on the same radio that I sim with. Only time will tell if this was a horrible idea, but on paper it should work well.

Any further input is welcome. Thanks again.

[opjose]

Sounds like you are comprehending things pretty well.

You've correctly assigned Switch-Channel 5 to provide input to the sim. You've also configured the sim to react to that input and provide a "function" that is normally assigned to a button on the transmitter/controller.

That is the crux if it!

In effect when you press most buttons on a transmitter, there is nothing being actually sent via the available "over the air" channels which the WS2000 sees.

Instead most (but not all) transmitter buttons affect the way the primary four channels behave.... and the sim does not see the button presses, to say, change rates.

In an ideal SIM setup when you push a switch on the transmitter the sim would see that switch being moved and adjust the behavior of the sim model.

Let's take Dual Rates for instance...

In a normal RC heli, when you flip the dual rates switch to HIGH rates, the primary flight control channels change their limits and response rate. That switch flip never arrives to the sim. The sim only sees the effect on the main four channels.

Referring back to a USB controller like the Interlink for a moment: When I flip the Dual Rate switch on the Interlink, that is actually seen by the sim so the sim manages dual rates itself as per the way the model is set up to do so... and most work this way expecting an input switch.

Now to complicate matters if you assign D/R to a channel on your TX, and you have set up your TX to have normal dual rates too, then you get a double whammy... The Sim sees the changes to the inputs from the transmitter and on top of that it may turn on it's own dual rates so to speak.

So it is best, if a sufficient number of channels are available, NOT to have the transmitter handle dual rates. Instead you disable D/R on the transmitter so no switch effects main channel output changes. You then assign what would normally be your D/R switch to a transmitter output channel (say channel 7) and set the sim to see channel 7 as Dual Rate toggle input.

By doing the latter the sim applies the dual rate settings that the creator has baked into the model when they created it.... and most have this already defined.

If you instead want to use the Dual Rates directly from the transmitter, you then have to ELIMINATE dual rates from the model in the sim. The sim will then never know that dual rates is active it merely sees the standard inputs on the primary channels as if you had changed your flying style.

With your head wrapped around that, you can understand the issues and how to set up the WS2000 and modify the models you fly including adding more switch functions Unfortunately when using the WS2000 you have to adjust the models for your specific transmitter, the number of channels available and how you want things. There is no one size fits all solution with the WS2000, customization is required. On the other hand, once done it does pretty well.

With your 7 channel transmitter you can get the primary flight controls, dual rates, idle up modes and maybe throttle hold but you would need another channel for anything else.

Assignments would be something like:

Dual rates to a two position switch assigned to a channel - Channel 5
Idle Up assigned to a three position switch assigned to a channel - Channel 6
Throttle hold assigned to a two position switch assigned to a channel - Channel 7

And the same functions would be assigned in the sim to those channels.

But there is no channel left over for gyro gain... fortunately that can be assigned to the keyboard since it is not used much once tuned in.

I hope this helps, it is a bit difficult to convey until you play around with the model editor the sim has...