DIGITRAK II QUESTION

HI

TODAY I WAS READING THE MANUAL AND PLAYING WITH MY DIGITRAK II CONTROL UNIT AND IT SEEMS THAT ITS NOT POSSIBLE TO SET THE ALTITUDE HOLD ONLY WITHOUT THE HEADING FUNCTION ON?

IS THAT CORRECT OR I AM MISSING SOMETHING?


HENRIQUE

you are correct.

You could turn the torque on the aileron servo to 0

That is what TruTrak suggested to me when I asked that question a few years ago. Seems a little lame to me (though don't get me wrong on this: I love the TruTrak A/P!).

I didn't set up the A/P disconnect on my stickgrip until I had been flying my RV-8 for three years. It is essentially a ground wire that turns the A/P on or off when you ground the wire. When you hold the disconnect down you get control wheel steering (CWS) that allows you to change headings. I am not sure whether it will maintain altitude while you are in CWS mode.

The other thing I discovered is that the A/P disconnect switch can also turn the A/P on too (by holding down the switch for a couple seconds).

The Digiflight II is an awesome piece of gear.

If you are talking about the DIGIFLIGHT II, then you are correct. The altitude hold cannot be used without the heading control. If, however, you are talking about the DIGITRAK/ALTRAK combination, then separate control is possible. There are people that have bought the DIGITRAK/ALTRAK combo for this reason. The DIGIFLIGHT II has the advantage of the two modes anticipating control changes. For example when a bank is initiated, the DIGIFLIGHT II sees this and anticipates a need to increase pitch. The other advantage of the DIGIFLIGHT II is the ability to add additional functions such as the model IIVSGV. I have the DIGIFLIGHT IIVS and love it.

Good Luck,

Tom RV-7A N175TJ flying

DigiTrak wiring

I am looking for a bit of advice regarding wiring up my DigiFlight II / Trutrak. The installation is in a -4, but the -4 and -8 geometry are identical, and look like this, http://gikonelectrics.blogspot.com/2007/12/i-have-started-on-wiring-as-change-from.html#links
so if you have installed either you should know the answer.

My question is this. Are the movements of the servos in the correct sense without reversing the wires for the roll ( pins 4&5 ) and adding the jumper for the pitch? I would much prefer to wire up the plug correctly first time. Soldering those terminals is getting to the limit of my old fingers and eyes.

Thanks for your help, and a Happy New Year to you all!

There's a trick to soldering Db-9 connectors: The trick is "Don't do it".

There is a little investment but it is well worth the money. Use the crimp DB-9 connectors. You will need a Daniels AFM8 crimper and a 13-1 positioner. Bought new, they are fairly expensive, even by airplane standards. Don't buy them new, they are on E-Bay all the time.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=afm8&category0=

Stein sells the crimp pins.

I can wire up one of the connectors in minutes. So much so that I have used the connectors on my control stick and trim servos. If you plan on wiring up your avionics, it is a must have. Different positioner for Garmin pins btw.