Nothing looks better than the perfect synchronisation of retract doors and retracts on a large scale model The best way to start is to set up the doors and gear separately, doing each in turn by getting the door direction to correspond with the desired switch and switch position.
So select a switch on your Transmitter such as SB. Decide what switch position your landing gear down will be depending on what you prefer such as gear down to correspond to the down position of the switch. Standard Futaba channel assignment assigns gear to channel 5. You need to decide what channels you will use for your doors.
If you have separate channels for each of the doors it is easier to make trim adjustments to the fit of the doors.
CH 5 Gear
CH 11 Door Left
CH 12 Door Right
CH 13 Door Tail
to setup the gear channel (CH 5) and one door channel (CH 12), as the procedure for the rest of the door channels is the same. For this example, switch SB is used to control the gear: Up is gear up (retracted into wing or fuselage), and switch position down is gear down.
use the Function menu to temporarily set switch SB to directly control both the retract(servo) and door servos channels.
Gear Channel:
Use the Function Menu to temporarily set switch SB to directly control the retract(servo) channel. Use the Function|Endpoint Menu to set the endpoints. If you are using a servo to activate a pneumatic valve then you need to set the rate of the endpoints to prevent binding; start initially with +/- 30. If you are using electric retracts set the endpoints to +/- 150. Make a note of the endpoint setting numbers. Set the retract in a position, usually down, (Use the Servo Reverse Menu if needed) corresponding to the switch SB position down so that operating the door will not result in the door touching the wheel or retract. then disable the retract(servo) by unpluging it from the receiver.
Door Channel:
Establish a good mechanical servo linkage setup for the doors. Set switch SB to directly control the door, and initially set endpoints using the Function|Endpoint Menu to a small rate like +30 and -30. Determine the door endpoints and direction (use the Reverse Servo Menu if needed). Set the direction so that the doors are open when switch SB is in the down position. Make a note of the endpoint setting numbers.
Now set up each of the other doors as described above. When finished, power-off the receiver, and set the channels previously assigned to switch SB to null (--) in the Function Menu, and reset the channels changed in the Function|Endpoint Menu back to the default 100.
Door P-Mix:
Follow the instructions in the video to create a P-mix for the door channel(s). On the point curve graph, Set the rate of the points to something much smaller then the rate number you noted during the initial setup above. Connect door servo to the receiver and power up. Adjust the points to get the throws required for operation while maintaining the shape of the curve. Check operation of door (remember the retract is still not connected). Set the graph points so that the door fully opens and closes when switch SB is operated. If operation is correct then set delay speed to 27 (maximum) initially. Test operation. When finished, open the doors, and disconnect door servos from receiver.
Gear P-Mix:
Follow the instructions in the video to create a P-mix for the gear channel. On the point curve graph, if you are using electric retracts, set the rate of the appropriate points to +/- 150. If using servos, set the rate of the points initially to something much smaller then the rate number you noted during the initial setup above. Connect gear retract(servo) to the receiver and power up. Adjust the points to get the throws required for operation while maintaining the shape of the curve. Check operation of gear. Set the graph points so that the gear fully deploys when switch SB is operated. When finished, drop the gear.
Now the door and gear operation should be ready to be combined. Switch SB should be in the down position. Your gear should be down, and the doors should be open. Go back to the main menu on the transmitter. By now, you should feel confident that the gear and door operations will work properly based on your setting. Connect all retracts and servos to the receiver and power up. Move switch SB to the gear up position. The gear should immediately retract, and after a long delay, the door should close. Adjust the delay to suit the opening and closing of the gear and door. To make the doors operate more realistically, add some delay in the Linkage Menu|Servo Speed Menu.
The Sequencer isn't limited to just Gear and Doors:
The sequencer can be used for any timed event sequence.
Sliding Canopy and Animated Pilot
Coordinated bomb drop
Deployment of speed brake(s)
Staggered smoke displays
etc.
