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Motion RC Supplemental Guide for the Detrum GAVIN-8C Transmitter Page 12
The GAVIN-8C supports three levels of “dual rates” (the term dual rates comes from the time
when radios could only support two rate settings; a more accurate name in today’s world is
multiple rates). You can enable or disable dual rates for the ailerons, elevators, and rudder
channels individually. And, you can put the dual rates for all three channels on the same switch
or use different switches for each channel. (In most cases, you want to use the same switch for all
channels to keep things simpler.)
You can configure the range of motion of each control surface in each dual rate setting, which
are referred to as DR0, DR1, and DR2.
Expo (short for Exponential) changes the relationship between movement of the control sticks
near their center positions and the corresponding movement of control surfaces. Without expo, a
control surface moves in direct proportion to a stick’s motion, i.e., if you move a stick 25% of its
range, the corresponding control surface also moves through 25% of its range. With expo
applied, the control surface does not move in linear proportion to stick movement; expo can be
positive or negative.
Positive expo means the control surface moves less with the same stick movement near its center
position, e.g., if you move the stick to 25% of its range, the control surface moves less than 25%
of its range. Positive expo makes a plane’s controls less sensitive to stick movements near the
center position, making the model less “twitchy” (meaning that it is overly sensitive). With
positive expo, the plane doesn’t react as quickly to stick movements near their centers, which is
the area you primarily use during “normal” flight (takeoffs, landings, basic turns, etc.). As you
move sticks further from their center positions, the control surfaces move exponentially more
and the plane reacts more quickly to further control inputs; this is the area you use when
performing aerobatics (when you want more control surface movement).
The more positive expo you apply, the larger is the range of motion of the sticks with less
sensitivity.
The amount of expo you should use depends on the model you are flying and your personal
preferences. You can often find suggested expo settings for a model in its manual. If not, you can
use some general guidelines as a starting point: for a high-wing trainer, expo settings between 10
and 20 are usually a good starting setting while for an aerobatic plane or EDF (jet), expo settings
of 30-40 are typical.
Negative expo increases the sensitivity of control surfaces to stick movement; negative expo is
typically used by advanced pilots to perform extreme maneuvers. Negative expo is not
recommended unless you are a very experienced pilot.
Expo is usually used in combination with dual rates. For example, when you have a higher rate
selected (meaning the control surface moves more), you typically want more expo than when a