When I first bought a modern tx/rx set, I too found the matter of modes rather confusing, as on my previous set,a 1970s vintage O.S. 4 channel job, there were just four channels on two sticks, and which one did what job simply depended on how one plugged the servos into the r/x. The only thing on that old t/x that was sort of mode-related was how the sticks were set up out-of-the-box with springs and/or ratchets.

In one way of looking at things, this still holds true: there is no law that says that you must connect for example the rudder servo to the r/x channel marked "rudder" or the esc to the channel marked throttle. Your are likely to want them on proportional channels, and you may well have a preference for which stick in which direction, but there is nothing to stop that preference from being non-standard. You may have to switch around springs and ratchets as already discussed, but for the rest all you need to do is to plug servos and esc into the sockets on the r/x that connects them to the sticks in the way you like.

The one area where I found that it mattered on my set (a Spectrum DX6i) which mode was selected was when it came to the default settings for the throttle in Mode 2. This is set up to fit aircraft, where there is no need for reverse throttle, and the zero throttle position thus sits at LH stick fully down. As a protection against mistakenly switching everything on with the throttle in anything but zero position (which, on a model aircraft, might indeed have nasty consequences), the t/x would therefore sound a loud alarm and refuse to turn on properly if the stick was centred, i.e. in the usual zero position for a boat or any other vehicle with reverse capabilities.

Switching the settings to Mode 1 resolved this problem by assigning the throttle to the RH stick which, apparently, does not have this safety feature. I still control the throttle using the LH stick up-down, though, and some quick testing soon revealed which socket of the r/x I now needed to plug the esc into for this to happen.

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 13/11/2015 12:15:12

Edited By Banjoman on 13/11/2015 12:15:51

Edited By Banjoman on 13/11/2015 12:16:13

Edited By Banjoman on 13/11/2015 12:16:56