CSM Micro Cased SL 560 Gyro Smart Lock System (Revision 4)

The SL range of gyros is now on Revision 4 internal software. If you wish to have your gyro upgraded, the cost is £12 including postage. Send your gyro to PO Box 101, Glossop, SK13 5ZW, with a cheque or credit card details. If you are outside the UK, or need further details, please contact us at tech@csm-ltd.co.uk

Download PC interface software Revision 4, for LPT and USB interfaces.

Download PC interface software for up to Revision 3, LPT only.

Please note that the new default settings are more appropriate for 30 size helicopters and up. Flyers of small electric models may not find a great advantage with Revision 4 software. If you have Revision 4 software and wish to fly a small electric model, you may find it beneficial to use the PC interface, and put the Heading Lock gain down to approx. 26 and the acceleration gain up to 180.

Download SL560 Manuals: ...... Full Size ...... Micro ...... PC interface manual
Technical support for current users

Download test report from Russ Deakin

Compatibility

Model: The SL560 is recommended for all helicopters, particularly nitro and petrol (gasser) models. The default settings are not suitable for electric helicopters such as the T-Rex; for the easiest set-up with these machines, we recommend the SL420e (SL420 Micro with Revision 4e software). However, the SL560 can be customised to give good performance on electric helicopters using the PC Interface.
Belt driven models can suffer from static interference, so please use an anti-static spray on the belt to protect your gyro. The SL560's customisability also makes it suitable for many specialist applications - please contact CSM for advice.

RC System:  The wiring is compatible with JR, Futaba, Hi-Tec, Graupner and the current style (blue plug) Sanwa/Airtronics transmitters. If you wish to use the SL560 with any other make of radio, please check with the service centre in your country, or email CSM's technical support on tech@csm-ltd.co.uk

The gyro requires an auxiliary channel with travel adjustments to control the gyro mode/gain. It cannot be used with basic RC systems that lack such a channel. We recommend that you use an RC system that also provides travel adjustment on the rudder channel. Most current production computer RC transmitters have these facilities.

Servo choice: The SL560 makes the most of either a digital or a conventional servo, since you can select Super Servo support during Quick-Setup or through the PC Interface. Warning: Use of the Super Servo facility with servos not designed to accept the high frame rate will result in damage to the servo and may cause malfunction in flight. The Quick-Setup routine runs the servo in standard mode so it is always possible to access this routine with a standard servo in order to turn off the Super Servo facility.

For optimum performance, we recommend a high speed Super Servo or Digital Servo (0.1 seconds/60 degrees or less), e.g. Airtronics 94757, JR 8700G and Futaba S9253. The gyro will run with any digital servo using standard (1520ms) pulsewidths. These servos will be run at 250 frames per second. Please note - servos with 760ms pulse width, as supplied with Futaba 601 & 611 gyros, cannot be used (but can with our SL720 gyro)

With "Super Servo" support off, the SL560 will work with any servo in the Futaba, JR and Sanwa ranges but we recommend a speed of 0.12 sec/60 deg. or better for best performance. These servos will be run at 70 frames per second.

Batteries, power consumption and wiring: Due to the SL560's two stage power supply regulation, the SL560 will accept a supply voltage range of 4.1v to 7.2v. Please note that your RC system may be more restrictive.

Although the power consumption of the gyro unit itself is very modest, high performance gyros work the tail rotor servos harder and the power consumption may be high. We recommend that you use a good quality battery state monitor and check it carefully before each flight. You may wish to consider maintaining the charge in your receiver battery between flights by the use of a quality Delta Peak type field charger.

Computer: To use the PC interface, you will need a CSM adaptor. These are available for the LPT (printer/parallel) port or USB. Unfortunately, the PC software cannot be run on a Mac. Please note: most people with IC helicopters find that they get very good performance with the default settings.

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Features

If you have not previously used a CSM SmartLock gyro, you may not be familiar with the following features:

Quick Setup: Quick Setup is a simple routine which gets the gyro up and ready to fly. You enter it by toggling the gain switch back and forth whilst the model is on the ground. You then set the Gyro Sense and Servo Travel Limits using your transmitter sticks. The gyro will also automatically pick up your stick centre and information about your radio gear.

Quick Trim: Quick Trim is a simple method of correcting for any small linkage errors. Toggle the gain switch five times whilst in flight, and the gyro will correct the trim. Please do not use stick trim when flying the SL560 gyro as it may cause the stick centre information to become inaccurate.

Dual Mode switching: Two modes are available. Default setting has one as Standard and the other as Heading Lock, but you may alter these using the PC interface. The gyro gain channel is used to control these modes - the gain switch switches between the two modes, and the travel adjust (ATV) of the gain channel is used to adjust the gain in each mode. The gain in each mode can also be altered using the PC interface.

PC Interface: This feature is only available on CSM SL560 and SL720 gyros! See the screenshot for all the parameters that you can customise.

Also pioneered by CSM...

PC Interface Parameters

Acceleration Gain: Switch on the Acceleration Gain to make the most of a slower servo

Dual Independent Stop Tracking: Balance stops from left- and right-hand turns

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Additional information on Revision 4

The internal software of the SL560 gyro has been upgraded to take account of recent trends in model helicopter design and equipment. Please note: these changes are most relevant to IC models, so flyers of electric models will usually need to make adjustments using the PC interface. For the easiest set-up with electric models, we recommend the SL420e (SL420 Micro with Revision 4e software)

How governors affect the gyro
With the use of an engine governor, such as CSM's RevLock, the gyro has the luxury of operating with much more consistent tail power. Even quite small rpm changes give rise to significant changes in tail power, meaning that the gyro gain has to be turned down to prevent the tail wagging when the helicopter rotor over-speeds. This is often the situation which limits the gain. Removing overspeed situations by using a governor allows significantly higher gains to be run.

However, a governor also increases the demands on the gyro. A governor maintains constant head speed by changing the torque output of the engine. So a governor generally introduces bigger variations in main rotor torque than are seen in un-governed systems and it is, of course, the responsibility of the gyro/tail rotor system to compensate for these torque variations.

In Revision 4, CSM’s gyro software has been extensively re-written to meet the new challenge. Those familiar with our Revision 3 gyros will notice a significant increase in lock and better suppression of tail swing in high torque situations.

Vibration
In Revision 4 we have addressed the problem of increased vibration levels. In many gyro systems these cause low receiver battery duration and high wear rates on tail servo gearboxes. While our earlier gyros were class leaders in conserving power and tail servos, in Revision 4 we have increased the lock capability without dramatically increasing the demands on the servo.