CONTROL HORN GEOMETRY
03-21-2006, 11:29 PM
#26
My Feedback: (25)
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Cabot,
AR
Posts: 2,406
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: CONTROL HORN GEOMETRY
And, if there is any gear slop or backlash in the servo itself, it will be more apparent with a longer servo arm.
Back in the day, when servos weren't all that great (I'm taling about around the early-mid 90's), the TOC guys were actually switching out their servo arms between precision and freestyle - the shortest possible arm for precision and the longest possible arm for freestyle. They did this to increase the holding power of the servo and to eliminate some of the effects of servo gear slop.
Back in the day, when servos weren't all that great (I'm taling about around the early-mid 90's), the TOC guys were actually switching out their servo arms between precision and freestyle - the shortest possible arm for precision and the longest possible arm for freestyle. They did this to increase the holding power of the servo and to eliminate some of the effects of servo gear slop.
If the ratio is kept the same... i.e. 1:1, the surface will see NO advantage or disadvantage in slop due to geartrain backlash with a shorter servo arm/control horn combo. You will notice the slop more with a longer arm, but only when looking at the servo arm itself, and it's just an optical illusion... 2 degrees on the servo is 2 degrees at the surface on a 1:1 setup REGARDLESS of arm lengths. The same applies for any ratio as long as it is maintained when you switch to a shorter arm... there will be no change in slop.
The surface WILL see an advantage (less slop) with longer servo arms/horns... ball link slop etc will be less noticable. This assumes a rigid servo arm w/o flex.
With longer arms, not only will pushrod forces be reduced, but so will the stress on the ball-links, plastic control horns, etc... this will extend their lives.
