14MZ Radio System FAQ
What is a 'virtual' channel in the 14 MZ transmitter? And how do I use one?
A 'virtual' channel is basically just making up a channel that is outside of the normal channels that are sent to the receiver. In the 14MZ, you have 12 fully-proportional channels. In addition, you can create out of thin air four more channels that do not use up valuable servos at the receiver end. They also will not affect the normal throws of the other channels that you've taken so much time to set up.
Imagine this: You have an airplane that has full-span ailerons, but they are divided into two sections because of their size. The wing comes apart at half-span. So you've programmed channels 3, 4, 6, and 7 as Aileron1, 2, 3, and 4. You've used up all the other channels in the transmitter for elevator, rudder, throttle, retracts, and scale details. Now you decide that you want to add flaps, too. On other transmitters, you'd have to give up something. This is the perfect place to use a virtual channel.
Suppose you have things set up so that aileron3 and aileron4 control the inboard ailerons. By also allowing them to be used as flaps, you can keep the outboard ailerons as ailerons-only, but get the benefit of adding flaperons to the wing's inboard section.
Go to the Linkage menu and then the Function menu. In the upper-right-hand corner is the button for "VC 1-4". Select it, and then select one of the virtual channels. Click on its button and set its function to flap. We set its control to LS, but you can set it to anything you want. We didn't set a trim.
Now go into the Model Menu, and set two pmixes as flap–>aileron3, and flap–>aileron4. Set the 'on' slider so that the mixer is on for the full throw of the slider. Set the mix curve to the amount of travel and direction you want the controls to move when you add flaps. I set them for down travel only when I move the flap slider.
Now go into the servo menu and watch how they work. When I move the slider the two inboard channels deflect. When I move the aileron stick, they move as deflected flaperons. Just what I wanted. And I didn't have to use a full channel on the transmitter to do it! On other transmitters, you'd have to use a flap channel, and have to set up some pmixes that may not be so straight forward.
How about this idea: You have a throttle control with trim, but you want to also have a control that will vary the throttle with less sensitivity than the stick, but a bit more sensitivity than the trim, but you don't want to lose the stick or the trim controls by changing their throws or rates. Use a Virtual channel.
We set up a virtual channel in the Linkage–>Function menu as Aux 7. We set its control to LS (our fave!). We then went to the Model menu, then the Pmixs. We set pmix1 with Aux7 as master and throttle as slave. Turned it on, and then set the rates to -30 in both directions.
When we went back to the servo monitor menu, we could get a wide range of travel with the stick, a small range of travel with the trim, and an intermediate range of travel with the slider. If you tried this with a different transmitter, you'd use up a channel that's transmitted to the receiver.
Virtual channels allow you add controls and mixes without using up a 'slot' at the receiver.
