autopilot

[bobnoffs]

i have never used an ap before. i have the grt servos with my mini. i thought the short answer to turning on the autopilot system was to switch the servos on and push the engage button to hold altitude and heading while in flight. apparently there is more to it than that as nothing happened. i am not asking to how to run the system with waypoints etc. but isn't there a simple way to engage it to hold a heading and and altitude. yes , i have read the manuals[mini and ap] a few dozen times.

[GRT_Jeff]

That should have engaged at least. The EFIS would hold heading automatically. If you have a Mini-X it would hold altitude. If you have a Mini-AP it will hold pitch (so you can engage during a climb). You should also get a pop-up menu of A/P modes to decide what to do next.

Did you complete the setup with setting the servo motor directions? If they were not set the Mini would refuse to engage them.

Turning on the servo power should indicate "Stby" in the status indicators above the airspeed and altimeter tapes. You can also check that they are communicating by looking at the serial input counter for the port they are wired to in SET MENU, General Setup. The servo software versions should show up in SET MENU, A/P Maintenance.

If the servos are communicating with the Mini, check the Roll E/D Button Status and Pitch E/D Button Status in SET MENU, A/P Maintenance while sitting on the ground. One of those should count up every time you push the engage/disengage button.

[bobnoffs]

thanks jeff,
it's been a few years since i installed it and i remember servo motors working but i don't remember if i did the complete set up. i guess i will start with that.
bob noffs