One Transmitter To Unite Them All

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Everybody without exception seems to have a Spektrum DX8 or DX9 at my flying club. I have entered the hobby with a Phantom 2 quadcopter and the DJI stock TX/RX. I want to move into fixed wing and glider flying so I am looking for "one transmitter to unite them all".

The Spektrum DXn doesn't seem to play well with the Naza M in the Phantom (my opinion from forum research). This looks like it is a blocker to going the Spektrum route. But I will definately need a connection (as a training slave) to a Spektrum DXn to train up in fixed wing flight. The DX9 in the wireless training mode has been explicitly put on the table as the preferred option at the club.

It looks like the FrSky Taranis will drive the Phantom 2 - maybe after swapping the DJI receiver for the FrSky X8R (large gulp of trepidation) which some forum posts seem to imply is viable. I could then go forward with the X8R in my future fixed wing planes. But where would that leave me with on the training front and how do I cope if I need to train on a Spektrum based TX/RX equipped plane?

Any ideas anyone?
 
Well the Taranis is a great radio system (I use it with X8R receivers in both my multirotors, including my Phantom), and although I haven't tried this myself it looks like it can work just fine as a buddybox (training setup) connected to a Spectrum Tx...and it looks like some people have even gotten it to work with the wireless (Bluetooth) option. However, using the wireless connection will take some DIY effort, and either way using non-Spektrum gear might alienate you a bit from the group you're trying to fly with.

Or, they all might just get jealous when they hear your Taranis speak your voltage and other telemetry on regular intervals ;)

To be honest, most decent Tx/Rx setups these days give you the ability to control multiple aircraft via a single controller, the trick is just choosing which brand of equipment to commit to.
 
9x Pro or Taranis for the cheap chinese feel, or a Futaba for rock solid performance and expensive rx's.

I'd lean towards the 9xpro.

...'Or, they all might just get jealous when they hear your Taranis speak your voltage and other telemetry on regular intervals ', it's just firmware. my Turnigy did that long before the Taranis did. 9x Pro uses the same firmware.

It's all on what you like and need.
 
Cr8tive_leo said:
...'Or, they all might just get jealous when they hear your Taranis speak your voltage and other telemetry on regular intervals ', it's just firmware. my Turnigy did that long before the Taranis did. 9x Pro uses the same firmware.

Are you saying the Spektrum radios can be firmware upgraded to do voice alerts? Sure the T9X/T9XR (and related clones) can do that, but I was making a comparison between the systems he mentioned.

I have the 9X as well with OpenTx on it, but I still prefer my Taranis for a number of reasons, not the least of which is being able to use more than one actual 3pos switch without having to use mixes or custom functions to emulate it.
 
ResevorDG said:
OI,
What range do you grt with your FrSky and recover setup?

I am going to get into rc planes and have been leaning toward thar combo.

To be honest I haven't pushed it out very far, maybe 500m. However I was just reading last night that the stock antenna on the Taranis can reach out to 2.5km and beyond, and adding a +5db antenna can get that to almost 5km.

Here's some more info on that test, and I see now there's a newer one that managed to get to 7km (!!):

http://boltrc.com/blog/taranis-antenna- ... l-results/
http://boltrc.com/blog/new-7-5km-record ... tenna-mod/

I'm actually knee-deep right now in the antenna mod they reference in there, it's not that bad if you can handle the soldering on the small pads (and they sell it pre-soldered too if you can't). I wasn't looking for more range though, I just did it because I needed to replace the stock antenna anyway and I liked the idea of the antenna being removable.
 
Many thanks OI. I'm leaning towards the Taranis.
 
Btw if anybody wants a configuration file (eeprom) for the Taranis that's already set up with the common controls etc for a Phantom including gimbal tilt control, the one I attached here was created by Rilot (member here) and makes a great starting point.
 

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OI Photography said:
Btw if anybody wants a configuration file (eeprom) for the Taranis that's already set up with the common controls etc for a Phantom including gimbal tilt control, the one I attached here was created by Rilot (member here) and makes a great starting point.


Will the Taranis control the gimbal tilt on P2V Plus while the app is running?
 
ResevorDG said:
OI Photography said:
Btw if anybody wants a configuration file (eeprom) for the Taranis that's already set up with the common controls etc for a Phantom including gimbal tilt control, the one I attached here was created by Rilot (member here) and makes a great starting point.


Will the Taranis control the gimbal tilt on P2V Plus while the app is running?

No idea I'm afraid, I'm not at all familiar with the peculiarities of the P2V/P2V+

The gimbal control in that eeprom is just assigned to one of the knobs or sliders (I can't remember which), it can easily be moved or deleted.
 
Many thanks everybody. I've decided to go with the Taranis. For training I will try to setup the Taranis as the master and use a club DXn as the trainer TX. I'll let you know in a few weeks how I got on. :)
 
I got aligned with a local club, too. And, like yours, they use the Spektrums.

I also had a PnP flyer for training that used a Spektrum 4 out of the box.

I went ahead and purchased a DX6i for my flyers (indoor and outdoor) which allowed me to consider the BNF aircraft that are out there since they come with Spektrum rx. It has the proper selections (Dual Rate/Expo/Delta/V tail, etc) and an easy help/configuration screen (Futaba, you should be jealous). While I built a couple of foamies (a Yak and a Toro Wing and an XPS wing from scratch) - I doubt I'll go big time with the RC side since my main reason for doing so would be long range and I already have that in the multi-rotors - which do a better job and take better video. The DX6i will slave up if necessary - although there doesn't seem to be a lot of that for foamies or lightweight aircraft around here. This winter it should be a heckuva lot more fun flying since we have three indoor arenas near me.

Like you, I was dismayed that I couldn't use my 14sg and be compatible with the others or with BNF. You can get OrangeRX rx that are compatible with Futaba, though (much less expensive). However, with the throttle centered for multi-rotors, I was not in a position to make it do double duty easily (could move the throttle back but I like it that way). One person locally has built (don't know if it was a kit) an interface that does Spektrum and attached it to his 8fg. It uses the 8fg controls but transmits Spektrum (switchable back and forth). If I see him again, I'll ask about it.

The short answer for me was to just use two systems. Spektrum for RC planes and Futaba for the multi-rotors.
 
rilot said:
Good stuff. Have a read of this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3921

Somewhere around page 5 is an EEPROM. That will get you up and running quickly.

Indeed, yours is the same eeprom I attached in the previous post :) It's been a godsend for me.

Btw, for all current and future Taranis users, RaveCreative has finally released an FPV monitor mount for it, like the awesome one he makes for the Phantom controller. I have one on the way already: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6239&start=340#p169116
 
Great looking FTV mount. Fantastic timing. Just purchased mine!
 
I've got a Taranis, Phantom 2 with H3-3D Gimbal and IOSD Mini, I've got it programmed and done
the binding. (I will also take a look at Eeprom mentioned in this thread) What I would really appreciate
is a little guidance on how to connect and configure the X8R to S Bus on Naza 2. Photos I've
found in searches are not clear enough for me to figure out where it plugs into the Naza 2 besides that
it needs to be done on the S Bus (do I need jumpers for example). One other question I've got is
about the antennas attached to X8R...should I just widen holes in bottom of Phantom to put them
thru or does someone have a better suggestion? Perhaps once I remove the top of the Phantom it will be
more intuitive but I thought I would ask here. Thanks very much in advance for any advice or links people can provide.
Calm Winds To All
 
Mickeyboo said:
I've got a Taranis, Phantom 2 with H3-3D Gimbal and IOSD Mini, I've got it programmed and done
the binding. (I will also take a look at Eeprom mentioned in this thread) What I would really appreciate
is a little guidance on how to connect and configure the X8R to S Bus on Naza 2. Photos I've
found in searches are not clear enough for me to figure out where it plugs into the Naza 2 besides that
it needs to be done on the S Bus (do I need jumpers for example). One other question I've got is
about the antennas attached to X8R...should I just widen holes in bottom of Phantom to put them
thru or does someone have a better suggestion? Perhaps once I remove the top of the Phantom it will be
more intuitive but I thought I would ask here. Thanks very much in advance for any advice or links people can provide.
Calm Winds To All

It's a simple one-cable connection from the S-Bus port on the X8R to the X2 port on the NAZA, no jumpers needed. This pic will show you the general idea (your NAZA and mainboard will look different, but the connection to the receiver is the same):
C8VQ9Lil.jpg


As for the antennae you can open up the X8R, unplug them, feed them through a hole in the body, and then reconnect to the receiver. This shows you what it looks like if you open it up:
trFjzChl.jpg


You can scrape off the yellow glue on the antenna terminals to unplug them. FrSky also makes longer antenna leads you can replace yours with if placement gets to be a pain...that's what I did with the X8R in my Phantom since the stock ones with the black ends were too short to deal with.
 
Ol Photography, fantastic, thanks so much for helping out a fellow Light Monkey (photographer)
This is all I needed and thanks very much for the antenna info as well!!!
 
OI Photography said:
Always glad to help! Let us know if you need any more assistance with the Taranis or the Phantom in general :)

A quick question (have the Taranis in the mail, along with a Bixler 2)

Can you use the S-Bus port along side the 8 channels, or is it either 8 normal channels, or the S-Bus?
 

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