er9x development

[LTMNO]

But, even if volume is low.. to 0 you still hear the sound.. much lower.. but could there be a mute option? That would be good... as I always get in trouble when my wife hears me playing with the radio...

[jhsa]

the menu and exit button should also do it..

João

[LTMNO]

so the order seems to be :

1.Exit
2.Menu
3.Down
4.Up
5.Right
6.Left

[MikeB]

Menu should load model 1, Exit should load model 2.

The actual voice volume is controlled by the voice module, as is the volume of the beeps. The voice module doesn't have a software setting where the voice volume is completely muted, and the hadware doesn't have a setting where the beeps may be muted.

So, to implement a "mute" operation, I will need to supress the generation of voice output and beeps. Then what should be done with the inactivity alarm?

Mike.

[jhsa]

Flash the backlight quickly? And a screen reminding that sound is mutted?

[jhsa]

But if we mute the inactivity alarm I can imagine many LiPos destroyed in the future.. Maybe the inactivity alarm shouldn't be mutted. It will help a lot if the inactivity alarm also looks for key and switch presses. That means it will not sound if we are working on the radio, but it will if we forget it turned ON. So, no, please don't mute the inactivity alarm. Only the normal voices and beeps..

[LTMNO]

@MIke, sorry.. got that swapped.. your right... you would know.. you created it

[MikeB]

The 'latest' ersky9x test version should detect button presses to restart the inactivity alarm. The same code is in the er9x sources and will be in the next test version/release.

Mike.

[jhsa]

Thanks Mike.. That should be enough when we are working on the radio but not touching the sticks..
If the inactivity alarm sounds, that means that we really forgot the radio ON, and it is good to be reminded that we should turn it OFF

João

[LTMNO]

Yeah. What he said. [emoji1]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[andrewju]

I fully agree!

[Daedalus66]

Plus one.

[MikeB]

I think the implementation is going to be:
1. Some method that starts the radio muted, so all voice and beeps are quiet (may be LEFT and RIGHT pressed together at power up).
2. If the inactivity alarm sounds, then the mute is cancelled, all voice and beeps after that will sound. After all, everybody has been disturbed by the alarm, so why bother to return to mute?

Mike.

[jhsa]

Mike, if you have the 7 way rotary encoder pressing right and left at the same time doesn't work very well and it is not something easy to do, not mentioning that i'm afraid it could get damaged.. And that encoder is not very easy to replace if it gets broken

Another possibility would be a menu setting that doesn't get stored to the eeprom for example. So every time we want to mute the radio we must turn the option ON.
Yet another possibility, press menu when the splash screen is active after turn ON. That will take you to a menu where you can select some one time options.. Sound mute, show hardware menu, ?Fall back to bootloader? (not sure if it is possible), etc..
I do like this last idea, as you have to remember only one key combination instead of trims to centre for bootloader, trims outside for hardware, directional keys for sound, etc.. This is a step back in my opinion after all the work you did to the menus So, if one key press could call a "One time" menu at startup where all these options are available it would be wonderful and really user friendy.
Of course I write these lines without any idea of what is possible or impossible

Just my 2 cents

Thanks

João

[bob195558]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, ...... the need to temporary mute radio sounds so not to disturb family members when using/programing 9x radio.

I agree with João's concerns and suggest placing the special sound muting option in the hidden radio setup menu (hold horizontal trims out and power up radio).

Suggestion: Could be titled: Special Features / Mute Sound / OFF, One Time ON, Every Time ON,
(or 10 times then return to normal sounds ON).

Another option if the radio has the earphone jack, could use headphones.

Bob B.

[jhsa]

I don't think OFF a good option. there is a good change you will forget it and find yourself flying on silent. No alarms, nada... And that is not good

The sound mute must be a one time thing.. Just for when we need to do some work on the radio but don't want to bother other people with noise..

João

[andrewju]

I find it kinda strange to have to go to the menu in order to mute the radio... It means the radio needs to be powered on, and it'll play at least the "welcome" announcement (if I got your idea).

Maybe instead of RIGHT + LEFT, the mute could be triggered by pressing MENU + EXIT while switching the power on? This should work well for those with a rotary encoder, too.

And I agree with Mike's suggestion: if inactivity alarm took place - there's no point to keep the radio muted further. So the mute should be disabled after that.

[MikeB]

Just tested a version using MENU+EXIT and got everything muted OK. Now need to test the inactivity alarm.

Mike.

[bob195558]

I believe if using Hidden Radio Menu (holding horizontal trims apart while switching power ON) there would be no Welcome Voice Sounds.
There you would select your menu options like maybe Mute Sounds and then press the EXIT button and radio will continue to boot with no sounds.
This is my suggestion, if there is enough flash to do it.

I find from time to time having the alarm sound to let me know I forgot to turn off my radio should be left active.
I think João has a good point to keep the Unattended Radio Alarm Sound working.
But not every RC radio have sound and I also believe in leaving some things which we should be responsible for.
So I'm in the middle whether to mute all or partial sounds, Maybe an option for both.

Bob B.

[jhsa]

I believe if using Hidden Radio Menu (holding horizontal trims apart while switching power ON) there would be no Welcome Voice Sounds.
There you would select your menu options like maybe Mute Sounds and then press the EXIT button and radio will continue to boot with no sounds.
This is my suggestion, if there is enough flash to do it.


Bob B.

As I posted before, and agreeing with Bob here I think that IF POSSIBLE of course all should be kept together. So let's see:
1- turn radio ON with trims held to the centre to start radio in bootloader mode
2- Turn radio ON with trims held away from the centre to make the hardware menu available on the radio setup menu
3- Turn the radio ON with both menu and exit keys pressed together to mute the sound

I think this is already too much to remember? are we going back to the er9x pre historic key presses remembering system? Like it was to copy and move models??

I believe the new user friendly menu system is the big advantage of the new er9x compared to other open source firmware. It is much simple and logical to use. the only key press you ever need to remember to get going is MENU to get to the index menu. Can't get more intuitive than that, right??

Now concerning the startup options, Is it really not possible to put all options in a startup (or pre-startup, or boot menu) menu, and avoid all that "Key press" Rain Dance? (This was Flaps 30's favorite expression )

João

[LTMNO]

At the risk of getting crucified...
We have many switches on the radio... can we just enable a switch for muting... if its on, no sound at startup?
Perhaps hold the Trainer Switch at startup... disables the sound for that boot... and only that boot?
Just a thought...

[jhsa]

The trainer switch at startup is already used for binding spektrum type modules. The problem is also that if you flick that switch and forget it you will be flying on silent. Not good.
I think this needs to be a one of option just like the hardware menu enable option. And I think they should be on the same menu at startup. It could be called boot options menu. Or just boot menu..
Mike would it be possible to put a bootloader option on such a menu, or does the bootloader mode happens earlier in the process?

Thanks

João

EDIT: Not all people think we have too many switches on the 9x radio. In fact I dare to say that most of the people think they are not enough, specially the 3 position switches. On one of my radios (and the others will follow) i have installed a couple more switches on the back of the radio and made the ELE switch a 3 position switch.
But I do see what you mean. I hardly use the switches on my right hands's side (mode 2). For me, all switches except throttle cut, should be placed on the left side because it is my throttle side and it is easier to let go of the stick

[MikeB]

I've just posted test versions that have the mute option in. Hold MENU and EXIT down while powering on. The inactivity alarm will cancel mute. Button presses now count as "activity".

As usual, we have a flash limitation on the FrSky-M64 version, so adding a menu may not be possible there. Also, all this happens before the "menu driver" code is running, including all the code for handling button presses properly, so adding any menu at start up may not be possible, without a major re-write of the startup code. The "menu driver" code doesn't start until after the splash screen and all alarms have been processed.

Mike.

[andrewju]

Thanks a lot, Mike!!!

As for me, I think the MENU + EXIT would be best to mute the radio. It's not the bootloader, it's not the hardware setup (hidden) menu, which I believe may seem complicated if one just wants to mute the radio. It's another thing, and it's perfectly fine to have a dedicated combination of keys defined specifically for that. One will have to keep it in mind only if (once) he has the need to start muted. And it'll be really easy to remember if one uses this feature. On the other hand, having the mute option assigned to MENU + EXIT won't affect the interface or radio usability in any way for those who doesn't need this feature.

[andrewju]

Looking at the .zip file you posted... Is there no version for m64 (without FrSky mod done), yet?

[jhsa]

It's just more and more key presses to remember..
Most of the people won't even know it's there as they probably don't read this thread. While with a menu they would see the option there. But if it is impossible, then nothing can be done about it. It is just the way it is
João

[MikeB]

Standard er9x.hex with mute option posted.

I won't rule out improving this, but it can't be done easily at present.

Mike.

[andrewju]

Mike,
A friend of mine has tested the "mutable" m64.hex from the test thread. He confirmed the mute function works brilliantly!
Once again, thanks a lot!!!

[jhsa]

I confirm. Just flew with my m2561 radio, but before installed the latest test version and tested the feature..

João

[jhsa]

Mike, yesterday I programmed a new model using a V-Tail template on my radio with m2561.
This template needs also the weights changed to 50%. The directions worked very well for my setup, just needed to reverse both channels.

After the first flight I have decided I need to apply a little bit of up elevator when advancing the throttle. So I ended up with this.

Ch1 50% Rud
- 50% Ele
GV1 Ch3 offstet GV1

Ch2 50% Rud
50% Ele
GV2 Ch3 offset GV2

Ch15 -10% P3 offset -10%
Ch16 10% P3 offset 10%

GV1 Ch16
GV2 Ch15

I seem to need to use 2 GVARs for this when I just needed to use the Inverse of the first on the second channel?
Maybe we need something like !GV1 ??

Or is there a better way to achieve the same but not wasting a GVAR?

Thanks

João