"Official" upgrade for Taranis to Plus?

[bailster]

I read posts back in January discussing the possibility/probability of an official hardware upgrade path from Taranis to Taranis Plus.

Now that the Plus is out, is a hardware upgrade pack feasible/likely or even possible? Sounds like too many main components have been tweaked. Sound right?

[pmullen503]

The Plus has haptic and a better LCD display. It also comes with the larger battery and better sliders that recent Taranii have. It's certainly easier to just buy a new Taranis plus if you want those features. I'm not sure the main board and LCD are even available as parts yet.

[bailster]

Couldn't agree more about just getting a new unit. But... being a fiddler, I bought the haptic module, 2000mah battery and newer sliders when i got my Taranis. I then decided against modding until i was comfortable/familiar with the unit. Well, some time passed... a lot of time... and the Plus is out!

So I'm wondering if the parts that were "Plus" parts are the same as used within the new Plus edition. If so, I'm only short a new LCD and probably a new Main board, by the sounds of it.

That upgrade might be far less than ~$220US (plus shipping to Aus). This, of course, assumes that the mainboard and LCD come out as parts. If they do, the question still stands - is there going to be an "official" upgrade path which brings the Taranis up to speed/compatible with Taranis Plus firmware.


Lots of "if's" in this, but surely someone might have some info about whether or not this has been considered. I rather hope FrySky doesn't go down a more traditional route of "New radio, go buy that for official features". Sure, it's a commercial model that works for the shortterm, but their brand is built on listening to the people's wants/needs/desires. I'd venture to say producing a subset of parts for upgrades instead of focusing on whole new units would also ease the previous situation of stock runouts (but that's a whole other debate!)

[jhsa]

If I well remember it was said that taranis owners would be able to upgrade their radios to the Plus version..

The same as we were told (at least I was) we would be able to upgrade the D modules to use pxx. I'm still waiting

João

[Kilrah]

To upgrade to plus you need a new mainboard, lcd, backboard and switch board. Lots to change, which is why there probably isn't much savings, lots of work and the interest might probably be limited.
No doubt dealers will get the parts at some point.

Sent via mobile

[jhsa]

Some point..

[frater]

Couldn't agree more about just getting a new unit. But... being a fiddler, I bought the haptic module, 2000mah battery and newer sliders when i got my Taranis. I then decided against modding until i was comfortable/familiar with the unit. Well, some time passed... a lot of time... and the Plus is out!

So I'm wondering if the parts that were "Plus" parts are the same as used within the new Plus edition. If so, I'm only short a new LCD and probably a new Main board, by the sounds of it.

That upgrade might be far less than ~$220US (plus shipping to Aus). This, of course, assumes that the mainboard and LCD come out as parts. If they do, the question still stands - is there going to be an "official" upgrade path which brings the Taranis up to speed/compatible with Taranis Plus firmware.


Lots of "if's" in this, but surely someone might have some info about whether or not this has been considered. I rather hope FrySky doesn't go down a more traditional route of "New radio, go buy that for official features". Sure, it's a commercial model that works for the shortterm, but their brand is built on listening to the people's wants/needs/desires. I'd venture to say producing a subset of parts for upgrades instead of focusing on whole new units would also ease the previous situation of stock runouts (but that's a whole other debate!)

You're leaving out the amount of money you'll be getting when selling your radio to someone who would want a Taranis but can't afford a new one.
In the end this will be cheaper

[bailster]

So frsky becomes to RC radios what Samsung has become to android phones. "Get the new XYZ every 12 months... now with more amazing!"

Kilrah - thanks for the expanded list of stuff to swap - yep sounds like more surgery than i care to perform on my primary radio.
frater - you make a great point, but i tend to have a habit of keeping older generation equipment though - more to fiddle with! OK. so go buy a Plus and keep the original as a buddy box for the kids.

The taranis is a fantastic radio, so I'll cool my jets for a while and care about the plus again in another 3-6 months. Unless i can't help myself and attempt an upgrade at some stage!

[Kilrah]

The Plus isn't intended as a replacement at all, just minor enhancements to the same thing. I mean... unless you want a dual color backlight so badly or absolutely need the optional S3 pot there's no point in changing.

[jhsa]

still no support for a rotary encoder??

[MikeB]

Well I have a rotary encoder working on the Taranis (in ersky9x). It just replaces one of the pots.

Mike.

[jhsa]

Mike, pardon my ignorance but how did you get that working by replacing a pot? As far as I know, the encoder needs two pins for direction plus one for the switch, right? What is the trick there?
Thanks,
João
Or do you mean that it replaces the pot physically and it uses other connections?

[MikeB]

Re-read this thread: viewtopic.php?f=97&t=5603&hilit=encoder

Mike.

[jhsa]

Thanks Mike.. Re-got it
Very clever.. Actually I've seen something similar (the same method?) on some arduino projects.. Using an analog input to detect several switches (push Buttons) by dividing the voltage with some resistors.. That leaves more pins free for connecting an LCD for example..

João