Is there anyway to show flight modes on the main screen ?

[tolisn]

Hi
I have setup my Turnigy 9X to have a six position flight mode switch. Is there any way to show the current flight mode (ex. loiter, guided.e.t.c.) selected on the main screen of a ER9x flashed unit ?

[MikeB]

When the main screen is showing the stick, pot and trim positions, it also shows the trim rate (e.g. "Fne") just to the right of the Tx battery voltage. If any flight mode other that FM0 is active, this is replaced by FM1 to FM4 with a box round it. If you have a '128 or '2561 processor, you may name the flight modes, then the name of the flight mode will be displayed in the box.

Mike

[tolisn]

Thanks for the reply Mike. Unfortunately I have the mega64 unit.

[MikeB]

I had saved some flash memory space, so I've looked at adding names for the flight modes to er9x for the M64. It looks like it only "costs" 124 bytes of flash, so I'll run a test with that in and if it is OK, it will be in the next test version.

Mike

[tolisn]

Wow, thanks. Keeping finger crossed.
Is there hope to get full 6 flight modes displayed ? I have a rotary switch the has 6 positions to set flight mode on my arducopter based drone.

[jhsa]

Mike, you still do wonders with the stock 9x radio after all these years.. Unbelievable. Thank you

João

[MikeB]

Each flight mode needs 16 bytes of RAM, all stored in the EEPROM, and neither the '64 nor the '128 has enough spare RAM to add more flight modes. In any case, to increase the array size in the model structure would make the EEPROM incompatible with previous versions.

Mike

[MikeB]

I've just posted a new test version "prov822s". For the M64 radios this allows you to name the flight modes. No changes for the '128 and '2561 radios.

Mike

[tolisn]

one more question. In my setup using ardupilot I have set channel 5 of the receiver to control the flight mode of the ardupilot. Channel 5 is controlled using a 6 position rotary switch on the radio. How can I make this 6 position rotary switch also change the flight mode txt on the main screen on my er9x based radio?

[MikeB]

You will need to create some logical switches that are based on the channel 5 output, so one is on for each flight mode. Then set up the flight modes so each is enabled by the appropriate logical switch.

What is your channel 5 output for each of your flight modes?

Mike

[tolisn]

You will need to create some logical switches that are based on the channel 5 output, so one is on for each flight mode. Then set up the flight modes so each is enabled by the appropriate logical switch.

What is your channel 5 output for each of your flight modes?

Mike

Channel5 output is as follows:
Stabilize 0-1230 pwm
Loiter 1231-1360 pwm
Alt hold 1361 - 1490 pwm
Auto 1491 - 1620 pwm
Guided 1621 - 1749 pwm
RTL 1750+ pwm

[MikeB]

We can only have 4, named modes.
Try:
L1 v>val CH5 1230
L2 v<val CH5 1360 AND L1
then use L2 to enable flight mode 1 and set the name to "Loiter"
Repeat with more pairs of logical switches for the other 3 modes you may name.

Mike

[tolisn]

We can only have 4, named modes.
Try:
L1 v>val CH5 1230
L2 v<val CH5 1360 AND L1
then use L2 to enable flight mode 1 and set the name to "Loiter"
Repeat with more pairs of logical switches for the other 3 modes you may name.

Mike

I tried setting the logic switch values but they only go to +-125. How Can I set for examples 1230 ?

[MikeB]

Oh, of course they do, my mistake. In the logical switches you use the channel outputs as from -100% to +100%. -100% is 988 (1500-512) and +100% is 2012 (1500+512).
So you need to convert your channel values to the -100% to +100%.
1230 is 1500-270. 270/512 is about 53%, so for 1230 use -53% in the logical switch.
1360 is 1500-140. 140/512 is about 27%, so for 1360 use -27% in the logical switch.

Mike

[tolisn]

Thanks Mike, its working great. If only we could have all six flight mode it would be perfect !! Oh well, can't have it all.

[MikeB]

Do you have telemetry from the 'copter? There is an ardupilot version of er9x that can handle the telemetry, and includes a special telemetry display with useful data on it including the flight mode name.
I haven't used it myself and can't fully remember how it receives the data and what format it is in but I can check in the code to try to see what it expects.

Mike

[tolisn]

Hi Mike, Sorry for the late reply.
I do have telemetry via a 3dr telemetry setup. Its a usb over the air setup that does not go through the radio. It is only show in the mission planner software. That shows also the flight mode but I was hoping to not require the laptop for normal fun flying.