Is ot possible to mod other radios?

[orentlikher]

Guys,

Is it possible to make this telemetry mod on other radios like futaba 9ch or hitec?

I want to get into larger nitro helis and wanted a better radio like futaba, etc, but I love the er9x software and the ability of telemetry options on the tx screen. Is it possible to mod the other radios to output that telemetry or is there any point in messing with software on those radios such as futaba and hitec. I have a chance to buy a used futaba 9ch radio at great price and was wondering how can I have the telemetry on the tx screen?
Does any of you have experience with that problem or have any of you done that already?

Thank you,

[orentlikher]

also the reason i want to try this on a better radio is because a nitro bird is more exp and would be dangerous to loose control of. It seems my turnigy 9x is not very reliable. At times I have to turn it on a few times because sometimes if I turn it on once it would show nothing on the screen and lately i have been having weird problems with the software. It wouldnt hold the 0 pitch on the idle up curves once inside the menus, but would do it when i would exit the menus and weird stuff like that. I dont know if its my mods that are doing it or if its another bs radio i got dealt with. i am on my second turnigy radio and i have a 3rd one laying around which i havent touched yet but also seems to have some problems with the exit buttons. It seems their quality control is very shty and you never know which radio you might get. You might get a great one or might be stuck with boogies. i want to have the beauty of the telemetry output on the tx and this software on a better radio...

[Kilrah]

Nope, there isn't really any other radio that has been "hacked" in the way the 9x has.

Why do you want a "better" radio, what are you looking for? The 9x can actually do more than most other radios out there...
I replaced my Futaba T14MZ with open9x

[jhsa]

I think he is speaking about quality control and hardware quality..

[Kilrah]

OK - ersky board then

And there must certainly be something wrong with your mods. What have you done?

[orentlikher]

well i am planning to get into nitro helis and want a radio which would be rock solid. i love the software and telemetry mods of the er9x but would love that on a better platform than 9x.
so far i have modded my 9x with:
- frsky dht module
- telemetry mod with freeing up pins 2,3 and rerouting it to pins 6,7 of atmega
- hk backlight kit, which was flickering and therefore i was advised to install 10 k resistor between the wires ( ground + atmega wire) on the hk baklight board

so far the glitches which i have:
- have to turn the radio on few times, because sometimes after i turn it on nothing shows up on the screen
- idle 2 curves which i set to 0 pitch for swash leveling act out when im inside menus. to be more detailed when 0 pitch curves are set on idle 2 my throttle up pod should have no effect but it does move up/down when i am inside menues. As soon as i exit the menues, the 0 pitch will hold true but after moving it up/dowm a few times would start moving again. does that make sense to you guys?

[orentlikher]

oh and instead of installing 10 k resistors which i didnt have on hand i installed 470 ohm between ground + atmega wire on backlight board....maybe thtats what messing things up.

p.s. i have ordered another 9x radio (original flysky) which i am keeping as a spare and even that is having problems so far. the exit button doesnt work all the time, only works sometimes and i havent done anything to it yet. this is just to show you that my experience with quality of these radios been like sht

[Crucial]

Double check the position of the buttons under the main board. I had one that was off just enough where it would work fine if the main board wasn't screwed down tight. I readjusted the positioning of the button pieces and re tightened the screws and it was fine after that.

[orentlikher]

Double check the position of the buttons under the main board. I had one that was off just enough where it would work fine if the main board wasn't screwed down tight. I readjusted the positioning of the button pieces and re tightened the screws and it was fine after that.

thank you i will def check

[jhsa]

- frsky dht module
- telemetry mod with freeing up pins 2,3 and rerouting it to pins 6,7 of atmega

Something here doesn't sound quite right..

[orentlikher]

- frsky dht module
- telemetry mod with freeing up pins 2,3 and rerouting it to pins 6,7 of atmega

Something here doesn't sound quite right..

by that i meant the telemetry mod where you have to solder wires to atmega chip

[jhsa]

yes, but pins 2 and 3?? and 6 and 7??

[orentlikher]

oh by that i meant relocation of miso mosi

[ShowMaster]

Pins 2 and 3, 41 and 42 are involved in the mosi and miso isolation and 41 and 42 in the relocation. Pin 17 for the led backlight control. Pin 43 haptic control.

I've never heard of adding a parrallel resistor to any pins to help with a backlight issue?
Please detail your modifications and the wiring added to the CPUs pins and pins used.
So far 6 9Xs modified for full telemetry, speaker and haptic with either SP or usbasp solder in programming EL panel or FET control added to a HK led BL. All functions working 100% and no control or display loss.

Pins 6 and 7 never used?

It may be that you've got some bad wiring issues and bad advice as well and it's not a flaky 9X but the mods?
Only trying to help not criticize do more details, better ideas on how to solve your issues.
SM

[Camboui]

Pins 6 and 7 never used?

I've seen some pictures either here at 9x or rcg or elsewhere where pins 41, 42 are numbered as 6, 7, when counting MCU pins from top left. It's easy to count to 6, less obvious to 42...
I often cry when I see the same labeled transistor with same specs but different pinout like cbe then bce. grrr...
Is there a standard rule to "count" pins ?

[ReSt]

Yes.
Looking onto the top of an IC
Pin 1 normally has some kind of marking at the housing, a dot or a removed edge.
Then pins are counted counter clock wise (CCW) from 1 to maximum.

Not all transistor pins follow a given rule, therefore you have to verify with the appropriate datasheet and look for really the identical item, not a similar.

Reinhard

[ShowMaster]

Pins 6 and 7 never used?

I've seen some pictures either here at 9x or rcg or elsewhere where pins 41, 42 are numbered as 6, 7, when counting MCU pins from top left. It's easy to count to 6, less obvious to 42...
I often cry when I see the same labeled transistor with same specs but different pinout like cbe then bce. grrr...
Is there a standard rule to "count" pins ?

I understand.
My concern about renumbering pins to make it easier to locate for some will after a time become pins 6 and 7 in posted DIY. I would like to stick to the actual pin numbers of at least the IC's to keep them in line with the schematic diagrams. For those in the no, we can call it anything and still know what's actually going on. For many new to electronic circuits this can become confusing. I would like to suggest that it's ok to say "connect to the 6th pin and/or 7th CPU/IC pin from top left corner or the 2nd and 3rd pin from bottom left corner, but not "pins 6 and 7 if that's not the actual pin(s) number.

Film is all but dead but we still "film" with our Iphones instead of record? Younger persons soon will never know what "film" was!
I'm guilty of this however...
I use hole flow to read schematics because it's easier to go with the arrows but we all know that if the holes go one way, the electrons go the other way, right? I find it's easier to teach hole flow schematic reading to fellow modelers at the field than to try and explain why we always go with the arrows in our everyday life but against them in electronics. Works quite well but we do discuss that electron flow is the real deal and they must understand that and make a choice.
I just don't want those reading our mod posts to get confused and destroy their project.

As for transistors and fet's, tell me about it?
Like a 2n7000 vs a BC170. I have a $5 meter that will check transistors and cap values up to 20 MFD. Worth every penny. I just plug in what I have and test it for gain and NPN or PNP and pin assignments. Takes a few extra minutes but saves a lot of rework time.
You can also just use a DVM/VOMmeter and your fingers to do the same as far as type and if it's functioning, a real old trick and works well for fet's.
SM

[MikeB]

Even worse is BC182 and BC182L, they are different pinouts.

Mike.

[gohsthb]

You didn't connect the backlight to be powered directly from pin 17 did you? I once recommended a 10k resistor between pin 17 and ground to someone. But he was using a FET to control the HK backlight. The 10k resistor was just there to make sure the FET stays off if the pin has not been configured in the software yet.
-Gohst

[orentlikher]

Showmaster: criticism is only welcome, even though i am a total noob in circuitry and stuff i should have called the pins its actual names. I forget, that these threads would be looked at by others and wasnt conscious of that, was just concentrated on my problem.

Gohsthb: it was in fact me =) you advised to get the 10k resistor across the ground wire and the wire leading to ATmega on the small HK Backlight board. It helped the flickering issue, but i think created some weird issues with resetting my pitch curves on idle 2 switch.

[orentlikher]

BTW, i was glad to fix my other issue with the other "FLYSKY" 9x radio. My menu button wasnt working, so i ended up removing the button and re soldering one from my first "unfortunate board" ( my first telemetry try outs =) ). Works like a charm now.

- 1 points to quality assurance team....

(in any case, i am looking forward to these new tx's, which supposedly have to come out soon ( 9xr and Frsky tx))

[orentlikher]

Pins 6 and 7 never used?

I've seen some pictures either here at 9x or rcg or elsewhere where pins 41, 42 are numbered as 6, 7, when counting MCU pins from top left. It's easy to count to 6, less obvious to 42...
I often cry when I see the same labeled transistor with same specs but different pinout like cbe then bce. grrr...
Is there a standard rule to "count" pins ?

yup from 9x schematics, thats where i got the notion to call them pins 2,3,6,7

[Kilrah]

Gohsthb: it was in fact me =) you advised to get the 10k resistor across the ground wire and the wire leading to ATmega on the small HK Backlight board. It helped the flickering issue, but i think created some weird issues with resetting my pitch curves on idle 2 switch.

There's definitely something wrong here. Can you post pics and if possible a schematic of what you did with that backlight? What transistor type?

It's easy to misunderstand written explanations...

[ShowMaster]

Pins 6 and 7 never used?

I've seen some pictures either here at 9x or rcg or elsewhere where pins 41, 42 are numbered as 6, 7, when counting MCU pins from top left. It's easy to count to 6, less obvious to 42...
I often cry when I see the same labeled transistor with same specs but different pinout like cbe then bce. grrr...
Is there a standard rule to "count" pins ?

yup from 9x schematics, thats where i got the notion to call them pins 2,3,6,7

2,3 yes, 6 & 7?

http://code.google.com/p/gruvin9x/wiki/FrskyInterfacing

Please post a link to the schematic you're referring to.
Here is Gruvins
http://gruvin9x.googlecode.com/svn/refe ... actual.pdf
Here is the FCC's on file early on
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/rep ... YSKY002%27
Look at schematics

My only interest here is keeping the facts and pin numbers referred to correct so others don't get confused and damage their boards or CPUs. I'm not interested in proving you wrong or challenging you but what ever does get posted that's not factual can lead others astray that rely on what the read here.
If I'm wrong or out of line that I'll be the one corrected, simple as that.
My concern is also that your 9x troubles may be from the wrong info or understanding and this will help you fix your issues at the same time as they are strange and not posted before?
I've repaired 4 boards now 2 from users here and all of them were because of soldering damage or wiring mistakes. I'm on your side.
SM

[ShowMaster]

BTW,
Update your location info and maybe your board can be fixed for postage?
SM

[orentlikher]

i got it from this schematics, but should have called it MISO, MOSI, PC6, PC7
sorry guys i probably made it heck of confusing

[orentlikher]

but back to the subject, i have used a bs170rlag transistor and instead of soldering a 10k resistor (like i have been advised), i have soldered 470 ohm resistor (only one i had at hand) to wire (Ground wire and wire leading to the ATMEGA pin 17) on the backlight board

[orentlikher]

heres a better illustration, this did in fact helped the flickering of the lit screen, but i am not sure if it created the weird issues with pitch curves. Whats weird also is that i cant always recreate the same effect. These issues sort of come and go...

[Kilrah]

OK. Let's go further. How is your radio powered? Have you integrated an usbasp or other programmer that is permanently in the radio?

I was asking for pictures of YOUR radio, with all the mods you did.

[orentlikher]

ok will take some pics of it now.

I was using USBASP programmer, which i took a step further and used pins from servo wires with shrink tubes, this way i can connect and disconnect my programmer and hence no need to keep those extra wires inside the transmitter