Free Rider, Ersky9x v 218 and no Switch Board

Support & Help for the sky9x upgrade board
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Mutchy
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Free Rider, Ersky9x v 218 and no Switch Board

Post by Mutchy »

Sky9x Board, Free Rider, Ersky9x v 218 and no Switch Board

I have just converted my custom built tray radio with a version B1 Sky9x board to run Free Rider multicopter simulator and Ersky9x Version 218. It has no trainer port which is normally found in Eurgel/Turnigy.etc 9x installations.

I used the PPM2 auxiliary port Ground and PPM2 output to feed the USB cable plugged into my Macbook Pro. The link for the cable is below. It is used with and comes with FMS Flight simulator on one of those tiny 3 inch CDs (Don’t put in your Mac Superdrive - you won’t get it out!)
<http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/USB-RC-Simul ... SwGYVXA1IG>

Fit an audio Socket
Fit a 3.5 mm Mono audio socket into a convenient location in your transmitter case. The tip of the audio plug is PPM signal and the shaft is Ground. The corresponding terminals on your socket need to be wired to the PPM2 output on your Sky9x board. See diagram and photo below.
ERSKY9x_Rev_Beta1_Doc.jpg
P1010024.JPG
Update your ErSky9x Firmware
First download and unzip ersky9x latest version.
<http://www.er9x.com>
Copy the new firmware to the Firmware folder on the SD card. You can do this directly by extracting the SD card from the board and plugging it into your computer.Install the SD card on the transmitter and flash it using the Ail and Rud trims towards the centre as you turn on the Tx. You can also use Eepskye to do the flashing or use a USB cable.
Calibrate the sticks on your 9XR Pro. (long left to Radio Set Up menu then select Calibration page)

Create a New Model
Next step is to create a new model called “FreeRider”. The default mixes cover the first four channels and should be in the channel order AETR. If you don’t normally use this channel order it can be changed for this model in the Mixer page of the Model Set Up Menu. The new firmware provides a selection on the Protocol page of POS or NEG trainer polarity. This must be set to NEG. (see note below re Protocol)

Transmitter Settings
The transmitter works in any mode in the Radio Set Up menu Trainer page . It does not have to be slave or any other of the options as it works in all of them.
In the Model Set Up menu choose the General page and then select Trainer ‘OFF’. I don’t think this is necessary; i have not tried it “ON”. In the Mixer page the order of channels is AETR, all channels are 100 weight with no offset and no curve.

In the Model Setup menu select the Protocol page. Select PPM ‘ON’, Start Channel ‘1’, PPM channels may be 4 or more, Proto PPM 4CH or more. I recommend using just 4 as any more are not used by Free Rider. 300usec and PPM Frame length 27.5usec will work OK. First Channel is 1 and Polarity must be ’NEG’.

Launch FreeRider and Connect Transmitter
FreeRider documentation says that there are two methods to connect your transmitter to the computer; using a mono audio cable and using a USB cable (link above). For modern Mac computers the audio cable does not work because the combined audio (headphone/microphone) port is stereo only.

With the USB cable plugged into the computer USB port launch Free Rider software in the computer. I expect that on the Mac, plugging the USB cable into the port allows the software to know which port is in use and which USB driver to use. I have no idea how to configure a Windows computer: Google is your friend:)

With your transmitter turned OFF, plug the 3.5 mm phono jack end of the USB cable into the new 3.5 mm jack you have installed. Then turn the transmitter on. This sequence is recommended as some audio jacks momentarily short out other terminals as the plug is inserted. Select Free Rider model in the transmitter.

Calibrate Free Rider
Click on the rectangle “Calibrate Controller”.The first screen asks you to centre the sticks and press OK. Before doing so notice that there is a line of small circles. If the Transmitter is talking to the computer the first four circles should each move when one of the sticks is moved.
After calibrating the centre points of the stick travel the circles should change to the name of the channel. Click OK. Free Rider should next respond with a screen where the travel and centre of each stick may be adjusted. Sliders control the stick travel and stick centre position. Adjust each until sticks are centred and the circles move to the outside borders of the calibration box.

Go Flying
You are now set to use the software. On the Home page click on the small square box to set the throttle travel to the bottom of stick travel. Double click on the Desert scenario to start flying. Use low rates by clicking on the box at top left of screen. Self levelling mode is easier for a start and as you become better at flying ou can customise the self levelling to a lower value in the Customise Settings screen. You may find that some exponential setting in your Transmitter Model Set Up menu Expo/Dual Rates page helps by making the controls less sensitive around the stick mid positions.

Steve

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