Few questions from a newbie

Electronic projects that are either related to the firmwares for the 9x, or simply great for radio control applications.
Post Reply
fpirvu
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:57 pm
Country: -

Few questions from a newbie

Post by fpirvu »

Hello Guys,

I hope i won't offend you with my poor documented questions but please believe me that i searched forum and web for some answers that till now i did not find.

First i will tell you a story of how i start my so called RC passion.

Five years ago i was introduced to a new trend, RC bait bots for fishing. A friend of mine purchased from some guy such a unbelievable device. I was stoned when i first saw it in action. I said to myself i must get one. After few days of searching the web i found a local Romanian RC store with parts for such devices. I started to learn about servos about radios about esc, bec and bought my first radio system. Shortly after i found myself a little boat that i started to modify to make it a bait boat. I struggled a lot with water leakage and destroyed escs but after a while i bought a home made esc from second hand market and my problems disappeared, it was waterproof so even full of water my esc worked great. First problem was the radio system, some really cheap 25$ analog/FM i don't know what frequency was it, sometimes other fishermen were controlling my boat so it was not a good idea to use it any longer. To be honest i wasn't very attracted by the RC world so after my boat was done i stopped reading forums, i didn't continue to learn new things and get into this more, i was happy that i had a fully working bait boat. When I started to look again for a new radio system i was confused of the new models that i never seen before, spend some nights reading specs and how-tos, it was really hard for me to make a decision, i had plenty of options and only my budget helped me take a decision. That is how i found Turnigy 9x, paid 100$ for it at that time, looked great and had what i needed. I installed it in my boat and it worked like a charm for 4 years. Never let me down even after i dropped it in water. Two months ago another friend saw my radio and was impressed about how many buttons/switches it have on it and asked me to buy one for him. That was the moment i discovered hobby king :). After adding to cart few hundred dollars stuff i found the diy back-light kit for turnigy, without hesitation i bought one, and this is how everything started. I got my stuff after a few weeks, and for the first time i opened my beloved turnigy 9x. Unscrewed, and all connectors disconnected, there was a wire that didn't allowed me to completely separate the front and the back. Looked around and saw the really dumb design of the antenna to frsky transmitter. Immediately i cut the wire and started to think on how to improve the design. Got some ufl to smc wires, smc antenna, did some tricks, soldered a ufl connector on the frsky tx and done. I did this thinking how easy it will be next time i will open it. (this after opening it for the first time after 4 years of owning, for adding a completely useless add-on, the back-light for the screen i never used) After i managed to wrap it up, changed few wires that were bad quality and stuff, I tested it for the first time with the new back-light :) very nice the blue one. The thing is that after all this modding the distance was greatly decreased at 50 m my boat barely responded. It didn't work any longer. Something messed up the power of the tx. I opened it again and i started to check the soldered parts. After a while i saw a short-circuit to the ground of the newly installed ufl connector. I changed the connector and same, removed the connector and nothing. Started to search for a data-sheet of the frsky tx but nothing. After few hours of searching and checking i found out that there was a small "filtering condenser" (don't know the exact english translation) that maybe was damaged from the heat. After another few days of searching with no luck for a spare part (no part number or color code on that small condenser) i found somebody willing to check it. He magically fixed it and after some hours of talking about RC stuff he mentioned a new keyword "telemetry". I asked him what is that ? and he said to me that is something that measures the distance between the radio and the plane..

This is how i got here.

I started to search for telemetry but i did not find anywhere some exact real life information. So my first question is:

If i add telemetry to my radio and boat i will be able to see the distance between my boat and my radio?

The second question would be valid only if the answer to the first question is "yes" is:

Can anybody give me a list with links to the stuff i have to buy to add telemetry to my turnigy 9x? Is it cheaper to buy a new 9xr radio for this sole purpose?

Thank you.

User avatar
MikeB
9x Developer
Posts: 17990
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:24 pm
Country: -
Location: Poole, Dorset, UK

Re: Few questions from a newbie

Post by MikeB »

I assume you have been using the original firmware on the 9X and the Tx module and receiver that came with it.
None of these support telemetry.
To add telemetry, you need a telemetry capable Tx module and a telemetry capable receiver. At the receiver, you will also need one or more sensors to obtain the data to send back to the transmitter. For distance, the only suitable sensor is a GPS unit, but I'm not sure this will provide a resolution better than 10m.
You will also need to upgrade the firmware in the Tx to something that will support the telemetry data (er9x and openTx both do this).

For telemetry capable Tx modules and receivers, the generally recommended ones for the 9X are FrSky.

Some information on these modifications is available in the Wiki on this forum (see "Visit the Wiki" on the right of the page).

There is more than one way of doing these mods. An easy way, that requires no soldering, is to get a SmartieParts solderless programmer and an TelemetrEZ board, also from SmartieParts. I understand the programmer is currently sold out however.

Depending on how soon you wish to convert to using telemetry, there is a new development taking place, also from SmartieParts. This is the 9Xtreme addon board, see: viewtopic.php?f=95&t=7182&hilit=9xtreme, for some details. Prototypes are just being made. Production will be some weeks away.
This will just bolt on over the existing main board, but provide a much more capable transmitter, supporting telemetry and also voice output.

Mike.
erskyTx/er9x developer
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!
fpirvu
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:57 pm
Country: -

Re: Few questions from a newbie

Post by fpirvu »

Hi Mike, Thank you for your answer.

I know my stock 9x does not suport telemetry but i'm not sure if that is what i want, i only want to know the distance between the boat and 9x. If for that i need telemetry so be it, but i also need a gps module? That sucks because the gps isn't very acurate and i was hoping that this "telemetry" would give me some more acurate data.
I also read about smartie parts, and i know they stopped production for the telemeterez board. I'm not afraid of doing some soldering, so i can try other solutions but not before i am certain that i can obtain what i would like, the distance as accurate as possible without using GPS, i tried that in the past so it's not a viable option.
fpirvu
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:57 pm
Country: -

Re: Few questions from a newbie

Post by fpirvu »

So from what i've read i got to the feeling that telemetry is just a "protocol" to send other sensor information to the radio. Is it true? or it can also make measurements?
User avatar
MikeB
9x Developer
Posts: 17990
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:24 pm
Country: -
Location: Poole, Dorset, UK

Re: Few questions from a newbie

Post by MikeB »

The telemetry does indeed take values from sensors and pass them over the radio link. To get the distance of the boat from the Tx, you will need a sensor that can obtain that distance value.

Mike.
erskyTx/er9x developer
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!

Post Reply

Return to “General RC Electronic Projects and Discussion”