Lost "Cells"

Help with any software/desktop related issues. e.g. companion9x, eePe, etc
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Stuart444
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Lost "Cells"

Post by Stuart444 »

I've recently upgraded from Taranis plus to Taranis plus 2019, and from Companion 2.2 to Companion 2.3.
All my electric models use "Cells" to monitor the LiPo motor pack via an FLVSS LiPo sensor and LSs to warn me when the pack voltage gets down to a minimum value.
I can't find Cells in 2.3, nor in the Tx when setting up a LS. Now I've checked, it isn't in Companion 2.2 either, but it's still available on the older Tx.
Please can you help me retreive this vital (to me) function?
Thanks

rdeanchurch
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by rdeanchurch »

Since you had to bind the new tx to your receivers, did you rediscover sensors after the bind?
Dean
OldDmbThms: 1. Takeoff, 2. Crash, 3. Repair, GOTO 1
Stuart444
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by Stuart444 »

No. Just to be sure, I've just bound an X8R with a FLVSS attached and a LiPo on that. There are 4 servos attached and all work in response to stick movements (just to be doubly sure!).The FLVSS is flashing slowly as normal and displaying the cell voltages. In the Tx, if I look for "Cells" in a line such as LO1 a<x "---" I cannot find "Cells" in "---".
Stuart444
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by Stuart444 »

It's not just "Cells" that's missing, it's also not got "Cell" and all other telemetry paramaters like T1, T2, Vfas, Curr etc
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MikeB
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by MikeB »

I don't use openTx (I use erskyTx), but I think you need to "Discover Sensors", then "cells" is a "Calculated Sensor".

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

rdeanchurch
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by rdeanchurch »

Stuart444 wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 5:58 pm It's not just "Cells" that's missing, it's also not got "Cell" and all other telemetry paramaters like T1, T2, Vfas, Curr etc
That is more evidence that you need to "Discover Sensors!"
Dean
OldDmbThms: 1. Takeoff, 2. Crash, 3. Repair, GOTO 1
Stuart444
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by Stuart444 »

Sorry, I think maybe I misunderstood. Is there a function to "discover sensors"? I never needed to do anything in my older Tx or Companion 2.2, the functions were available from the start by default in both.
rdeanchurch
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by rdeanchurch »

Yes, In each model setup there is a screen called telemetry. (It requires looking thru all the other setup screens to get to it. On the QX7, a short cut gets you to quicker with a long press of entry...I assume it would work on the X9D Plus 2019, but have not tested.)

At the top Are a couple of lines that read.
Add a new sensor
and
Delete all sensors.

You must explicitly use the "Add a new sensor" to see any sensors.
I don't remember when this changed, but you are correct that somewhere in the past sensors were discovered automatically.
Dean
OldDmbThms: 1. Takeoff, 2. Crash, 3. Repair, GOTO 1
Stuart444
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by Stuart444 »

Ah, the mystery starts to unravel - thanks. Light at the end of the tunnel, but this really does seem to be a step backwards from the previous in my view. I've never really needed to look at the telemetry page before. So I can now see more unexplained fields in both the Tx and in Companion.

As an aside, do you know of any comprehensive guide for users to all the many field in OpenTx? I've scoured the "university" and manuals I've been able to download, but none offer a staightforward user guide to things like this. There seem to be basic guides and then we are left to our own experimentation, or asking for help from others.

Anyway, in the Tx I've found "Discover new sensors". For this I presume it has to be bound to a working Rx with sensors attached, as if it were a complete model. I've done that with only a FLVSS attached, and it found -
1: Cels - ---
2: Cels * 8.3v 1
3: RSSI * 84dB 24
4: RxBt * 4.9v 24
The asterisks in lines 2-4 are flashing - do you know what that means?
The data values are fine and seem to be correct
The final numbers are also a mystery to me. If I open them, I can't find those numbers in the details screens.

Having done that, I now find that if I create a LS such as "L04 a<x" , the next field now contains "Cels-", "Cels+" and "Cels". I'm hoping this means "Lowest individual cell voltage", "Highest individual cell voltage", and "Total pack voltage" respectively. Also, in SFs, if I set up say
"SF4 SE^ Play value, in the next field I get the same new options, but if I select any of these and push switch SE, it tells me "Zero volts" no matter which one of these I select. The FLVSS has a 2-cell pack attached, and is showing "2S:8.24v 1: 4.12v 2: 4.12v", so I would expect
the Tx to have told me these numbers, but it didn't. Any idea why?

In Companion, there's no "Discover new sensors", which seems reasonable. However it has no less than 60 (!) lines for telemetry data setups. By changing the fields, I seem to have found that changing Custom to Calculated changes the next field to a list ("add", "average" etc) which includes "Cell". Selecting that brings "Cells Sensor:", the next field contains "---" or "volt()", so choose "volt". Then the next field offers "Lowest", "cell1", "cell2", ....."Highest", and "Delta". There seem to be no total pack voltage (unless someone doesn't know his Greek alphabet and Delta should be Sigma). Do you know how to set this up?

Thnks for your help

PS yes, a long press on Page takes you back a screen in 2019
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Kilrah
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by Kilrah »

Stuart444 wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:06 pm Sorry, I think maybe I misunderstood. Is there a function to "discover sensors"? I never needed to do anything in my older Tx or Companion 2.2, the functions were available from the start by default in both.
This system was introduced in 2.2 4 years ago. You had to have been on 2.1 to never see it.
rdeanchurch
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by rdeanchurch »

Stuart444 wrote: Mon Nov 08, 2021 11:35 am ...

In Companion, there's no "Discover new sensors", which seems reasonable. However it has no less than 60 (!) lines for telemetry data setups. By changing the fields, I seem to have found that changing Custom to Calculated changes the next field to a list ("add", "average" etc) which includes "Cell". Selecting that brings "Cells Sensor:", the next field contains "---" or "volt()", so choose "volt". Then the next field offers "Lowest", "cell1", "cell2", ....."Highest", and "Delta". There seem to be no total pack voltage (unless someone doesn't know his Greek alphabet and Delta should be Sigma). Do you know how to set this up?
...
For a reference there is http://rcdiy.ca/opentx-guide/
Specifically for telemetry
rcdiy.ca/opentx-transmitter-firmware/model-menus/telemetry/.

Here is my list of references...which are somewhat dated
OpenTx reference urls
Change your thinking by Scott Page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfdnixA ... e=youtu.be
https://rc-soar.com/opentx/basics/index.htm
http://open-txu.org/
https://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8724
http://rcdiy.ca/opentx-guide/
https://opentx.gitbooks.io/manual-for-opentx-2-2/
UpDate firmware and bootloader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYeB0IX ... e=youtu.be
and/or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0u9Ol2r4dE


Cells is the total pack voltage currently. (CelSigma so to speak)
Cel- is the lowest total pack voltage observed in this session.
Cel+ is the highest total pack voltage observed in this session.

Anything else you want you must make a calculated sensor.
Then you can have Cel1 Cel2... to show individual cell value.
CelD is commonly used as the delta between the highest cell and the lowest cell.
CelA might be handy as average.
Dean
OldDmbThms: 1. Takeoff, 2. Crash, 3. Repair, GOTO 1
Stuart444
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Re: Lost "Cells"

Post by Stuart444 »

Fantastic, Dean, many thanks, I'll consult those.

I joined together all my different sensors and discovered sensors again, so I now have a long list of them, GPS, airspeed, rpm, amps, etc. My plan is to recreate what I did originally, which was to write a couple of template models and then copy that. It seems that all these discovered sensors are not lost when copying to a new model so I presume that will save me having to discover them all again.
My FLVSS seems to be working now. On the original SF line, it still says "0 volts", but I made another SF to test all the other sensors and when I put this line to Cels it does play the value correctly. I see now that Companion 2.3.14 shows all these discovered sensors

Kilrah, OK, thanks for that. I guess I've not used companion for that long. I still have it on my computer but at the moment is keeps crashing. Not needed now of course.

I have found another issue, but I'll start another thread.

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