Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Electronic projects that are either related to the firmwares for the 9x, or simply great for radio control applications.
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jhsa
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Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by jhsa »

Hey guys, Many of you might remember that I was quite active here a while ago, and then kinda disappeared :D
Well there are a couple reasons for that. As you know I was always very interested on DIYing my own radios, and actually built a few based on the old 9X radio. I still use them :)
But with the arrival of the new Frsky radios and some other brands, I felt that all was getting too commercial for my taste, and not many people was interested in DIY. Specially not as far as hardware is concerned. I know that Mike continued to support the DIY versions of ErskyTX at least until I stopped following this group every day. I still have a look sometimes.. So, I am not sure if Mike still supports them. This means I haven't updated my radios for a long time now :(
the other reason is that I started some other projects, for example building Guitar effects. I am a guitar player and I always loved sound and light, so i have decided to build my own guitar PedalBoard. Along with that I have learnt a bit of arduino coding as well. :)
So, Mike, are you still supporting the old 9x radios with all different boards? ;) Any DIY going on that I have missed? Or has everything really gone commercial only?
On the pictures below you can see what I have been up to :) All those guitar effects were built by me. also coded by me. I never thought I would say this one day :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Now that my son is also into model flying, and fly models way better than me already, I would like to come back to DIYing for the RC hobby in general.
I already had to build a couple receivers for his planes :)
The Frsky compatible receivers I build for myself are a project of our dear member Midelic.
Anyway, I hope you are all doing some great flying. ;)

João
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My er9x/Ersky9x/eepskye Video Tutorials
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MikeB
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by MikeB »

I've now stopped updating the original er9x for the AVR processor.
erskyTx still supports and gets occasional updates for the Sky board, AR9X board and the 9Xtreme, although the Sky board is becoming more difficult to keep going as it only has 256K of flash memory, everything else has at least 512K.
Because the FrSky D8 protocol is no longer legal in Europe (for new radios, it is still legal to use if the Tx was commissioned early enough), I've written D16 firmware for it. I've then ported this to older FrSky D16 receivers as it provides several enhanced features:
Auto detect V1/V2, FCC/EU protocol at bind time.
Support "dual bind" so it is easy to swap between two transmitters.
At bind time the Receiver "tunes" itself to the Tx.
D8 receivers support optional SBUS and CPPM outputs.
D8 receivers support hub and SPort telemetry sensors.
D16 receivers with SBUS output allow the SBUS signal to be changed to an extra PWM (servo) output.
Each servo output may be configured to 18mS or 9mS (for digital servos) period.
Any servo output may be mapped to any channel.
Some receivers support inverting the SBUS signal.
A telemetry value of VFR (Valid Frame Rate) is returned.
All functions configured using a script on the Tx.
Various statistics available using a script on the Tx, including firmware revision.

I'm also porting erskyTx to the FrSky X20. As FrSky are not supporting open source as much, they haven't released technical data for this so it is taking longer than otherwise. It is generally running and I've been using it for flying.

Mike
erskyTx/er9x developer
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!
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jhsa
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by jhsa »

Thanks Mike.. You have been doing an excellent work with ErskyTX and the receivers. I have been building the D16 receivers from Midelic's project, so I don't really buy original receivers anymore. It is fun to build them. I am also not buying more radios as I have enough. I am open for new modifications that could be done to the AR9x and 9Xtreme boards though. Not sure how many are still using them. what I can say is that after a few years my radios remain extremely reliable. never had an issue with them. I believe we cannot say the same about some commercial gems :mrgreen:
Never lost a model because of the radio. My main radio at the moment is the 9Xtreme. Pogo pins are still holding fine as I still didn't replace them with soldered wires. My Son is using one of the radios with an Ar9x board inside. The RF module is still an old Frsky DHT internal, with that module switching circuit of course. Need to get a Multi protocol module for it. Is that project still alive? I haven't been following any of it.
Last time I saw ErskyTx, and that was quite a while ago, it still needed some cosmetic work on some of the menus. need to install the latest version now that the flying season is coming to an end soon.
One thing I would love to see implemented is the ability for Eepskye to use a joystick, or a trainer radio connected to the PC, I believe Companion can do that already? Also, it would be cool if Eepskye could run on an android Phone or Tablet. :)
Ooops, sorry, I didn't change a bit, did I?? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Anyway, Mike, is good to see you here, and I am looking forward to doing some testing for you again ;) As always ErskyTX Rocks!! Thank you..
I wonder how many of the older DIYers still follow these forums ;)
Are you still around guys? :lol: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
My er9x/Ersky9x/eepskye Video Tutorials
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Rad
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by Rad »

jhsa wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 2:31 pm
Are you still around guys? :lol: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Uops, I have just seen this post.

Yeah, I am still here. I come weekly for checking if there is a newer ersky test version, lol. I still use my 9xtreme as my main one-rules-all radio, and I see no reason for getting a newer one, but like you, I have also been busy with music. I have just seen your pedals... woah man, that is amazing. Fun fact is I am waiting for some parts to be in stock again for building a DIY Fuzz Factory kit, due to the original pedal is unaffordable for me, besides building a 7 string guitar with a sustainer. Always on the DIY and cheapo route, but very rewarding.
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
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jhsa
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by jhsa »

Rad wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2024 9:13 am
Uops, I have just seen this post.

And I have just seen your post :) Cool to find someone here also building guitar pedals. Amazing.
Yeah, at the moment I am into digitally controlling analog effects. I am currently working on a PT2399 based delay, with presets and all that. At the same time I still co-develop the effects switcher (the blue one you see on my picture above). It is all fun.
This is not the right place to discuss this, if you want we can create a new topic in the Electronics section of these forums. 8-)

João
My er9x/Ersky9x/eepskye Video Tutorials
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bob195558
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by bob195558 »

Hi João,
I am still here checking also most every day still.
I do miss seeing your post and was hoping you would have done more with 3D-Printing. :D
Maybe you could post some of your other projects you are working on now, here. 8-)
It is good to here from you and also Mike and Kilrah and many others. :D
I remember when this forum was very active with more postings every day then one person could follow,
it was very fun back then with all the many postings. :D
May the Blessings of Jesus Christ be over each of you.

Bob
Er9x on 9x radio, with Smartieparts Programmer and TelemetrEZ Board.
ErSky9x on Taranis, Sky9x, 9Xtreme radios.
3D-Printing: (https://openrcforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=129).
Rad
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by Rad »

Oh, even when I don't write too much, I come here quite often and I always check if there is a new ersky version to download. Not that I need it, but for some reason I like updating the thing.

Joao, yeah, you can open that thread, but I am an absolute rookie. I managed to get that custom Fuzz Factory working, and now I am gathering parts to build a 7 string guitar, where I am planning to fit a Veyz sustainer. Lets see how it goes...
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
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MikeB
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by MikeB »

I've just released r227. This just fixes a small bug where if you have several mixes on one channel, all using HALF or FULL as source and REPLACE as the multiplex, only the last mix worked.

I'm adding features that are in openTx to erskyTx, without upsetting how erskyTx currently works. Recently I added INPUTS.
Trims work on flight modes either as the same as another flight mode or as their own trim. I'm now adding the option of a flight mode trim being added to that of another flight mode.
GVARS (7 of them) are available. I'm now adding GVARS that are specific to flight modes, each GVAR is either unique to a flight mode or the same as that of another flight mode, and there are 12 GVARS available.

Mike
erskyTx/er9x developer
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!
Rad
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by Rad »

MikeB wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2024 12:10 pm I've just released r227. This just fixes a small bug where if you have several mixes on one channel, all using HALF or FULL as source and REPLACE as the multiplex, only the last mix worked.
Mike
In fact I found that bug in one of my models yesterday. I thought my radio was glitchy for some reason. I did not flash that 227 version because my radio is the 9xtreme.
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
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MikeB
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by MikeB »

r227 is a full release, the files for all radios are on www.er9x.com.

Mike
erskyTx/er9x developer
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!
Rad
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by Rad »

MikeB wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 10:55 pm r227 is a full release, the files for all radios are on www.er9x.com.

Mike
Oh, OK, I did not download it because it said 226. But I have flashed it and it is indeed the 227. Thanks!
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MikeB
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Re: Is anyone still DIYing Radios?

Post by MikeB »

I forgot that when I uploaded the files, now corrected to show 227.

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

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