openrcforums

For who like 9XR-Pro radios, HobbyKing has some available again.
Sale $29.95 on the Turnigy 9XR PRO Radio Transmitter Mode 1 (without module): (https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-9xr ... odule.html).
I believe it is hard to change Gimbals to Mode 2.


$63.63 (Out of stock!) Turnigy 9XR PRO Radio Transmitter Mode 2 (without module): (https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-9xr ... odule.html).

I never found it on Hobbyking at this price (though following the link in their emails). I always get the "out of stock" pages with a price of over 50 or 60 $

I believe it is hard to change Gimbals to Mode 2.

It's doable. I did it two weeks ago.

Reinhard

ReSt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:13 pm I never found it on Hobbyking at this price (though following the link in their emails).
I always get the "out of stock" pages with a price of over 50 or 60 $

I believe it is hard to change Gimbals to Mode 2.

It's doable. I did it two weeks ago.
Reinhard

So if someone wanted a 9XR-Pro Mode 2 (at a good price), they could change the Mode 1 gimbals to be Mode 2 Gimbals.

Did you document how you did this ?

I am in the US, and shipping is less then $10.00, and I do NOT see it to be Out of stock! for the Mode 1 version.

There is a youtube video explaining how to change modes..

João

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The 9XR-Pro has been discontinued by HK... $30 is the blowout price.

HK seems to have lost interest in a "Open" firmware product.

Looks like it. I just got an answer from a mod at hobbyking forum. A little weird though, kill the radio just like that.

Hi SkyNorth,
I have one of your last Sky9x boards and like it a lot.
It just seems to work/run really smoothly, which I believe is saying a lot to the really excellent job you did designing it.
Combined with Mike B's ersky9x firmware which is also a very well done excellent job designing the erSky9x firmware.

I still have difficulty understanding why HobbyKing has not hired you to use your Sky9x board in the 9x radio (using the old 9x case).

Bob B.

bob195558 wrote:Hi SkyNorth,
I have one of your last Sky9x boards and like it a lot.
It just seems to work/run really smoothly, which I believe is saying a lot to the really excellent job you did designing it.
Combined with Mike B's ersky9x firmware which is also a very well done excellent job designing the erSky9x firmware.

I still have difficulty understanding why HobbyKing has not hired you to use your Sky9x board in the 9x radio (using the old 9x case).

Bob B.

It seems that it might be related to hobbyking loosing interest in opentx. For a lot of folk and for what I see were I live, opentx it's hard to grasp. I don't consider myself an expert in opentx, but when the guys need configuring something in o radio with opentx, they call me for assistance. Even though I try to teach them, they don't seem to learn. So that supposed lost of interest by hobbyking, must be related to the difficulties folk encounter dealing with opentx.

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I don't think OpenTX has something to do with HK
I think you are confused with Ersky9x and OpenTX. Both 9XR and 9XR-PRO shipped with Ersky9x, not OpenTX

João

MikeB has simplified programming in ersky9x especially getting to the menus.
Mike even includes or included pre programmed basic aircraft and servo testing options. I haven’t checked that writing this.
I had suggested several years ago that otx and maybe ersky9x, add a menu option that would hide all the complicated menus if selected, and only show the basics that a new dx6-7 owner would see. Basically a appliance operators mode.
Then when the flyer wants to use more features for complex programming, that mode could be turned on to reveal the advanced programming.
From watching the many Spektrum owners in what I’ll call “ our electric flying area”
I see wings or powered 3-4 ch powered gliders, or plastic 4 ch war birds and high wing trainers.
Arf or bnf. Pretty much rubber stamp setups programming wise.
The bnf with the multi protocol modules are setup pretty much as a Spektrum plane.

I think a simplified Spektrum type menu would allow a smother transition for a Spektrum owner to a opensource tx, Frsky or HK.
That being said, In the past I never owned or flew Futaba, only JR, because of the confusing to me, Futaba menus. We all have our favorites we came from.
When I bought my first version Dx6 and later first version Dx7, I quickly learned how to program them.
Transitioning to the first/early er9x tx did take some time but it paved the way to thinking open source.
Going from otx 2.0 to 2.2 has been challenging for me in the past, but not like going from Spektrum to otx for many I’m sure.
I find ersky9x easy with Mikes menus when I use my 9xr pro.

So, is a appliance operators menu mode something practical to attract more new users?

Showmaster, to implement such simple menus, you would have to create fixed mixing like the other radio's have. That would possibly mean a fixed channel order among other limitations, that would completely defeat the purpose of the open source firmware, which is making the programming much more flexible and powerful.
People would never be happy anyway, because some like the Futaba way, some can't stand it and like the JR way, others prefer the Graupner way, etc.
Creating a simple way to program the firmware that would be compared to how the other radios work, would also mean a few hundred extra hours of work on something the open source firmware developers have been fighting against all this time. And why? Because a bunch of users do not want to spend a single minute learning how to work with the firmware being it Ersky9x or OpenTX. We want something that programs by itself. That won't happen. Frsky tried to do that on their own firmware. I had a quick look at it while messing with a friend's Horus radio, and I found it absolutely terrible. I couldn't find a way to program what I wanted, and found really difficult to navigate the menus. It was absolutely confusing, at least for me, so after half hour I gave the radio back to him and wished him good luck I still didn't see him fly a model with it

At the end of the day, if we get new gear, we will have to learn how to work with it.. Exactly the same as for example when the LiPo batteries came on the market.. We had to learn how to safely charge and use them..

If people want the open source firmware to behave like the other commercial products, then they should stay with what works for them. But they want the extra flexibility and power of the open source firmware, and that comes at a price.. LEARNING a complete new approach to model programming. You really have to understand what every servo does, what every control surface on your model does, and how your model works, to be able to successfully program it. I find this excellent as at the end you will have a much better understanding of your hobby, and will probably fly your model a bit safer.
Mike has really put a lot of effort in making Ersky9x as user friendly as possible, and if you have been following Ersky9x and Er9x, you will have noticed a big difference in the latest year or two. In my opinion it can be even more user friendly but I believe that will come, depending on Mike's time, and also on his plans for the firmware. I will of course be helping testing as much as I can as I have been doing for a few years now. Unfortunately I am not able to do more than that

João

ErSky9x and Opentx are the leading RC radio operating systems in the world.
All the other are trying to copy just some of the capabilities which these two RC radio systems are doing.
ErSky9x works on the Ar9x, Sky9x, 9xr-pro, 9xtreme, Taranis-X9D, Taranis-Plus, Taranis-QX7 and Taranis-X9E

Er9x firmware works on the older basic 9x radio with the M64, M128, M1281, M2561 chips and the 9xr radio.
Er9x by it self, outdoes most of the other non-opensource RC radio systems.

I believe, part of the setup problems for beginners could be solved by either, some more available templates or more sample model configurations, available for download into eepe or ersky.
And all these models with a detailed description what the mixes do and where to connect which servos / ESCs

Reinhard

This

http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6473

and this

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... qcuIqJXhb9

should be all you need to start understanding Er9x and Ersky9x.. But of course, this means that you would have to use your time for learning, and that is what most of us don't want to do.. The human being became very lazy in general and we expect the things to adapt to us and not the other way round

People can also ask in the forums and will probably get an answer nearly immediately.. There is no reason why people should not adapt themselves to the new way of programming model aircraft..

João

I think, where to be looking, to make more simplified programming, is not so much with er9x and erSky9x radio firmware,
but to make simplified programming in eePe and eePskye.
There could also be eePe and eePskye apps for computer phones and tablets, with WiFi connection back to the radio too.

EePe and eePskye could have a section or file which stores the info about each radio (firmware version, SD card files, hardware)
and each model info (plane, multirotor, heli and the hardware) that each has.
Then you could have the PC (eePe / eePskye) do an auto programming function to create the program.

Just an idea that would be a lot of work to make happen.

bob195558 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 24, 2018 12:40 pm
EePe and eePskye could have a section or file which stores the info about each radio (firmware version, SD card files, hardware)

Yep, radio profiles would be nice. I believe this was already discussed a while ago
Also the ability to load the voice files from a folder on the computer and set the voice in Eepskye would also be nice.. I guess Companion can do both??

Then you could have the PC (eePe / eePskye) do an auto programming function to create the program.

Right click on an empty model slot and select "Wizard". This will help you easily program a model. Not sure it works for Helis yet, but it does for fixed wing.. This approach is the easy way, but it doesn't do much for learning to use the firmware.. if you need something way more complicated you need to know how to work with it. Also, the tool will generate the mixes, but it won't set any travels. YOU HAVE TO DO IT..

There could also be eePe and eePskye apps for computer phones and tablets, with WiFi connection back to the radio too.

Now we're talking, I think this was also discussed. As many of us know, it is possible to connect the ersky9x radios to the PC and Eepskye in real time using an arduino, or even using a bluetooth connection, control the radio channels from Eepskye simulator, receive telemetry from the radio, and also see the radio display on the computer in real time, as well as navigating the radio menus from Eepskye.
All my radios have Bluetooth anyway. By having an android app, we could even use Eepskye at the field and still do all we can do at home, including downloading latest versions and install them.
With an android phone or tablet that can do USB OTG (On The Go), we can also connect the radio to the smartphone or tablet, and manage files on the SD Card. I did that last year when I was in Holidays, to download and install a new test version of Ersky9x. Just connected my radio to the phone via USB

But yes, I would love to see Ersky9x as an android app. the problem is, we need someone that can do it

João

ShowMaster wrote:MikeB has simplified programming in ersky9x especially getting to the menus.
Mike even includes or included pre programmed basic aircraft and servo testing options. I haven’t checked that writing this.
I had suggested several years ago that otx and maybe ersky9x, add a menu option that would hide all the complicated menus if selected, and only show the basics that a new dx6-7 owner would see. Basically a appliance operators mode.
Then when the flyer wants to use more features for complex programming, that mode could be turned on to reveal the advanced programming.
From watching the many Spektrum owners in what I’ll call “ our electric flying area”
I see wings or powered 3-4 ch powered gliders, or plastic 4 ch war birds and high wing trainers.
Arf or bnf. Pretty much rubber stamp setups programming wise.
The bnf with the multi protocol modules are setup pretty much as a Spektrum plane.

I think a simplified Spektrum type menu would allow a smother transition for a Spektrum owner to a opensource tx, Frsky or HK.
That being said, In the past I never owned or flew Futaba, only JR, because of the confusing to me, Futaba menus. We all have our favorites we came from.
When I bought my first version Dx6 and later first version Dx7, I quickly learned how to program them.
Transitioning to the first/early er9x tx did take some time but it paved the way to thinking open source.
Going from otx 2.0 to 2.2 has been challenging for me in the past, but not like going from Spektrum to otx for many I’m sure.
I find ersky9x easy with Mikes menus when I use my 9xr pro.

So, is a appliance operators menu mode something practical to attract more new users?

I'm starting to realise that the software in the radio is not the problem, but competition is the real "problem". Frsky just launched the new x-lite radio and it seems to be a huge success, as the qx7, as the taranis and the horus, that a lot of people switch from FrOs to opentx mostly and also ersky9x.
The main reason for descontinuing the 9xr pro, for sure, is related to a bad advertising campaign and lack of parts and upgrades. Also I see a lot of people mad at hobbyking for some reason, which I don't know why, never had an issue with them, although I never agreed with their old refund policy.
Indeed this opensource software is leading the rc world, you can see that in the various rc related Facebook (for instance) groups.
It might seem complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will never want to go back.
So my best guess is the one above. Thoughts?

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The Factory that makes the 9XR Pro had parts to build another 10,000 Pros...But HK does not want them.
And it appears that they have now closed down that Mfg. company.
There was talk about scraping the rest of the parts, I tried to convince them to donate the parts to some electronic schools , or
Maker Fairs ... but to avail.

The Pro was their #1 selling radio, and also the most complained about. I had re-designed the RF-DECK to fix the current sensor problem ,
but they were not interested , and kept selling the old - easy to burn out version.

-Brent

Now i know why so many people hate hobbyking, they just dont give a damn.
Another thing, can you enlighten me?
What is that RF-deck re-design to fix the sensor problem? im not aware of that. care to explain?
And if possible, post a fix.
Thx

The Current sense Shunt R9 (resistor) needed to be increased in size so it can handle more wattage.
or removed ( the current sensing was never very accurate) by removing it , it gives a extra A/D input which could have been used
for another Pot , or a few more switches...

-Brent

We are using the sense chip a bit below the best sense voltage range, so it goes non-linear, and varies significantly between chips. My prototype board(s) worked fine, so we didn't see the inaccuracies. To improve the accuracy needs a higher value sense resistor, which in turn leads to a higher power dissipation, so an even larger component.

Mike

Mine never worked right.. In my opinion it is a waste of a good Analog input that would probably be way more useful used with a pot for example, as Skynorth said

João

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The current measurement analog signal goes from the RF board to the main board via J6, pin 3. If you disconnect that, you may use the analog input, on that connector,for a POT anyway. As soon as you allocate AD8 as a POT source, the current measurement processing and display is disabled.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I didn't know that this analog input was available on the PRO
I remember we talking about it, but I thought it wasn't made available on this radio.. Those are good news

Thanks

João

Hi,

I can imagine that software developers should have a schematic for this radio board protected by a NDA, but, now that this radio has been (officially ?) discontinued, is there a (legal and agreed with the owners) way to post it here?

That will make the maintenance of those radios much easier.

Or maybe it has been already published and I have not been capable of finding it?

Thanks.

Here are the Schematics.

-Brent

Perfect, thank you Brent.

As a early skyboard and 9xr pro beta tester I’m sorry that HK totally scraped the pro! I still have and use my skyboard 9x conversions as well as my beta pro. In fact, with MikeB providing code for the pro to flash other devices fw, I’ve used it a lot lately.
I know of several pro owners and 1 never used skyboard owner at my field. Thanks to Brent and MikeB (Joao also) I should be able to support them as long as the own them.
I missed the resistor current shunt issue and should update or modify our pro tx’s.
So the recondition is to just bypass or disconnect the resistor?
I’m using a HK orange dsm module with the internal antenna connector and mikeB’s multi fw. I’ve flashed a external antenna version for one of the pro owners. We are very happy with the results.
Thanks to everyone that made this moment in RC history posable! I’m sure the early et9x and skyboard, and Pro hardware/fw developers and beta testers, got Frsky and spectrum to name a few, where we are today!
Without this we would still be listening to a timer beep only and stuck with hard coded options we don’t or can’t use.

I recently purchased a brand new (2nd handed, like new) 9xr pro + xjt module+ x8r receiver+ 9xr pro lipo battery pack+ telemetry cable for 70€. Man what a bargain. Now I have plenty of spare parts.

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