Jason's Homebrew APM Transmitter

I was visiting with APM Developer Jason Short, and he showed me a project he had been working on... His own radio, integrated for use with DroidPlanner running on a Nexus 7.

I hope Jason will say some more about it later (note to Jason: no more prestigious venue than EastBay RC!); I was really impressed.  Custom electronics and code, a nice 3D printed case which felt nice in my hands, a really nice job.

He didn't know it, but it's the same glorious yellow color as the old Kraft radios!

iPhone/Android RC Control

If you're like me, you've been asked plenty of times if your RC unit can be controlled by an iPhone.  If you've been wanting to do this, your problem is solved!


Hobbyking IOS & Android 4CH WiFi Receiver

Four channel, talks over wifi, app works by pseudo-stick or tilt control, mysterious reference to "video function", failsafe... seems pretty nifty!

It looks like the unit joins a hard-coded network name, and the password is printed on the receiver.
Reference manual here. The Internet believes this to be the app.

A nice UAV radio transmitter

Here's a controller for a huge moving truck, as seen on a clip from Extreme Machines.  I'd like to have something like this (not quite so meaty of course!) for controlling a drone.

In particular, the Arducopter software has a lot of variations (e.g. simple compass control) that would be nice to map onto a clearly-labelled, easy-to-hit button.

Are there any RC transmitters that feature a row of buttons or switches like this?  If so, I'd be interested in hearing about it!

HAM testing info

Some nice resources for HAM radio.

• find a test site : http://www.arrl.org/finding-an-exam-session
• practice exams : http://www.qrz.com/ht/
• study guide(s) : http://kb6nu.com/tech-manual/

Hacking the I2C interface of Spektrum DX and AR ?

RC-CAM Forum: "The Spektrum transmitter has a small daughter board in it that contains the Unigen RF module, a voltage regulator, and a host microntroller. The microcontroller is used to measure the PPM signal from the transmitter's encoder and convert it to a three-wire (I2C) communication signal so that it can talk to the Unigen module. ...."

Dx6i Elevon Mixing for SuperFly

Update:  Superfly Guru Hance over at RCGroups has a better solution than the one I originally used. Here it is.  I've gone through the steps below and verified it works great... Thanks Hance!


Transmitter: Spektrum DX6i
Receiver: OrangeRX Spektrum DSM2 6ch

Reset Memory

• Start by resetting the settings for this model:
  [MENU / SETUP LIST (9)/ COPY/RESET (12) / RESET]
• This only resets one model memory, not the entire DX6i. 
• This resets your model name as well.

Receiver Setup

• Engine (ESC) to throttle.
• Right (starboard) servo to aileron.
• Left (port) servo to AUX1.

Left Stick

• Nothing needs to be done.
• Throttle will work as expected.
• Rudder channel not used.

Aileron Control

• At this stage, only the right elevon should move.
• Aileron right:  right elevon up.
• If the right elevon moves down, reverse the aileron controls:
  [MENU / SETUP LIST (9) / REVERSE (4) / AILE-R]

Elevator control

• Move elevator up and down.
• Nothing should happen at this time.

Wing Tail Mix

• Set the wing tail mix to "dual aileron" mode:
  [MENU / SETUP LIST (9) / WING TAIL MIX (6) / DUALAILE ACT]

Check control surfaces again

• Aileron stick right: right elevon up, left elevon down.
• Aileron stick left: left elevon up, right elevon down.
• If left elevon motion is backwards, reverse flap channel:
  [MENU / SETUP LIST (9) / REVERSE (4) / FLAP-R]
• If right elevon motion is backwards, reverse aileron channel:
  [MENU / SETUP LIST (9) / REVERSE (4) / AILE-R]

Elevator

• Set MIX 1 to active:
• [ MENU / MIX1 (6) / ACT ]
• This will give you a new menu for MIX 1.
• Change first row to: ELEV -> FLAP ACT.
• Change second row to: RATE D -100% U -100%.
• You may need to set the rate to +100% if the servos are reversed.
• Change third row to  SW ON TRIM ACT.

Final Test

• right stick:  right elevon up, left elevon down
• left stick:  left elevon up, right elevon down
• stick back:  both elevons up
• stick forward: both elevons down

"Classic" Dx6i Mixing

Here's the "standard" instructions for the Dx6i

Here's the steps I used to set elevon mixing with my Dx6i / Superfly combo.  Thanks to  brandonrc for his YouTube walkthrough that explained about using Mix1 and Mix2.

todo: another rcgroups discussion, are they in agreement?
    Spektrum DX6i Elevon Weirdness: Worse Than You Think
         Fix For Elevon Routines

Radio Hardware

• transmitter: Dx6i
• receiver: 6110e

Servo Connections

• Left servo, connect to ELEV
• Right servo, connect to AILE

Set Elevon Mode

• menu: ADJUST LIST / SETUP LIST (9) / WING TAIL MIX (6)
• set ELEVON = ACT (all others INH)

Set Proper Reverse (I haven't heard anybody else mention this, but if I didn't reverse AILE then the controls were rotated 90 degree, i.e. which I mean elevator and aileron controls were swapped.)

• menu: ADJUST LIST / SETUP LIST (9) / REVERSE (4)
• set AILE = R (all others =N)

Get Full Servo Throws:

• menu: ADJUST LIST / MIX 1 (6)
• set ELEV -> ELEV ACT
• set RATE D = 125%
• set RATE U = 125%
• set TRIM = ACT
• menu: ADJUST LIST / MIX 2 (7)
• set AILE -> AILE ACT
• set RATE D = 125%
• set RATE U = 125%
• set TRIM = ACT 

125% is the maximum mix adjustment you can select.  The SuperFly manual recommends starting with throws of 1.5 inches up and 1.5 inches  down and adjusting to taste, so use whatever value gives you the control you like.

Hobby King 4-Ch 2.4Ghz Radio and Receiver

This receiver is a pretty nice, low-cost unit.  Here's some notes about setting it up.


WiFi Warning - Laptop interferes with this transmitter!

• I spent about an hour trying (unsuccessfully) to get things working.  Shutting off the  computer WiFi fixed everything!

Installation

• When Plugging in USB, Windows will want to install a driver.  Let it search and install the default.
• Under "Setting", USB will be "COM4".
• Software is here. [add this]
• Better software: Digital Radio by Stefano Grassi
• Another alternative: TurboRix
• Select this to start: System Setting/Stick/Mode 2
• Hobby King video review and tutorial

To Bind

• Bind Plug in BAT
• Power to CH3 (actually, I think it can be any channel)
• Neutral Wire to RIGHT when reading text
• Fast blink: polarity error:
• Slow blink: ready to bind

Channels (note: numbered from bottom to top)

• 6:
• 5:
• 4: aileron
• 3: throttle
• 2: elevator
• 1: rudder

Assignable Buttons

• A: throttle kill (up = throttle off, down = throttle normal)
• B: dual rates (up = ON [100%], down = OFF [50%])
• VR(A): CH5 (VR are for heli??)
• VR(B): CH6

Transmitter: Mode 1 vs. Mode 2?

Executive Summary:

• radios are either mode 1 or 2
• the difference: stick layout
• in the U.S., get mode 2.

Nice writeup with video demo.
Some historical context.