I had tried flashing it before. None were successful.

I have tried different USB driver installs.

I have tried reflashing even though it does not 'turn on' as it used to. When I plug in the USB cable with NO BATTERY inside the unit, the backlit LCD does light up. Sometimes it does not stay on, especially when the flashing/burning starts. But it does come on.

Ok you have to open your tx, remove the SP board, clean the contacts, and reinstall it.
You most probably have dirty contacts and this will most likely fix it.
Please came back with what happens after this, if it still does not work or if it solved the problem.
You can leave the back cover off and unplugged to flash if you want, but most likely you usb is in the battery compartment. No need for a tx battery to flash, and if the flash was corrupted you may see a blank screen and no backlight.

Groot

You beat me to it. Does seem like a faulty connection issue.
My bet is that either the MISO or MOSI line are not connecting.

Get a Q-tip with alcohol and clean the pads. While you're at it go over the pins of the SM boards as well.

The good news is that most likely you didn't screw anything up. Just proceed slowly and try reading the flash before trying to write.

Originally Posted by uavrat

After unsuccessful flashing of firmware with the Smartieparts programmer installed I can no longer turn on the Turnigy 9x. The backlight does seem to turn on but nothing displays on the LCD, and there are no more start up beeps.

Have I screwed the pooch? Is there a way to bring it back?

I am still trying to flash it with the latest firmware but....

I have just installed the Smartieparts and tried to flash my Tunigy 9x. No luck, here is the trace output, thanks for any suggestions.

The first question I have for you is: Do you mean to be using the Ardupilot version? Next have you tried to download the hex file again? The connections seem to be just fine. Otherwise the programmer usually stops at reading the device signature. So check that you are getting the correct version of Er9x and that the file isn't corrupt.
-Gohst

I have installed the board and have went in and down loaded the er9x, but I cannot get it to load into the transmitter because I don't have a driver where do I go from here and what do I do? Im lost at this point. appreciate some help
Walt

On the product page is a link to the installation instructions. On that page is a link to the driver info.

- Steven

I am looking to order the board and saw it comes with the EL backlight in blue
I already have a back light installed which I bought from Hobbyking (white) when I bought the TX
Is there any advantage in using the EL supplied with the board over the Hobbyking item?

Depending on what you're looking for... yes. I designed it for night flying. A lot of people are disappointed with its brightness and like the HK one better. For night flying though, you don't want bright - you want a backlit glow. But if you want a pretty blue shiny thing in the middle of the day, then you want LED.

Either way, the EL circuit was added to my kit as a bonus. The price didn't change when the EL was added. So if you want to use the HK backlight, that's fine... just don't use the EL! Try both and decide what works best for your flying.

It was my initial assumption that people that wanted a backlight wanted it for nightflying and people that didn't night fly didn't need a backlight. My next design is going to have an option to drive both.

The current HK setup is, in my opinion, flawed. First off, its designed to operate with the main power switch. So its on all the time, drawing battery power whether you want or not. Second, it runs directly off the battery power. So it draws more with higher voltage and gets dimmer as your battery runs down. While cheap and simple, that's not really the "right" way (I use that term loosely) to drive an LED. But its cheap and easy. You can modify the HK backlight to turn on with the EL driver switch (in er9x, etc) with a FET... but its still voltage driven. My next design will include a proper LED driver chip to better manage the HK backlight. Anyway, I'm rambling.

- Steven

Having looked at both I much prefer the way the EL light looks.

(personal preference)

So does the smartieparts board drive the HK panel or do we just leave the HK panel connected the way it already is and just add the board?

I hear the board can switch off/on the panel... can this still be done if using the HK panel?

Cheers

I'll answer your question more completely then you're probably looking for (for simple answer, its "yes" but you have reading to do on your own):

LED runs on DC and is (supposed to be) driven with a constant current.
EL runs on AC and is driven with a constant voltage.

Batteries, of course, put out DC. My SmartieParts circuit converts the DC input into an AC output specific for the EL panel provided. The HK LED kit, on the other hand, takes the straight voltage from your battery and drives the LED directly via a simple resistor. Not the best way to do it, but of course it works.

The firmware outputs a signal on a specific pin that my board hooks up to, so the firmware can therefore turn on/off the EL backlight. This is not the case with LED unless you make yourself a circuit that can handle it. That means using a FET as a switch. So the firmware outputs the same signal that triggers the FET to allow battery voltage through to your LED. Again, not the most elegant solution but it works.

So bottom line is you can't just plug the HK LED light into my SP board and hope it works. I'm not saying you'll end up with a small mushroom cloud, but perhaps not far off. But you CAN take advantage of the SP connection to the radio's "light switch" (for lack of a better term) pin, via a FET or a better circuit if you care to, to achieve what you want to do.

Hope that helps.

- Steven

That was very clear. Thank you for taking the time out to write this up. I understand you may have been asked this question many times before and will many times in the furture....So thanks again.

I might just keep it simple and use the EL panel with the SP board.

I'm a little lost

I have just bought the SP board. Do I have to buy the "programer" http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-ISP-Prog...ht_8570wt_1163
to connect my PC to the SP board installed in my TX?

I was under the impression that the SP board was the programer and I only needed to connect a usb cable from my PC to the board

the SP board is the programmer. No need to buy another.

Originally Posted by crucial

the SP board is the programmer. No need to buy another.

thank for that. I was worried I had to buy another part.

Currently reading step 2 of the Latest Firmware. Version Information and FLASHING Information.

There is alot to take in.. maybe I do need that coffee.