I received and installed the Dragon Link Nano receiver in my quad. This enables basically unlimited range, which is unnecessary on a small race style quad, but it ensures that I should never get drop outs when I'm flying around obstacles, or if I do feel like pushing it out just for fun.

I got some flights in after the installation. Since I'm new to quad flying, it is very difficult for me to fly in a tight area like in these videos. I need a lot of practice to gain some confidence for getting closer to obstacles. I find it really easy to get going too fast, which is why I crashed in the first video. I also noticed that the video performance was quite bad. A higher gain receiver antenna will definitely help in the future.

Mojo - Crash in Tree Branch 17Mar2018 (1 of 4) (4 min 15 sec)

Mojo - Accidental Landing in Snow 17Mar2018 (2 of 4) (6 min 19 sec)

...Continue Reading

I finally am trying out Open-Tx and a FrSky Taranis! It is, of course, very different and time consuming compared to Spektrum, which is what I am used to. But it is so incredibly powerful and customizable, that so far, it seems it will definitely be worth the additional effort.

I've been spending a lot of time researching resources and learning the Taranis. I was able to update to Open-Tx 2.2.1 and flew my Vortex 230 for 3 flights a few days ago.

Since then, I've spent some time adding custom sounds and custom images.

It is pretty neat and rewarding, because it takes some discipline to understand it well enough to get it to work.

Here are some of the links (not exhaustive) I've used along the way so far:

Video Playlist: Project Blue Falcon's Taranis X9D Videos

Video: Upgrading Firmware

Video: Upgrading Bootloader

Video: Binding XSR Receiver

Open-Tx Online Manual

Written Instructions for Setting Volume Control on a Knob

Written Instructions for Playing Music

Written Instructions for Custom Sounds

Download Link to TTSAutomate

Video: Instructions for Using TTSAutomate for Custom Sounds

Video: Instructions for Creating Custom Spalsh Screen and Model Images

RCG Thread for Open-Tx 2.2.1

I have a bunch of gear on the way for expanding my Sabre's setup to what should be its final configuration, both airborne and on the ground. I attached updated schematics of my airborne and ground station setups.

Looking forward to getting going with the new setups to pass the time in the non-flying months.

Here's a list of what's on the way:

tBeacon Amber
Handheld HAM radio (Baofeng UV-5R V2+)
Micro FPV Camera (Caddx SDR1)
Camera Switcher (from GetFPV)
Eagle Eyes ground station module
Second video receiver (for diversity on 1.3 GHz) (ReadyMadeRC 900 - 1.3 GHz)
External FPV Monitor (Lumenier 7" with DVR, 5.8 GHz receivers and diversity)

More info on my other blog.

I got a MOJO!

Long Range Setup Updates

Ground Station Setup Plan

Aerial Schematic on my Finwing Sabre

I maintain my blog on Blogger, so I will just occasionally post updated links here.

I updated my crude ground station UHF repeater with a BEC so that I can plug in basically any battery to power the Dragon Link transmitter and the OrangeRX 2.4 GHz receiver.

http://allenp3aircraft.blogspot.com/...p-updates.html

I recently bought a Spektrum DX20 to use as my transmitter for everything.

My first setup with it is for my Finwing Sabre, (details on my other blog http://allenp3aircraft.blogspot.com/) which is my long range capable FPV plane that uses Dragon Link V3 Advanced (Slim version).

I intended to use a 12 channel setup as follows:

1 - Throttle
2 - Right Aileron
3 - Elevator
4 - Rudder
5 - Left Aileron
6 - Flaps
7 - Pan (FPV camera)
8 - Tilt (FPV camera)
9 - Nose gear steering
10 - Mode (Eagle Tree Vector flight controller mode switch)
11 - Submode (Eagle Tree Vector)
12 - Gain knob (Eagle Tree Vector)

However, I found out the hard way that Spektrum radios only output channels 1 - 8 in the PPM stream coming from the trainer port. Some folks in the Dragon Link V3 Advanced thread (https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ner-Data-Modem) pointed out to me that I could use a repeater setup to still get 12 channels communicated to the Dragon Link transmitter.

Here's the steps that worked for me:

1) Buy an OrangeRX receiver that is capable of 12 channel SBUS output. Be careful, as some have PPM output, while others have SBUS output, which is the favored data type. I used the model R1220XLR receiver.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/orangerx...afe-s-bus.html NOTE: The number of PWM conventional channels on the receiver does not matter. OrangeRX has a handful of different receivers that all output 12 channels SBUS. I chose the 12 channel PWM version just in case I...Continue Reading

My old RCGroups blog under a different user name:

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=102075

My rocket blog (through Blogger):

http://allenp3.blogspot.com/

My RC plane blog, mostly FPV related (through Blogger):

http://allenp3aircraft.blogspot.com/

My Youtube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0f...Kr_alx8_i7uqtg