Attached is a copy the Ethos .psv file I've built for use with TTSAutomate. I've made a few changes from stock by revising some of the warnings to not be as long-winded.
For example - I've shortened "Internal Module, 900 Megahertz, RSSI Critical Warning" to "Internal 900 Signal Critical".

I've also renamed the "hello," "inactivity" and "bye" files as I use custom sounds instead. (Windows XP "logon / wake" as hello, the 737 autopilot disconnect and altitude alerter chimes as inactivity and silence for bye)

I've also added custom sounds for the standard three timers - timer 1 elapsed, timer 2 elapsed, timer 3 elapsed.

- e : Ethos 1.1.1 added the following sound titles : milliliter, mililiters per minute, mililiter per pulse, mililiters per pulse, milliliters, VFR low. Updated.
- e2 : Ethos 1.2.8 added the following sound titles : bar, bars, kilopascal, kilopascals, megapascal, megapascals, pascal, pascals, pound per square inch, pounds per square inch, rotation per minute, rotations per minute. Updated.
- e3 : Ethos 1.3.0 added the following sound titles : microsecond, microseconds, sensor-conflict. Updated.
- e4 : Ethos 1.4.0 added the following sound titles : degree, degrees, function-switches-warning, g. Updated.
- e5 : Ethos 1.4.5 added the following sound titles : dbm, hz, rad. All file playback times have been accelerated 10% as per a note from
Jet_Flyer. Updated.
- e5.5 : changed...Continue Reading

(I've reposted this info to different threads several times... time to make it a blog entry!)


A buddy of mine bought a Dragon Link V3 transmitter to use with his DX18. We set it up in the standard way, cabled to the trainer port.
This worked just fine for his first two planes. Upon trying to set up his third plane with an Eagle Tree Vector, multiple cameras and a pan & tilt main camera we ran into the Spektrum 8-channel trainer port PPM limitation.

I remembered reading that FrSky users were able to make use of an SBUS-based repeater setup to gain all 12 channels, so I decided to duplicate this for his Spektrum radio.

I found that the line of RxxxX V2 Spektrum-compatible receivers from OrangeRX were capable of 12-channel SBUS output. I selected an R920X for this project, mainly because that was the only one HobbyKing had in stock at that time The number of conventional PWM ports on these receivers was unimportant as all of them were capable of outputting 12 channels via SBUS.

The cable needed to connect the receiver to the Dragon Link TX is just a standard 3-pin male-to-male servo wire.

Everything is powered by a single 2-cell lipo. The battery is plugged directly into the receiver which in turn powers the DL transmitter. Both components are capable of up to 8.4V of input power so no BEC is necessary.

The only tricky part of this relates to setting up the failsafes. Failsafes plural, because you have to set your failsafe up twice - one for the Spektrum...Continue Reading

Responded to the OP. Placed my order on Monday, received it today (Wednesday.) I'm currently stateside, so shipping was delightfully quick!





...Continue Reading

Decided to test that for you. I took a 2S "transmitter" lipo and discharged it down to around 3.2V/cell. I also reset my Rlink TX to sound the voltage alarm at 6.1V.

Plugged everything in, and it powered up like normal.



I left it set at "low" power (~600mw!) and took a walk around the building with a powered and bound receiver in hand. It never failsafed.

Came back after three minutes, and heard the voltage alarm going off...





Disconnected and got the battery back on charge right away.

It is worth noting that the Rlink was still transmitting even though the input voltage was well below the stated minimum of 7V.

On 2 cells at 6.5V my Rlink TX puts out 610mw on low power and 720mw on high. With a fully-charged 2S battery the power output levels remain the same on low power but goes to 840mw on high.

I also had a pair of DPS-1200s die after using them off a generator. They were in series, and the generator is an inverter type

Lol at the prices on these now. Blame the cryptocurrency nerds!

I replaced them with some DPS-750s, also in series. These are cheap for now at around $19 off of eBay.
(turns out that I didn't really need 900+ watts to run half my charging station)

Also - I've bought 6 of these and converted them to run in series. The conversion procedure is identical to the DPS-1200s

BUT

turns out that there are different types of DPS-750s which are not compatible with each other. pairing incompatible ones in series invariably - and quickly (literally within minutes - kills one of the two supplies.

went through three PSUs before I discovered that little nugget of information I thought I was doing something wrong when floating the ground or maybe they were just dodgy from the start but Nope not quite - it just so happened that I managed to pair up incompatible ones. Twice.

the last set I converted and paired up for 24V a little over a week ago. They passed my initial testing and worked as expected for this past weekend's charging activities. So far so good.

if they continue working I'll tear the vinyl off of them and post pics as to exactly which...Continue Reading

so I have these two modules.


tested both of them immediately upon receipt. Module #1 seemed to be consistently a little more powerful than module #2, but since both were putting out more than their rated 70mW in Spektrum/DSMX mode I figured that they were fine.

I did notice that I had a couple of odd failsafes which I didn't have with my actual Spektrum radios. Tested the modules again and the power levels were p much unchanged. I figured that teh stock ducky antennas were to blame. DId a bit of research and wanted to try one of the VAS 2.4 folded dipoles. These have standard SMA connectors; the modules are RP-SMA. I didn't want to use an RP-SMA to SMA adapter, so I ordered a short U.FL to SMA cable to replace the stock coax cable.

apparently I clicked on the wrong length!
stock coax is approx. 2", my replacement is 4"

...Continue Reading

finally got a valid sbus stream out of my 4-ch receiver.




Procedure :

- downgraded TX firmware from v3.00 to v2.11

...Continue Reading

$5 for a 5S balance lead, a pair of 2-pin JST plugs and two 1N4001 (1A 50v) diodes wired up in series and you can safely use a 3S lipo.



the 3 pins on the left go to the (-) rail, the other two are (+).



A little hard to see here, so click for gigantic. I have 2 sets of diodes connected in series on the (+) side, one set per leg.
(the diodes are the little lumps under the heatshrink)

Each diode drops the voltage by approx. 0.7V. 2 in series means that the radio never sees more than 11.2V even when the 3S lipo is fully charged.

Note : if you are uncomfortable with using lipos in your transmitter then make this plug without the diodes. This wil allow you to use any 8-cell nicad / nimh or LiFe pack that will physically fit into the battery bay.

...Continue Reading

There are a couple of options.

- *Genuine* Spektrum DM9 module : Expensive! PPM only, so somewhat laggy. No ModelMatch. DSM2 only, so some of the newer BNFs won't easily bind to it. No telemetry. Supports up to 8 channels.

- Spektrum "Hack" module : Affordable (when pre-built), PITA otherwise as you have to get the board, components and a donor DX5e/6e transmitter. No PPM->Spektrum conversion lag. Supports DSM2 and DSMX. Supports ModelMatch! Sends 6 channels only. No telemetry.

- iRangeX multi-protocol module : Cheap! Same basic advantages as the hack module, but it supports up to 12 channels and telemetry. The firmware is open-source and is being continually updated.

So a test was requested...

I don't know. With 9 chargers on the table I never needed to run any one of them to their limits.



Let's Test


...Continue Reading