Originally Posted by jvphotog

About those rx warnings I was getting. I feel like something is wrong with my frsky XM. Im getting rssi value of 10-22 in the OSD and no rx warnings/ drone falling. The rx is getting 4.94vdc.

The xm isn't a telemetry rx, meaning it won't transmit to the tx for voice warnings. It uses a channel (reads voltage) for rssi that fc can translate into a value on osd. Having no telemetry reduces the bandwidth needed, and basically the rx is more sensitive, so you get better range out of a XM compared to telemetry rx like r-xsr.

Originally Posted by Dr.JJ

The xm isn't a telemetry rx, meaning it won't transmit to the tx for voice warnings. It uses a channel (reads voltage) for rssi that fc can translate into a value on osd. Having no telemetry reduces the bandwidth needed, and basically the rx is more sensitive, so you get better range out of a XM compared to telemetry rx like r-xsr.

Hmm maybe I wrote that wrong. Im getting very poor reception from my frsky XM. I know it doesn't have telemetry but Im getting a rssi value in my OSD and it reads about 10 to 22. Im getting rx warnings in OSD as well as it dropping out of the air occasionally. Ive tested it in front of my house and in an open field and im getting very poor range. I tested the voltage going to the XM and it's 4.94vdc. The vtx is set to 25mw.

Originally Posted by jvphotog

Hmm maybe I wrote that wrong. Im getting very poor reception from my frsky XM. I know it doesn't have telemetry but Im getting a rssi value in my OSD and it reads about 10 to 22. Im getting rx warnings in OSD as well as it dropping out of the air occasionally. Ive tested it in front of my house and in an open field and im getting very poor range. I tested the voltage going to the XM and it's 4.94vdc. The vtx is set to 25mw.

Has it been like that since install? Or was it better at some point, before the range issues? Did you update the firmware on the xm+? You should be using the firmware that uses ch8 as rssi value so you can use that to assign as rssi aux channel in bf, so that you get it in osd. 25mw should get you a few acres. Are you dropping out with clear vtx signal? Take a pic of antenna placement. Check all connections and antenna tip lengths. I have made it to the clouds before with same equipment.

Did someone tuned the quad for 4S and betaflight 3.4?

Originally Posted by David_VG

Did someone tuned the quad for 4S and betaflight 3.4?

I haven't updated my gt-r90 to 3.4 as I haven't flown it in a while. when I first got this I was adamant on using 4S as I purchased them specifically for this, and had to do a video comparison for myself to see the difference, however at this point flying exclusively on 4S 450mAh, I just cant use 3s batteries on this, it just feels dead and its not just that the throttle hover point is higher. if feels way more responsive. If I go back to the 3S on this I immediately notice the difference. I last tuned mine when I put some dal Q2035C's on it a while back

All gyro notch filters are off but I turned on D term notch as the motors were running hot in the unusual hot weather here

Ordered a new XM and new antennas. I took the antenna off and im getting the same rssi value so something is wrong.

About that broken off capacitor. This is where it broke off from. Its labeled 5v and ground on this diagram. But theres another 5v and ground 4 pads down from where it broke off. Can I put the capacitor there? Thanks!

Originally Posted by jvphotog

Ordered a new XM and new antennas. I took the antenna off and im getting the same rssi value so something is wrong.

About that broken off capacitor. This is where it broke off from. Its labeled 5v and ground on this diagram. But theres another 5v and ground 4 pads down from where it broke off. Can I put the capacitor there? Thanks!

Attachment 11097114

I would put it where the battery leads come in on fc, or as close as possible to the noisiest component, the esc. On the power leads of esc to main voltage would be best. You could put a tiny one on the 5v power source, but the voltage spikes should be negated as close to source as possible. I dont know how effective it is when run thru a voltage running off a bec. That noise not only screws with vtx signal, but messes with your tune and pids. Possibly giving you those other symptoms. And, miswired rx or ground could cause those symptoms as well.

Originally Posted by Dr.JJ

I would put it where the battery leads come in on fc, or as close as possible to the noisiest component, the esc. On the power leads of esc to main voltage would be best. You could put a tiny one on the 5v power source, but the voltage spikes should be negated as close to source as possible. I dont know how effective it is when run thru a voltage running off a bec. That noise not only screws with vtx signal, but messes with your tune and pids. Possibly giving you those other symptoms. And, miswired rx or ground could cause those symptoms as well.

Thanks for the info Dr. JJ, I appreciate it! Theres really no room to solder anything on this little guy except for that back strip of solder pads(where the stock one fell off) and the where XT30 battery leads solder to the esc board. I dont really see where else I could put a cap.
I actually bought the r90 from Graysons hobby and they installed the XM for me. Unfortunately I didnt know what I was doing and didnt have rssi enabled when I got the thing - actually I didnt even have goggles to view the rssi! I need to get a magnifying glass to work on this thing!

Originally Posted by jvphotog

Thanks for the info Dr. JJ, I appreciate it! Theres really no room to solder anything on this little guy except for that back strip of solder pads(where the stock one fell off) and the where XT30 battery leads solder to the esc board. I dont really see where else I could put a cap.
I actually bought the r90 from Graysons hobby and they installed the XM for me. Unfortunately I didnt know what I was doing and didnt have rssi enabled when I got the thing - actually I didnt even have goggles to view the rssi! I need to get a magnifying glass to work on this thing!
Attachment 11097469

Where the xt30 solders up to board would be the best spot. The legs of the cap should be as short as possible, but you can also solder 18 gauge power wire to the short cap legs and re-route it anywhere. There is resistance in the cap legs, but not much in the power wire. The designer of raceflight, Preston, has some videos on youtube all about this stuff if you want more info.

Here is my xm range test

XM+ Range Test ** Climb till Failsafe! :) (2 min 33 sec)

I had a bad crash yesterday into a clothes line pole and I must be super lucky because not only was there no damage but all the packs after that flight were perfect, no shakes or stuttering like before.

EDIT: I Found half of the answer - I can access smart audio menu on the OSD by holding mid throttle, left yaw, up roll. The setting still isn't being saved and it resets back to 25mw after I unplug the battery :/

EDIT2: Also found it interesting my model came with a runcam swift camera. Was expecting the generic camera but got an orange runcam instead.

I'm brand new to FPV and I just finished my first 2 packs with the R90 in a large open park. So awesome!! I can't believe how well these quads stay in perfect control despite wind. At one point I was flying right behind a bird and keeping pace with him.

Mostly everything works perfectly, but there are a couple of things I haven't been able to figure out despite google and youtube:

First is how to get the TBS unify receiver to stay higher than 25mw. I was able to unlock it, (both LEDs stay lit whenever it is powered on), and I'm able to select higher power transmission using the push button menu, but every time I power cycle the drone the unify loses its setting and defaults back to 25mw. Is this the expected behavior?

Second is how to get the TBS smart audio working -- I thought there was some menu overlay in the OSD through the goggles, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to access it. I saw that TBS smartaudio is already selected for UART3 in the ports menu of betaflight, is there anything else I need to do?

Anyway thanks all, these forums have been a great help to me already!

Originally Posted by Dr.JJ

Where the xt30 solders up to board would be the best spot. The legs of the cap should be as short as possible, but you can also solder 18 gauge power wire to the short cap legs and re-route it anywhere. There is resistance in the cap legs, but not much in the power wire. The designer of raceflight, Preston, has some videos on youtube all about this stuff if you want more info.

Here is my xm range test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7I9pQUuOow

Ahhhhrg. that was creepy. But very cool to watch! What was the estimated height?

@jackanapes
You may try to set it via the CLI in betaflight configurator.
For example:
set vtx_power = 1 (this would be 25mw)
set vtx_power = 2 (this woulde be 200mw)
.....

Dont forget to write "save" after setting your desired powerlevel.
Btw. as far as i know, you do not need to unlock it, when connected via smart audio, all options should be available.

Originally Posted by Noctaro

Ahhhhrg. that was creepy. But very cool to watch! What was the estimated height?

@jackanapes
You may try to set it via the CLI in betaflight configurator.
For example:
set vtx_power = 1 (this would be 25mw)
set vtx_power = 2 (this woulde be 200mw)
.....

Dont forget to write "save" after setting your desired powerlevel.
Btw. as far as i know, you do not need to unlock it, when connected via smart audio, all options should be available.

Turns out I had been looking at the TR instead of SA (smartAudio) settings. Everythings working now

Originally Posted by jackanapes

Turns out I had been looking at the TR instead of SA (smartAudio) settings. Everythings working now

What do you mean? Does the vtx start up with the settings you want now?

Originally Posted by jvphotog

What do you mean? Does the vtx start up with the settings you want now?

In your osd menu, under features I think, but where you select if you have tramp or unify. SA is smart audio for tbs unify, TR is for tramp (immersion rc vtx). We want to use SA to access unify settings.