Discussion Taranis Discussion Thread

[BalsaDust]

Also running the X9D+.
For sure run OpenTX as it’s great being able to share plane files with others or having someone look something over you can’t quite figure out. If you would like I can send over some of my files for you to look at and get the idea of how things work.

Since your getting a x10 then it already comes with it but I also upgraded the gimbals to the M9 gimbals and they are amazing.
Also download the Amber sound pack just for fun.

Any questions just ask.

 

[Bartman]

Thanks Chris, I thought I remembered you being one of the guys here that was already using OpenTx.

Someone else replied to my wanted ad with a Taranis X9D Plus in very good used condition for $90 plus shipping. If he still has it I can buy it and pass it along to someone here, just pay me back when you get it and I'll have him ship it directly to you.

 

[Bartman]

Is there a way to run OpenTx on a laptop so a plane can be programmed before uploading it to the transmitter?

I'm planning on posting links and other stuff here as I discover it but if you guys that are already there want to start sharing please feel free!

 

[BalsaDust]

Is there a way to run OpenTx on a laptop so a plane can be programmed before uploading it to the transmitter?

I'm planning on posting links and other stuff here as I discover it but if you guys that are already there want to start sharing please feel free!

Yes sir thats how I do it. Write the program on the laptop and then dump it to my radio and tweak it from there.

 

[John Vesper]

I posted a wanted ad and came up with a nearly new used Horus X10S today, maybe it'll be here by the end of the week.

In playing around with flaps and ailerons I've run into a limit with my current radios where I can't make flaperons that also give me outboard ailerons only in low rates and full span honker ailerons in high rates. I also want to play around more with telemetry options.

The receivers are still a little confusing but I'll just have to pick one and run with it, see what's what and then go fly.

Anybody else already flying FrSky?

I have several. I would recommend researching the following. All are nominally 8 channels, or more.

1) X8R: Has telemetry and S-Bus expandability to 16 channels ($31.50)
2) D8R-II Plus: Pretty much the X8R without the S-Bus. (About $25.50)
3) L9R 9-12 channel "Long Range" receiver. Telemetry. Native 9 channel, expandable to 12. Under $38.

There's another, non-telemetry receiver, the V8FR-II, as well, but it's price is so close to the D8R-II (all of $.09)that, to me, it's not a factor.

 

[John Vesper]

I posted a wanted ad and came up with a nearly new used Horus X10S today, maybe it'll be here by the end of the week.

In playing around with flaps and ailerons I've run into a limit with my current radios where I can't make flaperons that also give me outboard ailerons only in low rates and full span honker ailerons in high rates. I also want to play around more with telemetry options.

The receivers are still a little confusing but I'll just have to pick one and run with it, see what's what and then go fly.

Anybody else already flying FrSky?

I am. A prominent club member is a Rep for Horizon, so most of our club flies Spectrum, but I love mine. The only real difference between Open-Tx and other computer type radios is that there are no fixed output channels. This is handy, if you are using separate servos for flaperons or want to have differential thrust on a multiengine. I am completing a plans-built Duellist, and was able to set up the right throttle and flaperon on channels 1 & 2, with the left on 7 & 8. I, at least, found this very handy to avoid confusion in the connections.

You assign "controls" (inputs) and "mixers" (output channels.) Multiple mixers can run off of a single input and a single mixer can accept inputs from several controls.

The various mixers and settings within them, are assigned switches to trigger the various functions within them. This means that you can have a single 3-position switch control, for example, High rate, low rate, and exponential control on a single channel, with separate switches for each control surface. Or you can run that same setup on several outputs, all off of one switch.

Each mixer can be set with both a delay and transit time. You can actually setup gear doors, within the transmitter.

On top of it all, if you just want to turn it on and fly, every time you go to add a new vehicle, you have the option of going through a series of inquiries ("Does your airplane have ailerons?") to set up a default Airplane, Glider, Helicopter or Multicopter.

with a 64-model memory, expandable to infinity, with new SD cards, this may be the last Tx I ever buy, barring physical damage.

 

[John Vesper]

The only issue I've seen with these radios is that, when I first got mine, I joined a facebook page for the upper end FrSky radios. Most of the problems, for which people are asking assistance, start with the words "I just upgraded to Open-TX version x.xx.x and..."

There is a real temptation on the part of a lot of users to update the Operating System, upon every opportunity to do so. Having extensive experience as a pc technician, I made a WHOLE lot of money off of people upgrading drivers, when the peripherals were working just fine. This is not to say that there may not be some benefits to some upgrades, but there are a lot of options available and, if you pick the wrong one, you can turn that transmitter into an expensive paper-weight.

 

[Bartman]

Thanks for chiming in John. One thing I've picked up on is that you have to know which transmitter module you have and which modes it will bind in in order to pick the right receiver. The Horus X10S that I bought has the internal iXJT+ transmitter module so when I'm looking at receivers I can only buy the ones that are compatible.

What I've been wondering is how I replace my old nine channel receivers when most of the FrSky receivers are eight channels. I finally found a nine channel but it doesn't have the telemetry option that makes FrSky so nice in the first place.

So I've been thinking about it and discovered you can bind two receivers together to work at the same time to have sixteen channels. What is so nice about this is that it lets you run two batteries, one into each receiver. With a battery in each receiver the plane will be very well protected against both a battery failure and a receiver failure. If the receiver with the throttle servo fails then you might be looking at the engine going to idle or being stuck at wherever it was at when the Rx failed but I'm still learning so we'll see.

The plane I'm going to try this in is my $100 Hangar 9 1/3 scale Cap 232. I'm working on splitting the ailerons so there will be four servos in the wings, two on the elevator halves, one rudder, one throttle, and one for the engine cut-off. With two batteries, one into each receiver I'll need two switches plus the ignition switch. I'm not sure if the two receivers will send back individual battery voltages or just the average of the two or just the voltage of the battery that is plugged into the one receiver that has got its telemetry turned on.

There's a pretty steep learning curve but if I can get the two receivers set up to work together I'll be on my way to making this work.

Here's a video that explains how to bind two receivers.

 

[Bartman]

Thoughts on the Horus FrSky firmware that makes it like a regular radio or should I go ahead and make the switch to OpenTX before I start trying to learn all of this stuff?

 

[BalsaDust]

Personally I say go straight to openTX.