Sample OpenTX / Taranis Setups for Planes, Quads, and Other

dunnke

New member
I've downloaded your model package and have been looking through them, watching R. Scott Page's video series and trying to understand this stuff. Of your fixed-wing models, which would you say would be the most suitable to base a FT Simple Scout off of? I've got a basic model I've built but it doesn't have any rates/expo's or anything fancy in it.
Thanks
k
 

rockyboy

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How many servos do you have? Is it one per aileron, or one that runs both ailerons, or no ailerons at all and just rudder / elevator?
 

rockyboy

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I'm not sure I've got a model currently running with a Y aileron setup. :confused:

I'd say look at the Das Little Stick model or the Easy Stick model - when you set it up, if the ailerons are backwards try switching them to the other aileron channel instead of reversing the servo.

Both of these models use Flite Modes to start things off with milder servo rates and increase the rate as the B switch moves up in position. I pretty much run a standard 30% expo on my plane unless something is really twitchy about the model, or it's a really darn fast on in which case I increase expo when the rates go up too.

The throttle cut is something else to be aware of in these - the motor can't turn unless the A switch is either middle or up, and the throttle has been all the way to the 0 position for a second. Prevents accidental bumps of the throttle when walking out to pickup up the plane off the field.

If you install the Amber sound pack all the sounds should work - but check in the Special Functions tab and make sure they call out to you for each "Play Track" action.

Lemme know if you've got more questions as you get going with this!
 

dunnke

New member
Awesome, thanks Rocky! My Scout is nearly ready, I'm going to re-do the aileron linkages and put z-bends in the middle because they are a little off and I need the adjustability. I'll try the DLS, I kind of thought it might be close but wasn't sure about the ailerons. I really had a good time with the build and looking forward to flying (crashing with style) soon. :)
k
 

WildDoktor

New member
Index of Sample OpenTX Files

Taranis X9D

Hey @rockyboy; are you still around? :) I know this thread is super old, but...I just made the plunge to an X9D+ and am getting an IRX4+ module so I can fly my new-to-me Sport Cub S and my existing Inductrix FPV, and I eventually ended up here and downloaded your otx doc.

Wow...thank you!

I'm wondering if you (or somebody) would be able to walk me thru the Inductrix model you have? I'm reading thru the OpenTX University and learning some basic stuff, but your model has a *lot* going on. :) I'd love to know what the pieces do.
 

rockyboy

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Hey @rockyboy; are you still around? :) I know this thread is super old, but...I just made the plunge to an X9D+ and am getting an IRX4+ module so I can fly my new-to-me Sport Cub S and my existing Inductrix FPV, and I eventually ended up here and downloaded your otx doc.

Wow...thank you!

I'm wondering if you (or somebody) would be able to walk me thru the Inductrix model you have? I'm reading thru the OpenTX University and learning some basic stuff, but your model has a *lot* going on. :) I'd love to know what the pieces do.

Sure! I'll also say up front that Inductrix model was one that I started with someone else's template and then made my own adjustments to match my own style - all the best ideas are at least partially borrowed. :cool:

I'm on business travel this week but when I get home I'll do some screen shots and walk through of the various functions I've got running on that model.
 

rockyboy

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Let the walk through begin! Everyone gather round - and don't be shy about asking questions if I don't explain something well.

I'm going to start with the Global Radio Functions since those apply to every model - but I only have a couple of those.

GF1 bind the volume to the knob S1
GF6 reads out the value of Timer1 when I hit momentary switch SH.

Screenshot 2018-07-24 19.01.18.png

Next is the Inputs screen (assuming that you're already able to do the receiver setup in the Setup screen and setup Timer1). There is one line in here for each of the stick motions.

You'll notice that the Expo on the Rudder/Elevator/Ailerons are each set to Global Variables (GVARS) named similarly to the stick input. These Global Variables are defined in the Flight Modes tab - we'll get to that later. Also, I overrode the trim setting for each of these three motion inputs to use the trim tab from the opposite gimbal. This is known as "cross trims" - it means I can keep my right hand on the elevator/aileron stick while using my left hand to bump the trim buttons around the left gimbal - no taking my hands out of position and risking loss of control.

The other fancy thing going on in here is with the throttle input. The top mix on that just says "send the throttle value through with no trim when logical switch L20 is true" - that's normal flying mode. The second mix on that (which overrides the first one) says when logical switch L20 is not true, pass the input value through Curve #4 - using no trim. Later I'll show the Curve #4 screen which is a 2 point curve going from 0 to 0 - which means no matter what the stick does, the throttle will stay off. In the logical switches screen we'll get into more of how it works, but this is the most secure throttle cut I've found so far.

Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.19.26.png

Next is the Mixes screen. This is where I apply variable rates by using more Global Variables and set which channel gets which output. I also setup a straight pass through of switch SC to Channel 6 to control the flight modes on the Inductrix.
Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.19.38.png

Next is the Outputs screen where I named each channel's function (so the name shows up in the Mixes screen) and setup Inv(ersing) for the channels Spektrum expects to be reversed from the FrSky stock setup. Spektrum also expects a total channel value to be 80% of the FrSky output, so here's the best place to lock in those maximum values. On a plane with standard servos, this is where you would put the maximum and minimum possible throws so the servos don't bind up in flight.
Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.19.50.png

And here's that Curve screen I mentioned for curve #4 - just a 2 point flat line going from zero to zero. This is the brute force part of the throttle kill setup. Yes, it could all be setup to use Curve #1 instead, but remember when I said I stole these ideas from someone else? This is how they did it, and I copied it exactly until I learned how it worked :D
Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.20.18.png

Ahh, the Logical Switches.

L1 is unused on this model - but it's meant to have two switches in the "AND" function and trigger the Instant Trim special function. Me and Instant Trim haven't always had the best relationship, so I put it on a double switch to make sure I didn't accidentally hit it.

L3 only goes true when I hold switch SH for 1.5 seconds - this works together with a couple special functions to use the SH to both read out my timers on a quick flick, and to reset the timers when I hold the switch for the 1.5 second duration.

L19 and L20 work together to be the brains of the throttle cut functionality. L19 will only go true with the throttle stick is all the way down (-98 to give a tiny margin of error). L20 keeps checking it's OR condition on a .5 second delay to see if something changed with L19 or SA which is my throttle cut switch. At the end of the day, the throttle is cut when switch SA is in the down position, and even when the switch is moved up it won't actually activate the throttle until the stick is all the way down for .5 seconds too. This prevents me from bumping the switch and throttle stick up and accidentally going live motor with full spinning blades. Very handy thing.

Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.20.29.png

And the Special Function screen. Lots going on in here :D

SF1-3 are triggered with switch SB and call out the Flite Mode (from the Taranis flight mode screen, not the Spektrum stability modes)
SF4 just links the radio volume to the S1 pot

SF7 is my "autotune safe switch" that's usually hooked up with L1 - when L1 has switch SFdn in the AND condition. When it's setup, I get an audio warning of "autotune mode" when I take off the safety (SF) and then an audio alert of "brick mode off" when L1 triggers the Instant Trim function. Yes, I could have just turned off the "ON" checkbox on function SF5 to deactivate this whole process - but then L1 would still do the audio call out and make me think I hit Instant Trim. Anyway, enough about something that's not even used for the Inductrix. :)

SF9-11 trigger when I hold momentary switch SH more than 1.5 seconds (remember that from L3?) - then it resets both my timers and gives an audio alert of "reset"

SF13 & SF14 call out the Spektrum flight mode based on the position of switch SC - no callout for "angle mode" which is where I usually fly the little bugger.

SF16 and SF17 call out the throttle cut status

Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.20.38.png

Next let's go back to those Flight Mode screens.

On Flight Mode 0 - the default, you'll see I use a .5 second fade in between modes, and name them similar to the audio call outs I setup in the Special Functions screen.
GVAR1 is the Elevator Rate
GVAR2 is the Aileron Rate
GVAR3 is the Rudder Rate
GVAR4 is the Aileron eXpo
GVAR5 is the Elevator eXpo
GVAR6 is the Rudder eXpo

I put in some pretty conservative numbers for each of those variables in this flight mode.

Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.20.55.png

In Flight Mode 1 screen you'll see I connect it to Switch SBmid to activate, and put in numbers that are just a little less conservative for the rates.
Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.20.58.png

In Flight Mode 2 screen you'll see I connect it to Switch SBdown to activate, and put in numbers that are pretty well on the ragged edge of what I can fly with.
Screenshot 2018-07-24 18.21.06.png

I usually only go for the 3 flight modes, but it's possible to do more by activating them with logical switches that trigger based on combinations of switch positions or other values.

Ok, that was a lot of info dump. Did it help? Did it raise other questions? Did it inspire use of cold beverages and pain relievers? :D
 

WildDoktor

New member
Wow, thanks @rockyboy...I can't wait to digest all this tonight!!

One question I do have: The inputs on your model are in the RETA order; the mixes on your model are in the TEAR order. I messed with this one a few times and finally got it bound to my indi...only to find that all the sticks were wrong. I had read that my irange module needs a model setup with AETR if DSM is used, so for grins I created a new blank model with AETR and a "mode" switch, and all the sticks were correct and I can do basic flying.

So the actual question is:
How do I re-arrange the inputs and mixes on a pre-set model like yours to be in the AETR order? I tried grabbing and sliding them around in companion, and that doesn't work at all like I was hoping it would. :)

EDIT:
Ah...I see that your above example is from your X7 model set; I'm working from your X9d+ model set. However, I think the question is still valid...?
 
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rockyboy

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The question is still valid - and the answer is, the input order doesn't matter at all. It's the mix order that drives the output channel order. That's the part you want to put in AETR order. In the mix line for Channel 1 make sure to grab the Input for the ailerons and so forth. Also, the only difference between the X7 and X9 is the X7 is missing a couple switches - all the mixing and setup stuff is the same.
 

epiper93

Active member
Anyone have a model for a betaFPV 65S With OSD for FrSky? Or maybe willing to make one. I can do a plane but no clue what I'm doing with a quad
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
Generally quads are pretty simple as far as TX setup. You just need the 4 basic stick channels in your preferred order and a mode switch channel. If you only need 3 modes then you just chose and channel and make one of the 3 Posn switches the Source to the Mix Line. The rest is generally set up in the FC firmware.

There are various techniques for combining switches to get more than 3 mode positions. They are all a bit more technical than I have time for right now.

You can add rates and expo but most do that in the FC firmware config also. Having it on the TX does give you direct at the field adjustment.

You may want to have voice alerts on mode switch.

Optionally you can add throttle cut which can be done in various ways. Often FC firmware has a stick twiddling method but something switched and un-knockable is generally preferable.

For OSD sometimes the RSSI telemetry value is sent back to the FC on CH8 or CH16 so the FC can extract it from SBUS and give it to the OSD. Some FCs can be setup to sent FrSky Telemetry. This can get a bit technical since there is the older D8 telemetry and the D16 SPort telemetry and FrSky prefer -ve going signals which require inverting for some FCs to use.

edit: typos
 
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Found this very interesting. You could probably work some magic and apply this same method for fixed wing stuff to add to your collection here.

 

bracesport

Legendary member
@rockyboy - have you considered putting in your rates as inputs - as I understand OTX, the primary purpose of flight modes is to switch between different trim values and since altering aileron rates won't affect any trims, you should avoid using flight modes for these. An option is to hard code the rates as input lines on your favourite switch with any expo - this is what I do in my simple DLG setup in .otx format.
 

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rockyboy

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I like keeping my expo and throw rates in the mix tab so I can see all the effects at once and not need to flip back and forth between the screens. It can work to set rates on the inputs - in some cases like rudder / aileron mixing or differential thrust or differential ailerons that can give some unexpected or undesirable results that need to be worked around, but it can be made to work and I did hard code expo values into my inputs for a while.

The thing I like about flight modes is it lets you switch a whole bunch of GVARs to new settings - the ability to have different trims to go along with them is like icing on the cake to me - not the cake itself :D By having expos, throw rates, differential mix values, etc. all run by GVARs you can go to one tab in the radio and see / change things easily in the field.

One other than that I don't think most people will run into is the size in memory of the model setup. I got to a point around 30 models on my radio where it started giving me out of memory errors and refusing to start up. With some research I figured out that it takes less in radio memory to assign one GVAR in a mix and give that GVAR 3 values in the flight modes than it does to have three lines in the mix (or inputs) controlled by switches with hard coded values. The other big space saving thing I did was learn how to use named sound files in a model specific directory instead of using special functions to trigger sounds when switches were flipped. So in my SOUNDS/EN/EVA_Sport directory I have wav files names SA-up.wav and L7-on.wav instead of lines in the special functions page. With those two changes across all my models I haven't bumped back into the memory error again and at one point I was up around 45 models on one radio (before the annual RC auction cleared out some space in my hangar! :)
 

rockyboy

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It's been a while, time for an update! I've continued to add models to my X9D file, and keep it up to the current OpenTX version.

Haven't changed anything on my X7 in over a year - it's used as a buddy box radio, but haven't been adding models to it.

I moved all my small indoor sized models (and my UMX Radian) over to the Xlite so I can pack smaller for indoor events and family road trips so I wanted to share that with folks too.
 

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