Satellite receiver. What is this?

[Gilwo]

Satellite receiver. What is this?
I own an unused Spektrum AR6600T receiver which came with my Spektrum 6 Transmitter. I figured I'd use the receiver someday. Now I am contemplating buying two Simple Stick airplanes (one is spare parts for the other). Recommended is the Aura 5 Lite controller. It is supposed to be connected by "S" bus to the satellite receiver. Does my AR6600T have such a bus? I see that it has an XBUS. I see nothing about an "S" bus.

Almost all my experience is flying an E-Flite Timber X. I crash a lot and the cost of replacement parts is considerable. I see the Simple Stick as a means to make replacement parts myself and also, it may be a somewhat less advanced airplane.

I own only iMac computer. Will I be able to use the controls on the Aura 5 Lite to my benefit. I think I still have to do expo and rates on the transmitter, not in the Aura 5.

How's that for some beginner questions?

 

[JasonK]

When using a flight controller you want to do expo and rates on the flight controller, not the TX as that gets you the full stick range info to the flight controller which can then do the modifications for the surfaces.

It looks like the Aura 5 configuration is only for windows:
http://wiki.flexinnovations.com/wiki/Aura/AuraConfigToolInstall

So unless you have a tool to run windows applications on your iMac, this is probably not the flight controller for you. (the betaflight/iNav based FCs - the various open source FCs have configurators for PC, Mac, and Linux - but expose more options and therefore are more complicated)

The type of receiver normally used with a flight controller is something like one of these:
https://store.flitetest.com/spektrum-rc-dsmx-remote-satellite-receiver-spm9745/p753880
https://store.flitetest.com/spektrum-rc-dsmx-srxl2-serial-micro-receiver-spm4650/p985671
https://store.flitetest.com/spektrum-rc-dsmx-srxl2-serial-receiver-w-telemetry-spm4651t/p1147467
https://store.flitetest.com/spektrum-rc-dsmx-srxl2-receiver-w-connector-installed-spm4650c/p1149658

If your just starting out, I would highly recommend using a simulator or finding someone to buddy box you for training.

 

[The Hangar]

The easiest way to connect an aurora to your transmitter is with one of these satellite receivers:
https://store.flitetest.com/spektrum-rc-dsmx-remote-satellite-receiver-spm9745/p753880
You can, however use your current receiver and I believe it requires plugging cables from the aura ports into certain channels on your receiver. I’m using one of the satellite receivers with an aura8 and it’s worked really well for me so far. You’re supposed to program dual rates and expo through the aura, not the transmitter. As far as I can tell you can’t configure an aura on Mac.

 

[JasonK]

You can, however use your current receiver and I believe it requires plugging cables from the aura ports into certain channels on your receiver.

You have some documentation for that? as far as I know you need a serial or statellite receiver... if the one mentioned does serial, that sounds useful.

 

[sprzout]

Wow, there's a lot there.

I'll just add on to what The Hangar and Jasonk have said:

A satellite receiver is a secondary receiver. It can be connected to a primary receiver to offer better signal/more antennas, or, in the case of using an Aura or flight controller in say, a quadcopter, it is the receiver that receives signal from the transmitter and passes it on to the flight controller/Aura to control the servos.

I've got a really nice powered glider that I'm getting set up; it was originally my father's, and has a satellite receiver along with an 8 channel receiver. The main reason for this is that the glider's frame is carbon fiber, to make it strong and light, and carbon fiber tends to not play well with radio signals; so, to counteract that, you run the antennas out of the frame and have a satellite receiver attached to provide more antennas to pick up signals with. Think of it kinda like having a diversity antenna setup - although, most of us flying the foamboard airplanes aren't needing to run something so complicated, since most are trying to keep the costs down.

 

[The Hangar]

You have some documentation for that? as far as I know you need a serial or statellite receiver... if the one mentioned does serial, that sounds useful.

I didn’t want to deal with all the wires and all so I opted for the satellite rx, but one of the options in the manual was to use a standard receiver with “jumper” cables. Here’s a screenshot from the manual:

This is from the aura 8 obviously but I think it’s in the beaver build video Josh showed how to hook up an ar-620 to an aura 5.

 

[JasonK]

I didn’t want to deal with all the wires and all so I opted for the satellite rx, but one of the options in the manual was to use a standard receiver with “jumper” cables. Here’s a screenshot from the manual:
View attachment 195877
This is from the aura 8 obviously but I think it’s in the beaver build video Josh showed how to hook up an ar-620 to an aura 5.

the FT aura 5 doesn't have that option to do individual signals like that. it only supports serial (and probably PPM which is sort of serial in a way) connections.

 

[The Hangar]

the FT aura 5 doesn't have that option to do individual signals like that. it only supports serial (and probably PPM which is sort of serial in a way) connections.

Just looked in the beaver build video and Josh was using the ar-620 without the aura. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Bricks]

What receiver is in your Timber, as many of the AS3X receivers are programable and you may be able to use that receiver in your foamy. That is IF you want to put the Timber up for awhile while learning to fly better.

If you want a simple stabilization all in one the Lemon Stabilizer Plus is a receiver and stabilization reasonably priced and easy to set up.

Lemon Rx Stabilizer PLUS 7-Ch. (End Pin) DSMP (DSMX /DSM2 compabtible) With Diversity Antenna (lemon-rx.com)

 

[Gilwo]

What receiver is in your Timber, as many of the AS3X receivers are programable and you may be able to use that receiver in your foamy. That is IF you want to put the Timber up for awhile while learning to fly better.

If you want a simple stabilization all in one the Lemon Stabilizer Plus is a receiver and stabilization reasonably priced and easy to set up.

Lemon Rx Stabilizer PLUS 7-Ch. (End Pin) DSMP (DSMX /DSM2 compabtible) With Diversity Antenna (lemon-rx.com)

What receiver is in your Timber, as many of the AS3X receivers are programable and you may be able to use that receiver in your foamy. That is IF you want to put the Timber up for awhile while learning to fly better.

If you want a simple stabilization all in one the Lemon Stabilizer Plus is a receiver and stabilization reasonably priced and easy to set up.

Lemon Rx Stabilizer PLUS 7-Ch. (End Pin) DSMP (DSMX /DSM2 compabtible) With Diversity Antenna (lemon-rx.com)

Bricks. You may have made the suggestion which I can use with least risk, least new stuff to learn. I could take the receiver and perhaps also the ESC out of the Timber X for a spell and install them in the Simple Stick. But the Lemon RX Stabilizer is an interesting suggestion. If it would work with my existing Spektrum transmitter (DX6 G3), then I could have two airplanes to choose from.

I can fly pretty well most of the time. I can do inverted flying (10 mistakes high) in lazy figure 8s. I can usually land pretty well. Every now and then the plane gets way ahead of me and I crash before I can get it back into SAFE mode. The Simple Stick won't fix that but it will make the repair process less expensive. The landing gear and propellors on the Timber X get torn up frequently. Thank you for the two ideas above.

 

[Robert S]

I have the same DX 6 with Rx, and, used the Rx with the Aura 5 in my Mini Arrow. It works just fine.

 

[Bricks]

The Lemon is a DSMX so it works with all Spektrum radios except the very early ones that were DSM2. Your DX6 no need to worry as that will be a bind and set up the flight stabilization which is really very easy with a little reading. The convenience is it is all in one.

The Lemons are very good reliable receivers I have at least 25 of the 6 channel light receivers.

 

[Gilwo]

I have the same DX 6 with Rx, and, used the Rx with the Aura 5 in my Mini Arrow. It

Robert S. Which Rx did you use with the DX 6. If your Rx is the AR631 as in my Timber X, how did you link it to the Aura 5. AND. Did you use a PC to program the Aura 5 or do you have a Mac and thus cannot use a computer to program the Aura. Or do you know something which most of us don't know. That is, the Aura 5 programs from a PC only, not from a Mac.

 

[Robert S]

Right where it says, "Mini Port B for DSMX Sat RX", just plug in the satellite RX that came with the 6600T. Not the big RX/ control board... just the Satelite RX portion.

I've since had to change to a new Satilite RX because I had a moment of stupidity and I fried my Aura 5 ( and the RX) when I was trying to push it up further inside the body of my arrow and didn't unplug the battery. I shorted something and had to buy a whole new board and RX. Totally my fault.

I now mounted my board in a new place where I won't need to mess with it as much and 3D printed a mount for it.

I have a PC so I don't know about MAC. That being said, the configuration tool might run in a PC emulator. I emailed Flex innovations I they would make a app for android so that I didn't need to drag my laptop to the field if I wanted to make changes while testing. They said they have thought about it but that nothing was being done at the moment.

 

[Gilwo]

Right where it says, "Mini Port B for DSMX Sat RX", just plug in the satellite RX that came with the 6600T. Not the big RX/ control board... just the Satelite RX portion.

I've since had to change to a new Satilite RX because I had a moment of stupidity and I fried my Aura 5 ( and the RX) when I was trying to push it up further inside the body of my arrow and didn't unplug the battery. I shorted something and had to buy a whole new board and RX. Totally my fault.

I now mounted my board in a new place where I won't need to mess with it as much and 3D printed a mount for it.

I have a PC so I don't know about MAC. That being said, the configuration tool might run in a PC emulator. I emailed Flex innovations I they would make a app for android so that I didn't need to drag my laptop to the field if I wanted to make changes while testing. They said they have thought about it but that nothing was being done at the moment.

Now I can empathize with screwing up and breaking things. I resemble that. What really concerns me about the Aura 5 Lite is that there are features available using a PC which are denied to Mac users.

Yes, I can get the plane going using the satellite receiver attached to the Aura 5 but I have learned to do rates, expo, differential rates, spoken prompts using my transmitter. I could buy a full fledged Spektrum receiver with AS3X and SAFE and stick it into the Simple Stick. Or, to save $ I can stop using the Timber X for a while and put its receiver into the Simple Stick.

I'm not the marketing guy to tell FliteTest and/or Flex Innovations that they need to either make the Aura 5 programable from my Mac or from my iPhone but I don't want to go backward in my life 25 years and relearn how to use a PC. Macs are not simple. PCs are not simple. I'm better off being reasonable proficient on one rather than on both.

There is no shortage of things to learn.

Thanks for your insight.