Help! TinyHawk Freestyle II FRSky to DSMX?

[kuhlrunner]

I'm interested in getting a mini quad to learn how to fly FPV, but I want to skip the tiny whoop step and get into flying freestyle. The Emax TinyHawk Freestyle sounds like a great platform, and is very cost effective. However, it runs on a FRSky receiver integrated into the FC/PDB and I have a Spektrum radio. I was intrigued by this image, found in the user manual:

It suggests that there are empty pads on the FC meant somehow for different protocols, such as SBUS and DSMX. I'm wondering if it's possible to reconfigure it for DSMX protocol, by either installing a receiver or using the "DSMX" pad on the AIO board. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[ElectriSean]

I think you'll need to install a separate Spektrum serial Rx, it looks like the built in one only does FrSky. The diagram is a little unclear, as it shows the DSMX connection going to a ground pad, where it should be going to either RX1 or RX2. Make sure you connect the red (V+) to the appropriate pad, some receivers are 5V, some are 3.3V. Once you are connected, in the Betaflight ports tab you'll need to enable SerialRX on whichever UART you chose, and in the configuration tab change the receiver type to serial and the receiver provider to SPEKTRUM2048.

 

[kuhlrunner]

I think you'll need to install a separate Spektrum serial Rx, it looks like the built in one only does FrSky. The diagram is a little unclear, as it shows the DSMX connection going to a ground pad, where it should be going to either RX1 or RX2. Make sure you connect the red (V+) to the appropriate pad, some receivers are 5V, some are 3.3V. Once you are connected, in the Betaflight ports tab you'll need to enable SerialRX on whichever UART you chose, and in the configuration tab change the receiver type to serial and the receiver provider to SPEKTRUM2048.

Thanks so much! Sounds like it can be done!

 

["Corpse"]

Thanks so much! Sounds like it can be done!

I have done it before on a tinyhawk freestyle. The wiring is really weird, but I got it done. If you look on the second diagram it shows you how to wire it up, and it is correct. I hooked up the signal to according to the schematic and it worked. Like @ElectriSean, I thought it was a ground pad but it apparently is not. Weird stuff!

 

[kuhlrunner]

Thanks guys. I'm really new to this section of the hobby, so bear with my litany of questions.
The RX I'm looking at has 4 pads to wire, +, -, NC, and S. Where should each of these be connected?
What is a UART in BetaFlight?
What kind of wire should be used to make the connection?
Thanks again!

 

["Corpse"]

Thanks guys. I'm really new to this section of the hobby, so bear with my litany of questions.
The RX I'm looking at has 4 pads to wire, +, -, NC, and S. Where should each of these be connected?
What is a UART in BetaFlight?
What kind of wire should be used to make the connection?
Thanks again!

I don't know what NC means, but I can explain UARTS. UARTS are basically gates of information to and from the flight controller. You can wire something up to give information like a gps module, or you can have the flight controller give info to something like your VTX via smartaudio.

 

[ElectriSean]

Thanks guys. I'm really new to this section of the hobby, so bear with my litany of questions.
The RX I'm looking at has 4 pads to wire, +, -, NC, and S. Where should each of these be connected?
What is a UART in BetaFlight?
What kind of wire should be used to make the connection?
Thanks again!

Depending on the Rx, the + wire will go to either a +5v or +3.3V pad. The - will go to a - or ground pad. NC is not connected, and S will go to a UART Rx pad. UARTs are serial ports (Universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter) that have an Rx and Tx pad. Since we're only listening for data from the receiver, we only need the Rx pad.

 

[kuhlrunner]

Depending on the Rx, the + wire will go to either a +5v or +3.3V pad. The - will go to a - or ground pad. NC is not connected, and S will go to a UART Rx pad. UARTs are serial ports (Universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter) that have an Rx and Tx pad. Since we're only listening for data from the receiver, we only need the Rx pad.

Ah. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the wiring will look like this?

Black goes to the "DSMX" ground pad, red goes to the 3.3v (or 5v, this RX has a wide voltage range) pad, grey hangs out somewhere, and brown attaches to the RX2 pad which I assume is a serial port?

 

[ElectriSean]

Ah. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the wiring will look like this?

Black goes to the "DSMX" ground pad, red goes to the 3.3v (or 5v, this RX has a wide voltage range) pad, grey hangs out somewhere, and brown attaches to the RX2 pad which I assume is a serial port?

I would double check with @"Corpse" as he's done it before.

 

["Corpse"]

Ah. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the wiring will look like this?
View attachment 171427
Black goes to the "DSMX" ground pad, red goes to the 3.3v (or 5v, this RX has a wide voltage range) pad, grey hangs out somewhere, and brown attaches to the RX2 pad which I assume is a serial port?

You're all good except the ground wire. that needs to go to the one right beside where you have it already. I drew a little dot on the pad that you need to solder.

 

[kuhlrunner]

Thanks! So once I have all that, I just go into betaflight and change the receiver to a Spektrum serial RX like @ElectriSean was saying? I think I'll download the dump file and see if I can practice with it on betaflight without the quad. I'm so excited!
On another note, I saw someone on Instagram who put an Insta360 Go on their tiny hawk freestyle. Does anyone know of a camera of similar weight available for a little cheaper? I think it's about 19 grams.

 

["Corpse"]

Thanks! So once I have all that, I just go into betaflight and change the receiver to a Spektrum serial RX like @ElectriSean was saying? I think I'll download the dump file and see if I can practice with it on betaflight without the quad. I'm so excited!
On another note, I saw someone on Instagram who put an Insta360 Go on their tiny hawk freestyle. Does anyone know of a camera of similar weight available for a little cheaper? I think it's about 19 grams.

I haven't ever put a camera on a kwad yet, (I've only flown micros).

Yes. You make sure you change the UART to an serial RX and make sure you select the right receiver in the configuration tab. After that and the binding, check the receiver tab to make sure your values span from 1000-2000.

 

[kuhlrunner]

I haven't ever put a camera on a kwad yet, (I've only flown micros).

Yes. You make sure you change the UART to an serial RX and make sure you select the right receiver in the configuration tab. After that and the binding, check the receiver tab to make sure your values span from 1000-2000.

For binding, do you use the bind button on the RX or on the board? I guess it might ignore the one on the board, but I'm not sure.

 

["Corpse"]

For binding, do you use the bind button on the RX or on the board? I guess it might ignore the one on the board, but I'm not sure.

The one on the board is for the FRsky receiver that is built in. Don't worry about it.

 

[kuhlrunner]

Alright, new question. I have a Dx6e transmitter, so 6 channels. Will I be able to do everything I need to fly this quad with only 6 channels? I mean theoretically all I'll need are controls and arm but I'm unsure.

 

[ElectriSean]

6 channels is fine, more is better... Other things you may want in the future are flight modes, rate/PID profiles, and a beeper.

 

[kuhlrunner]

6 channels is fine, more is better... Other things you may want in the future are flight modes, rate/PID profiles, and a beeper.

Good. Maybe I'll stick with controls, arm, and beeper for my 6 channels. Thanks!

 

["Corpse"]

Shoot! I approached my parents with my list of things I need for this project and it wasn't approved. I'll have to wait until I'm out of the house and have enough money to spare.

Shoot! That sucks... you can still build airplanes right?

 

[kuhlrunner]

Shoot! That sucks... you can still build airplanes right?

Absolutely! Got a Bushwhacker coming up. Just can't buy more electronics...

 

[JBinFla]

I'm going to be doing this this weekend to my second Tinyhawk II Freestyle. My first TH II Freestyle went in the pond out back after a couple weeks when I was getting comfortable with acro but obviously not good enough It seemed to handle very well, I don't understand PIDs and such so I'd say out of the box the TH II Freestyle is well sorted for even a relative quad-acro noob.

I'm tired of using the cheap transmitter that came with it and I have a DX9 so I bought one of those NewBeeDrone nano DSMX Rx's which I think (hope) it has a bind button (picture looks like it does). I'm a little sketched since I don't solder much and these are small targets, so I also bought one of those magnifying light things to use so I can hopefully see what I'm doing. I did buy a new solder station (recommended by Oscar Liang) and some good leaded solder / flux and tips he recommended too so hopefully I'll get it right without damaging anything. My last soldering iron I had a hard time soldering big wires, these will be tiny! Any other pointers? Somewhere I saw you have to disable the other UART, there's only a few so I guess I can trial and error it if nobody has screenshots. I may try a direct PM to you Corpse if I get stuck since it seems like you've done this. A picture of what you did would be awesome and helpful, but that graphic was very helpful as well.

Thanks!