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Trouble with Spektrum DXe as a Buddy Box to my DX6i

T

TheDutchViking

Sky Rider
Greetings fellow fliers,

I recently purchased a DXe as a buddy box for my sons, pairing it with my DX6i. We're just about ready to maiden their new FT Bravo and Charlie trainers (elevons, throttle). While the DXe certainly acquires control upon flipping the DX6i's 'Trainer' switch, the DXe is inputting to different channels on the right stick ('throttle' is the same).

Given that the DXe has no interface (and the included instructions are scant in this regard), how can I ensure that the DXe assumes the DX6i's command layout?

Thanks for any tips,

Christopher
 
JimCR120

JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
When you say it isn't working correctly do you mean it does for throttle but not for elevons? What do the elevons do incorrectly? Are they reversed Could you be a bit more specific.
 
T

TheDutchViking

Sky Rider
JimCR120 said:
Are they reversed Could you be a bit more specific.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, Jim. I'll need to check out what precisely is happening later tonight.

I did receive this from 'Andy' over on RC Groups:

"It doesn't! Because you are using a DX6i, you must configure both transmitters to be able to control the aircraft. In the higher radios, this mode is called "Programmable Master" trainer. You configure the DXe using a phone app and dongle."

I think that solves it for me. I ordered the dongle late last night as a precaution; Andy confirmed it.
 
T

TheDutchViking

Sky Rider
JimCR120 said:
When you say it isn't working correctly do you mean it does for throttle but not for elevons? What do the elevons do incorrectly? Are they reversed Could you be a bit more specific.
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

So here's where I'm at:

(1) I purchased and received the "Spektrum AS3x Programming - Audio Interface - SPMA3081" cable.

(2) I'm using my iPhone 6 running iOS 10.3.2.

(3) I've downloaded the iOS app for the Spektrum DXe.

After successful pairing, I created a new plane in the app. After several attempts at trying to apply the settings, and experimenting with both A and B Elevon 'types,' as well as reversing either/both 'aileron' and 'rudder' inputs (and then syncing), I still get the same results when switching my DX6i to 'Trainer' and actuating the DXe through the mono-1/8" trainer cable, which is:

Right roll [input] = right elevon down [aircraft]
Left roll [input] = right elevon up [aircraft]
Down pitch [forward input, up on stick] = left elevon down [aircraft]
Up pitch [back input, down on stick] = left elevon up [aircraft]

I'm defiitely missing something.
 
makattack

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
It sure seems like the DXe is programmed for either Rudder & Elevator planes or single servo aileron planes. It should definitely be set to one of the elevon types. I'm not familiar with that newer DXe, but I have a DX6i that I used to use as a master with a DX4e which had switches for setting options.

One other option is to bind the DXe to the aircraft receiver, get the programming right with that directly, then rebind the DX6i and use that as a master.
 
T

TheDutchViking

Sky Rider
Well, the plot thickens.

I used MakAttack's suggestion above and bound the DXe directly to the Rx. This worked well (though I had to switch the order of two servos leads on the Rx in order to get the elevons to operate properly; this happens to be the complete opposite setting for the DX6i).

However, once I rebound the DX6i to the Rx and put the DXe into slave mode via the buddy box cable, sending control to the DXe produced the same results I listed earlier:

Right roll [input] = right elevon down [aircraft]
Left roll [input] = right elevon up [aircraft]
Down pitch [forward input, up on stick] = left elevon down [aircraft]
Up pitch [back input, down on stick] = left elevon up [aircraft]

It's as if the DXe has some sort of default mode that completely abandoned the programming I sent to it previously.
 
T

TheDutchViking

Sky Rider
I have now determined that no matter what settings I establish and transfer from the app to the DXe (including all trainer protocols, reverse selections, and plane types) when I flip the 'trainer' switch on the DX6i to give control to the DXe, the DXe always defaults to:

Right roll [input] = right elevon down [aircraft]
Left roll [input] = right elevon up [aircraft]
Down pitch [forward input, up on stick] = left elevon down [aircraft]
Up pitch [back input, down on stick] = left elevon up [aircraft]

Without feedback from Spektrum or new thoughts here, I'm concluding that the DXe as a buddy box radio with the DX6i is a bust. Or I have a faulty radio from Horizon Hobby.
 
makattack

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
It sure sounds like it's now the DX6i that's overriding the DXe setup... not sure how or why that is because the DX6i doesn't have a programmable / configurable master/slave setup as far as I know... so strange. I'd be curious to find out from Horizon Hobby what's going on. I think you had mentioned you were in touch with them via RCGroups? I'd stick to that. I'm going off to search for that thread now.

OK! Found the post:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=37784073&postcount=10

Yah, not sure you've seen Andy's latest post. Looks like that's the solution for you. It's actually the DXe using a more advanced buddybox interface. Because the DX6i doesn't support it, you need to set the trainer setting to "inhibit" -- wow... this is another example of the challenges of getting newer stuff (DXe) working with older stuff (DX6i). Hope that solved the mystery!
 
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