turnigy 9x drop signal mid flight!

[menachg]

today when i was flying my blunt nose versa soddenly my tx start a long non stop continuous beep and i cant control the plane immediately i turn off the tx and turn it back on and i get control of the plane like nothing happened this thing happened to me a few times already and every time i managed to save it and finally i realized that it is a problem "that is there to to stay" so i ask did it happened to any of you? or do you know what's causing it? or did any one encounter a long continuous beep so wold get a clue on what it as to do with? it will be really nice to be able to control my plane without interference

 

[RichB]

Do you have the stock firmware? What battery?

 

[joshuabardwell]

If it consistently happens in the same place, it may be local interference from an external source.

 

[menachg]

yes it's the stock firmware the battery is the Turnigy 2650mAh 3S 1C LLF Tx Pack and if its external rf interference only the receiver would be affected so why every time that it's happened the tx beeps like i normally get(switch error menu selectet etc)and i don't think its low battery because it shoes 10.6 on the tx so its way more in the battery do any expirieced this problem because i can't imagine whats causing it

 

[Jimmyp]

I would charge the battery right up to 12.6v and try again. 10.6 is getting kinda low.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I would charge the battery right up to 12.6v and try again. 10.6 is getting kinda low.

I'm skeptical. The 9x is reported to have a 78L05 voltage regulator (haven't opened mine up recently to verify), which has a minimum input voltage of 7 volts. It outputs 5 volts. 10.6 should be no problem at all. I have run my 9x off a 3S LiFe pack with a voltage around 9 volts with no problem at all. EDIT: Bruce from RCmodelreviews says that the regulator has 1.3 volts drop, so outputting 5 volts, he thinks it would be fine as low as 6.3 volts. YMMV.

FWIW, I don't recommend a 3S LiPo in the 9x because it has a linear regulator, so the extra voltage is wasted as heat. IMO, a 2S is getting too close to the minimum cutout voltage of the regulator, although many people report running off of 2S no problem. For me, a 3S LiFe with a pack voltage around 9 volts is perfect.

 

[menachg]

i stile don't understand does a low battery alarm is long non-stop chirp? as i recall its beeps like switch error on start the chirping part is what baffle me. if anybody as information on this i would really much appreciate it

 

[makattack]

i stile don't understand does a low battery alarm is long non-stop chirp? as i recall its beeps like switch error on start the chirping part is what baffle me. if anybody as information on this i would really much appreciate it

I'm afraid I don't have a 9x, but yeah, if your TX is beeping like that, it could be a low battery alarm. You use a 3S lipo, and you report a 10.6V indication. I run a 3S lipo on my Taranis (mostly for the 1W OpenLRS module) and personally never let the TX 3S lipo get below 11.1V before I recharge it. That's because lipos have a very steep voltage drop after a certain point. Maybe that explains your behavior? It's dropping steeply, but recovers when you turn off the TX and falls off again after a bit of draw?

 

[joshuabardwell]

i stile don't understand does a low battery alarm is long non-stop chirp? as i recall its beeps like switch error on start the chirping part is what baffle me. if anybody as information on this i would really much appreciate it

Bear in mind that the 9x comes with a NiMH battery, so the stock low voltage alarm should not (I don't think) be triggered on a 3S LiPo under any circumstances. The LiPo should just die before the low voltage alarm goes off. If OP had modified this setting, surely there wouldn't be a mystery as to what the alarm was.

 

[joshuabardwell]

That's because lipos have a very steep voltage drop after a certain point. Maybe that explains your behavior? It's dropping steeply, but recovers when you turn off the TX and falls off again after a bit of draw?

I set my planes to have low voltage alarm at 11 and critical voltage at 10.6. I land as soon as I get down to 11. For a transmitter pack, though, the current draw is so low that there is almost no voltage drop. Bear in mind that the transmitter may be drawing... I don't know... less than half an amp, surely. I would venture a guess it may be as low as 100 mA, depending on the output power of the radio, which I don't know. The LiPo battery may be something like 1500 to 2500 mAh. So we're at 0.3C draw rate or less. Because the draw rate is so low, we move down the precipitous curve of the LiPo voltage more slowly, and in a more predictable manner.

Personally, I have never had a problem running my LiPo transmitter pack down to around 10.5 volts or so. I know that the pack's absolute minimum is around 9.0 to 9.6 volts, which I will never even get close to. But in the range of 10.5 volts and above, the decline in voltage is so slow that I have never had a case where I got a surprise in the middle of a flight. Bear in mind that the voltage regulator in the 9x needs a minimum of about 7 volts, so there is no issue with inadequate headroom when running a LiPo cell. If you get down to the point where the regulator is unhappy, you've destroyed your battery entirely.

EDIT: If you are doing 40-minute long range flights or something like that, then this advice may not apply. Since none of my batteries last longer than 10-13 minutes at most, I'm just never in a situation where the transmitter is capable of being okay at the start of a flight, and dying in the middle.

 

[menachg]

i don't think it's the battery because i've used my transmitter for hours and its barely goes down a tenth of volt it's definitely dosn't drop the voltage fast unless of course I'm in the 9 volt area that it will drop but the last this phenomena happened to me i was around 12 volt battery

 

[jhitesma]

Are you on the stock firmware, I haven't seen any mention of which firmware you're using.

Low voltage shouldn't be the issue, but the voltage alarm level on the stock firmware can't be changed - even so the voltage alarm is just that - and alarm. It doesn't suddenly cut power to the TX when the alarm triggers. I use a LiFe pack with my low voltage alarm set to 8.6v (I use er9x as my firmware) and have never had any issues with loosing link when the voltage alarm does go off.

The stock FlySky module doesn't have any beeper in it - so the beep must be coming from the TX itself. The stock firmware is really goofy and I ditched it pretty much the first day I had my 9x...so I can't really speculate what could be going on in the stock firmware to cause the problem.

Sorry I can't offer any speculation as to what is causing it...but confirmation that your'e on stock firmware and RF module may help someone with more experience with the stock setup think of something.

 

[menachg]

i did say i'm on the stock firmware and stock module

 

[menachg]

last day i flew and this non stop beep happened to me again twice and both time the beep started while i was trimming but this time it didn't effect the control on the plane and i had full control and the second i trim it some more the beep stop! did anybody else with the turnigy 9x had this? that while trimming the tx start beeping non stop until you trim some more

 

[joshuabardwell]

Could your trim switch be getting stuck? I mean, surely you'd notice that, as the plane would be very hard to fly.

 

[kilombo]

hi parakeet,
I think i have encountered the same problem today...
bought a turnigy 9x V2 from HK,
on the first flight, after trimming the ailerons couple of clicks, the TX started beeping continuously, same sound as the trim feedback beep, but constantly and endlessly until i clicked it again. then the throttle stopped working for a while.
a few minutes later after trimming the TX beeped continuously again, as if the trim was stuck, clicked it again and it stopped, this time nothing else stopped working.
Did you find a solution to this problem?
Danny

 

[earthsciteach]

Pull apart your rx and check the antenna connection. I switched to FrSky after too many crashes due to the rx antenna breaking just inside the case. It happened at least 3 times.

 

[PhenomPilot]

I am with eathsciteach on those antennas. It may not have caused those glitches but I have crashed a few times because of those fragile antenna. I have even tried resoldering and supporting them with hot glue but it didn't work for long. Pretty much switched over to lemomrx except for my final two or three recievers.

 

[TEAJR66]

Sticking trim switches causes beeping in my 9x every once and a while. Just have to move the switch and unstick it when it happens.

The only control issues were from broken RX antenna. Worked fine till I got I little distance then I would lose signal. Those are fragile antenna. But, they are so cheap, I don't sweat it.

 

[desert wings]

I run a 9x with frsky module and love it. I have lost signal and found my module antenna was loose. Check the antenna area and antenna wiring.

The transmitter (depending on firmware) also has a battery calibration. I use a low C 3S battery, to calibrate I used a battery tester and then adjust the calibration setting in the transmitter to match the battery voltage level. Incorrect battery calibration could cause low voltage signals (or lack thereof) as well as a low voltage signal failure.

Make sure you are out of bind and range test mode.

Hopefully you can pinpoint it.