Want true DSMX in your Taranis?

FinnK

Junior Member
bitogre ...Do you still have parts for this build available?

I have the Tx-unit and the case, but I am interrested all the other parts.
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
This mod uses a tx module from a Spektrum 4e, 5e and 6i and a couple of other simple Txs. Those Txs do not support telemetry so there's unlikely to be any thing in these Tx modules that supports that. You do get 6 channels though, even though the modules come from a 4 channel and a 5 channel radio. (not sure about the module from the MLP4DSM)

Here is the original article http://johnprikkel.blogspot.dk/2014/07/jr-dsmx.html
 
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mactek

Member
Okay thanks for the reply. One other question if the plane is equipped with AS3X technology does this work.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
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AS3X is completely built into the RX, so yeah, it still works.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
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I have an order of three PCB boards for this project coming in soon - and I will only need one of them.

If anyone else is interested in a PCB + the other digikey parts (and potentially a 3d printed case) let me know via PM.

Thanks,
 

oleost

Junior Member
Hi, got soldered together the DIY spectrum case with and dx6i rf module.

So far very good, been just testing with the Blade qx until I find it stable/safe enough to use for bigger birds like Blade 450x.

Got outside today and did some range testing with AR400 dsmx receiever mounted in a plane, put the taranis in range mode and walked 70meters and had control over the servos in the plane. Tried range testing it further but because I lost line of sight (just tested outside house and street is not longer.) I also lost signal..

But is 70 meter enough in range test mode?
 

rockyboy

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Hi, got soldered together the DIY spectrum case with and dx6i rf module.

So far very good, been just testing with the Blade qx until I find it stable/safe enough to use for bigger birds like Blade 450x.

Got outside today and did some range testing with AR400 dsmx receiever mounted in a plane, put the taranis in range mode and walked 70meters and had control over the servos in the plane. Tried range testing it further but because I lost line of sight (just tested outside house and street is not longer.) I also lost signal..

But is 70 meter enough in range test mode?

I think 70 meters sounds great - the process I usually see written (and Josh talked about in his video) is about 30 paces/meters. Also, I saw information http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=5234 indicating the Taranis range test is about 1/30th of signal strength, so you should have about 2.1 kilometers range at full strength. Should be plenty for a line of sight park flyer! :)
 

rockyboy

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So I've run into an unexpected problem with my JR module build from the PCB / plans http://johnprikkel.blogspot.dk/2014/07/jr-dsmx.html

When I put the radio module from a DX5e with the "X" graphic on the front into the JR PCB module, I can bind to a NanoQX with DSMX. But I can't bind to a UMX Sukhoi 26u or a LemonRx module that require DSM2.

When I use the radio module from an older DX5e without the "X" graphic on the front, I can't bind to the NanoQX / DSMX reciever. But it does bind just fine to the UMX Sukhoi and LemonRx DSM2 recievers.

Has anyone else been able to bind to both DSMX and DSM2 recievers with the same home build JR module? I am running OpenTx 2.0.17 (one major release back, not the most current development version) in case that makes a difference.

Thanks,
 

makattack

Winter is coming
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Thanks for the quick delivery of the extra parts you had ordered! I got mine at the end of last week.

I suspect there's a problem with some DX5e's that have DSM2/DSMX support. I experienced a similar issue last year at a club open house event where we were buddy boxing people at our flying field, and found some DX5e's wouldn't find to dsm2 lemonrx or dsm2 spektrum rx's.

I just checked HH's website and sure enough, there's a firmware upgrade you can get by sending it back to them:
http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdId=SPM5510
 

rockyboy

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Thanks for the info makattack! It's good to know I'm not losing my mind here...

But, since I've desoldered the radio module from the DX5e mainboard, I don't know if they will be willing to do a firmware upgrade on it anymore. :) I'll double check the serial numbers on it tonight, and see if this is the root problem I'm having.

Thanks again!
 

bluem6

Junior Member
Hi, does anyone know if a DX7s module will work with the JR-DSMX PCB? I can't get it to bind with any of my receivers...
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
Thanks for the info makattack! It's good to know I'm not losing my mind here...

But, since I've desoldered the radio module from the DX5e mainboard, I don't know if they will be willing to do a firmware upgrade on it anymore. :) I'll double check the serial numbers on it tonight, and see if this is the root problem I'm having.

Thanks again!
So was your module from an affected 5xe transmitter?

DX6i/DX5e/DX4e:
PID's beginning with one of the following prefixes: HS, HH, HT, HE, HA

or is the problem something else? From what I read the DSM2 bug is only some DSMX transmitters with those prefixes and only with some DSM2 receivers. And that was from back in 2011.
 

rockyboy

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No, the PID in the battery compartment of my controller starts with an A3, so I don't think it's the specific recall issue. I also upgraded my firmware to 2.1.6, which didn't fix the issue either. (But I like the changes in the Companion 2.1 interface!)

I ordered up a couple more PCB's and plan to make another JR module so I'll have one to be my DSMX and one for DSM2 - should still give me full model memory for all my bind and fly planes which is the reason I want one, but it does mean two modules to tote around. Oh well - still better than moving around DIP switches on the OrangeRX module and rebinding when I switch planes.
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
Thanks for the update. Sort of sucks not to have an explanation but it probably good it wasn't the recall thing. That sounded more like it just went to hold in flight rather than a binding problem.

You problem sounds like it just not negotiating the protocol on bind which is odd although the Orange module doesn't seem to be able to do it either.

Just in case you you haven't come across this you might find the links I posted on another thread useful

It's about setting up the Taranis to "emulate" the DX5e. Basically limiting the channels to -80 +80 instead of -100 +100 because Spektrum uses a narrower range. Except the throttle which should be -100 +80 to get the ESC to arm. And that Channels 2, 4, 5 and 6 should be inverted. Some other stuff about setting up the switches for SAFE. Probably stuff you already know...

Since the Taranis servo range is 20% wider than Spektrum's if you have your throttle channel at -100 +80 then it seems it should be in range. But if you haven't tried it you might play around with the lower limit if the throttle channel to see if you can find the right value. Maybe it's what is preventing the bind negotiation.

I have also read of people using the Spektrum SAFE receiver and having it not work when they use certain ESCs so possibly switching ESCs might be another thing to try. Probably the problem was ESC arming rather than binding but it might be worth a try.
 
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rockyboy

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That is an excellent thread of info! Thank you so much for sharing this - I have been working my way into this by trial and error, but this should help me setup a better template I can use for future, and gives me a few more things to try to cross the DSM2 binding problem.

Thanks!