Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John on August 14, 2012 at 12:30pm

Thank you Guys for the guidance and sharing your opinions. When buying a RC, do I need to look for any particular configuration so I buy something that's compatible with my APM? Or are the RC's generally compatible?

For example, can I buy the below RC if I want to and assume that it'll work with APM?

http://www.amazon.com/Futaba-FASST-Airplane-Radio-Servos/dp/B0015UM...

Thank you,

John

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Permalink Reply by Jake Stew on August 14, 2012 at 3:14pm

You want an 8 or 9 channel system.  You'll be wanting the extra channels sooner or later.

For proper mode changes you will also want a 3-position switch on it.  Using the three position in combination with a two position switch gives you access to all 6 modes on the APM.

All TX/RX systems are compatible with the APM.  They all put out standard PWM signals.  Some have PPM output, which makes the wiring to the APM easier.  PWM needs 1 wire for each channel signal while PPM multiplexes the signals onto one wire.

BTW, hobbyking.com is by far the cheapest source for all RC gear.  I don't know if they're trying a Walmart strategy or what, but they're crazy cheap.  

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Permalink Reply by Jake Stew on August 19, 2012 at 11:37am

I forgot to mention that you'll probably want to make sure you get a right handed TX (mode 2).  It's usually not too hard to switch them, but opening them up and swapping springs is a pain.

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Permalink Reply by Patricio on August 19, 2012 at 8:26am

I have a Turnigy 9x + Frsky TX/RX with Telemetry  + Smartie Parts addon for loading er9x + LiPo Bateries.

The setup is rock solid i am extremelly happy. The total cost of the setup is about $200

 

	Hobbyking
1	Turnigy   9X 9Ch Transmitter w/ Module & 8ch Receiver (Mode 2) ...	$64.75
2	Turnigy   2650mAh 3S 1C LLF Tx Pack (Futaba/JR)	$13.30
1	FrSky   DF 2.4Ghz Combo Pack for JR w/ Module	$50.43
1	FrSky   FLD-02 Telemetry Display Screen	$19.99
1	FrSky   USB Cable	$8.49
	Smartie Parts
1	9x   Add-on Board with built-in Programmer and EL Backlight	$45.00

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Permalink Reply by Andke on August 20, 2012 at 12:29am

Graupner MX16 / 20 or better with Hott

- you can use multiple recievers, (for additional redundancy or just extra outputs)

- you will see signal strength and quality on the display (telemetry)

- you can see voltages/current, GPS position, altitude, heading , speed + + + right on the display.

- transmitter will log all these data to SD card inside it.

-Ardupilot will soon output telemetry data in HoTT format for the "receiver" (really - it's bidirectional) - just like other systems already do. (like mikrokopter)

so there you have it - lost model ? - just look up last position, or position+heading, altitude.

want rssi mess ? - no reason - HoTT warns you by audio in good time before you have significant packet loss - and it's impressively quick to re-establish connection.  (even if receiver browned out.)

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Permalink Reply by Eddie Furey on August 20, 2012 at 1:48am

+1 for Turnigy 9x, but only if you're planning on doing the upgrades. I think of it like a Jedi building his own lightsaber. :)

If you're testing in a flight simulator then you can use the radio as stock.

Replace the battery holder before you fly with a real plane, the battery holder is the only really dangerous part.

Upgrade to a FrSky DIY kit and matching receiver when you want to fly past 200m range.

Upgrade to Smartieparts board and er9x when you want to use more than 2 switches. The mixing in er9x is just incredible. I'm always thinking of new handy mixes that do cool things.

If (Yearly_Income / 1000 < Your_IQ) { Buy(Turnigy_9x); }

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Permalink Reply by Jake Stew on August 20, 2012 at 11:40am

I would point out two things...

#1 You can do all the upgrades yourself with scrap parts, so you really can have a top of the line TX for just $55 with the 9X.  You can use LEDs or your own EL strip for the backlight, the firmware hack is not all that hard (just tacking a few wires on the board, the PPM hack is just a resistor, and you can just shove a LiPo into the battery compartment for a real nice rechargeable solution.

You can take the easy way and buy a kit to make all this easy, or you can do it for no/minimal cost on your own.

#2 LOL Eddie, shame on you for using programming to argue the point.  It's kinda rude to talk over people's heads whilst insulting them.

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