Discussions

My 3DR quad is using FrSky radio gear with a heavily modd'ed Turnigy 9x + er9x.  From everything that I've read this should mitigate the notorious and thread-inflating flyaway issues of the stock T9x.  That said my first "close-by" flights have gone off without a hitch and I'm ready to fly higher and farther away.  In preparation:

• I configured my TX to emit a pwm of 950 when throttle stick all the way down.
  • For er9x loaded TX's:
  • Connect the APM to Mission Planner and open open Actions Tab->Raw Sensor View ->Radio Tab.  This will show you the PWM your TX is sending.
  • Go to desired Model->Setup Menu 2/10 ->E. Limits = ON
  • Limits Menu 6/10, lower the throttle channel's (3 in my case) lower end-point. So in my case -100 became  -125 just keep decreasing it until you get something below 975 (the default failsafe level for the apm)
• I followed FrSky's instructions on setting the failsafe on the RX
• I confirmed the proper failsafe settings in the Mission Planner, set mode = RTL etc...
• Then I reset my TX's throttle channel LIMIT back to it's normal setting (Limit = -100)
• Re-calibrated TX in mission planner
• Go back to the Mission Planner's Raw Sensor View -> Radio Tab
• Verify that when I turn off the TX the throttle channel's PWM = 950, turn TX back on back to 990...

My question, in the field how can I test my TX/RX range? Rumor has it that if failsafe is triggered on the APM the quad may launch and "try to fly home".  Is this a moot point if I range check keeping the quad in the exact-same spot at which it was armed?

Just trying to be preemptively cautious as failsafe's and RTL's seem to cause lots of flyaways.

Cheers!