PPM VS. PPMSUM

I am building my first quadcopter and chose to go with the RPi0 and PXFmini combo as the flight controller. The PXFmini speaks PPMSUM and I was pulling my hair out trying to find an affordable transmitter / receiver pair that supported PPMSUM. I wound up buying a fairly cheap Quanum i8 that used PPM. I was advised by Erle Robotics that because my receiver did not specifically support PPMSUM I would have to buy a PPM to PPMSUM converter which I did.  

Now I am nearly finished with the build, in fact, if I receive the power cable for the PXFmini tomorrow I will be able to do a test flight. But now I am thinking I may not require the PPM to PPMSUM converter after all. I have all 4 motors wired to the PXFmini and a standard 3 wire connection between the receiver and the PXFmini. It's my understanding that that is how PPM works, am I right? the whole point is the simplify the wiring.

I am starting to believe that some RC controller manufacturers use the term PPM and PPMSUM interchangeably. Just like some call PPM CPPM, it's the same thing. Or am I missing the big picture?

If I do get to test this thing tomorrow I guess I will find out, but I would like to get it wired up correctly the first time. Also, I am posting this here instead of on the Erle Robotics forum because I want a second opinion. I already know ER thinks I need the converter.

Cheers

Bill

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