Getting tired of waiting for my replacement stock Radio from 3DR for my Iris+. I have a brand new very lonely Spektrum DX6 in the box. I believe I will have to get a receiver...as I bought it without. Has anyone used this TX with the PIXHAWK? If so any help in connecting and setting up would be greatly appreciated.
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I have used a Spectrum DX6, including AR6210 receiver with satellite for over a year with PixHawk.
To have diversity I connected the AR6210 receiver including satellite with a PPM converter to SBUS in and that did work perfectly (range approx 800 meter on stock DX6)
The Spectrum satellite can be used directly with the PixHawk as there is a DSM support on the board.
In that case you lose the diversity of the double receiver, but there is no need for a PPM converter any longer.
Channel 5 modeswitch can be set on the DX6 as well by combining 3 switches (Gear, Elev D/R, Ail D/R)
I generated the 6 flightmodes that way.
Erik
I have a DX9, which replaced a DX8, and have only ever used those with my Pixhawk. I plugged the Spektrum satellite receiver directly into the dedicated port on the Pixhawk, and it works awesome. You just need to hook up the actual receiver that came with your DX6 with the satellite receiver connected so that you can bind the satellite to your transmitter, then plug the satellite into the Pixhawk and you can put the AR6000 back in the box. The satellite receiver on Spektrum gear is like a diversity receiver, so you may get a little less range using just that than you would with both the AR6000+satellite, but it will be no less than you would get with just the AR6000 without satellite. It has never been an issue for me (flying only LOS).
There is also LemonRX, who make DSMX-compatible receivers. They have one that is an 8-channel and has PPM output, and is very reasonably priced. It also comes with a satellite module. So you could also use that and plug it directly into the PPM In port on your Pixhawk (or any other FC). I have it set up with an AUAV-X2 and it also works fine.
As for settings on the radio, that is up to you. I don't know if the new ones have changed the software since they upgraded the displays to align with the DX9, but I don't believe the older DX6s allowed for changing channel/switch assignment, so you'll have to do some fiddling during your radio calibration to figure out which switch does what, but once you know that, you can change everything that those switches do in Pixhawk via MissionPlanner/APM Planner, so you can set it up just the way you like, and apart from maybe reversing channels or setting expo or travel limits you really don't need to mess with the transmitter anymore once you are connected.
The stock Frsky receiver output provides PPM (Pulse Position Modulation) to the PixHawk while Spektrum receivers output is PWM (Pulse Width Modulation).
Different enough that to make the switch would be a lot more trouble, and require more hardware, than simply waiting for the replacement.
This link may be helpful in explaining the difference.
Thank you for your response. I just ordered a FrSky Taranis X9D Plus 16CH Telemetry Radio System with X8R Receiver. I believe this to be a far better in quality TX, not to mention it should bind right up nicely.
I've used several OrangeRx 8ch receivers with PixHawk and Spektrum gear. They provide SBUS output, which PixHawk handles directly.