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Futaba SBUS to PPM? FrSKY to the rescue!

Posted by Scott Fuller on August 11, 2013 at 7:00pm

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For months now I've been looking for a SBUS to PPM converter for my Futaba Radio. I want to place my Futaba RX out on one wing and my video TX on the other. While surfing FrSKY's page for a SBUS receiver I ran across a SBUS to PPM converter! I've seen plenty of DIY converters but Aloft hobbies had one cheap in the states and ready to go for about $15. 

After reading around in a few forums I was a bit skeptical about it working. After checking things out in Mission Planner things look good! Now I can finally rip the 10 wires out of the wing and narrow it down to three!

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Hopefully this helps other folks looking for a SBUS to PPM converter. I won't miss the rats nest of wire I had before. 

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Comments

  • Janne December 11, 2014 at 7:39am

    No need for the converter any more when usin APM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nqr4-cbyvI

  • Moderator
    Mark Harrison August 13, 2013 at 1:21am

    +1 on FrSky gear.

    I've got the new Taranis and really like it.

    I've used and liked Turnigy 9x and 9xr with the FrSky module.

    The  D4R-II receiver is four channel, but 8 channel in PPM mode.  It's tiny and sweet. (you can use 6 of the channels as shipped, and there's a firmware upgrade for 8 channel with a larger frame rate)

  • Caleb Phillips August 12, 2013 at 8:49pm

    Not sure about the exact part number I used (spec sheet is at work) but a quick google search for a Hex Inverting Schmidt Trigger shows:

    http://www.futurlec.com/74HC/74HC14pr.shtml

    Wire a Futaba sBus signal through it and you can read it in a TTL level UART at 100K baud. I have a board setup to read in sBus from 4 devices and mux an output to 3 other devices on a UAV at work. I can get (12) 11bit channels and two 1bit channels from my 8FG and the same from a 12Z. The signals are jitter free, much cleaner than reading PPM or individual PWM's.

  • Scott Fuller August 12, 2013 at 4:59pm

    Indeed I'd love to hear more about this! 

  • Moderator
    Nathaniel Caner August 12, 2013 at 4:53pm

    Caleb,

    Got a link? And is that 20¢ or $20? Hard to read if that's a decimal in there. I'd like to hear more about this.

    Regards,

    Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

  • Caleb Phillips August 12, 2013 at 4:51pm

    I used a cheap ($.20) hex inverter to read multiple Futaba sBus signals into an APM for a project at work. It was really easy to do and the signals are much cleaner than what comes out of the APM ppm converter. 

  • Moderator
    Nathaniel Caner August 12, 2013 at 4:51pm

    Hey Graham,

    Basically S-Bus is Futaba's proprietary serial communications system. It allows you to assign an address to specialized S-Bus compatible servos or using addressable/programmable hubs with conventional servos. This gives you the ability to do some cool things, like say having multiple servos in the tail of a plane while only running a single cable all the way from the receiver in the front then distributing the signals to the individual servos. Also you can plug a battery in at any point on the system allowing you to place the battery closer to the servos that need the power, or perhaps placing the battery where it can help balance the plane without adding longer leads.

    Check this out on Futaba's site for a better explanation of the capabilities.

    Regards,

    Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

  • Graham Pollock August 12, 2013 at 4:28pm
    Why would you need this: what is SBUS?
  • Moderator
    Nathaniel Caner August 12, 2013 at 2:24pm

    @Greg

    The 6208SB receiver can handle as many as 18 channels when using S-Bus up to the number of available channels for your compatible TX. In this case that's 14 with the T8FG in MLT/MLT2 mode. I have this transmitter/receiver combo and love it! Very easy to program and navigate once you get used to it. On my current airframe, a Super Sky Surfer, I use 11 channels.

    1-Ailerons - To APM CH1

    2-Elevator - To APM CH2

    3-Throttle - To APM CH3

    4-Rudder - To APM CH4

    5-Pan (FPV Camera) direct to Pan Servo via S-Bus

    6-Tilt (FPV Camera) direct to Tilt Servo via S-Bus

    7-Geo-Fence Toggle Switch - To APM CH5

    8-Mode Switches (two switches mixed for 6-modes) - To APM  CH8

    9-Mission Reset Momentary Toggle Switch - To APM CH6

    10-Flaps direct to Flap Servo via S-Bus

    11-MinimOSD Panel Select 3-POS Switch - To APM CH7

    The System Works perfectly so far. I would love to go to a PPM sum receiver, however I'm not sure if I could take advantage of all 14 channels of the T8FG with a PPM sum receiver as it requires the use of MLT/MLT2 mode to get the extra channels. Otherwise in 7-CH mode you only get......7 channels. I also don't want to send all (nor can I) the channels to the APM; I.E. pan, tilt and flaps (though I wouldn't mind if the APM supported it!

    All in all it's a great TX!

    Regards,

    Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

  • Pbreed August 12, 2013 at 12:43pm

    I've switched all my (custom not APM based) stuff over to Spektrum using the satellite receivers directly sending async serial easy to use and a lot less wires... if you want redundant receivers you just need more serial ports...

    (My current CPU has 10... so I have lots of these).

    Much simple than messing with multiple pulse channels from a receiver... 

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