Saturday 3 October 2015

Flight mode selection issue and fix

There's a bug in Companion 2.1.2, 2.1.3 and 2.1.4 which impacts my current F3F, F3J and E-Soar setups. If you open the EEPE file in one of these versions you may find that one or more flight modes cannot be activated in the simulator. The error will also be present after uploading to your transmitter.

The problem has been fixed in Companion 2.1.5 so if you have this version or later, you need not read further.

Friday 24 July 2015

Managing your EEPROMs when upgrading OpenTx

In this post I'll look at EEPROM formats. The knowledge will help you avoid some pitfalls when flashing your transmitter to a newer version of OpenTx.

Friday 17 July 2015

F3J/TD setup version 2.0 for Taranis

It's a year since I first published my F3J setup, and during that time it's generated a steady flow of interest. Thanks to all who provided feedback, as a result of which I've now updated the setup to v. 2.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

OpenTx 2.1 - preview

Development of OpenTx continues, and over the last couple of days I've been checking out some pre-release builds of version 2.1.0. This is the version which will ship with the forthcoming FrSky X9E.

Tuesday 30 June 2015

"E-Soar for Taranis" - a setup for electric soarers

Fancy a bit of electric soaring? My latest setup for the FrSky Taranis is now available from OpenTx Clinic. It's called E-Soar for Taranis and it's for full-house sailplanes with motor and 6 servos. Suitable models include the popular MPX Cularis, Heron, Solius, e-Flite Radian Pro, Pulsar Pro etc.

Sunday 10 May 2015

A better motor arming system for OpenTX

With the high power available from modern e-flite motors, motor safety is of increasing importance. In this post I'll review a couple of so-called safety features, explain why they're actually unsafe, and describe a couple of simple and secure solutions for OpenTx.

Saturday 2 May 2015

F3F Setup for Taranis version 3.1

Ask ten different F3F pilots for their ideal transmitter configuration, and you can be sure you'll receive ten different answers. Some like US style hand held trannies, others like tray types. I prefer to fly with my thumbs, you might prefer to 'pinch'. And so it goes on, right down to the location and order of the switches.

Thursday 23 April 2015

Thoughts on programming motor control

Glider pilots love props! Well that seems to be the conclusion, judging from the requests to add motor support to my F3F and F3J setups. With my Multiplex Cularis ripe for conversion, I decided to take on the challenge.

The key issues with any power conversion are: (1) safety (2) preventing conflicts between motor and other functions and (2) providing a safe arming/disarming function. In this post, I'll describe my thoughts on how to tackle the project.

Thursday 9 April 2015

Taranis at La Muela. Or how RSSI found my models.

Just got back from the F3F competition at La Muela in Spain. It was the 20th Anniversary event, and Pierre Rondel won the event with a flawless demonstration of controlled aggressive flying. What was interesting is that Pierre was using a 'cheapo' FrSky Taranis, having recently switched over from JR after three years as a sponsored pilot.