Need help buying the correct parts for my first racing drone.
- Thread starter 1ikhan
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@HighTechPauper alright so I just got my transmitter yesterday, and I must say that thing feels cheaper than the ev800ds lol. Anything in particular I should watch for on the x9 lite pro? I know I have to update the opentx firmware and the internal transmitter firmware, as well as the receiver firmware when that gets here. Also have to set up fport too. What I am curious about is whether or not I have to touch the opentx configurator software at all, and what benefits do I get learning how to use it?
That surprises me, Frsky is known for pretty good build quality even if some of the pieces look less than perfect, at least they are solid design and build. The few reviews I've seen on the new models said they were solid I thought. I have an original X-Lite, as well as an X9D+ and the QX7S I use as my daily flyer, they are all pretty good with only minor "cheapness" observed. I was not a fan of the new stuff from Frsky, and I doubt I will ever buy any of it. They are trying to bully the market and vendors in a number of ways I don't condone and will not support, but the older versions still available would get my money even today. I don't like their push to ACCESS and dropping support for the D8 receivers since I have too many D8's in whoops and such. They do have a couple of nice features that would be cool, but more a nice to have than a need to have, but still I would think it is a solid way to go
What in particular did you note about the TX?
FPort may be hit or miss, but I can't be sure what will happen for you. I haven't tried to set it up on anything of mine, and the old method works too good to start changing things that are working. Some people I have helped recently seemed to be working fine and then had Telemetry get wonky on FPort, then went back to SBus and Smart Port and all was well. Setting up FPort is just a matter of flashing the RX with the FPort build if applicable, a single wire instead of 2, and then config BF and pray and test it. I generally steer away from a lot of the "new stuff", it is often problematic and so little info out there when there are issues. If I were just starting, I would probably try it too, if you run into issues you can rewire it for the old way.
I think this will be a must if you're talking about OpenTX Configurator, I think you will need it to flash the TX, although they may have some way to put a file on the SD and run it that way, again, I am not sure because these things weren't available when I started.
Alright so concerning the quality of the tx, the actual functional parts are quality. The tensioning is symmetrical on the gimbals judging by the feel and sound. The switches are hefty and clicky, just the momentary switch feels a little mushy compared to the toggles. The plastic quality is where it falls short imo. When you hold it, it feels no different than the plastic of a cheap membrane keyboard on Amazon. The plastic on the ev800d is not only thicker, but also softer to the touch. I'm guessing frsky or uruav, whoever is responsible for molding the body of the tx, cheaped out on the body quality. Nothing is creaking, just not quality. Functionally, it can do almost everything the bigger x9d can when you put in the charging board and the multi protocol module. But you are spending more money. Interesting thing to note with the x9 lite pro, aside from the hall sensors, is that it appears that you can use crossfire without any bottlenecks when you use an adapter. None of that slower baud rate from what I have read so far. I do not like the fact that frsky is trying to strong arm things, but at the end of the day this can do almost everything with some mods. Seems like you can grow with it.
As far the fport, yeah don't see why not to try it unless it doesnt work.
Guess there goes another couple of hours trying to learn software.
Yeah, good info on this stuff is almost impossible to find, Frsky makes good stuff but doesn't document anything, it is up to the community to experiment and figure it out, that's another reason I stick to more mature and well documented equipment, less headaches sometimes. I would just watch a video on updating transmitter with opentx and that should be all the basics you need to work with flashing the radio IF they haven't changed too much.
Thankfully the flashing firmware process seems relatively easy, dunno how it was before so I have no frame of reference, but I remember having to flash esc firmware way back with ftdi adapters. Anything is easier than that lol.
And on the comment about quality going down, get em while the products sill make sense hahah.
@HighTechPauper Alright the lipos and the 18650s came in today, was finally able to set up the transmitter. Who knew you dont want to be too harsh with the sticks when calibrating. Anyway, after holding the lipos and seeing how hefty they are (1500mah 6s), I decided it was time to return the b6 and get a HTRC C240 dual charger, which seems to be a lot safer than the B6. Question, how reasonably sure can I be that my multimeter is well calibrated?
That is a good question, the best way is to use a calibration box that puts out a few voltages at high precision to see what your meter reads. Ideally you have a 9999 counts meter so it can read up to 3 digits to the right of the decimal point when dealing with single number voltage less than 10 volts. I have a cheap Aneng AN8009 meter that cost me about $25 that is a 9999 counts meter. You can find the 8008 model for cheap on ebay or even Walmart on line. If you have something good like a Fluke you can assume it was calibrated pretty good from the factory.
I have a calibration box (KKMOON AD584-M) that I used to check how accurate it is and it was plenty close for what we need so I didn't really need to buy it, but without it I couldn't have been sure how close it was. If your meter reads 3 digits to the right of the decimal point for singe digit voltages I think you can assume it is plenty close enough for what you need. The reality is that 10-20 millivolts off is so small that it really doesn't matter for us in this hobby.
Ah very informative, thanks. I have a cheap astroai am33d. The stupid thing is it reads 3 sig figs at all times, but moves the decimal so that when I switch to 200v mode, I can only see to one decimal. I ordered a uruav lipo checker just for this reason, hopefully those are accurate enough for our use case.
Also, stupid thing, I was messing about with the multimeter, and I switched to a mode and it shorted out the lipo for like a second. Is my lipo fine? Its not hot or puffy.
Ok, a few things...
1. Put the meter on a smaller voltage range to get more precision, like 10 or 20 volts, whatever it has.
2. Almost ANY meter will be more precise than a simple battery checker.
3. Sounds like you may not know enough about using a meter, you went to Continuity test (Ohms) and shorted the battery for a second, don't do that, but it likely did little to no damage and you should be fine.
Gotcha, no damage then. The probe is melted a little though.
Yeah so I did turn it to lower voltage setting, but a 1 just pops up so it doesn't allow me to do it. There's a 20v then a 200v mode, and 20v just results in a 1 while 200v shows a reading of 22.9v.
Ok, a couple more things...
1. Yeah, when you short a high current source like a battery, you are basically arc welding, so a little "melting" of metal goes with the territory.
2. When you look at the whole battery voltage (22.x sounds like a 6s) you are much less worried about precision, it is only when evaluating individual cells at the balance plug that you care about that. The meter is showing you a 1 because that is it's indication that the voltage your trying to read is above the scale you have it on. Try using the 20v scale and look at the voltages across each individual cell and you should get more precision out of your meter because it is only 4.2 volts or less.
3 STOP ARC WELDING with your stuff, it's not good for it.
4. If I can help you a bit to understand your meter better, or anything else about this stuff, just PM me.
1. Yeah, when you short a high current source like a battery, you are basically arc welding, so a little "melting" of metal goes with the territory.
2. When you look at the whole battery voltage (22.x sounds like a 6s) you are much less worried about precision, it is only when evaluating individual cells at the balance plug that you care about that. The meter is showing you a 1 because that is it's indication that the voltage your trying to read is above the scale you have it on. Try using the 20v scale and look at the voltages across each individual cell and you should get more precision out of your meter because it is only 4.2 volts or less.
3 STOP ARC WELDING with your stuff, it's not good for it.
4. If I can help you a bit to understand your meter better, or anything else about this stuff, just PM me.
But but arc welding makes cool sounds
Also caught a whiff of the burnt smoke and I have never lost so many brain cells in one sitting.
Now the problem is the probe tip is too warped to make contact with the little exposed balance pads. I'll get to sharpening the tip on concrete.
Is there a way to measure internal resistance of the batteries?
LOL! Better try to hold onto as many brain cells as possible, you may need them one day!
I assume you know to use the side on the balance connector where the pin locking mechanism is instead of trying to get a lead into the actual female socket? Pushing anything into that socket that is not the proper size will do damage to the connector. I find that an old Servo Extender cable is cheap and the perfect size to use on a balance connector if I need to charge just one cell or to get better access to the balance connector.
The only cost effective way to get Internal Resistance measurement is to buy a charger that has that feature, most full featured chargers do have it. It seems your new charger has this feature.
I assume you know to use the side on the balance connector where the pin locking mechanism is instead of trying to get a lead into the actual female socket? Pushing anything into that socket that is not the proper size will do damage to the connector. I find that an old Servo Extender cable is cheap and the perfect size to use on a balance connector if I need to charge just one cell or to get better access to the balance connector.
The only cost effective way to get Internal Resistance measurement is to buy a charger that has that feature, most full featured chargers do have it. It seems your new charger has this feature.
Yeah no didn't stick the probes in, used the pin locking mechanism (thankfully I learned my shapes as a kid hahah). I was able to sharpen the tip back up and all the voltages are around 3.83-3.84 for the battery I accidentally shorted. Also tested with the lipo tester and the readings are higher than expected, so I guess the lipo checker is only good for seeing if a cell is damaged in the field and not the actual voltages.LOL! Better try to hold onto as many brain cells as possible, you may need them one day!
I assume you know to use the side on the balance connector where the pin locking mechanism is instead of trying to get a lead into the actual female socket? Pushing anything into that socket that is not the proper size will do damage to the connector. I find that an old Servo Extender cable is cheap and the perfect size to use on a balance connector if I need to charge just one cell or to get better access to the balance connector.
The only cost effective way to get Internal Resistance measurement is to buy a charger that has that feature, most full featured chargers do have it. It seems your new charger has this feature.
View attachment 3647
**** I didn't even know my new charger had that lol.
Yeah, the battery is fine. When you say the battery checker was reading high, how high? On your 3.83-3.84 battery what was it reading? Usually they are pretty close but not perfect, good for checking cell imbalance after a flight and cool down, and for telling a full from empty is about all you need, but I would be interested to know how far off it was. Also can you post a picture or a link to this battery checker?
LOL, gotta read the manual buddy, or as they say RTFM LOL
Alright so I have not forgotten about posting the difference in readings, I will do that once all my classes stop slamming me with work, but I think I lucked out a little here about something else. So my shipment of motors, esc, fc, vtx, and rx still has not arrived from banggood, and it has been about a month now since I ordered, making me think they got lost since everything else from bg arrived weeks earlier. I had shipping protection on that order, so I can get my money back if bg is feeling nice. Or call in paypal, whichever is easier. In that case, I think I am going with rush tank vtx, the iflight xing-e 2207 1800kv (paired with gemfan 51499 for ultimate thrust), clracing f7 mpu6000 v2 fc, and a clracing 45a 4in1 esc. Still gonna stick to rxsr. Cheaper overall and more sensible. What do you think?
It seems when you have a large number of items in a BG shipment it will take extra time to arrive, I doubt BG will offer to refund when the package is very likely to arrive at some point. It is a dilemma when the parts inevitably show up and you have received a refund. Of course you can return the parts but will pay shipping I think, or you can save for a bit and have 2 quads. This is a never ending game, chasing the latest greatest which seems to come out weekly, but that parts list sounds real good.
