Fsky Taranis X9D Plus

Hi Chris,

The X series RX provide two sources of telemetry back to you built in, one is received signal strength, the other is RX battery voltage. You automatically get a voice warning if your received signal strength hits the low threshold level. I have set my radio to warn me if My RX battery drops below a certain voltage, as I generally run HV servos from a 2S lipo this is helpful, less so if you are using a BEC.

I've got a another sensor that reads the individual cell voltages of the main flight pack, this is also set up to warn me if the pack voltage drops below a threshold I've set.

All of these sensors as well as stick inputs are logged onto an SD card.

I borrowed a GPS sensor from Mike, it was fun watching it draw my flight on google earth, but in reality it bore little resemblance to the smooth and graceful lines I was flying , I think it would be better in a none acrobatic plane or glider. I will put a vario in a glider so that I can set it up to kill the power at a certain height.

Other than real warnings or the timer, I do not want my radio taking to me.

Chris has highlighted some of the best options of telemetry.

Talking Transmitters! Surfing around I found a set up where if the plane is below a certain height and nose down the TX shouts "Pull Up Pull Up".:lol: Just for fun I assume.
The latter voice file is not in the standard sound pack but you can create your own by converting your voice file to a low bit-rate mono wav file.

JonTappin wrote: Following this thread as an outsider having never played with a Teranis (I have flown with Stuart's but never tried programming it) it does sound like a huge amount of faff to set up a fairly basic programme. Is it, or is Phil just making it sound like it is?

Setting up a new model with the transmitter is a simple 2-minute job. After selecting a new model memory you use a wizard to run through a few steps to decide what controls the model has (aileron, flaps, motor, etc). After that you have to do the usual malarkey of servo reversing, end points and so on. This is no easier or complex than it is on any radio that you are used to. For example, I have tried helping Simon Osborne (futaba) and Ernie (DX6) with their models and did not find it easy or intuitive.

Chris73 wrote: Out of curiosity what telemetry are you guys using, I never look at the TX whilst flying so most of it seems like a gimmick to me

I am missing something??

The new JR RX's come standard with voltage telemetry but as I use a powerbox which regulates the voltage before it gets to the TX this function no longer serves any purpose, if you weren't using any kind of regulator I can see how this would be useful to check the battery voltage before each flight, not sure what else you need to know whilst flying

You are correct that receiver battery voltage is meaningless if using a regulated supply. But as Chris has pointed out, you can use a sensor to relay the voltage of the battery and individual cells if you wanted to do so. I would also agree that telemetry is mostly a waste of time when all you want to do is fly. I have had telemetry with my Jeti equipped Multiplex transmitter for several years and did not use it after the first few months - looking at screens and listening to beeps was not that helpful! Voice alerts make it more useful and the added bonus is that it really annoys Mitch when he's flying next to you :evil:

MikeSeale wrote: Voice alerts make it more useful and the added bonus is that it really annoys Mitch when he's flying next to you :evil:

I'd not through of that, I'll program a Mitch button that makes my radio spew out a cacophony of telemetry data, it could cycle through each cell voltage every few seconds and give me flight duration at very regular intervals. I accidentally set my radio to beep when the sticks returned to centre, Simon will remember how annoying that was, and that was just beeps! Although to be fair I do try not to annoy Mitch, but I think just by being there I wind him up

Concerning Mitch, Chris notes that

I think just by being there I wind him up

Don't worry Chris, this a perfect example of a global reciprocal arrangement, also know as a bilateral commitment with reciprocal rights. In short, by being there Mitch winds everybody up.