thUndeadMod v3.4 - openLRS S**T just got real :)

[Coyote]

Your RSSI should be 3.2v when in close proximity, that`s suggesting your antennas are not tuned together to me

[phibin]

hello all...

thought i would try an answer some of the points....

as far as i know badland are a reputable company that make tuned antennas...
i did not just buy them but spoke to one of the engineers there and explained their intended use etc..

he said he would make some tuned to my specs and i was happy at that.

there seems to be a lot of 'homebrew' antennas out there, and im not knocking them or their creators,
just i trust the guy with the machine to test this stuff rather than my cutting and making of some my self.

the hard ware is ok as far as i know...
i did just notice that the pigtail on the tx module sma end is not looking to tight inside....
im sure it makes good contact on the centre pin but maybe something to think about for the sake of a quid or what ever they are...

i checked and im flashing for 5v 16 328 in arduino,
i didnt think it would work at all if you got that wrong?

attached are some pics of the range test
and the set up...

so back to the drawing board i guess...

simon.

[Splashy]

I think that serial PPM is not working on pin 9.

I am assuming that connecting pins 1 and 3 enables PPM mode.

[papa_lazerous]

hello all...

Hi

 
thought i would try an answer some of the points....

as far as i know badland are a reputable company that make tuned antennas...
i did not just buy them but spoke to one of the engineers there and explained their intended use etc..

he said he would make some tuned to my specs and i was happy at that.

there seems to be a lot of 'homebrew' antennas out there, and im not knocking them or their creators,
just i trust the guy with the machine to test this stuff rather than my cutting and making of some my self.

I am not saying they are a bad company etc, but what I am questioning is if the antennas they made for you are any good.  It's a variable, we have the same hardware except antennas and I get great results and you dont.  Its worth looking into this.  Both Coyote and myself use this antenna http://www.firstpersonview.co.uk/antennas/433mhz/diamond-srh771-sma-433mhz-antenna  Its tuned for 433 but is a quality well built antenna that seems happy to perform well outside of its designated band.

My main concern about your antennas are that you have a very low RSSI in your picture if you are getting 2.9V with the Tx & Rx beside each other then something is wrong.  Please try the stock antenna and see if you get a different result with the RSSI.  Just to see if it gets better or worse. I would be interested to know the answer as I know which way it should go but I have a funny feeling it wont


the hard ware is ok as far as i know...
i did just notice that the pigtail on the tx module sma end is not looking to tight inside....
im sure it makes good contact on the centre pin but maybe something to think about for the sake of a quid or what ever they are...

On the Tx where the pigtail attaches to the board, it just be able to swivel freely if you try and move it then it shouldnt resist too much.  Ofcourse it shouldnt just be falling off either ;)

i checked and im flashing for 5v 16 328 in arduino,
i didnt think it would work at all if you got that wrong?

Oh it will work if you flashed at say 3v3 or 8Mhz as long as you select the 328 chip.  Problem is the chip would be running at less volts and at a slower clock speed causing very poor range results of around 400metres max, hence me double checking with you

[papa_lazerous]

Your RSSI should be 3.2v when in close proximity, that`s suggesting your antennas are not tuned together to me

Agreed, have you had chance to do any kind of range check yet?  It would be helpful if someone else could get the same results as me.  I am still grounded due to windy conditions so no in the air check yet, wed/thur are looking good though on the forecast

[ghost2212]

Oh it will work if you flashed at say 3v3 or 8Mhz as long as you select the 328 chip.  Problem is the chip would be running at less volts and at a slower clock speed causing very poor range results of around 400metres max, hence me double checking with you

I'm sure that its the voltage coming out of the onboard voltage regulator that control the voltage at which the atmega runs at, The frequency is controlled by the external oscillator.

[papa_lazerous]

Oh it will work if you flashed at say 3v3 or 8Mhz as long as you select the 328 chip.  Problem is the chip would be running at less volts and at a slower clock speed causing very poor range results of around 400metres max, hence me double checking with you

I'm sure that its the voltage coming out of the onboard voltage regulator that control the voltage at which the atmega runs at, The frequency is controlled by the external oscillator.

While your sure Ghost, I challenge you to flash the olrs Rx with the wrong setting and it will work although badly with short range.  I know this as I've done it and so have countless others! That's why I raised it straight away as its an obvious thing to check for these symptoms,  and while the voltage of the board is designated by the reg and the oscillator etc.  if you select the wrong options in the Arduino program it sets the wrong fuses when flashing the code and it runs but not properly. Mihai could explain it better I'm sure

[thundead]

yes, if you flash it using the 3.3v 328  it will run at 8mhz instead of 16. so usually if the red light flashes a lot, and you have bad signal etc double check if you flashed with the right settings. I'll do a range test hopefully tomorrow and report back.

@phibin: that tx antenna looks like a standard 1/4 wave 433 antenna to me so I'd suggest getting a Diamond antenna or similar. The rx antenna should be about 16.34 cm (for 459mhz)  also if you get a rssi lower than 3v while being in micro mode + 2-5m away from the rx then the antennas are definitely bad. Just my 2 cents :)

[phibin]

hello again all...

the badland thing i just meant that i trusted them making them more than me.. lol

i have herd about these 'diamond' antennas but they aint cheap... so

is 'micro mode' a low power setting?
how do you enable/disable this? in the arduino thing i take it..?

the pigtail thing...
the sma end where the antenna attaches seems a bit wide and low in the connector end,
i wasnt sure if a good connection was being made.
plus it has a good kink in the cable where it fits in the module, worth changing i thought?

i attached the original 433 antenna i got with on the tx and checked rssi
still around 2.8-9v

i did notice if you wiggle the sticks the rssi value seems to fluctuate between 0-3.2v ... ?

this seemed strange to me, any ideas?

well i hope people are not loosing interest now... :/

i would love to get it working but as i said im no programmer,
and i did feel my testing input would be limited so didnt pipe up much in the thread...

but if you want me to try anything just ask,

also if the pringle and red bull fund is running a little low i wouldnt mind making another small donation :)

hope my input has helped,
or you can help me.. lol

simon.

[papa_lazerous]

A diamond antenna is £20 it's well worth it!

I'm quite concerned you got virtually the same RSSI with custom tuned antennas vs cheapy ones that came with it.  It certainly rings alarm bells with me.

You double check you flashed with the correct setting didn't you?

It might be a help of you can picture this connection and kink in the cable and if at all possible can you make a video showing the RSSI fluctuation and what you do to achieve it.

[thundead]

haha no worries mate. here to help :)

micro mode is a low power mode of the transmitter for debugging purposes.

to enter it, hold the tx module's button pressed then turn on your transmitter. you should hear a long beep.

the rssi should keep constant when u're moving sticks. the rssi might jump about when u have the tx very close to the rx (caused by signal saturation on the rx)

try changing both antennas for the stock ones and flash the fw again on the 435 band. if you are still getting a rssi under 3v then either the tx or rx module has something.

also,

1. is the rx blue light solid ?
2. are you getting red blinks at close range ? (1-5m)
3. when u're measuring rssi try puttnig the tx at least 5m away from you.

hope that helps.

another idae would be to do a quick video clip with the rx and how it reacts so I can get an idea of what's going on.

[phibin]

the rssi thing is a bit weird...

i only noticed it when i was taking pics for the previous post today

i will try flashing to 435 and using the original antennas but they dont look much cop..

been thinking that the antenna tail on the tx would cause the problem im seeing
if the fw is solid now and the hw is ok i would expect ranges like that with no real antenna attached.
thinking the tx antenna connection might be the place to look next..

with previous fw's i was getting flashing red on the rx (missed packets) at the door step of my house.
with the solid stone walls it seemed to glitch there
but the new fw got out side in the car and moving up the road before we saw missed packets.

when you say solid blue, you mean blue led on...
it actually strobes very quickly, you can see if you wave it about in front of your face... lol

i was getting solid blue led on range test up to about 150-200m

i will do said tests when i get a chance, sooner rather than later i hope,
and report back,

simon.

[papa_lazerous]

A solid blue means all blue no red,  the blue flickers rapidly and this is normal.  Where are you based? If you are anywhere near me I can lend a hand trouble shooting first hand otherwise it'll just have to be the slow way online

[papa_lazerous]

Had a fly on Wednesday and I can say that I was very happy with the inflight performance.  I will not be posting a video on the site as its against forum guidlines, all I will say is that you can easily fly out of visual range and fly back without any issues.

[Splashy]

I don't know if anyone else uses Serial PPM but Thundead has just fixed this so it is now working.

For me serial PPM is great .. only one servo cable running from my RX to my RVOSD. It also works great with MultiWii and is of great benefit since you have access to all the channels.