ErskyTX Vario

[Mazeppa]

Trying to get my Radiomaster T16S/erSkyTX going with a Lemon 10086 receiver to produce vertical speed tones and AGL altitude readout.
I would appreciate general tutorial, or link to one, on this task. Tried tracking one down in the OpenRC forum, but to no avail.

Keep your speed up and your wings level, guys.

 

[MikeB]

To get altitude reported by voice, set up a Voice Alert:
Source: Alt
Function ----
Value 0.0 (only needed with a function
Switch: Choose a switch to enable the voice output
Trigger: Choose a time in seconds for the voice output to repeat, I use 10
Play Source: Before
On no Telemetry: Play (choose "Mute" if you don't want any voice output if telemetry is lost)
File Type: ------

When an altitude is first received, this is used as the ground level and subsequent values are offset by this value.
If you need to reset this value, then with a telemetry screen displayed as the main screen, a short press of the ENTER button (on the roller) will bring up a telemetry menu that includes the option to reset the altitude.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

To get altitude reported by voice, set up a Voice Alert:
Source: Alt
Function ----
Value 0.0 (only needed with a function
Switch: Choose a switch to enable the voice output
Trigger: Choose a time in seconds for the voice output to repeat, I use 10
Play Source: Before
On no Telemetry: Play (choose "Mute" if you don't want any voice output if telemetry is lost)
File Type: ------

When an altitude is first received, this is used as the ground level and subsequent values are offset by this value.
If you need to reset this value, then with a telemetry screen displayed as the main screen, a short press of the ENTER button (on the roller) will bring up a telemetry menu that includes the option to reset the altitude.

Mike

Now that's a fast get back, thank you, MikeB.

Got all that entered, Source has 0.0ft flashing on/off. Energized receiver, Source flashing -1480ft on/off, no voice alerts with assigned switch active.
Don't know how to assign a main screen for telemetry.

Vertical Speed - Getting audible tones alternating higher/lower pitch. To be expected when receiver is stationary on the ground? Tone is steady higher pitch when receiver is de-energized.

 

[MikeB]

What revision of firmware are you running (Radio Setup|Version)?
I have several menu enhancements on mine, so I need to match yours to help fully.

If the source value is flashing, then it indicates no data is being received.

On the main screen, pressing the TELE button cycles round the different main screens. Some of these display telemetry.
Telemetry screens are configures in the Telemetry menu, choose "Custom" or "Hires" from the popup. The custom screens are easier to configure.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

VERS: ersky 9x-B5r 223
DATE: 17.22.2021
Time: 20:22:10
MOD: TX16S

Studying on configuration of screens.

 

[MikeB]

OK, that version is quite old, R229 has been released in Nov 2024. I don't have that specific (test) version available any more, I don't always keep long term backups of test versions, although I have found the one before (B4 r223) so I could put that on my Tx.
You might consider updating to r229, or even the latest test version (erskyTxP3r230.zip) where the font used looks much better (proportional).
Changes from r223 onwards (touch screen support was added in r224):

CHANGELOG: (r229)
Add VARS
Add Radio Vars
Trims may be added in flight modes
Multi Protocol in alphabetical order

******************************************
CHANGELOG: (r228)
Fix bug when using SLOW with HALF and FULL
Fix bug when selecting script when no scripts files are present
Makefile allows use of multiple cores when compiling

******************************************
CHANGELOG: (r227)
Fix bug in the mixer when multiple replace mixes on a channel use HALF or FULL as the source.

******************************************
CHANGELOG: (r226)
Fix BASIC scripts not running on SKY boards

******************************************
CHANGELOG: (r225)
Fix mixer bug with HALF and FULL

******************************************
CHANGELOG: (r224)
Fix right justify for small text
Improve RAM space for LUA handling and reduce frequency of running scripts.
Fix some LUA bugs
LUA improvements and some menu improvements for touch screen use.
Add LAT/Long on custom telemetry screens, Crossfire GPS (and ARDUx) Num Sats now put in a new telemetry value called "Sats".
Fix INAV script Battery bug
Add 8th Flight mode.
Add INPUTS, 32 available, find them under Model Setup|Mixer. These may be used instead of the DR/EXPO options. Inputs are not implemented on the original SKY board as there isn't enough flash space.
9Xtreme, add internal module crossfire protocol (turns internal module on and drives SPort with crossfire protocol)
Enable LUA scripts.
Add GPS processing to DSM telemetry
Touch screen support added

******************************************
CHANGELOG: (r223)
Add support for: T18, TX16S X10Express
X10 hall sticks support
RM-TX16 handle bad rotary encoder
X10 support inverted display
X10 support ACCESS
Colour screens add screenshot
Jumper T18 enable audio
support FrSky PARA bluetooth
Make mixer a RTOS task
Logical switches add "Range" function
Logical switches "AND" switch may be "OR" or "XOR"
Support "MULTI-TELEMETRY" from multi-protocol module
So auto-detect telemetry type from module
Colour screens add HiRes custom screens
Increase custom telemetry values from 6 to 10
Support VFR telemetry value
Support some AFHDS2A extended telemetry data
Support Crossfire/ELRS synchronisation
Add icons on Colour screens
Add main screen popup items for resetting timers
Maintenance mode handles .FRSK files
Update internal multiprotocol module names
ACCESS receiver options added
Add SBUS protocol for external module

Let me know if you go down the update route or would prefer to stay where you are and I'll put the B4 r223 on my Tx and help from there.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

Will attempt to update, might take me a day or two.

 

[Mazeppa]

Well, I keep finding ways for this to be difficult, it seems.

tx16s_rom(1)bin is 229 from the the Er9x home page.
Hold (ENT) long to flash is subdued which indicates not viable to me. Tried different lengths of "long" anyway to no avail.

I employed the w/out eepskye instructions from above.

 

[MikeB]

It seems the openTx bootloader doesn't flash non-openTx firmware anymore, it used to work!
So, we need to get the bootloader replaced with the erskyTx one.
The following should work:
Power on the Tx holding the two horizontal trims APART (opposite of entering the bootloader. This should get erskyTx running in "maintenance mode".
One of the options is "Update Bootloader".
Select this (Press ENTER) and you should see the list of files, choose the tx16s_rom(1).bin (Press ENTER again).
Confirm the operation on the next screen (Press ENTER).
The bootloader will be updated to the erskyTx one.
Power off.

Now, if you power on in bootloader mode, you should see the changed bootloader. This should work as expected from eepskye, but should also flash the firmware itself.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

Success! 229 has been flashed to the transmitter.
Opened bootloader in Tx, connected USB cable to computer. Bootloader went to "Connecting.." and stayed there.
Device Manager window appeared unbidden, opened USB Drive E: to find no Voice folder. I see a voice pack on the erSky9x home page. Can it be flashed to Tx via eepeSky, or should it be done another way?

Franco

 

[MikeB]

Download the "voice.zip" file from www.er9x.com.
Create a folder called "Voice" in the root of drive E:.
Open the voice.zip file, then copy the 2 folders, "System" and "User", into this Voice folder.
As the USB connection to the Tx is relatively slow, the copy may take a few minutes.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

Done
Voice folder contains 2 sub folders, "System" and 'User".

Franco

 

[MikeB]

Have you got the voice working now?
If not, first make sure the volume is not zero. Set the volume level in the Radio Setup|AudioHaptic. I have 2 set, shown below. I usually have the volume set controlled by a pot. Go to the Model Setup|General menu and assign a pot (S1 or S2) to the volume (see below for S1). The current volume shows as a bar on the status line at the bottom of the display.

One way of testing for voice working is to set a simple Voice Alert. Go to the Model Setup|VoiceAudio menu, select a Voice Alert, then select edit.
Set the FileType to "Name", then select a voice file. With the highlight on "Voice File", press and hold ENTER. This calls up a list of available user files. Unfortunately, there is a bug in r229 where if you now release ENTER, it exits the menu! A workaround appears to be touching the "PLay" button on the screen, which plays the first file, then allows ENTER to be released while staying in the menu. Touching the "Play" button should play the file so you should hear the output. Anyway, select a file to be played.
Now set the Switch entry to ON (last but one item), and the Trigger entry to 3.
The selected file should now play every 3 seconds.

Mike

....

 

[Mazeppa]

Following updating from 223 to 229 and adding the voice files, with vario tones and voice altitude functions each assigned to a switch I toggled the switch for testing and got nothing from either.

I let out a sigh, and walked away from it from a couple of days.
Powered up the transmitter and was greeted by a pleasant female voice welcoming me to ersky9x. Hooray!
LM0086 receiver is installed in a test bed plane. Powered everything up, all control functions normal. Toggled switch to vario tones and alternating higher/lower tones were emitted, when toggled to altitude telemetry voice function, she informed me that my plane was at -1482 ft.
Some calibrating seems to be in order, but research has yet to reveal what the next step should be.

For a newer version of eepesky to my computer, delete my present program and download rev 429 from the er9x home page?
I have nothing in the eepesky at present but really should use it to at least save my models and be able to transfer them easily from radio to radio.
I have two TX16S's and should have been duplicating my models in the backup radio all along, plus, now I want to flash 229 to my primary radio to keep things tidy.

 

[MikeB]

Normally the first altitude value received is used to set the zero.
To zero the altitude, first navigate to a main screen showing telemetry, press the TELE button LONG. Once you get to a telemetry screen, you may cycle trhough the various telemetry screens using the PAGE< button.
When a telemetry screen is displaying, then a short press of ENTER brings up a menu, the first item of which is "Zero Alt." Just press ENTER again and the current altitude value will be used as the zero value.

Yes to your description of updating eepskye.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

Zero AGL on power up was my understanding as well.

Cannot get TELE button to do anything but cycle through screens or menu options no matter where I try it. Unable to locate where to "Zero Alt".

eePskye rev 429 downloaded successfully.

 

[MikeB]

I just checked using r229.
Pressing TELE LONG gets to the telemetry screens, then a short press of ENTER pops up a menu where "Zero Alt." appears.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

That got me to the "Zero Alt, Zero A1 Offs....." but Zero Alt, or any other option, can be selected, ENTER (Short press of scroll wheel, right?) clears the menu.
TELE short and long scrolls through the options. After a few seconds of inactivity the menu clears unbidden.

Double checked version, it is r229. I also tried a 2nd LM0086, same result.
Surely I'm not the 1rst one to ever use altitude telemetry. I'm beginning to wonder if my aura, or perhaps sunspots are plaguing this effort.

 

[MikeB]

Each of the items in the popup containing "Zero Alt." is an action. When you select it with the short press of the scroll wheel (ENTER), the action is carried out and the popup disappears.
Zeroing the Altitude worked for me OK using r229.
I have a Lemon DSMP Rx with built in vario so I did the following:
Go to the Telemetry|Telemetry menu and set the Usr Proro to DSMx:

Power up the Rx, then, from the main screen press TELE long, then press the PAGE< button to cycle through the telemetry screens until you get to this one, showing the Alt value:

The Alt value was showing around 4.5f. I did a short on ENTER to get the popup, then a short press on ENTER with "Zero Alt." highlighted, and the Alt value then changed to show around 0f.

I've used the text and background colour options in the Radio Setup|Display menu to get the display colours showing here.

Mike

 

[Mazeppa]

Success! She is now aware that my work bench is 0' AGL, not 1484' BGL.
At least on the bench, flight testing will be done at the earliest opportunity.
What I did not understand was that "Zero Alt" was an action performed followed by its popup clearing, and that this action had to be performed with the receiver powered up.
Hopefully I'll find that AGL is set to zero when(where)ever the receiver is powered up as was mentioned earlier, but if not zeroing altitude is only 2 actions from the Model screen.

It wasn't sunspots after all.

Were the above images made using r229? Perhaps you changed the format as well as the colors.


I must say that your patience and ability to communicate are noteworthy and I thank you very much for your help.