FrSKY F. Port vs S. Port vs FBUS Understanding

[Spookyeng]

Hello Guys,

Recent convert to FrSKY with the X20S from Futaba and Jeti and really liking the Radio a lot. With the new Archer Plus Receivers coming out I have a few questions. I have only setup one helicopter so far and it was fairly easy using the R8 Pro. I used F.Port with the R8 Pro from the four pin connector on the RX to the input connection (Rudd) on Spirit GT and that worked great and pulled some telemetry data. I just received my new Archer Plus R10+ from Aloft and I do not see F.Port any longer, just S.Port and FBUS. I believe I understand SBUS in and out are for connecting redundant receivers and add more channels?

I have been reading and searching to find some good information on what each means, but I am not finding anything useful or not looking in the correct place. My Spirit has F.Port and FBUS options. I am also giving RC Lighting Systems Electronic Telemetry Convertor (ETC) a try to pull some useful data from the HW ESC and that uses S.Port. I know the channels are configurable on the new Archer Plus RX's and that is why I wanted to try them. But there still is the four pin connector too? Should that be used for the ETC connection or can I configure a one of the 10 pins to S.Port and it will accept the telemetry data from the ETC?

Also wondering what is now F.Port and looking for better clarification? It can be a little confusing, for me, with all the Acronyms and different protocols. Maybe I am super dense and just missed it in my searches and if I did, I don't mean to duplicate threads. I just want to have a better understanding and if there is a comprehensive explanation or information out there already, that would he helpful. Sorry for the newbie question!

Jason

 

[Wayne]

OK - I think this is just some naming fun from FrSky. FrSky has used different names for the things in their documentations, and then the community has used ever more names, so it gets a bit confusing, but there are really just 3 things. Sbus, S.Port and Fbus.

Here is my basic understanding.

Almost all receivers in the last 10 years from FrSky have supported SBUS (aka: S.Bus, S-Bus, Sbus, sbus). SBUS is a serial bus that basically carries the servo commands. There are 3 wires, a plus a minus and a data line.

S.Port (aka: Sport, S-Port, etc) is a port that only supported FrSky telemetry data. There are 3 wires, a plus a minus and a data line.

FBUS (aka all of the usual variations) is basically a combination of SBUS and S.Port into a single serial bus. There are 3 wires, a plus a minus and a data line. FBUS is pretty new, ~2 years old now, give or take. It is the future for FrSky as they continue to offer it on more and more of their products and now some third parties are also adding support.

Pretty sure all major brands have something similar to FBUS, I think Futaba calls theirs SBUS2 or something like that. (Sorry don't keep track of all of the other brands..)

The great thing about serial busses is a reduction of wires in the model. One port that can basically do everything.

One the newest receivers the ports can be set to do a number of different things. For example the ports on your Archer Plus R10+ are all configurable! You can select from PWM, SBUS, FBUS, or S.Port. (PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is the normal language to talk to a servo.)

Sure hope this helps.

 

[Spookyeng]

Thanks Wayne, I really appreciate the time and explanation! That helps me a lot. My plan will be to configure the pins to FBUS for the connection between the R10+ and Spirit GT and the S.Port for the the ETC input and not use the four pin connection on the R10+.

It can get a little confusing for sure and I am all in with FrSKY, just need to read and study to better understand all the terminology. I wish I would have made the switch a long time ago!

 

[MikeB]

I'm fairly certain these are correct:
SPort - 57600 baud, connects to multiple sensors.
FPort1 - 115200 baud, single connection to a flight controller for control and sensor data from the flight controller..
FPort2 - 115200 baud, supports multiple sensors and 16 servos.
FBUS - 460800 baud supports multiple sensors and 16 or 24 servos.

Mike

 

[Spookyeng]

Thanks Mike for the information! I am writing it all down and creating a cheat sheet!

 

[jhue73]

OK - I think this is just some naming fun from FrSky. FrSky has used different names for the things in their documentations, and then the community has used ever more names, so it gets a bit confusing, but there are really just 3 things. Sbus, S.Port and Fbus.

Here is my basic understanding.

Almost all receivers in the last 10 years from FrSky have supported SBUS (aka: S.Bus, S-Bus, Sbus, sbus). SBUS is a serial bus that basically carries the servo commands. There are 3 wires, a plus a minus and a data line.

S.Port (aka: Sport, S-Port, etc) is a port that only supported FrSky telemetry data. There are 3 wires, a plus a minus and a data line.

FBUS (aka all of the usual variations) is basically a combination of SBUS and S.Port into a single serial bus. There are 3 wires, a plus a minus and a data line. FBUS is pretty new, ~2 years old now, give or take. It is the future for FrSky as they continue to offer it on more and more of their products and now some third parties are also adding support.

Pretty sure all major brands have something similar to FBUS, I think Futaba calls theirs SBUS2 or something like that. (Sorry don't keep track of all of the other brands..)

The great thing about serial busses is a reduction of wires in the model. One port that can basically do everything.

One the newest receivers the ports can be set to do a number of different things. For example the ports on your Archer Plus R10+ are all configurable! You can select from PWM, SBUS, FBUS, or S.Port. (PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is the normal language to talk to a servo.)

Sure hope this helps.

i know this is an old post but do you know if the archer plus sr10+ or sr8 will work with the futaba sbus2 servos? futaba says the sbus2 will not work correctly with sbus.

 

[Wayne]

Probably will not work based on them actually stating it will not work.

The FrSky servos are probably a much better option for you, they will probably outperform the Futaba units while costing a lot less and you can enjoy all of the telemetry from your servos.