ERSKYTx (was ersky9x) Questions

[SkyNorth]

Looks good Mike,

I'll work it in somehow.

Reacher10.
For a speaker, any small 8 ohm speaker will work ...I used a 30mm unit , but there is room for a 50mm size.

I was looking at this unit.. the wires are a little short , but it comes with the connector on it.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-st ... 0MM/1.html
price is good ... they also sell switches that might fit the radio.

The Bluetooth is a RN-42 module - Sparkfun and digikey sells them...

The Micro SD card ?? We dont know . I have a 4gb card , but since this is a new addition , we have nothing to go on yet.

-Brent

[SkyNorth]

Mike,

I don't see a problem bypassing the power switch to charge the battery.

this would also allow you to power the radio through the charger input.

-Brent

[MikeB]

Sounds good to me. Also looks like the Vbe of the 3704 is only 0.6V so my suggested circuit has more noise margin.

I have an indoor flying session tonight - erSKY9x will be on a flight trial. Just been setting the models up, found the odd bug that needing fixing, I had the LH trim wrong(still) and a pgmReadByte legacy from er9x was incorrect in the menus - fixed and committed.

Pat M. - I'll be looking into adding DSM2 protocol shortly, we have a sync serial port for this, should be straightforward. We can set it to use 11 bit words so can build the array to send as start bit, 8 data and 2 stop bits, then tell the serial to send them. The PDMA will do the data transfer so there should be no timing problems. I don't have and DSM kit, so I'll probably have to pass the testing for this your way.

Mike.

[SkyNorth]

Ok , I have it all done.
I updated the files in the first post.

Thanks for all the input everybody.
The Rev A board was cool , but this new version is crazy... I think it can keep most happy for a while...

Atmel is releasing some Higher speed / more memory versions of the ARM chip , so there is already 2 upgrade paths.
One has 1024Mb of flash and runs at 120mhz the other uses a Cortex M4 core with DSP functions ...it will eat the new RF protocols for a snack.

Maybe we should call it the 99x , Because 8 channels will be a thing of the past.

As Mike reported , the basic 9x code is running 3.5 times faster on the ARM than stock 9x.
And we are only running at half clock speed....
This new board will handle any mix you want to throw at it.

I hope it meets everyone's expectations ...

-Brent

PS . Special Thanks to Mike Blandford for all his hard work in porting over ER9x to the ARM...Cheers Mike..

[cre8tiveleo]

This would be the ultimate little display... $60!

One can dream...


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.003093,-79.457400

[MikeB]

OLED displays are nice, but you do have to watch their current consumption, when a lot of pixels are lit, the current can get quite high (100-200mA in some cases).

Flight Report with Ersky9x.

It works , but then I did expect it to work. I had something like 11 flights with 2 different models, no glitches normal control. I even have Erazz's new switch configuration in, really useful because I normally have the THR switch as a safety switch on the throttle. Now I can power up the radio with the switch in safe mode. I used an old 6 NiMh pack of 600mAh cells. All worked fine, the voltage reading got down to 7.3 volts. (I used that because it's small and half the battery bay is taken up with a standard USB connector, didn't want to cut a hole in the case for the mini one yet 'cos it is in a different position on the Rev B board).

Onward and Upward then, back to code porting, need to get other protocols and FrSky telemetry done.

At present we can't read the EEPROM from the computer. This probably needs a SAM-BA applet written to make it work. If anyone fancies investigating how to write one it would be most useful. I've too many other things to do at the moment.

Mike.

[SkyNorth]

Thats great news Mike.

Here is the list I have for the 25 Beta boards .
Pat
Mike B
Erez
Rob
Rob
Clive
Spectrum66
Grootwitbaas
Harri Pihl
Kaptain-zero
Yovio
Reacher10
Daedalus66
Cr8tive_leo
Crashanuim
Hasse69
Rafit
Pnaz
Th9xer
Mechcondrid
Heyluc
Juochim08
deadaim57
SkyNorth

I hope I got everybody.

-Brent

[cre8tiveleo]

*happy dance*



Yeah, but Oled.. so cool! (I have that and one other coming for some experiemnts.. mmmuuuhahahahaaa... )

[wallaguest1]

the bluetooth module could enable us to upgrade from PC without any USB cable, and also a wireless link between a trainer/student !
i want all, ersky +bt + lcd...
can't wait for the final version;
does the new button switchs are softer than the original ones?

[Reacher10]

Mike that sounds like great maiden!

I was talking to Erazz today and in our discussions of the board I was musing that I'd like to be able to turn one of the knobs to select different sounds. As I'm banking back toward the runway for a low pass I'll hit the trainer switch and have an air raid sound then machines guns as it's approaching then a "Look at that baby move!" after it fly's by .

I'm giddy with what we'll be able to do.

Brent, for the SD card, I didn't mean the card itself I meant the thing that you put the card in...will that be on the board already?

So for a speaker we have a lot of options it appears.

I'll start looking into getting the blue tooth stuff.

last but not least, A big Thanks to everybody for their efforts on this and a super big thanks to the BIG THREE! I'm floored by this whole endeavor and honored to be here from the start. My feeling is that when people start to see what this radio can do it is going to be HUGE!!!!

Thanks

[cre8tiveleo]

You can do the sound stuff already with a variety of sound boards for aircraft. Guns, engine throttle up, idle, bomb drops, anything you put on it, just sayin, it's already available, just hook er up, assign a few switches and bango, you're in business.



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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.056165,-79.476117

[SkyNorth]

The key switches are a standard product.... The shaft is too long on these to use a rubberized version.

The actual key you press would have to be remade with softer rubber.

The bootloader works on com2 , and the bluetooth is on com3...so not sure about bluetooth software updates.

The Beta boards will come fully loaded with the SD socket installed.

-Brent

[MikeB]

To handle Bluetooth bootloading I think we will need to put an actual bootloader in the flash to talk to it. It's all possible, just takes time to write and test.
We could probably include a USB driver in such a bootloader as well. This would allow custom operation so we can make access to the EEPROM easy as well. But that will be some way down the line I think.
We can't use AVRDUDE to talk to this, so things like eepe will need to talk differently to ersky9x. I'm already tired of waiting for SAM-BA to load, it seems to spend 10 seconds looking for things to talk to before it actually runs. It does, however, load the program into the ARM processor. I just haven't had time to look into using supplied libraries to replace it.

Mike.

[SkyNorth]

Mike ,

The SAM-Ba loads in one second to the first screen ,and one second to the second programming screen.

Chip programs in a couple of seconds..

This is a old IBM P4 , no speed demon. running XP.

No speed issues with the program at all here.

-Brent

[MikeB]

I'm running W7 64-bit, took 10 sec to the first screen. I have changed the command line to skip that screen and go straight to the second to save a bit of time. I'll try it on XP when I get a chance.

Mike.

[SkyNorth]

Here is the link to the Boot Assistant software.
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools ... ol_id=3883

Linux.
http://www.at91.com/linux4sam/bin/view/ ... twareTools

This is used to program the ERSKY9x board currently.

-Brent

[MikeB]

Yes, that's what I'm using. Just tried it on XP, much quicker, and SAM-BA has a different ICON! Re-installed SAM-BA on WIN7, still a long delay at startup. I'm going to guess it's either a win7 'feature', or it's because I have had so many different things plugged into USB looking like serial ports, its scanning them all to find a boot device, even though they are not plugged in. It's on COM8 currently, so it could be looking at a lot of com ports.

Mike.

[Mechcondrid]

hey sky just for info purposes when might the beta boards be ready?
(ive had bad luck and i can get my stock radio back in operation)

[SkyNorth]

I would love to say they will be ready on XXX.
But I just dont know for sure .. the boards will arrive in a couple weeks.
I have the parts in stock for 25

I have to learn to setup and use the Pick and place machine.
I have no idea how much of my time this will take. and the unit is 40 minutes away from me.

and then there is the whole JOB thing as well.

Sorry I cant be more specific ... I want these done as much as everybody.

-Brent

[MikeB]

For general info, the software is still in development. The new rev of the board has moved signals to different pins, so the existing software won't load and go. I'll be trying to get a version sorted for the new rev board, but until I get one, I won't be able to test the revised software.

Mike.

[Mechcondrid]

ok cool thanks
on a side note i managed to fix the radio (bad lcd reg and about 5 smd resistors went bad)

[th9xer]

What tool chain are you guys using ? Codesourcery ?

Cam.

[SkyNorth]

Here is the Toolchain info
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod ... oc6310.pdf

Mike is using YAGARTO

-Brent

[SkyNorth]

Hi,
I know , somebody wants to ask....so

I have 125 boards due on the 15th.
I had to run 125 pcs to get the board and tooling prices , where they need to be
I sure hope the force is with me

I will then get 25 or so... sets built up , for Beta testing.

Once I get the pick and place file done , then making the up the boards , is a simple as loading the part hoppers and press the Prey button.
You prey that ..the parts go into proper place.
I was going to use the tabletop pick and place machine to build up the boards.. but, it works at 600 parts per hour.
Each board has around 240 parts on it....I dont like the math here...
So I'm going to bite the bullet , and pay to have them run on the production pick and place units.
They will be able to build the board up in under 5 minutes., then another 3 minutes or so through the reflow oven and then
into a nice bath...

I would like to have them done for the end of the Month...but ...the Real World may try and interfere as it usually does.

Cheers,
Brent

[cre8tiveleo]

Thanks for the update! This is exciting news! Thanks Brent.

Cheers

[MikeB]

Oh B****r, I'll have to get the software altered for the different I/O pin usage now Then there's getting the EEPROM file system working better (it's an emulation of er9x at present, only 2k not 512k!). There's only minimal audio support, and no FrSky either yet. There will be a few other tweaks as well, these boards have a bigger processor than the prototypes, I'll need to change the serial flash applet to work on them to allow access from the PC.
This board also has some new features that are not even programmed yet (SD card, CPU switched power, current monitoring. . .).

Actually thanks Brent, well done. I'm sure with these boards others will get stuck into the software as well. I'll try to get the new pin usage programmed, then we will at least have some software to test the boards with.

Mike.

[ttabbal]

I'm a bit new to RC, but I'd be willing to help code some bits if you need it. Things like sd cards and such I could handle.... Let me know.

[Rob Thomson]

Whoo hoo!

Getting excited now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeB]

Don't get too excited, you've got some audio coding to do .

Mike.

[Suncoaster]

I have been following this thread with interest and have a question about the new board. Will you still require a Smartie Parts board with this new board.

David