Taranis Gimals in a 9X

[slievar]

check if your trims go in the right direction..

You are right, the trims go in the wrong direction when I just inverted the outputs. Fortunately I only fly multirotors (so far) so I have never used trims

Installed the latest (r2940) release of OpenTX today but did not find any option to reverse the sticks.

[jhsa]

I think it might come soon. Give the devs sometime

Joao

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[bob195558]

Hi slievar, and everyone,

I have replaced two 9x Radios with the new Taranis Gimbals Sets
and I updated the firmware before installation: er9x-FrSky and erSky9x.

I checked the trim directions after installation was complete (and I just did again) and all the trims are moving in the correct directions.
They look really GOOD! Also I have done the Trim fix for the Rebooting problem on them too. (viewtopic.php?f=95&t=3594&start=120#p69475)

I have not seen this problem and not sure what could cause it for you.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Update Edit added: Oh! ..... you are using OpenTX, I did not see this and I did not see that if using the inverted pots,
that with this combination it may cause the trims to become reversed.

I will try the inverted setting and see what happens with er9x-FrSky and erSky9x firmware.

Update: I inverted all the Stick Gimbal setting and the Trim are still working correctly.
Is this problem only with OpenTX, or is it with more programing complexity?
I do not see the problem.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bob

[Kilrah]

The gimbal is expected to work a certain way, and trim works in the same way. If the gimbal is inverted but we don't know it, then the trim doesn't follow and still operates as usual = in the opposite direction from the gimbal. So inverting the servo output to compensate for the gimbal working the wrong way leaves you with an inverted trim. You really need to be able to invert the gimbal input, which can be done on ER9X around the mode setting id I remember well, but isn't implemented in OpenTx as of yet.

[LTMNO]

Gimbals have arrived, 2 sets for both of my T9x's... looking forward to installing these babies as well this weekend. I will be sure to report back if there are any issues.
I actually have to pick them up tomorrow AM from my sister that brought them over from San Francisco. Thanks Aloft Hobbies...

Picture to come...

[bob195558]

Hi Everyone,
Received my Taranis X9D Radio yesterday from Aloft Hobbies and there was a small problem with the Throttle Gimbal.
The throttle stick was not staying all the way down in the off throttle position.
When booting up the Taranis X9D Radio it would always give a THROTTLE WARNING (Throttle not idle / Press any key to skip).
When I investigated the problem, I found that the Spring-Return was not fully render inoperative.
Even though the Spring-Return Disabling Phillip-Screw was seated all the way down, it was not long enough to fully render the Spring-Return inoperative.
To render the problem, I removed the Spring-Return Disabling Phillip-Screw and used my Black & Decker Dremel with a small Grinding Stone
to remove about .062 inches of the Gimbal Disabling Phillip-Screw seating surface.
This allowed the Disabling Phillip-Screw to render the Spring-Return to be fully inoperative.

Inside the Taranis X9D Radio.

Un-amplified Potentiometers installed.

Un-amplified Potentiometer.

Here is some data about this Taranis X9D Radio from Aloft Hobbies.
These have the newest Gimbal sets with the Un-amplified Potentiometers installed.
Manufacture Date: Jan. 20, 2014
Mode 2, USA
Serial Number: X9D009858B01

Bob

[LTMNO]

I got mine from alofthobbies and they were amplified.

I ordered 4x from Aloft.. All amplified.

[LTMNO]

Hello Again, well today is the day to work on the radio, nobody home, kids away and the house is to myself.. very exciting as I plan on building out my 2 9X's with all the fixings.
Before I begin with the Taranis Sticks, I was wondering and I don't know if I saw this on the thread of 8 pages but what is the wiring method to replace the connectors.

1) Just cut the Taranis Header
2) discard the Trim Headers for Taranis
3) cut the pot headers on the 9x sticks (red/white/black) and splice/solder them up to the taranis pots?

does anyone have the color matching code?

From pictures and assumptions.. is it....
Red to Red
White to Yellow
Black to Brown

Please advise.

Many thanks

Pino.

[bob195558]

Hi LTMNO,

Page 4 I think has all, or most of the info you need.

This is the proper wiring connections for the Taranis Gimbals with amplified potentiometer to the 9x Radio!

Taranis Gimbals: #1 Red wire to Black wire 9x Radio
Taranis Gimbals: #2 Orange wire to White wire 9x Radio
Taranis Gimbals: #3 Brown wire to Red wire 9x Radio

I cut the wire in the middle the first time and the Rudder wire was almost to short the others were OK.
I used servo connectors on my second install.
Because our small RC Group has had a lot of trouble with the stock Pots failing I started to install servo connectors.
You can just cut and solder which is better.
Servo connectors Not needed with these good Taranis Gimbals!

Bob

[LTMNO]

Thank you my brother... what is obvious is not always so obvious.

Update:
its 1AM here in EST... and I finally got the Radio completed...
It was one of the parts radios that I obtained from Steven over at Smartie Parts...
I went a little over board and i will show the pictures tomorrow after some rest...
but I ended up tearing it apart and putting it all together again.
The Gimbals went in nicely and they look and feel great.
Unfortunately after I managed to put together the Battery Pack and turning the Radio on... it worked... thank goodness but for some reason my left stick is not registering.
I have tried to calibrate, I have tested all switches/pots/trims, they all work.
My left stick is not registering. I will take it apart tomorrow.. but perhaps I have to program with the latest ER9X and the latest firmware for the TelemetrEz board.
I will try that tomorrow AM and post back with some pictures.

Cheers!

Update: Fixed added the Orange Wire to Middle Pin on Right TRIM PCB. (it happens.. see below)

[LTMNO]

Alright.. the verdict... Here are the pictures first...

Front Panel

Back Panel

The Back Panel...
Now the TelemetrEZ is not on here so you can see what I did to the Back PCB.
I shaved around 2mm from both sides so that the Gimbals can go in as the 9x gimbals just so they are the same configuration.
In doing that, the left side of the picture has a trace that go re-routed and the right side of the PCB has nothing by GND.
I then put liquid rubber on the exposed copper so assure no grounding of any wire contact.

On the Bottom right of the picture there is the Charging harness bypassing the Diode and the new Battery Connection to my SAFE battery installation.
If you notice on the top where the switches are that I have taken them all apart, cleaned the solder and then twisted/braided the lines and covered the ends with heat-shrink. ( insane, i know.. but i had nothing to do yesterday)

As for the Front Panel I installed the SP v2.4 board,
I added the M128 chip,
I added the LED Backlight,
I rebuilt the connectors the Pots on the Gimbals so that they can mount on the top with a 3pin header.
I also rewired all these switches and pots and heat shrink'd the ends.
I have made the left Gimbal (Right Side in this Picture) Throttle as in Mode 2.

Now, as per example from my other radios...
The Pot Connections are as follows :
Left Side in Picture (Black/Red/White)
Right Side in Picture (White/Red/Black)

So I followed the documentation posted in this forum from the help of others...
White = Red
Red = Brown
Black = Orange

So in my picture:
Left Side (Red/Brown/Orange)
Right Side (Orange/Brown/Red)

So the Verdict for real this time....
All the switches work!
The left Gimbal in the picture which is Right Side for Mode 2 Ail/Ele is working in Reverse.
The Right Gimbal in this picture which is Left Side for Mode 2 Thr/Rud is not working at all, in fact in Calibration seems to be set to Top/Right.

Here is the Mapping via a Meter.

Thr Gimbla.jpg (72.86 KiB) Viewed 11773 times

Update: Fixed by adding the Orange Wire to Middle Pin on Right TRIM PCB. (it happens. I forgot a step...)
I had to update to latest ER9x and reverse the THR and AIL..

[MikeB]

For the reversed gimbal, in er9x (r809) I've added a stick reverse option for just this problem.

For the other gimbal, what are the values in the ANA screen. My best guess is the wiring is not correct.

Mike.

[LTMNO]

Hello Mike, I just sent out the post... and then I reviewed the procedure for the the Digital Ground..
It seems that I did not cut and connect the Orange Wire on the right PCB (THR Mode 2 Stick).
I am going to connect that and see if that fixes the problem? Should it?

Also, thanks for replying... I have ER9x loaded... back to the ER9x Firmware for the reverse switch fix. No fancy Battery Bar Code yet eh? Haha...

p.s. I have updated to the latest from Companion, is that the latest?
Perhaps I should use EEPE? and I am getting the AIL/THR switch error on boot. I did update the latest TelemetrEZ Hex as well on Google Code.

Report back in few... going to connect that wire.

Cheers.

[MikeB]

Assuming you have loaded er9x-128, then in the RADIO SETUP menu there is an option for "FrSky Mod Done". Turn this ON to allow for the THR/AIL switches being re-routed.

Mike.

[LTMNO]

Hi Mike,
Okay updated to your latest firmware.
er9x-r810
v1.353-Mike

The sticks are moving in the right direction now as I have attached the Orange Wire... my mistake..

But, the THR and AIL are staying on.

Frsky Mode Done set to ON
Channel Order RETA
Mode (highlighted 2 and 4 as the THR and AIL are reversed.
Mode 2 Set.

I have updated the Telemetrez to latest on Google Code.

Updated: Needs r86 as last stable version. (user error on my part)
http://9x-telemetrez.googlecode.com/svn ... metrEZ.hex

[MikeB]

Not sure about the THR and AIL switches. Maybe you could test to see if the telemetry itself is working to test the TelemetreZ board.

Mike.

[LTMNO]

I just updated to r86 as that is the latest stable version and not the one latest one I chose... again, user error on my part..

All working beautifully now... in fact, I haven't see my radio turn on so fast and be ready.

It took a full day yesterday to do all the tinkering, I have another radio to finish as well and this one needs the MegaSound Board w Spkr/Rotary Switch/6 Pos Switch/Thumb Joystick. I am not looking forward to that radio...

Oh well, thanks again for your assistance. Gimbals successfully installed!

Cheers.

Pino.

[jhsa]

So, cutting the backplate is not really needed as the gimbals will need reversal in software anyway, right?

[LTMNO]

Hi Joao hope all is well...
yeah, it seems that I installed them the way that they were suppose to be installed in the sense that they are go in the same way as the T9X gimbals.
and for whatever reason the THR and AIL needed to be reversed.

I tell you, moding these radios is like a disease, I just can't put it down.. just exposed the USB port to outside of case and am looking at putting in the MegaSound that I had for my other radio.

But back to your point...
Yes sir, needed to run the Reverse code anyway...
But I tell ya, it is really easy to remove 2mm on the Back Plate and just route one trace. I used my bench stone grinder and a few passes and it was done... after few minutes...
The radio looks clean inside not that anyone will know.. but I do.

I think I am going to order another MegaSound and put this one in this radio...
With the SP board, its going to be tight...

[bob195558]

Hi LTMNO,

Did you Grind half of the Friction Ratchet Tensioner away on both Taranis Gimbals Sets and/or you can remove the Friction Ratchet Tensioners
from the Right Gimbals Sets (Elevator / Aileron), as it is not needed for the right side?

It is not necessary to do the Green Back Board Notching Mod, for when you do the, Grind half of the Friction Ratchet Tensioner away will give you
the clearance you need for the Taranis Gimbals.

I was not sure what you were doing with your Gimbals wiring,
you may want to check to see if your trims move in the same directions as your Gimbals sticks move.

Did you go here for the Digital Ground fix (viewtopic.php?f=95&t=3594&start=120#p69475)

I got my Digital Multimeter out and checked the Stock t9x Gimbals Potentiometers and found that the wiring
between the Vertical (Throttle) and horizontal (Rudder) Stock t9x Potentiometers are different.
The Black +5 Volt wire is swapped with the Red Ground wire, which explains how there is a difference between the Taranis and Stock t9x Gimbals.
I believe the Taranis Gimbals are wired correctly and the 9x Radios potentiometer are wired incorrectly.
So it maybe the er9x firmware is written so to make the 9x Radio Stick potentiometer directions to work correctly and because the Taranis Gimbals are wired correctly
it caused these stick directions the need to be changed.
Its the 9x Gimbal wiring that is swapped from one side to the other, that is the 9x potentiometer wiring for the throttle is opposite to the wiring for the Rudder potentiometer.

Bob

[LTMNO]

Hello Bob,
The Trims work perfectly, actually they were working first.
It seemed that I did not connect the Orange wire on the Right Trim PCB to the Middle PIN.. I had to cut that first and connect it as I broke the Trace like instructed in the MOD, i was just going to fast I suppose.
I took 2mm from the Back Board as that was easier and cleaner for me than to grind away from the Tensioner.
Everything is working now with the Reversal of THR and AIL sticks, they were the only 2 that were backwards. The Rest including the Trims work perfectly.
I will post a picture tomorrow about the Gimbal Wiring Harnesses that I used, it was clean and simple to create with a 6 Pin Header.

Thanks,

Pino.

[bob195558]

Hi LTMNO,

Good to here its working.
If you install the SmartiesParts EZ-Telemetry Board and install it as SmartiesParts has it to be installed,
you will need to do the Grind half of the Friction Ratchet Tensioner away mod.
I would remove the Tensioner from the Taranis Gimbals, because when grinding it with the Dremel, it will heat up and melt the plastic.
Take a good look at my photo on page 4 to see how much is needed to be remove, you can zoom in on the photo to view it better.
(viewtopic.php?f=95&t=4281&start=90)

Page 4: Grinding away Half of the Ratchet Tensioner.

Grinding away half Ratchet Tensioner.jpg (65.83 KiB) Viewed 11748 times

I did the Green Back Board mod before I did the Grind Half of the Friction Ratchet Tensioner away mod, that's why its there.
I found out when I installed my next set of Taranis Gimbals that I did not need to do the Green Back Board mod.

I was thinking maybe the instruction I have on page 4, maybe are to confusing so I did some more editing to help make them more clear. I hope it help.

Bob

[volumax]

I don't understand why you guys make it so hard on yourselves trying to put the Thr/Rud(on mode 2) gimbal in the same way as stock gimbal when you will get something reversed anyways. I just shaved this off and took me 15 seconds basically. Just the piece in red circle and BINGO.

[jhsa]

I think there is no right or wrong in this case. Just the way things were done. The 9x pots were wired to work with the stock 9x firmware and they were correct. The taranis gimbals were designed for another radio, so we can't compare

João

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[LTMNO]

Can we just get along and all be friends....
Just kidding with the above comment...

@bob195558 - I have the SP v2.4 board along with the TeZ board too. They both fit inside the radio nicely and don't interfere with the Tensioners. I personally like the PCB shaving of 2mm as that is simple for me to execute and replace the trace and aesthetically just looks better IMO. But that is a preference and I recognize that your mod is also a great mod and one that is adopted mostly along with many others. Again, a great addition to the How-To's that people are using. I thank you for replying and supporting my efforts. Sincerely...

@volumax - I have no reason to do what I did instead of your solution other than the fact that I like the balance and symetry of the way the Radio looks inside when I open it (MBANZI can understand that). Having to cut the plastic from the gimbal is not hard but I find it easier to remove material from the PCB and knowing that I was going to rip it part anyway to braid/twist the lines like the Taranis and HeatShrink the Ends was a moot point for me. Again, thanks for your write up on how to mod the Gimbals as I reviewed your method as well and feel that many others will do what you did too.

That being said... I always say if you don't build it or change it in anyway, then its not yours...
This is my Radio, There are many other Radios out there like this one. But this one is mine.

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... pNnA0#t=54[/BBvideo]

URL in case doesn't work above...
This is my Rifle

All the best Gents, I have decide to add voice to this Radio today via the MegaSound. Its funny, as I was working with Joao, Mike, Hans, Oliver and others on the first MegaSound board and I tested and really did not contribute to the design,etc.. but I did modify one version that better fit my Radio case as I added a Rotary Switch to one side that needed more room. Just like HC1969, he took the original and made it his own... and now he has a great form fitting PCB that is he is mass producing...

Nonetheless, I love this forum and the help and ideas that others have to contribute.

Thanks again for the comments/feedback.

Cheers

Pino.

[volumax]

Lol I respect your symmetry liking and of course its your radio, I guess you keep it opened up so you can stare at your symmetry lol. J/k. Anyone can do whatever they like on their radio and I am not telling anyone to do as I did, but in reality cutting pieces of the radio to make the gimbal fit when there is no advantage in functionality is pointless. A good feature about the taranis gimbal is that it is never reversed on the front, either way is the same. But again its just advice for those that havent done the mod and dont want to make it harder, if you really want to grind your tensioner or pcb its your radio you can do it however you feel. BTW LTMNO nice 6 pin header you put there.

[Flaps 30]

I got my Digital Multimeter out and checked the Stock t9x Gimbals Potentiometers and found that the wiring
between the Vertical (Throttle) and horizontal (Rudder) Stock t9x Potentiometers are different.
The Black +5 Volt wire is swapped with the Red Ground wire, which explains how there is a difference between the Taranis and Stock t9x Gimbals.
I believe the Taranis Gimbals are wired correctly and the 9x Radios potentiometer are wired incorrectly.
So it maybe the er9x firmware is written so to make the 9x Radio Stick potentiometer directions to work correctly and because the Taranis Gimbals are wired correctly
it caused these stick directions the need to be changed.
Its the 9x Gimbal wiring that is swapped from one side to the other, that is the 9x potentiometer wiring for the throttle is opposite to the wiring for the Rudder potentiometer.

So if you buy the Taranis sticks without the amplifier. You could wire the pots to match the 9X which removes the need for any software changes.

[LTMNO]

@volumax, I hear ya.. I totally agree with you... trust me I do.. its a daily fighting battle... OCD... hence the hobby is good for me.
Thanks about the Header... I didn't like the idea of cutting and joining wires and heat-shrinking them...
In fact, regarding looking at the radio open... I do love the OrangeTx Cases.. I wish I could use one of them for my t9x.

@Flaps30, not sure if that was a question of statement.. but either or, yes.

[volumax]

Haha I hate the orangetx case, I work at hobbyking and they gave me an orangetx, I dont really like the color lol. Wish it was red or dark green.

[LTMNO]

Good to know... The HobbyKing Part... I help pay your wages... Order way too much there....