angelos,
you are aboslutely right that i could use a ppm signal generator (and
my microcontroller knowledge is limited), however there is a good
reason. the flimsy trainer plug on the transmitter always comes loose
and is not as reliable as a circular locking plug. second is that i am
interfacing much more that just the signals for the stick positions. i
am interfacing with all of the toggle switches on the radio which do
not go through the trainer plug and in some cases the digital trims as
well. i was not aware that all of these passed through the trainer
plug, am i wrong?
kas
ps. informative website angelos, you obviously know a lot about the
futaba 9Z!
> The chair looks good, however your electronic skills are probably not
> as good as your mechanical. I just feel sorry for these transmitter you
> modify. You don't have to do that. You only need a US$5 microcontroller
> to read the potentiometers and generate a PPM signal which you can then
> feed in the transmitter from the training lead connector. Thus you
> don't even need a second TX set for the instructor.
Angele,
I feel sorry for the poor transmitters too. But the
training connector solution has some disadvantages... mainly
because you loose most of the TX's capabilities like the
mixing functions, model memory storage, pitch curves etc.
You see, by using the training lead, you turn the TX into
a "dumb" transmitter that just passes the signals it gets to
it's TX module... (Except if there is a radio out there that
will treat the PPM signals as "stick positions" so that all the
radio's functions could then be applied to the signal before its
transmitted).
So, the US$5 microcontroller must provide functions like
pitch curves, model memory storage and basically everything
a programmable radio offers today..! It's feasible but a bigger
project than just a PPM generator :-)
<angelos(spam_stop)@model-gadgets.com> wrote:...
> The chair looks good, however your electronic skills are probably not
> as good as your mechanical. I just feel sorry for these transmitter you
> modify. You don't have to do that. You only need a US$5 microcontroller
> to read the potentiometers and generate a PPM signal which you can then
> feed in the transmitter from the training lead connector. Thus you
> don't even need a second TX set for the instructor.
dtipton@NOSPAMworldnet.att.net - 28 Jan 2005 23:16 GMT
> (Except if there is a radio out there that
> will treat the PPM signals as "stick positions" so that all the
> radio's functions could then be applied to the signal before its
> transmitted).
The Futaba 9C does ... but ... like was previously mentioned,
it only does this on stick channels ( 1- 4).
The 9Cs trainer mode can be set to OFF, NORMAL, or Function.
OFF - tx'd signal based on Master TX and buddy box signal is ignored.
NORMAL - Signal from buddy box is sent to Master TX and tx'd
as is ... with no manipulation from the master TX.
Function - Signal from buddy box goes to Master and then any
mix function that is enable in the Master TX changes the signal
before it is TX'd.
And make sure the TX IS in PPM mode. Trainer cords don't work
when the master TX is in PCM mode.
Either way ... You'd have to prove to me that more than channels 1-4 were
being set across the trainer cord before I would try it.
tippy
Kostas - 29 Jan 2005 11:35 GMT
I see, thanks for the info on the 9C.
Maybe in the future more TXs will support this,
and for all their channels (not just the 4 sticks...)
<dtipton@NOSPAMworldnet.att.net> wrote...
> > (Except if there is a radio out there that
> > will treat the PPM signals as "stick positions" so that all the
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> tippy
Steve R. - 29 Jan 2005 16:32 GMT
One slight correction. Make sure the "slave transmitter" is in PPM mode.
Trainer cords don't work if the "slave" TX is "not" in PPM mode! The
"master" TX has to be in whatever mode the model's receiver requires. The
last person I helped using a trainer cord had a PCM receiver in the
helicopter so the master TX transmitted in that mode but the slave TX still
had to be in PPM mode to communicate with the master TX.
:-)
Fly Safe,
Steve R.
> And make sure the TX IS in PPM mode. Trainer cords don't work
> when the master TX is in PCM mode.
>
> tippy
dtipton@NOSPAMworldnet.att.net - 30 Jan 2005 03:20 GMT
Wow, I learn something new every year. Thanks for that correction.
Got some testing to do now.
Thanks,
tippy