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Table of Contents
Summary of Contents for ImmersionRC EzAntennaTracker
- Page 1 EzAntennaTracker-Lite Overview & Operating Instructions Preliminary. April 2009...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
Only the AUDR (Audio, Right), and Ground pins are connected on this connector..... 5 3.4. Cabling, Getting the Correct Audio Channel ................. 6 3.5. Transmitter Audio Connection ...................... 6 3.5.1. ImmersionRC/Airwave Transmitter ..................6 3.5.2. Lawmate Transmitter ......................7 3.6. Receiver Audio Connection ......................7 3.6.1. - Page 3 5.1. Status Pages ..........................17 5.2. Calibration ........................... 18 1) Manually, using a compass......................18 2) Automatically, using the GPS in the plane ..................18 5.3................................19 Replaying recorded telemetry data ................... 19 Frequently Asked Questions ..................... 19...
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Page 4: Overview
1. Overview The EzAntennaTracker system, is the first commercially available antenna tracker designed for FPV/UAV flight. It operates by sending a digital telemetry stream down one of the audio channels of an A/V link, via the EzOSD module. This telemetry stream contains information on the plane’s GPS location, and other information available to the EzOSD. -
Page 5: Installation
(these are paralleled, and may be use to daisy-chain power to other devices). Power the EzAntennaTracker unit the same way you would power a R/C receiver. 5v or 6v depending upon servo requirements, sourced from either a ‘Rx Battery Pack’, or a 5v/6v BEC. -
Page 6: Cabling, Getting The Correct Audio Channel
(assuming standard cables are used, with all 5 pins connected). An additional connector is supplied on ImmersionRC transmitters, for future expansion. This is a 5-pin JST (small white connector), with the same pinout as the larger 5-pin Molex. -
Page 7: Lawmate Transmitter
2.5. Receiver Audio Connection 2.5.1. ImmersionRC/Airwave receivers ImmersionRC receivers, including the Duo2400, and the Fat Shark RCV922 LCD glasses, all use a standard 4-pole 3.5mm jack. For reasons which are not immediately obvious, manufacturers of equipment using these connectors do not always follow the same pinout. The 4 most common are shown below: The pinout used by the ImmersionRC/FatShark equipment is shown, and is shared with other common consumer equipment (Archos, Creative Labs, Apple, etc.) -
Page 8: Lawmate Receivers
In the case where a lawmate transmitter is coupled to an airwave receiver, for example, the ImmersionRC Duo 2400, the mono audio from the lawmate transmitter will be emitted on both audio outputs. Note however that the Right channel (Red connector usually) is generally ‘cleaner’, and... -
Page 9: Checking, And Debugging Audio Issues
2.7. Checking, and Debugging Audio Issues There are two useful tools in the EzAntennaTracker –Lite for debugging audio issues. The first is the audio level tool. This is accessed by cycling through the status screens using the up/down buttons. The indicator shows the ‘volume’ detected on the audio right-channel input. -
Page 10: Suitable Pan/Tilt Mounts
2.9. Suitable Pan/Tilt mounts Some antenna pan/tilt mounts that have been used successfully with the EzAntennaTracker system are listed below. The SPG785/DDT500H combination has been used by the designers of the EzAntennaTracker for several months, and has proven to be a reliable, robust solution. -
Page 11: Do I Really Need A Tilt Axis
This servo is available from various online retailers, including www.servocity.com in the USA, and http://www.activerobots.co.uk , or http://www.servoshop.co.uk in the UK. Note that with any of these 360 degree servos it is highly advisable to support a heavy antenna with an external bearing, and not rely only on the servo’s output shaft. -
Page 12: Configuration
Configuration The setup menu is available by pressing the center menu button. The menu contains a long list (18 at the current count) of controls, some of which must be configured correctly when setting up the pan/tilt mount, and some before a flight may start. Figure 5: Antenna Tracker Controls 2.13. - Page 13 This is useful during initial setup of the pan/tilt mount, and also when using the same antenna mount (un-guided) to fly with a plane not equipped with an ImmersionRC telemetry system. Pan Deg, Tilt Deg:Once servo setup mode is enabled, these controls define the pan and tilt servo angle respectively.
- Page 14 Pan offset, Til(t) offset: Use to correct for mechanical offsets. For example, the tilt offset is used to define the offset in degrees between ‘zero tilt’ (looking at the horizon), and the servo neutral position. Pan Rev(erse), Tilt Rev(erse): Allows the pan/tilt axes to be reversed, to adapt to different servo, and mechanical linkage requirements.
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Page 15: Setting Up The Servos
2.14. Setting up the servos The antenna tracker firmware has several parameters, which are stored in non-volatile memory (i.e. preserved when not powered up). These parameters allow the characteristics of the servos, and mount, to be defined, and include: Pan Reverse no/yes Tilt Reverse no/yes... -
Page 16: Example Settings
controls. That’s it, the mount should now be setup correctly. 2.15. Example settings ServoCity pan/tilt mount , SPG785 Pan (2:1, 630 degree option), DDT500H Tilt Pan Reverse Tilt Reverse Pan us/360 450us Tilt us/360 4000us Tilt min 10 degrees (or zero if possible without the tilt servo binding at 0 degrees) Tilt max 90 degrees... -
Page 17: Flight
3. Flight 3.1. Status Pages Four status pages are available, and may be accessed using the up/down buttons while not in the setup menu. The default page shows the plane’s current (or last-known) GPS coordinates. This includes Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude (Above Launch Point). The number of satellites currently locked is also shown, in the lower right corner. -
Page 18: Calibration
3.2. Calibration The Antenna Tracker has no GPS itself (at least not as a standard feature), nor does it know which way is north, so it needs some help during setup time to let it know where it is, and which direction it faces. The antenna tracker should be oriented so that most flying will take place in the natural direction that it faces (Pan = 0 degrees), to avoid crossing the -180/+180 degree boundary, and therefore avoiding 360 degree complete rotations as the antenna crosses that boundary. -
Page 19: Replaying Recorded Telemetry Data
Explanation: Why ‘the further the better’?. When a GPS is powered up, especially in the presence of a high-power video transmitter, the positional errors can be significant until a large number of satellites have been acquired. For long distance flight, the antenna positioning accuracy is fairly critical, so the calibration of the antenna tracker is also just as critical.