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RC Groups OpenTX 2.0+ User Manual

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User Guide by Authors, for
Commercial use forbidden without explicit authorization by the
know what's going on, so just ask :)
This page is intended to describe the OpenTX 2.0+ firmware that can be installed on a
transmitters, including the Taranis, and offer some explanations about the philosophy of the firmware and how to
set up models. OpenTX 2.0+ is open sourced and one can check the release history of OpenTX firmware
page.
We'll start with an overview of menu contents, and then go into more details about how to set up models. The
Taranis version of OpenTX has all of the features from the 9x version, includes the additions of the sky9x version
(splash screen, audio/speech, SD card for model/audio files/logs storage, USB access to card and settings/model
memory), sees the UI adapted to the larger screen and different button layout, and finally adds support for the
Taranis' extra hardware capabilities.
OpenTX 2.0+ User Guide
The FrSky Taranis radio
What you'll find in your package
An overview of FrSky Taranis features
The Taranis hardware
The Turnigy 9XR Pro Radio
What you'll find in your package
An overview of Turnigy 9XR Pro features
The Turnigy 9XR Pro hardware
OpenTX 2.0+ Software overview
Button navigation
FrSky Taranis
Turnigy 9XR Pro
Main views
Telemetry view
Radio general settings
SD browser
Trainer
Version
Diagnostics
Calibration
Model menus
Model setup
Helicopter setup
Flight modes
Inputs
Mixer
Mixer Functions
Servos
Curves
Global variables
OpenTX 2.0+ User Guide
OpenTX 2.0+
last updated 2014.09.10..
Authors
and translators. We don't bite, but like to
number of radio
on this
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Summary of Contents for RC Groups OpenTX 2.0+

  • Page 1 OpenTX 2.0+ User Guide User Guide by Authors, for OpenTX 2.0+ last updated 2014.09.10.. Commercial use forbidden without explicit authorization by the Authors and translators. We don't bite, but like to know what's going on, so just ask :) This page is intended to describe the OpenTX 2.0+ firmware that can be installed on a number of radio transmitters, including the Taranis, and offer some explanations about the philosophy of the firmware and how to set up models.
  • Page 2 Logical switches Special Functions Telemetry LUA Scripts Templates (remove or reference companion wizzard /lua wizzard) First steps Setting up a model OpenTX basics Everything about the mixer screen Servos screen Inputs screen Model setup guidelines Advanced features Flight modes Telemetry values Audio Global variables A few interaction examples...
  • Page 3 Taranis - Change from Mode1 to Mode2 (and vice versa) Taranis - SH SF switch swap - Pats solderless method (good for RevA and RevB) Taranis - Updating internal XJT module firmware Taranis - Remove clicks on volume changes Taranis - Updating Speaker & Enhance Sound performance Taranis - Add Haptic Motor Resources Authors...
  • Page 4 FrSky Taranis An overview of features ● Large 212*64 backlit LCD screen ● Quad ball-bearing gimbals with high quality potentiometers ● Numerous input controls (4 sticks, 4 trims, 2 sliders, 2 pots, 8 switches), all freely assignable ● 60 model memories ●...
  • Page 5 The Taranis hardware The radio has a relatively standard design and control layout, namely: ● 2 sticks and their associated trims, labelled in the software as Thr, Rud, Ele, Ail and TrmT, TrmR, TrmE, TrmA respectively. The stick to name mapping matches the selected stick mode. Trims are freely assignable (e.g.
  • Page 6 The back of the radio shows the JR-compatible module slot, along with a JR-style jack trainer port, USB connector and earphone jack. The battery bay houses a microSD card slot, a serial port and of course the battery connection. The supplied battery is a 6-cell NiMH, but the plug will also accept a JST-style balance plug for a 2s Li-Po battery. Battery compartment dimensions are 108x31x28mm.
  • Page 7 On the inside, the gimbals have 3 different types of screws: ● Y axis ratchet and/or "smooth braking" action strengths (blue) ● Y axis spring disable, screw it in to disable spring (green) ● X and Y spring tension (red), screw in for more tension, outer is Y of course. It is good to note that if you like having weak stick tension, it is easy to get inconsistent centering when the spring tension screws are too loose.

  • Page 8: Main Views

    rnigy 9XR Pro hardware TODO OpenTX 2.0+ Software overview Now might be the time to put the battery on charge, so that after reading this section you can directly have a go at putting what you learned in practice! Button navigation FrSky Taranis The Taranis has 6 input keys: a standard set of +/-/ENTER/EXIT, plus 2 contextual MENU and PAGE keys.
  • Page 9 The second shows the gimbal and switches positions, and is handy to check that all the physical controls respond as intended. The third shows again the physical switches on the left, and the states of the 32 logical switches on the right. The last view is a channel monitor showing the servo outputs for all 32 channels (+/- change page).
  • Page 10 Radio general settings A LONG press of the MENU key brings up the mostly self-explanatory radio setup menu:...
  • Page 11 ● Date/Time: To be set, they serve as info but also to give a correct timestamp to files and logs saved by the radio. ● Battery range: range of the graphical radio battery meter on the main views. To be set accordingly with the battery type you use (2s lipo here).
  • Page 12 checks / test flights with telemetry, and turn the restricted mode on before the beginning of the contest on the radio itself. ● Default channel order: Defines the order of the 4 default mixers that are inserted on channels 1-4 when creating a new model.
  • Page 13 This page allows you to configure the trainer function for "master" use (make sure the Trainer mode in model settings is set to Master). For each of the 4 main functions you will be able to set the mode (OFF, += for Add, := for Replace), ratio and input channel.
  • Page 14 Calibration This is the place where you can calibrate sticks and pots. Follow the on-screen instructions, and note that when asked to center the sticks this includes the throttle stick and the 2 sliders. S1 and S2 pots however do not need to be centered, only the extremes are calibrated.
  • Page 15 ● Model name: Self-explanatory... Change letter with +/- keys, go to the next with ENTER SHORT, or press ENTER LONG to capitalize the current letter before switching to the next. ● Model image: There you can select a 64x32px, 16-grayscale .bmp file located in the BMP folder of the SD card as your model logo.
  • Page 16 ● Switch warning: Defines whether the radio requests the switches to be in predefined positions on power on/model change. To set them, arrange your switches the way you like, and press ENTER LONG. ● Center beep: Makes a beep when the selected control(s) pass the center point. ●...
  • Page 17 The inputs of this mixer are the Ail and Ele sticks, plus the virtual channel selected in "Collective source". This channel would see entries added on the MIXER page for one or more pitch curves. The outputs of the CCPM mixer are CYC1, CYC2 and CYC3, which need to be assigned on the MIXER page to the channels you will connect your servos to.
  • Page 18 As many lines as required can be assigned to each stick (LONG press ENTER brings up a popup menu to insert/delete lines), and again the first one that has its switch on (starting from the top) will be the active one. This is commonly used to create dual, triple,...
  • Page 19 For each mixer line, several parameters are available: ● A name can be entered for convenience ● The weight (in %) of the input can be set. This sets how much of the input control has to be mixed in. A negative value inverts the response.
  • Page 20 Many of these are "legacy" functions from er9X or even earlier. They can be used to generate things like differential, which was added later. They would still be used to generate things like knife edge mixes where you want the correction to be the same for both stick directions simple example CH02 (+100%)[i]Ele...
  • Page 21 The last line after CH32 is the "Trims to Offsets" function. It is used to take the trims of the currently selected flight mode, transfer their content to the subtrims, reset them, and adjust all other flight modes' trims. If you're close to running out of trim, instead of having to adjust every value one after the other, all it takes is to LONG press ENTER on this line and everything is done magically.
  • Page 22 The curve editor allows you to define a name for the selected curve, the type, and of course set the coordinates. When the cursor is on one of the editable coordinates, a LONG press of the ENTER key will bring up a menu where you can choose a standard preset curve, mirror the curve vertically, or reset all points.
  • Page 23 ● a~x: active when variable a is approximately equal to constant x (hysteresis added, as comparing a stick's value for example would pretty much never trigger an exact match) ● a<x, a>x: Active when variable a is smaller resp. greater than constant x ●...
  • Page 24 ● Adjust GVx: When active, sets the relevant global variable to the value of the specified source. The adjustment source can be one of 4 groups cycled through using a LONG press of the ENTER key: ○ A fixed value ○...
  • Page 25 ● Blades: Number of blades for the RPM sensor. ● Voltage/current: Allows choosing the input for the power calculation and mAh count features. These should match the input you've connected the corresponding sensors to. ● Variometer source: sensor type that is installed in your model. "Vario" is for the new FrSky vario sensors as well as the openxvario (vertical speed is calculated by the sensor and transmitted digitally), A1/A2 are...

  • Page 26: First Steps

    Lua is a lightweight multi-paradigm programming language designed as a scripting language. More at Wikipedia There are two types of Lua scripts used in openTX: ● Model scripts - these are run periodically and continuously, similar to mixers ● One-time scripts - these run one time when user selects/executes them from the menu Lua scripts must be placed on SD card in folder /SCRIPTS and have an extension .lua.
  • Page 27 The radio will have created an empty model for you, so after having gone back to the main view you'll be able to go to the model setup screen by pressing MENU SHORT and PAGE SHORT. There you'll want to make sure you've set the RF mode that matches the receiver you want to use.
  • Page 28 the desired control (if it's a physical one, of course). Move the aileron stick, and the field will change to Ail (it might have already been there if your channel order preference set in the general settings had A for the first channel, as that's taken into account).
  • Page 29 normal as it's been deactivated by the Replace type of the second line. Again that seems long, but takes as much as about 30 seconds when you're used to it. Of course if you've followed you'll certainly understood that we could have set the second line to use switch "SAup", and that subsequently the role of the 2 lines would be swapped (second active when switch is up, first in the other 2 positions).
  • Page 30 channel monitor are real "control" inputs. Connect your linkages so that the control surfaces are at neutral (or middle of their expected throw for things such as flaps). Now move the radio's controls carefully to exercise the servos but being aware of possible mechanical binding. Set servo reverse where needed.

  • Page 31: Advanced Features

    It is also good practice to make use of the "Safety CHx" custom function to define a safety switch for the throttle channel of electric models. Select your throttle lock switch, select the correct function for your throttle channel, set the value to -100, then tick the box.
  • Page 32 start to become more noticeable, such as it is impossible to predict the behavior of a given installation in a particular model. The Taranis also has an alarm that will warn you of the telemetry downlink being lost or recovered. The telemetry link behaves similarly to the control link and is transmitted with the same power level, so it should have essentially similar range, and the conservative alarms for the control link described above should ensure the telemetry link is always available.

  • Page 33: Global Variables

    In addition to the sounds played by custom functions, there are a few predefined sounds that will be played automatically when an event happens if an appropriately named file is placed in the right folder. Currently the following events are supported: ●...

  • Page 34: Basic Concepts

    Introduction to OpenTX companion As we have briefly mentioned, OpenTX comes with a computer-based counterpart that runs on Windows, Mac OS and Linux, OpenTX companion. This software will allow you to backup, edit and share your radio's settings. It can also simulate both a model's setup and the radio's own interface on the computer, so it's a great tool to try things even without a radio.
  • Page 35 The document window consists in a "General Settings" entry on which you can double-click to access the radio settings, and a number of model slots (60 for the Taranis). The model slot that is displayed in bold is the one that is currently selected on the radio.
  • Page 36 ● Read EEPROM memory to File will read the EEPROM contents from the radio directly into a file. This is the preferred way to backup your radio's settings as it will be saved "as is" without OpenTX companion processing it. Click the entry, choose a location and filename, and save. ●...
  • Page 37 ○ nogvars: Disables global variable support and the associated menu page. ○ ppmus: Displays channel values in microseconds instead of %. ○ sqt5font: An alternative display font. ○ faimode: Disables all telemetry except for RSSI and voltage, for compliance with contest regulations.
  • Page 38 Update Firmware and Bootloader via SD Card 1. Using Companion, download the latest firmware. 2. On your Taranis, hold both the rudder and aileron trims to center and turn it on. It should start up in bootloader mode. 3. Attach your USB cable between your Taranis and your computer. You should now see two drives, Removable Disk and Taranis.
  • Page 39 12. Hold either your rudder trim button or the aileron trim button to the center (it doesn't matter which), BOTH the aileron trim and the rudder trim to the center and turn on your Taranis. If you get to the bootloader screen, you have successfully updated both your firmware and the bootloader to the latest versions.
  • Page 40 Zadig will install the driver, and should report success. When done you can dismiss the message and close it. Should none of these options work, you can download the driver here and install it manually (instructions are on the download page). When the driver is properly installed, you should see this in the device manager: Installing the flashing utility (for Mac OS and Linux) Download and install the...
  • Page 42 Downloading and flashing the firmware ● In OpenTX companion's preferences window, make sure the proper firmware is selected (OpenTX for FrSky Taranis), and the language / options match your preference, then click the top Download button and select a location for the file. This will automatically build and download the latest available version of OpenTX for Taranis.
  • Page 43 Tips using OpenTX User can't connect to the Transmitter via USB using OpenTX Companion Some people might struggle to connect to their transmitter with OpenTX 2.0+ especially if you upgraded from a previous version of OpenTX. The reason you cant connect to OpenTX companion is because the firmware default USB function is Joystick when you plug in a transmitter loaded with OpenTX 2.0+.
  • Page 44 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28958120&postcount=3006 How to change the splash screen TODO use text from http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28976443&postcount=3110 Use Subtrims to fix mechanical linkage issues TODO use text from http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29129266&postcount=3700 Trims->Subtrims TODO use text from http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29260142&postcount=11816 Instant Trim The Mix lines is essentially a math pad TODO use text from https://code.google.com/p/opentx/issues/detail?id=193&can=1&start=100 I also wanted to ask if you can expand the firmware and make possible to use math to setup a...
  • Page 45 OpenTX Recorder - Voice recorder for Taranis OpenTX Recorder can be used to record complete sets of spoken sentences for use in one of the radios with audio capabilities. OpenTX Recorder is intended for use on Windows Vista and later Setting up Rates and Exponential TODO use text from...

  • Page 46: Hardware Modifications

    Buddy Box/trainer TODO use text from http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29067775&postcount=3404 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29069336&postcount=3421 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29069673&postcount=3423 Hardware Modifications Taranis - Change from Mode1 to Mode2 (and vice versa) Taranis - SH SF switch swap - Pats solderless method (good for RevA and RevB) TODO use text from http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=26467096&postcount=279 SH SF switch swap - solderless method First thing I did to my Taranis today was swap the momentary with the 2 way switch on the other side.
  • Page 47 Taranis - Updating internal XJT module firmware...
  • Page 48 Taranis - Remove clicks on volume changes RevA http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=27458997&postcount=1155 RevB http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=27460752&postcount=1161 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=27535319&postcount=1215 Taranis - Updating Speaker & Enhance Sound performance Taranis - Add Haptic Motor Warning if you dont have the haptic motor installed do not load OpenTX firmware with haptic enabled Resources Authors Kilrah...