OpenTX How To … Part 2

Open TX
2.2 How To … Part 2 Op

How to Add Voltage Telemetry to the X4R Page 2

How to Create Model Pictures for the Horus Page 4

Telemetry LiPo Fuel Gauge Page 8

How to use the Bluetooth Trainer Function Page 11

Setting up the S6R and S8R Stabilised Receivers Page 12

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2.2 Telemetry to the X4ROp

The X4R is a small lightweight receiver with 3 or 4 channels depending on the model designed for
small light models. Often in such planes, space is at a premium and it is difficult to fit any
telemetry in. With small foamy electric models, it would be very useful to have at least voltage
telemetry to give an indication of battery voltage. This could be very useful with powered gliders
where there is a mixture of powered flight and gliding, and using flight times alone is not
appropriate. The X4R receivers come Smart Port enabled so that the standard voltage sensor
could be used. However, this is nearly the same size as the receiver itself. Another feature of
these receivers is, unlike the other X series receivers, there is an analogue input, thus some of the
older, pre-Smart Port, sensors can be connected. One is the FrSky FBVS-01 battery voltage
sensor. This tiny sensor is ideal for measuring flight battery voltage and is very inexpensive,
although it is not always available from the main suppliers. However, a quick internet search will
soon pull up a few places that sell it.

Fitting the sensor is quite straight forward. With each X4R comes a 4 way plug and lead to fit the
smart port socket. Three wires are for the smart port and consist of a red positive, a black
negative, a green or yellow smart port lead, and a white wire not connected at the other end. I
firstly fit a normal servo connector onto the red, white and green/yellow lead to have a smart
port plug just in case I want to fit other sensors or update the firmware.

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First, remove the heat shrink from the sensor. Don’t worry, a spare piece of heat shrink is
provided. Then unsolder the red and black from the GND and ADin pads. Then solder the white
lead onto the ADin pad at the top left-hand corner. The red and black leads soldered to GND and
3S can be left as they are. Only one negative lead is required as the two GND pads are linked on
the circuit board. If using a 3S battery connect the red wire to the 2S terminal instead to get a
somewhat more accurate reading. Don’t worry, I cannot understand the logic either. Then the red
and black leads are soldered to the power connector going to the speed controller.

Power up the transmitter and receiver and set OpenTX to search for new sensors. Now A2 should
come up as a new sensor and show a 13.2 volt ratio. Check the actual battery voltage and then
adjust the offset until the telemetry reads the same as the actual battery voltage. Finally, once
everything is working, replace the heatshrink with the spare length of clear heatshrink provided.

The X4R receiver analogue input has a maximum input of 3.3 volts. The sensor has three
terminals:

1S terminal which measures voltages from 0-6.6v

2S terminal which measures voltages from 0-13.2v
3S terminal which measures voltages from 0-19.8v

If using a different battery or using the 1S or 3S terminals, then the ratio on the OpenTX
telemetry page will need adjusting to match the above maximum voltage.

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2.2 Model Pictures

There is a good collection of Horus model image files at this website:

https://skyraccoon.com/icons

For one’s own unique models, it is useful to create one’s own images for the transmitter. A good
drawing program is needed to be able to modify photographs or pictures to make them suitable
for the Horus. Perhaps the best for this need is a program called Paint 3D from Microsoft. This
free program is ideal for this sort of work, and is the program we will be using here. For a
standard model, the advertising picture can be used and adapted. For one’s own models, it is
possible to use a photograph:

As can be seen, this is a good photograph of the model, however the background is not so good!

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Use the Magic Select function show on the toolbar and use the Add and Remove options to tidy up
the cutout and click Done when ready.

Click on the model to be cut out, and slide it out of the way.

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Now recolour the background to suit the model. This can be done with any of the brush tools. As
this example model is white, a blue background has been created, and then a light grey colour
has been sprayed over part to give a sky effect.

Then slide the cutout back over the background. Finally export the picture as a png or jpg file.
Now reload the saved picture and resize for the Horus screen. This should be a maximum of 192
pixels by 116 pixels. For some reason this only works if the resizing is done after being reloaded.
First lock the aspect ratio, then adjust either the width or the height to get the largest picture.
Finally resave, remembering to make the filename no more than 6 characters long.

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If the above screenshot is compared to the one on the previous page, it can be seen that this
image has a transparent background. This is quite easy to achieve with Paint 3D. Once the Magic
Select has been used to cut out the model, slide it out of the way and use the rubber to erase the
background. Then restore the model back onto the background and Export. Next reload it, crop to
size and save as a reduced size file ensuring the Transparent Canvas is enabled:

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This is a useful procedure to display a telemetry setting as a percentage. It was devised by Mike
Naylor (Miami Mike) and is reproduced here with his permission.

This is a "fuel gauge" setup for OpenTX to display the flight battery's state of charge as a
percentage, beginning at 100% for a fully-charged pack and decreasing as the battery consumes
power. It requires a current sensor, such as a FrSky SP-40A - Smart Port 40 Amp Sensor or FrSky
SP-150A - Smart Port 150 Amp Sensor.

It allows alarms and voice announcements to be added that trigger at specific charge states, or at
regular time intervals, or each time the charge state decreases by a certain amount so that there
will be announcements at, for example, 100%, 90%, 80%, etc. Announcements can also be brought
up at a flip of a switch. The battery state will be retained between flights even if the radio is
turned off, so a switch is provided to reset the charge state to 100% when the battery is replaced
or recharged.

This idea could also be adapted to give percentage readings of other telemetry values.

First the current sensor needs to be discovered, and then a new sensor added to calculate the
consumption. Here it is called Cspn. Notice the Persistent box is checked to retain the value if the
transmitter is switched off.

Now for the clever bit. A new input is created on the Inputs page. Use a channel above the normal
channels used for a model. In the example below, channel 9 is used.

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The Weight is set to -100 and the Offset is set to 100

Op
to give a range of 0% to 100%. The Scale is set here to
2200, which is the capacity of the battery. In the scale
setting, the capacity of the battery is entered to give us
an accurate percentage for the battery being used.
One could decide that 0% is when the battery is fully
discharged and then only fly whilst the battery is
above 20% say. On the other hand one could set this
figure to 1760 so that 0% would now represent the
minimum flying time, and still leave the battery 20%
charged.

On the telemetry page of the transmitter, an input can be selected as well as the more normal
telemetry figures. Thus the percentage remaining of the battery charge can be displayed. Here
the value of 75 is displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

To add an automatic call down every 10%, first create a Logical Switch:

Then add two Special Functions to enable the announcement.

There is no percent sound in the user sound files, however, a percent is available in the SYSTEM
sub folder of the SOUNDS folder on the SD Card. It is called Percent0. This needs copying across
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to the main SOUNDS folder and the name needs shortening to just 6 characters. While generally
the Special Functions can be entered in any order, in this example, as the routine uses the same
Logical Switch, the one that appears first on the list will be executed first. A switch could also be
set up to reset the Cspn value:

If the battery is normally changed each flight, then this switch would not be needed, and the
Persistent box should be unchecked on the Telemetry page.

No doubt readers will be able to think up all sorts of uses for this routine. The clever bit is using
an Input to store a particular value in the Scale parameter and use the Weight and Offset to give
a range of 100.

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The Horus X12S and the Horus X10 and X10S transmitters all have Bluetooth facilities which can be
used for telemetry and trainer functions. This How To shows how to set up the Bluetooth to work
with the trainer function.

Setting up the Bluetooth trainer must be done on the transmitters, NOT the Companion.

1. Go to the Hardware screen of the System Menu. Scroll down to the Bluetooth settings, and
enable Trainer mode and then give the device a name. It would appear this is not used for
the trainer function.
2. Do the same for the second transmitter being used.
3. Set the Slave transmitter trainer function to Slave/Bluetooth in the Model Setup menu.
4. Set the Master transmitter trainer function to Master/Bluetooth in the Model Setup menu.
5. Now on the Master transmitter, the box below, the Init box should change to Discover. Click
on the Discover button, and both transmitters should pair.

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Introduction
The S6R and S8R receivers are essentially the same, and are programmed in exactly the same
way. The S6R has 6 channels and does not have the RSSI or SBUS connectors. Each receiver has a
built in three-axis accelerometer and three-axis gyroscope, and can be configured for a
conventional model layout, a delta wing or a V-tail configuration. In the conventional model
layout, there are four flight modes, stabilisation, automatic level, hover and knife-edge. These
modes are all switchable from the transmitter, and all can be switched off so the receiver
operates as a standard receiver. The delta wing and V-tail configurations only allow stabilisation
and automatic level. In each mode, gain is controlled by a knob or slider on the transmitter. The
quick mode only allows stabilisation and automatic level.

At this point, some might be wondering how all this works given the receivers are only 6 or 8
channels. The reality is that all the X and S series receivers are actually 16 channels. The control
functions for stabilisation use four of these spare channels that are normally only accessed by the
S-Bus. Both receivers are telemetry equipped and will automatically send receiver battery voltage
and signal strength back to the transmitter together with any sensor data from sensors plugged
into the Smart Port. An 8 page set of A5 instruction comes with each of these receivers. However,
these instructions can be a little hard to follow.

There are 2 distinct ways of setting up the stabilised receivers. The first, and more difficult is to
use is the computer and program the receiver using an inexpensive tool called the Smart Port
Tool Kit or STK for short, and a program downloaded from the FrSky website. This program is not
the easiest to use and sometimes the STK can be difficult to get working on the computer. To
overcome this, the thoughtful developers at OpenTX have produced two very clear, and frankly
much simpler, LUA scripts that allows the user to fully program either stabilised receiver from the

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transmitter. These LUA scripts can be run from any FrSky transmitters. This How To will be using
OpenTX LUA script. During the setting up process it if often necessary to go back to the
programming to say, reverse a servo. It is so much simpler to do this wirelessly from the
transmitter. Several of the steps should be completed before installing in the model.

Step 1. Update the Receiver Firmware.

The first task is to check that the receiver has the latest version of the firmware loaded. In 2017
alone, there were 5 releases of firmware. Sadly there is no easy way to tell which version is loaded
on the receiver; even a brand new receiver may have been in stock for many months so could
have an older version installed. If in doubt install the latest version, just to be sure. From the FrSky
website load the latest firmware for the receiver. Once downloaded, there should be two versions
available for each receiver:

The S6RLBT/s8rlbt is the EU version, the S8RFCC/s8rfcc is the rest of the world version. Do ensure
you use the right version for your transmitter setup. Now copy this file onto the SD card. Probably
the easiest way is to remove the card and pop it in the computer. Copy the file to the folder called
FIRMWARE and replace the SD card back in the transmitter. Next go to Section 9, How To … Part 1
and follow the instructions there to update the firmware on the receiver. Please note, the
versions shown here may not be the latest versions.

Step 2. Bind the Receiver

Select the correct model on the transmitter and put the transmitter in bind mode. Next power up
the receiver with the F/S button pressed. For the programming following later in this How To,
when selecting bind mode, select channels 1 to 8, not 9-16. An easy way to power up the receiver
is to use a receiver battery with a switch in line. Much easier to then hold down the F/S button
with one hand and switch on with the other. When binding, the green light will be on, and the red
light will flash. Come out of bind mode on the transmitter and switch the receiver off then on
again, and if all is well, the green light should come on.

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Step 3. Calibrating the receiver. Op

The receiver does not need to be physically connected to the transmitter for the next step, all is
done wirelessly. With the receiver still on the bench and powered up, select the SYSTEM menu
on the transmitter and go to the SD card page. Then scroll down and select the SxR folder and
you should see the following LUA files:

Select SxR_Calibrate and execute it. The yellow light should flash whilst each part of the
calibrating process is talking place.

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Step 4. Setting up the receiver for the model. Op

This time load the SxR Lua script. The first page selects the wing type and the mounting. Use Page
Down to go to the next page.

Finally, the OpenTX software needs to be configured to control the stabilisation features. On the
setup screen, normally just 8 channels are enabled. This must be changed to 16 channels before
anything will work. The instruction sheet is less than helpful in setting up each mode. For
stabilisation, the instructions say that channels 10 and 11 should be set to:
Channel 10 CH10>M+H
Channel 11 M-H<CH11<M+H
Where M=1500µs represents the neutral signal, and H=50µs represents the required signal
change to activate the change.
To switch stabilisation off, channel 10 must have a weight of 0
OpenTX uses a pulse width of 1500µs ±512µ. Thus M has a weight of 0. For H a weight of 75
seems a reasonable figure at the time to be on the safe side, and certainly works It is not
necessary to program all four modes available into the transmitter.
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Thus, a simple program to enable just stabilisation and automatic level mode would look like
this. First set up three flight modes as shown.

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Then the Mixes screen needs to set weightings for these three flight modes for channels 10 and
11.
This screenshot shows the OpenTX Mixes screen on the Companion. Channels 1 to 5 are the

channels used for the plane control surfaces and throttle. Notice here that the inputs for the 5
channels are mixed up, so the throttle on channel 3 takes its input from Input 1. This is because I
used an existing model with the channel order set to my own convention, but with the SxR
receivers I had to use the channels designated on the receiver. Channel 9 uses the left slider on a
Taranis/Horus to alter the gain which must have a weight between 0 and 100. Channels 10 and 11
control the two functions.
Sounds can be added in Special Functions for the verbal warnings:

Many of these sounds you may have to create yourself. Gainmn is gain minimum etc.

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Step 5. Final setting up

Op
When installing the receiver in the model, make sure the orientation is the same as set earlier
when the receiver was configured. It is also advisable to always try and have the bind button
accessible. Once everything is installed in the model and the model is complete with the throws
set as desired, there are two further steps that need to be taken:

Check the deflection of each control surface.

Power up the model (without the propeller connected if electric) and switch to auto level mode. In
stabilisation mode, the control surfaces should twitch and then return to their normal positions
when the plane is moved. In auto level mode, when the model is moved and held in that position
the control surfaces will stay in a different position. Thus it is far easier to check their correct
movement in auto level mode.
Tilt the plane down, the elevator should move up to correct the dive. Roll the plane to one side
and the ailerons should move to correct the roll. Similarly with the rudder. If any deflection is
incorrect, use the LUA script to reverse the movement, and then check again.

Perform the self-check.

This check is necessary to attain the auto level angle and gimbal neutral position. Once the self-
check is initiated, the model must not be moved until complete. There are two ways to undertake
the self-check.
Self-check method 1. The bind button
This method is used if the bind button is accessible with the model level and the right way up.
• Ensure the ailerons, rudder and elevator controls are in the neutral position.
• Ensure the model is on a level surface, and press the bind button and release.
• The blue LED will turn on and the self-check process will start.
• Once the self check has finished, the control surfaces will deflect then return to their normal
position and the blue LED will turn off.
• After completion, move the sticks from channel 1 to 6 apart from the throttle to their
channel limits to complete the set-up.
The receiver will store all the settings after being powered down. It is not necessary to repeat this
every flight.
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Self-check method 2. Using the transmitter Op

This method is used if the bind button is not accessible with the model level and the right way up.
• For this method, channel 12 needs programming by adding the following line in the Mixes
Screen.

Any 3 position switch can be used, in this example switch C is used. When switch C is in the
mid position, it will have a weight of 0, otherwise it will have a weight of 100.
• Ensure the ailerons, rudder and elevator controls are in the neutral position.
• Ensure the model is on a level surface, and move switch C through the mid point 3 times and
the self-check will start.
• Once the self-check has finished, the control surfaces will deflect then return to their normal
position.
• After completion, move the sticks from channel 1 to 6 apart from the throttle to their
channel limits to complete the set-up.
The receiver will store all the settings after being powered down. It is not necessary to repeat this
every flight.

A word of caution: It is very important that this switch is not accidentally operated either before a
flight or during a flight. Thus it should be disabled after the self-check. There are several ways this
can be achieved.
• Delete the channel 12 instruction once the self-check is completed.
• Move the channel 12 line to a channel higher than 16.
• Add a Special Function to disable the mixer line:

Do remember to ensure the ON box is ticked.

Either of the latter two methods are preferred, as sometimes the self-check does need repeating.
Months later when it is needed again it is often difficult to remember what was actually
programmed in.

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The S6R/S8R LED Status:

Op

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