Stuart Ord

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Dave Hopkin and BEB. Searching for "Taranis sticky throttle" led me to this page - **LINK** and here you can find an eepe to download and an explanation of how it works. I've tried it and it does exactly as I wanted. It will become part of my standard electric model setup. It's very ingenious, I'd never have thought of doing it that way. Thanks Mike Shellim (the author). I agree with some of the comments above, and of course we should use our brains as well as engineered safeguards. We all check our control surfaces are functioning correctly just before flight, don't we? I'm an engineer specialising in chemical plant safety, and we have long realised that the least reliable item that we run our plants with is people. I've seen a UK champion take off with ailerons reversed because he failed to notice they were working but in the wrong sense. If it can happen to him..... and it cost him a lot of damage to a 200cc model. People have a horrible habit of making mistakes, getting over-confident, getting distracted, etc. So this is a really useful addition in my view. This plus the usual warning when the Tx boots up that the throttle isn't zero is all you need for electric power. Stuart

For all my electric models, I program CH3 (throttle) = -110 if !SB^ (switch B is not up). This inhibits the motor until I'm ready to fly. Occasionally I have put switch B up to arm the model without noticing that I had nudged open the throttle accidentally. The result of course is the motor bursts into life. I've been trying to come up with a program that detects that the throttle is already advanced when switch B is pushed up and keeps CH3 as -110 hence preventing this. Getting the throttle to work would require the throttle stick to be lowered to throttle closed position when the lock would be released. I can't find a way to program this. Can anyone else suggest a way? Thanks Edited By Stuart Ord on 21/02/2016 09:32:06

Posted by Martyn K on 27/01/2016 11:40:59: Hi Stuart Is that the latest EU-LBT Firmware (December 2015)? M Hi Martyn, Yes, I think so. Files XJT_LBT_build151223.frk, X8R_LBT_build151118.frk and X4R_LBT_build151118.frk S

Ah, thanks. Too obvious for me to notice! I thought the 1/1/2015 firmware did that was well?

Well, here we go again, another year, another firmware. Hi guys, HNY. Thought I'd let you know that I've just updated my Taranis Tx and my X series receivers to EU-LBT. (Does anyone know what LBT stands for?) All went well. I've not tested all my telemetry sensors yet, but a LiPo monitor worked OK so maybe they won't need any updating. I used the same procedure as last year - all items flashed from the computer using the frsky_update_Sport.exe program and leads from computer USB to the Tx or the Rx. I see there are instructions now to flash the Rxs from the Tx, but I didn't try it, the old method worked fine. Done X8, X6 and X4 Rxs, using X8 firmware for the X6. I've read during the year that some people got range problems with the 2015 EU firmware. Generally I had no problems I noticed, except for one big one when a model stopped responding during an aerobatic contest. Instant expensive kit job. It all seemed to work when I picked up the bits and plugged the electronics in again. So it was either a glitch by the radio or a glitch by the pilot, but I'm convinced it wasn't me, even my caller noticed I was waggling the sticks and getting no response. Let's hope this firmware solves any such problems. Stuart

Pete, I did as you suggested and found that on both sets of 7 pins, only 2 pins were soldered, and one looked dry, or at least not ideal. I see some people are suggesting that not all carry a signal, but it can't do any harm to solder them so I have done. The set of 5 pins on that board, and all other pins or places that seemed they should be soldered, were OK. All are nicely soldered now, the tx seems to work still (!) - I'll try it for real tomorrow. Thanks for your help. Stuart

I've just been pointed to this post as a possible solution to a problem I had which caused the loss of control of a 55cc IMAC model (at the Nats, in front of the judges, in front of the spectators, in front of the other pilots.....how embarrassing not to mention expensive). Your comments would be appreciated. I have an X9D bought in 2014, and I was so pleased with it I sold my entire Spektrum kit. When some receivers bought in 2015 came with the later firmware I upgraded all my RXs (all are X series) and the Tx to what was available in Jan/Feb 2015. All seemed to be good, I had no glitches, and I later took a 1.5m span aerobatic model to a height of 500m which was the limit of my eyesight (done to find what that height was rather than to test the radio) and had no range problems. A month ago, my 55cc lost control at a distance of under 100m. It had been performing its second round of the day, and half way through one manoeuvre it went from full control to no control suddenly (failing to respond to two full elevator and aileron control inputs, my caller saw I'd made the inputs) with the model continuing down a 45° line to terra firma and complete destruction. Tests afterwards showed everything was working apart from one wrecked servo (there were 2 elevator and 2 aileron servos anyway) even the X8R despite one antenna having been ripped off. Since then I have range tested and then warily flown smaller models and I've amassed about 6 hours airborne with no problems. I was starting to think that it had been pilot error after all (as you know these things happen very quickly), but now I'm wondering again if it was a radio problem. I need to know as I've just flown an expensive Mythos for the first time a couple of days ago, but it's grounded again now! Thanks for any help - most of the technical discussion above is over my head.

Don't know where that smiley came from, it should just be F:\SOUNDS\en\

I see you've twigged but it took me a long time to get this right so I'll answer anyway. Sound files need to be copied twice when working with Companion and the Tx. I'll describe how I set mine up and you can copy or cherry pick as you wish. I can't honestly remember whether my original sounds all came in the radio setup (I would guess so) or Companion or both. Both these paths are shown below. First I found all the sound files and copied them to a safe place on my computer. I have a folder D:\Taranis (I have an SSD for drive C and a normal HDD drive D in my laptop) where I put everything from the user manuals and downloaded eepe files to downloaded model picture files, firmware updates (if you are updating receivers from pre 1/1/15 to post 1/1/15 for example) and my eepe backups. (I copy them regularly and separately when saving the file "document1.eepe" in Companion just to be on the safe side.) So I have a sounds folder there and I copied all the Taranis sounds to it and deleted them from the radio and Companion folders. Then I found it handy to prune this long list of sound files many of which I'd probably never use to make navigating a bit easier. I copied all the useful ones into a second sounds folder in this D:\Taranis folder and it is the contents of this edited sounds folder that I copy to the radio and Companion folders below. I add to this second folder any sound files I create. I've made a lot of use of the AT&T website **LINK**. For example I made files that say "Aileron rate high", "Rudder rate low" etc rather than just use "Rates high" as I'm the dumbo who occasionally switches the wrong rate switch.... But I made all my aerobatic schedule caller sounds there too. Note though that if you give them file names longer than 8 characters the radio won't see them! So I made a code for my sound files all starting with letter Z to group them. On release 2.0.13 and maybe after the radio and Companion software/firmware didn't sort them alphabetically which was a pain, but I've just discovered that my new update to 2.0.17 does sort them! Great, thanks guys, that will save a lot of time! Right, now for the answer to your question! You need to copy all the sounds that you want to use from this edited folder to the following folders: Radio: MICROSD (F\SOUNDS\en\ (it might come up as a different letter in your system) Companion: C:\Program Files (X86)\Open TX\SDCard\\SOUNDS\en (or use whatever folder you placed the Companion program in, but the folder structure must be like this. I hope that works for you and you enjoy customising your sounds! The only problem for me is my fellow pilots comment occasionally that my Tx is noisier than my models! Still, you can program a volume control if you want to. Might as well show you my way: Inputs tab: [I8] - RS - Weight 100% - Source (RS) Special functions tab: SFx: SH^ (up arrow) - Volume - CH8 Then my right slider controls the volume of most sounds (not the startup voice or warnings). You could set it to different channel and use a different switch but as SH is spring loaded to the ^ position on my Tx then it's nearly always true and so Volume always works. There might be a better way to do that but it worked for me and since it's not broken.......

There are several threads here and elsewhere about noise coming from the Tx. One remedy seems to be to shield a couple of wires in a Tx wiring loom and I've done this - to no avail. My problem concerns telemetry and other voices. For example, if I set it to read the pack voltage (I fly mainly electric with a LiPo monitor in the model) it usually says "20.6 volts" for example, nice and clearly. However sometime it will say "(noise).6 volts". Other voices are be similar - fully articulated most of the time, and with noise obscuring part of the message at other times. It seems to be random whether the noise occurs or not. It applies for both Taranis "standard" phrases and ones I've created myself on the AT&T website. I do have the volume set to the right slider so I can get a bit of peace and quiet when I don't want to hear all the announcements that I program in (some other pilots on the flight line have been known to comment that my Tx is noisier than my models!) which might have something to do with it I've just thought - I'll make a copy program and cut the volume control out to see if it makes any difference. But any thoughts on why this is happening will be welcome. Thanks!

Oh, and another thing not immediately apparent to new users - there are usually several possible ways to achieve the same thing in terms of inputs, curves, mixes, special functions etc. Some ways might suit a setup or person or task better than another, but they will all work when done correctly.

Could I suggest you use Companion? Programming in the Tx is fine but awkward I think. It's OK for modifications at the flying field, but Companion is much better for serious programming sessions. You might also like to download some eeproms from **LINK** . I did this early on in my steep learning curve (still on it, really!) and I found some setups that I could look at and see how they worked. I've never used one in a model (I did, for example, download some Blade 130X setups when struggling with that and they weren't to my taste and I ended up doing my own, but I was able to learn from them). You need Companion to look at these and copy them into your Tx I think. Maybe you can copy them onto the Tx memory card directly, but I've not done that as Companion makes it easy. Companion also makes it easy to update the Tx firmware when updates come out. Also I downloaded an aerobatics schedule caller program (it tells me the next manoeuvre when I flick up switch H) which inspired me to some of the possibilities. I use such things a lot now - I've run out of logical switches and special functions on some models and have to rationalise what I want it to do the most. It can be addictive when you get the hang of it, and if you've got a logical mind it will all become clear. As Bob says, forget other systems, this one is quite different. Complicated setups will never cease to be confusing at times for my 62 year old brain, though! I'm working on a way to write down complex setups so I can fathom out what I was trying to do when I wrote a program. Another useful thing to do is to devise a "basic" setup that suits you and save it as model 60 or whatever suits you. I've got a few, and they have my standard settings like basic inputs, basic mixes, switches, timers, logical switches and special functions that I use in almost all my model setups. Then for a new model I copy the appropriate one and customise that to the new model. Saves a lot of time and frustration! One thing to remember though is that this copies the receiver number to the copy, and after a while I was wondering why people said Taranis does model match when mine clearly didn't. Then I twigged they all had the same receiver number! When I changed them all to unique numbers in Companion and updated the Tx, all models had to be rebound of course but after that they all model match! Great. It's a fantastic system once you've grasped it - do persist. It's not for everyone, but the rewards are worth the effort if you can manage it, and much as I like Spektrum and it transformed my modelling when it came out, I wouldn't go back. And BTW, I didn't find later Spektrums all that intuitive either. After nearly 10 years with a DX7 and DX7S I bought a DX18 and really struggled until someone suggested setting up a test bench like Masher suggested here. However once I'd twigged that system, I still found it very restrictive and limited - Taranis blows it away.

I tried 2.0.16 a couple of days ago and it kept crashing when on Simulator. I went back to 2.0.13, but today they said 2.0.17 is available and I've installed that with the 2.0.17 firmware and this works fine for me.

Yes, that was it. So just in case anyone reads this looking for the answer, my memo to myself to remind me in case I need to do it again is - The original setup of the Smart Port plug as used for the receivers was (looking at the side where you can see a bit of the pins) - black at top, red in middle, white (or yellow) at bottom. Need to remove the red, put black in middle and leave white at bottom. Sequence is important again! 1. Close everything. Remove the lead from the transmitter. 2. Plug the USB adapter into computer. Red LED lights. Computer acknowledges the USB (sound) 3. Run the FrSky sport program 4. Navigate to and select the .frk file - here, the file XJT_eu_150122.frk. The first square box flashes red/green, program says "finding device" 5. Plug lead into the transmitter with white on the lowest long prong and black on the next one in the module bay. THEN switch the Tx on in the normal use way (ie not pushing the two trims together as done when connecting the Companion). Program says "Device found, please click Download, Download button ungreys, first square is now red again 6. Click Download and it runs - progress bar slowly goes green, the two boxes are both flashing red and green - "Please wait, in progressing..." 7. When the progress is 100%, both squares are red again, program says "Firmware is updated". Job done!

Looking at the picture again, I now think it's showing using the lower 3 pins of the 5 long pins I've referred to. I need to put my specs on. Will try that.