I've just bought a X8D 2.4GHz trainer port X8-hack module (PPM Only) this fits inside the cockpit SX from Hobbyking and it only cost $59.99. This is from Assan and the receivers are quite cheap at $22.95 for a 4 channel and $27.99 for a 6 channel. I bought it a week ago and I'm waiting for the volcanic ash to disperse so they can send it, which looks like it might be soon according to the news.
I'll have to drill a hole in the top of the Tx next to the present aerial and I can fit a switch to change over frequencies. I have instructions for this mod in German but it's well illustrated, so if anyone plans to fit this then email me and I'll send them a copy.
but it's in german and the automatic translation is not very clear. there is a wiring diagram for the switch but it's been posted by another person and I'm not sure if he's pointing out a mistake or if the diagram is right. If anyone can speak german I'd appreciate it if they could take a look and clarify things for me. I've drilled the holes for the antenna and the led and when I find the wiring diagram for the switch I'll post it here. The above site covers most stages in pictures but the wiring is unclear to me.
Vieler Dank (the extent of my german)
John.
Edited By Chris Card - Moderator on 09/05/2010 08:51:01
Edited By Chris Card - Moderator on 09/05/2010 08:51:32
I fitted the assan module to my Cockpit SX and it's a very tight fit. The wiring diagram on the german site refers to an error and is no good as it just shows the error. I guess if you speak the language it all makes sense. If you want to fit this hack, it's not a module as it doesn't plug in anywhere and requires some very fine soldering, be aware of the need to keep the area for storing the 35Mhz antenna clear, particularly the position of the switch as the hole cannot be moved later. There are 4 wires connecting the mainboard to the back of the transmitter, 3 to the switch and 1 from the assan module (I'll call it a module) to the signal connection on the mainboard (connection 5) and I've used a servo plug and socket to join the 3 wires from the switch to the mainboard and a 2ml gold connector for the signal from the assan module to the mainboard, so I can remove the back completely as opposed to the german solution of long wires.
The link to the german site above has very clear photos and covers the whole operation with the exception of the wiring diagram which I'll attempt to insert here.
I haven't tested it in flight yet but I don't see any problems there and if I do I'll post them here. I'm very pleased so far as the Cockpit is a very good Tx and to have it in 35Mhz and 2.4Ghz at the flick of a switch is perfect for my needs. The Cockpit 2.4Ghz model is very expensive and requires MPX receivers which are also very expensive, whereas the Assan receivers are in the $20 to $30 range.
I can't insert an image, when I click on 'insert image' it say's 'no albums found'. I've created an album but it made no difference. I'll tr
Edited By David Ashby - RCME Administrator on 09/05/2010 13:24:02
Hopefully the final update on this wiring diagram. I checked the Tx when I finished the job and all seemed well. On checking it this morning the 35Mhz side didn't work so I opened the case and it worked, so I assumed something was catching when I put the back cover on. However it turned out to be unstable, sometimes working and sometimes not. The 2.4Ghz side worked whatever I did, so I tried a different wiring arrangement and found that I could leave the positive and negative connected permanently and so I connected the signal to the switch and this worked reliably. The switch now switches the signal on and off and also switches the '35Mhz off' line to negative for 2.4Ghz.
Here is the new wiring diagram
I don't understand why the other setup was unstable, I could understand if it didn't work at all, but faultfinding is uneconomical these days in most fields and making it work will have to do. I hope nobody has started this job yet, but the correction is very simple.
Apologies for the confusion, I know this isn't cutting edge but it is for me.
It's been great fun once I realised I had nothing to lose but my transmitter and possibly my assan hack. However all is well now.
John.
PS if the diagram won't open for you then right click and select open link in new window.
I've now flown using the 35Mhz in a twinstar II and the 2.4Ghz in a Seagull ePioneer and both performed faultlessly. I took both planes as high as my eyesight would allow without problems.
With so many people changing over to 2.4Ghz radios, decent 35Mhz Tx's should be available on the second hand market at a reasonable price and with a hack or module can be converted to 2.4 resulting in a features rich 2.4 Tx at a fraction of the cost of the 2.4 version. I bought my Cockpit SX for £70 S/H and with the above hack the total cost was about £110-£115 whereas the Cockpit SX 2.4 costs £345. As mentioned before I also have the benefit of cheap Receivers where the Multiplex receivers are far too expensive to fit them in all my planes. By fitting a switch I can still fly my 35Mhz planes until I get around to upgrading them to 2.4. All in all a very happy conclusion to an interesting exercise.
John, I have friend who has done something similar to you, regarding the 2.4. He had the chance to buy a top-of-the-range JR 35MHz tx when the owner upgraded to 2.4. He’s a long standing customer of HobbyKing, so of course he simply bought the appropriate Assan units for what seemed like peanuts. We did all the full range checks, out of sight, and that’s with the model on the ground; the system has performed faultlessly so far. This is using a 3.2g, 4 channel, single short aerial rx. ...3.2g heavy??.. That’s about nine to the ounce!! And costs around £13! He did study very carefully all the reports and comments beforehand and, as he said, it seemed to be all good! He’s long abandoned 35 completely, as he’s also used Futaba 2.4 for a long time.
I’m all MPX, and I have a spare Royal Evo Tx to which I shall attempt to do the same sort of thing. But again, I shall do a complete changeover, with a view to eventually becoming all 2.4.
Congratulations on your enterprise, I suspect, that together with many others, you’ve proved it can be done, at least with only a very small amount of aggravation. Brilliant! PB
Edited By David Ashby - RCME Administrator on 10/05/2010 11:42:17
Many thanks to Terry Smith 7 for pointing this out, it seems this thread has inadvertently been kicked in the box again. Is it possible that management can find out which post did this and why? It would seem this is very little in any posts that might cause this. PB
It's a conundrum, even after shortening the overlong URLs the ads still overlap the text. I've contacted the tech support guy to see if we can get this fixed.
OK - I think I have a clue to the problem. Peter Beeney's post here - and one in another thread that I commented on today have a huge number of "non-breaking spaces" ie.  (semi-colon) at the end.
I think this is what is what is "mucking-up" (technical term!) the layout here. I don't know what is causing those spaces to appear in some of Peter's posts - I think he said somewhere he uses a Mac, which is something I hve little knowledge of. Maybe the tab key on a Mac is producing the spaces?
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John, I have friend who has done something similar to you, regarding the 2.4. He had the chance to buy a top-of-the-range JR 35MHz tx when the owner upgraded to 2.4. He’s a long standing customer of HobbyKing, so of course he simply bought the appropriate Assan units for what seemed like peanuts. We did all the full range checks, out of sight, and that’s with the model on the ground; the system has performed faultlessly so far. This is using a 3.2g, 4 channel, single short aerial rx. ...3.2g heavy??.. That’s about nine to the ounce!! And costs around £13! He did study very carefully all the reports and comments beforehand and, as he said, it seemed to be all good! He’s long abandoned 35 completely, as he’s also used Futaba 2.4 for a long time.
I’m all MPX, and I have a spare Royal Evo Tx to which I shall attempt to do the same sort of thing. But again, I shall do a complete changeover, with a view to eventually becoming all 2.4.
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