FrSky Major Update for most TX and RX

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

FrSky Major Update for most TX and RX

With 3 TX and over 50 Rx this is not going to be a five minute job.

Kev

[Ron Gray]

I'm in the same boat as you Kev, think I'll have to carefully plan when I carry this out!

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Thanks for the heads up Kev.

First of all, if I don't do this then my gear isn't going to stop working.

Second, it's very nice of them to tell us it needs doing, but have they instructed us how? Are files available for non FrOS users or do we have to go through the process of converting back to FrOS and then back to our favourite system again?

The cynic in me wonders whether this is an update just to stop cloned receivers working?

Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 16/01/2020 18:51:23

[Tim Ballinger]

Clearly Frsky rate this as important but anyone know what the real life issue was?

Also never upgraded RX firmware before. Does it have to be upgraded to work with the upgraded Tx firmware or put another way will non upgraded RXs still work with an upgraded TX?

Tim

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 16/01/2020 18:50:47:

Thanks for the heads up Kev.

First of all, if I don't do this then my gear isn't going to stop working.

Second, it's very nice of them to tell us it needs doing, but have they instructed us how? Are files available for non FrOS users or do we have to go through the process of converting back to FrOS and then back to our favourite system again?

The cynic in me wonders whether this is an update just to stop cloned receivers working?

Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 16/01/2020 18:51:23

Agreed. At the moment I am going to do nothing!!!

Wait and see is my moto.

[Mike Blandford]

Note that if you update a receiver then you won't be able to use a multi-protocol module (MPM) with that receiver as the MPM doesn't support this revised protocol (yet).

Mike

[Andy48]

Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 16/01/2020 18:50:47:

Thanks for the heads up Kev.

First of all, if I don't do this then my gear isn't going to stop working.

Second, it's very nice of them to tell us it needs doing, but have they instructed us how? Are files available for non FrOS users or do we have to go through the process of converting back to FrOS and then back to our favourite system again?

The cynic in me wonders whether this is an update just to stop cloned receivers working?

Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 16/01/2020 18:51:23

The internal module can be flashed through OpenTX as of version 2.3. Haven't tried it yet though.

[Andy48]

Posted by Tim Ballinger on 16/01/2020 18:55:32:

Clearly Frsky rate this as important but anyone know what the real life issue was?

Also never upgraded RX firmware before. Does it have to be upgraded to work with the upgraded Tx firmware or put another way will non upgraded RXs still work with an upgraded TX?

Tim

This is dead easy especially if you have a Sport lead permanently attached to each receiver. (Hint: if you don't have, then well worth doing!)Download the new files onto the SD card in the transmitter. With the Horus you simply plug that into the Sport socket on the Horus. Done in a couple of minutes

Edited By Andy48 on 16/01/2020 19:27:55

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Thanks Andy48. I hadn't spotted that change in 2.3.

On upgrading a Rx with a Horus, I don't believe an X12 has an S.Port socket?

It can be done from the module pins but then you need to take into account that the supply voltage on the module pins might be higher than the Rx will handle. As usual there's a new number of ways of doing these things.

My easiest option is to use the module pins in my old Taranis to do Rx upgrades.

[Andy48]

Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 16/01/2020 19:47:18:

Thanks Andy48. I hadn't spotted that change in 2.3.

On upgrading a Rx with a Horus, I don't believe an X12 has an S.Port socket?

It can be done from the module pins but then you need to take into account that the supply voltage on the module pins might be higher than the Rx will handle. As usual there's a new number of ways of doing these things.

My easiest option is to use the module pins in my old Taranis to do Rx upgrades.

Sorry no the X12 doesn't have the Sport. I flogged my X12 and bought the X10S, very pleased I did!

The battery in the X12 is 9.6v, most, if not all the receivers will handle 10v. You could make sure the tx has not been recently charged and you should be OK.

[Allan Bennett]

Thanks for the heads-up.

I never updated my old Futaba firmware for over 30 years. This is the kind of thing that's making me sometimes wish I hadn't moved over to Taranis. I don't see why I need the upgrade -- everything's working fine for me -- so I'm going to leave things as they are. The lack of how-to information with the announcement is unhelpful.

Edited By Allan Bennett on 16/01/2020 20:41:14

[Frank Skilbeck]

This update is probably driven by this note this is a German Frsky forum so you may need your web browser to translate it. But basically some users had reported random servo movements and these guys managed to track it down and send the log files to Frsky.

[Andy48]

Posted by Allan Bennett on 16/01/2020 20:40:24:

Thanks for the heads-up.

I never updated my old Futaba firmware for over 30 years.

Blimey, I'm surprised the valves are still working.

[Allan Bennett]

Posted by Andy48 on 16/01/2020 22:22:36:

Posted by Allan Bennett on 16/01/2020 20:40:24:

Thanks for the heads-up.

I never updated my old Futaba firmware for over 30 years.

Blimey, I'm surprised the valves are still working.

Keeps my hands warm in winter

[Martin_K]

Posted by Frank Skilbeck on 16/01/2020 21:54:39:

This update is probably driven by this note this is a German Frsky forum so you may need your web browser to translate it.

Tremendous piece of investigative work.

The connection with growing utilisation of the 2.4GHz band is also interesting as that will increase further if Wi-Fi is adopted as part of the Remote Identification implementation.

[Andy Meade]

I'm surprised they decided to do anything with ACCESS just round the corner? As above, I'm not touching anything as yet.

[Tim Ballinger]

Frank,

Thanks for the link. Would have posted the translation but it so long it would have covered 2 or more posts.

if I read it all correctly there are 2 issues. 1 . Very rarely a servo in 1 random channel may twitch almost imperceptibly

2 on even rarer occasions 1 servo would be free to rotate for about 0.9 s meaning it could achieve full deflection. Control is then returned to normal in both cases.

Upshot is it is a very unlikely event but could get more common so I ,like others, am not rushing in to change anything. Problem will be when buying new Rx’s when they they start being sold with the new firmware as they will not work without the upgrade.
They certainly kept this issue very quiet. Why one can only conjecture......

Tim

[Tim Ballinger]

Seems like folks on RC Groups are equally cynical.

Tim

[Andy Meade]

I'm not so sure about the "wont work without the upgrade" - I've recently flashed some brand new EULBT X8R's with an older RoW firmware, and they work just fine. Might become an issue when the ACCESS Rx's are released, however.

[Tim Ballinger]

Andy,

I’m just reading this bit from the German report

Where benefits are known, there are also disadvantages. The modified encryption requires all receivers and transmitters/HF modules that a customer runs must receive an update at the same time.

If you don't do that, then only the recipients will work with the transmitter who got an update.

We certainly need more from Frsky but that’s the way I read it.

Tim

[MattyB]

 

Posted by Allan Bennett on 16/01/2020 20:40:24:

Thanks for the heads-up.

I never updated my old Futaba firmware for over 30 years. This is the kind of thing that's making me sometimes wish I hadn't moved over to Taranis.

I can see your point Allan, but that's not really comparing apples with apples. Your 30 year old Futaba was almost certainly not a digital 2.4GHz TX, but an analog 35MHz predecessor. None of them had upgradeable software on the RF side (or the TX OS for that matter), and it was a completely different regulatory environment too re:RF. Remember that whilst FrSky are the people making the change this time, every manufacturer of 2.4GHz gear out there today has utilised multiple protocols over the years and required users to upgrade their hardware or (worse) orphaned it for new, sometimes explicitly, sometimes by stealth (i.e. Futaba and FASST). I agree this is poorly communicated by FrSky though (as always, it is their achilles heel and does not seem to be improving).

Posted by Allan Bennett on 16/01/2020 20:40:24:

...I don't see why I need the upgrade -- everything's working fine for me -- so I'm going to leave things as they are. The lack of how-to information with the announcement is unhelpful.

I agree. Based on the info so far I don't see any need to upgrade - far easier to flash any new RXs back to the old firmware than reflash everything else I already own (I already flash all new RXs anyway as I run the FCC rather than LBT firmware).

Edited By MattyB on 17/01/2020 13:29:17

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[MattyB]

Posted by Steve J on 17/01/2020 14:21:46:

Posted by MattyB on 17/01/2020 13:28:08:

 

Remember that whilst FrSky are the people making the change this time, every manufacturer of 2.4GHz gear out there today has utilised multiple protocols over the years and required users to upgrade their hardware or (worse) orphaned it for new, sometimes explicitly, sometimes by stealth (i.e. Futaba and FASST).

My 2009 JR DSX9 works fine with new Spekkie receivers .

I'm sure it does, but it's a matter of record that Spektrum have orphaned DSM (I believe that was purely because it had been criticised for low reliability) and DSM2 (because it no longer complied to current EU regs). I don't think there is a manufacturer out there who hasn't got something like that in their 2.4GHz implementation history at this point.

Edited By MattyB on 17/01/2020 15:15:56

[Peter Christy]

I, too, still have my original DSX-9 and its still giving sterling service. However, it doesn't have telemetry - which may or may not be a good thing - and it isn't upgradeable. Neither are the receivers.

At least the FrSky is upgradeable, and relatively easily at that. And whilst they may not be the most communicative, they do seem to react quickly to any problems that occur.

From reading a translation of the German website, it appears that most of the issues have occurred in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, countries that share a lot of common borders and geography. They are also - I suspect - countries that are more eco-friendly than many others, with a larger percentage of electric flyers. This probably means that many clubs operate closer to civilisation and potential sources of interference than is common in the UK. Lets face it, most of us fly way out in the sticks!

For that reason, I suspect that the issue is not as pressing here as it may be in other countries.

Having said that, I probably will upgrade, but not immediately. I learned long ago, never to use "Vers-1.0" of any software. Always wait for at least the first bugfix!

One or two of my models have rather inaccessible receivers (the downside of scale foamies!), which is an active discouragement! Also, a lot of my models are still on D8, and I want to be sure that this upgrade won't remove that protocol from my transmitters before upgrading!

--

Pete

[Robert Welford]

Posted by MattyB on 17/01/2020 15:13:45:

I don't think there is a manufacturer out there who hasn't got something like that in their 2.4GHz implementation history at this point.

Edited By MattyB on 17/01/2020 15:15:56

Not Multiplex 2.4GHz M-link