ELRS - Happy Model

[ched]

So Santa bought me a Happy Model ExpressLRS Slim Pro TX module ( ES24TX ), a EP2 2.4GHz Receiver, and a ELRS EP1 2.4GHz Receiver.
I haven't had much time to play but I used latest ELRS configurator to flash TX to vs 2.0.1 and installed the new lua script on my FrSky X-lite S. Flashed via usb and included my local wifi details.
All went perfect no issues at all.
I then went into the lua script and enabled the bluetooth joystick. It connected straight to my laptop. Then I tried Liftoff, Velocidrone and Uncrashed, they all worked after setting up new controller. Liftoff was a little weird, I think my rates need correcting.

I have flashed the receivers via their wifi and my mobile phone. Again all went perfect no issues.
TX to RX all bound using the flashed bind phrase.

I've not installed the rx yet as I'm having issues with win 7 and Betaflight 10.7.1 taking an age to install.

So far all looks great, no idea on range etc yet.

Will report back when I know more.

Happy Christmas.

[badger1]

very nice 

do you know what quad you're going to put it in yet?

[ched]

Yep, I have a new Tina Whoop 2S that the EP1 is going in. Well it's in now, weirdly the rx connections that are on an external plug that's supposed to be for rxsr or ppm rx was wired incorrectly! I only found out after taking it apart that the two wires for sbus and ppm were actually connected to tx1 and rx1!!! So I opened it up for no good reason!! EP1 seems to be working fine in BF, just need to conformal coat the boards then reassemble it, I ran out of time today, what with dinner etc....

The other rx (EP2) is going into a Mobula 6 that has a terrible spi rx.

[Bad Raven]

I have fallen off the fence    and ordered the Namimno set of JR Module and three receivers with tee antennae.  "Supposed" to be coming into stock by Feb 3rd.     

[ched]

You had to do it some time 
I still haven't done the Mob6.

Still putting van together.....

[Bad Raven]

You had to do it some time 

Well, I'll be interested in its robustness of connection, and whether it can overcome a minor irk we have at our field.  Being quite urban, and with a sizeable gas main passing underground across the field to feed the nearest very large housing estate all of us get the rare but annoying glitch, which even more rarely can produce a fail safe.

I have often visualised someone in a motorised sparking pod a la James Bond escape system causing it!!   

[Bad Raven]

For general information, the large estate was originally built as overspill council housing for the Greater London Council.  At the time regarded as somewhere they transferred their problems. Long time since then, and Maggie's policy of selling off council houses altered the landscape forever.

There are only two roads in and out, and one of those is straight onto narrow country lanes.  There is therefore only one decent access and this has a police station balanced subtly and strategically at its end.

When the last civil disorder riots occurred close by, the locals there manned barricades 24/7 and kept their estate free from issues!  There is info that they caught a couple of rioters/looters returning home and gang marched them to that local nick!

We have had one flyaway in that direction in 30 plus years, a gyro'd foam Cessna lookalike (and this since the CAA lower air-grab so was reported by pilot). The plane was found upside down on a pitched house roof facing the street. 

The local's online group published a picture of it with the headline "Plane crashes on ******** house roof" and then followed it up with "and we do hope Warwick Davis is OK"   

The pilot went to identify it and look how to recover it fearing anger, but was met with smiles, and the female householder then went to her neighbours, who dropped what they were doing, one getting a 3 section ladder and they recovered it for the pilot with total good humour.

ELRS would "no doubt" have prevented the issue in the first place (see, its not off topic!!)   

And yes, it was Spektrum................   

[Bad Raven]

I have fallen off the fence    and ordered the Namimno set of JR Module and three receivers with tee antennae.  "Supposed" to be coming into stock by Feb 3rd.     

SO the date on the website went from Feb 3rd to Mar 1st to Mar 10th and then back to Feb 3rd on Mar 2nd.    Banggood's expected stocking data system has a mind of its own. 

I then got the "we are about to refund" warning. 

So, I went to HobbyRC, who were listing the earlier non-OLED screen black case version, buy hey, at least they had stock.

Arrived yesterday and .............. on opening the box, its is the latest grey case OLED screen version, not as advertised.

Have bought a selection of receivers, HM EP1, HM EPW5 and a Matek R-24D, already had a couple of the HM ones with the tiny block ceramic antenna.

Now starts the struggle to get them up and running!

[ched]

SO the date on the website went from Feb 3rd to Mar 1st to Mar 10th and then back to Feb 3rd on Mar 2nd.    Banggood's expected stocking data system has a mind of its own. 

I then got the "we are about to refund" warning. 

So, I went to HobbyRC, who were listing the earlier non-OLED screen black case version, buy hey, at least they had stock.

Arrived yesterday and .............. on opening the box, its is the latest grey case OLED screen version, not as advertised.

Have bought a selection of receivers, HM EP1, HM EPW5 and a Matek R-24D, already had a couple of the HM ones with the tiny block ceramic antenna.

Now starts the struggle to get them up and running!

I have found if you flash and add your home wifi SSID and password then the next time you need to update it's so simple as once powered on they appear on your network in the configurator.

[Bad Raven]

I have found if you flash and add your home wifi SSID and password then the next time you need to update it's so simple as once powered on they appear on your network in the configurator.

Heck, March 9th to April 25th!  My only excuse was life intervened, including 50th wedding anniversary, a trip to Cheddar, model railway work, etc.

OK, Update :-

The Horus X12S I inherited normally has a multi-protocol iRange for my own school club models but I have fitted the Namimno OLED "Flash" module to that, and will swap. Set up LUA on it with no trouble (manual load via SD card (Old School rules, OK!).

Set up a Happymodel EP2 on a near redundant 3" Diatone ET frame, ELRS Configurator and UART connection (MORE Old School!  )

No issues getting the pair to talk other than the TX LUA takes ages to load and run and the messages it gives are frankly carp!

Then I tried to change a 5" over, Emax 250, also not seeing use for a while, same Matek F401-STD flight controller.  Decided to use the Matek R24-D.

AND............it would not link together. Its taken me most of today to wrestle it into working condition, and I still do not understand why the TX LUA Sscreen would not load on the tx, AS IT HAD BEFORE, no error messages, when it was the Rx build that wasn't correct.

Fooled me into wasting time on the TX, till I finally rebuilt the Rx, at which point the TX loaded the LUA and it happily burst into life. 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to do more than hover around the garden.

With regard wi-fi use, I have so much hung on it I'm VERY reluctant to play around any more with it!

[Bad Raven]

So today was ELRS fly day.

First the 250 with the matek diversity "normal" size (Like a R-XSR) dual antenna, which performed without issue or incident.

Then the tiny ceramic aerial Happymodel EP2 on the 3". Flew that around the normal distances, and the video was clearly going to be limiting the range, as it broke up quite badly behind the Oak (on 25MHz).

Anyway chose to take it to limit of spotters range down the valley, got right down to the corner, further than I would normally risk a quad. 

Which it did without incident, then on the way back at likely 2/3 the full distance I'd covered it suddenly tumbled to the ground probably from 100 feet plus up since I was keeping it above tree skyline so spotter could see it.

No indications of issues in OSD, tumbling not indicative of a fail safe. Vision cut before it grounded.

Don't know what the crop over there is but its in clear rows, wide bladed spaced out lines of clumpy "grass" (looks like couch grass!!) , so quite easy to walk crossing the lines and look both ways.

No sounds to help locate it, reinforcing the battery had likely ejected.  It was flying quite slowly, and the tumble looked like it would being tugged around and was as good as vertical, so my opinion is that the battery escaped. A 1300 3S dangling from a 150 frame would have seriously unstabilised it until it pulled the plug out.


When we had decided to give up we turned 180 a maybe three metres apart to go back, and after say four metres there it was, in full view, leaning against a grass clump in a row gap.  HOW both of us had missed it is a mystery! We'd both passed as good as right over it at least twice.   

The battery was then easily found three metres away in a dead line BACK from the quads resting place. It had been velcro based AND strapped tight.  Strap was still good.

Broken/missing Video Antenna (SMA sheared!)
1 prop blade missing
frame parallelogrammed with bent posts and screws
slight delamination of front corner of frame.

All repaired, replaced screws and posts, flight tested in garden, ready for tomorrow if not at Indoor tonight!!

[ched]

Which parameters did you have on the OSD? From what I have seen a good signal vs a bad one isn't that easy to see. Some say keep eye on db, some link quality and some the other thing that I can't remember.
Do you have telemetry on your radio or a recording of OSD to try and see what happened?

[Bad Raven]

Yes, telemetry on radio, no audible warnings. Obviously wearing goggles, no vision of Tx screen.

Nothing untoward I recall on OSD. I'd not activated the goggles DVR.

The more I thnk about the way it lost control visual in goggles, the more convinced I am it was battery ejection from the frame and dangling from the wires.  I have improved that, now!

Anyway, round two today is looking on.  Its 6 degrees warmer, too, though the cloud looks less likely to dissipate!