Another first fpv quad build

[badger1]

I have a couple of TX805's & find them fine.

Matek do one for £20 - I have the same thing one a Matek PDB+VTx combo & it seems to work fine.  only goes up to 500mW, but we're only using 25mW anyway, right?   

[relativenewbyseb]

Have had a few eachine vtx  , never had any problems other than wrecking coax.
Newer system of those micro connectors for coax looks better.

Anyways .... banggood now got uk warehouse ??!!

Ps when I need replacement parts I tend to buy 2 of , as it were , .... if I've broke something once .....
  

I do get the buying spares to have ready but then I don't like spending money, really... [emoji102] Also on a side note I don't fancy dropping in the sea again anyway to warrant another new vtx [emoji28][emoji28]

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[relativenewbyseb]

Looking at reviews for the tx805 just suggests they don't get very close to their actual mW rating anyway, however not allowed it may be [emoji848] but always good to have someones personal opinion/approval outside the paid reviews that you always see
I do like the possibility of the slightly higher than 25mW on the akk [emoji102]found it doesn't quite appreciate the trees all round my house
Also airflow wise, mounted on stack alright or find somewhere else completely?

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[ched]

On stack should be fine. Props should throw some air into the stack. The AKK one looks good to me as it also have the DVR 

[relativenewbyseb]

So vtx fitted, no chance of testing in this awful weather but just trying to go through smart audio in the osd and have no option to change power etc??
Just have statx as an option, and when I look into that it doesn't give much either?
Any ideas

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[badger1]

Smart Audio protocol configured correctly in BF - ie TBS SA / IRC Tramp ?  on correct UART?  wiring all good?

what version of BF are you on?  does it need VTx tables setting up?

[relativenewbyseb]

Smart Audio protocol configured correctly in BF - ie TBS SA / IRC Tramp ?  on correct UART?  wiring all good?

what version of BF are you on?  does it need VTx tables setting up?

So this is where I'm unsure if I've been stupid, the instructions look identical from the previous vtx to now, minus max power being 1200 instead of 600
However I've changed that small detail in bf, otherwise left the rest of the setup the same
I'm guessing you're gonna tell me easily, I hope [emoji1696][emoji1696]
New at the top, previous at the bottom

I do feel like I remember looking at the version of smart audio for that previous vtx but can't remember

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[ched]

First off.
What version of BetaFlight are you using? (Open Betaflight configurator and connect quad (NO props), the go to cli and type version then hit enter). If it's 4.1 or above you have to set up vtx tables.
Second look at the FC and see what uart TX pad no smart audio wire is soldered to.
Again in in BetaFlight Configurator go to ports tab and make sure the uart no you checked above is set to Smart Audio.
Lastly have you unlocked the vtx (if necessary)?

[relativenewbyseb]

First off.
What version of BetaFlight are you using? (Open Betaflight configurator and connect quad (NO props), the go to cli and type version then hit enter). If it's 4.1 or above you have to set up vtx tables.
Second look at the FC and see what uart TX pad no smart audio wire is soldered to.
Again in in BetaFlight Configurator go to ports tab and make sure the uart no you checked above is set to Smart Audio.
Lastly have you unlocked the vtx (if necessary)?

So the vtx tables are identical from the old vtx to the new that's why I left them the way they are, I had previously configured them yes
Is this logical? I dunno aha
Same with smart audio going to tx3 in bf and on the fc, I haven't changed anything setup wise just replaced one with the other
Unlocking I have seen occasionally about a long press of the button but really was confused as to whether that was the us version only and also if that was only for the highest setting
I can definitely confirm it remains in 25mw even if bf says different for startup power

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[relativenewbyseb]

So still no further progress at the moment and as found with my previous Internet search there are quite a few different people who've had the same or similar issue but not necessarily with the same vtx, and solutions are either 2 Years ago or not very well documented [emoji848][emoji848]

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[badger1]

are you replacing the same VTx like-for-like or did you have something different before?

same BF version, FC config?  correct UART definitely configured for Smart Audio on the 'Ports' tab in BF?

wired like this?:

VTx 7-26V in    -> FC VBatt
VTx GND in      -> FC GND
VTX 5V out      -> not connected
VTX GND out    -> not connected
VTx video      -> FC video in
VTX Smart Audio -> UART Tx

video works presumably?  can you change channel & power manually via the FC button?

fwiw - I found this quite useful the first time I set up VTx tables:

https://oscarliang.com/smartaudio-tramp-vtx-control-vtxtables/

as you'll see, the configs aren't wildly different between models/makes.

I just noticed the built-in DVR on the VTx - that's pretty cool. 

[relativenewbyseb]

are you replacing the same VTx like-for-like or did you have something different before?

same BF version, FC config?  correct UART definitely configured for Smart Audio on the 'Ports' tab in BF?

wired like this?:

VTx 7-26V in    -> FC VBatt
VTx GND in      -> FC GND
VTX 5V out      -> not connected
VTX GND out    -> not connected
VTx video      -> FC video in
VTX Smart Audio -> UART Tx

video works presumably?  can you change channel & power manually via the FC button?

fwiw - I found this quite useful the first time I set up VTx tables:

https://oscarliang.com/smartaudio-tramp-vtx-control-vtxtables/

as you'll see, the configs aren't wildly different between models/makes.

I just noticed the built-in DVR on the VTx - that's pretty cool. 

So in order I guess [emoji16]
I'm replacing a 'TheFPV chaos mini vtx' from unmannedtech with a 'AKK FX2 ultimate mini (international)' so not the one with the dvr although I had looked at that one

Otherwise no change to quad setup, soldered new vtx wires on to TX3 , vid, gnd, and vcc on FC as you said yep
Correct uart on bf ports tab (uart3, peripherals, VTX(TBS smartaudio)), well that's what I had before and worked

Video works, vtx button works as the leds change for channels and power, I just know it stays 25mW as green led is on for that and it stays on despite selected power mode in vtx tab of bf being different

I'll read through that again and see if I can see anything I've done wrong but struggling



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[relativenewbyseb]

So a development, upon doing the test to see what version of smartaudio the vtx has...
Yup no signal whatsoever in debug for smart audio...
So this is gonna be me being useless at soldering isn't it?
Or a very small chance that the tx3 doesn't work anymore post dunk, but that's wishful thinking of a sort isn't it [emoji28][emoji28]

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[ched]

Searching for statx and BetaFlight it appears Smart Audio 2.1 does not work on BF 4.0. !!!
It appears that the problem started with TBS ('inventor of Smart Audio') when they went to SA2.1.
So it looks like your vtx is using Smart Audio 2.1
I am looking to see if there is a solution.

[ched]

Check soldering first.

I found something about AKK FX2 https://youtu.be/vlQrqFWy9BU
Take a backup CLi 'dump /all' and save it first.
It doesn't seem that new (2018) but might be worth looking at?

Alternatively have a look here:
https://oscarliang.com/smartaudio-tramp-vtx-control-vtxtables/
basically there are 3 versions of Smart Audio VTX tables depending on which smart audio is on the vtx. So if the debug doesn't work (link to debug instructions in page.) You could just try each method and see if one works?

[ched]

Just read this: "You need to be on any version of Betaflight 4.1 (earlier versions of BF including 4.0.x don't support the blackbox debug mode via the BFC GUI), and you need to be on Betaflight Configurator 10.6.0 (again, earlier versions of BFC don't have the blackbox debug mode dropdown)."

What version of BF are you running?

[ched]

Just found this: 'The contents of the current vtx table can be examined by typing the command vtxtable into the cli'
That way you could find out what method the old vtx used then change to one of the alternatives?
eg:
vtxtable powervalues 7 16 25 40    =  SmartAudio 1.0
or
vtxtable powervalues 0 1 2 3    =  SmartAudio 2.0
or
vtxtable powervalues 14 20 26 30  = SmartAudio 2.1

[ched]

Looking at the AKK Ultimate VTX and vtx from Oscar is:

vtxtable bands 5
vtxtable channels 8
vtxtable band 1 BOSCAM_A A FACTORY 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725
vtxtable band 2 BOSCAM_B B FACTORY 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866
vtxtable band 3 BOSCAM_E E FACTORY 5705 5685 5665 5645 5885 5905 5925 5945
vtxtable band 4 FATSHARK F FACTORY 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880
vtxtable band 5 RACEBAND R FACTORY 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917
vtxtable powerlevels 4
vtxtable powervalues 0 1 2 3
vtxtable powerlabels 25 200 600 120
save

So like like the AKK is SmartAudio 2.0. Hopefully the 'thefpv vtx' was SmartAudio 1.0

[relativenewbyseb]

Blimey ched thanks for all that [emoji120][emoji108]
I shall have a look at all that tomorrow and hopefully get it sorted, laptop currently being used so can't quickly check some things but will do

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[badger1]

nice one ched 

[relativenewbyseb]

So i believe same smart audio version between the two vtx as my first port of call worked
Tried resoldering the smartaudio wire to tx3 twice with no success so switched it to tx6, changed that in bf and hey presto everything works and I can access it in the osd, and can verify the power/channel change as the leds on the vtx change

So a little bit confusing as to why the tx3 pad isn't working but tx6 was free so we're all good now

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[relativenewbyseb]

So update, sourced a new gopro session for mounting on my quad, whilst getting myself a cheeky upgrade to the 5 in the process, and had a fair few flights since the installation of the new vtx
I have tried sorting the rssi or equivalent into osd but am currently struggling
So I believe I have it set up on the tx using a method shown in some YouTube stuff with it sending error on like channel 10, as I do get an alert of snr below 5db I think. This is using the 14 channel I think firmware
But then I thought I had done the right thing setting that channel up in bf for the rssi signal to monitor that channel value
However currently in my osd I just have between 38 and 41 dB showing as my rssi with barely any change or relevance to distance  so it's obviously not representative of anything
I'm just not sure exactly on the process as it was like a combination of subtitled Spanish videos and a partial writeup about 10 pages deep in a forum post about the modded firmware
Has anyone done it before on an i6?

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[ched]

I just pulled my i6 tx out of the loft - boy is that hot!!!!
Anyway just checked and unfortunately I deleted all my models when I was selling it with the F450. I did have it working though.
I think 1 critical thing is you need the FlyPlus modified FirmWare. Not sure you can do it without. Have you modded the FW?
I just looked at the Spanish video - I seem to remember that I didn't use SNR but RSSI when configuring the channel. I think I remember that SNR isn't a linear scale and goes from something like 7dbm to 45dbm?
Also remember that the i6 uses pure channel numbers i.e. 1 to 14. Where as BetaFlight uses Ch1 to 4 then Aux 1 to 10. So if you set your tx to output rssi on ch10 it will actually be Aux 6 on BetaFlight.
Also make sure on BF config page RSSI right column towards the bottom is switched OFF as that is analogue as if you had directly wired an output ox rx to a pad on FC.

[relativenewbyseb]

I just pulled my i6 tx out of the loft - boy is that hot!!!!
Anyway just checked and unfortunately I deleted all my models when I was selling it with the F450. I did have it working though.
I think 1 critical thing is you need the FlyPlus modified FirmWare. Not sure you can do it without. Have you modded the FW?
I just looked at the Spanish video - I seem to remember that I didn't use SNR but RSSI when configuring the channel. I think I remember that SNR isn't a linear scale and goes from something like 7dbm to 45dbm?
Also remember that the i6 uses pure channel numbers i.e. 1 to 14. Where as BetaFlight uses Ch1 to 4 then Aux 1 to 10. So if you set your tx to output rssi on ch10 it will actually be Aux 6 on BetaFlight.
Also make sure on BF config page RSSI right column towards the bottom is switched OFF as that is analogue as if you had directly wired an output ox rx to a pad on FC.

Cheers again ched, so yeah I've got the latest flyplus 14 channel firmware
Yeah I think it's aux 6 as I've already got the different switches set up on my tx on the other aux channels so I'm confident that bits right
I will have to check tomorrow whether I have that setting right on the configuration page thanks

In terms of rssi or snr or error I have tried this method I think(pic) , but yeah basically I shall check the config page as I think I may have got the wrong end of the stick on that bit

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[relativenewbyseb]

Yep as thought I had selected that analog rssi option, fingers crossed that'll solve it

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[relativenewbyseb]

So this is what I get on my osd now I have turned that rssi option off in the config tab
130 as rssi dbm value in osd options(this hasn't changed from before) and a flashing 0 as rssi value in osd options

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[relativenewbyseb]

And on the tx rssi isn't an option in channel setup there is only snr or error, currently on snr should I be on error?
Edit tried error and no difference

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[ched]

I think I used error signal.
So in Betaflight on the rx tab page what does aux10 show? Can you move tx into another room and the rx page shows aux10 changing?
If it does change then on the same BF page set rssi to aux10 that should work?

[relativenewbyseb]

OK I've cycled through those settings again, tried both snr and error and finally got it working with error as you said, I'm unsure why it wasn't before though as as far as I'm aware it was just the snr bit wrong so when I changed that it should've worked straight away
Ah well we are sorted so a bit more peace of mind

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[relativenewbyseb]

Not been out much recently with the sea incident and the weather and the lack of gopro
Back in the air again but seems to show in the rather shaky flying that ensued...

https://youtu.be/aZuUN7T0ol4

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