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All parts are in need advice on wiring

  • Thread starter Deleted member 3641
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Deleted member 3641

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I finally have all the parts for my first non whoop build. The last part was the RunCam Nano 2. The first one I ordered can in what seemed a large box but was marked RunCam Nano 2. When I opened it there was a Split 3 Micro inside.... Had to order another one and it is finally here.
First thing I did after getting the controller was to do a full CLI Dump and it is save in two places for safe keeping.
I have never hooked up telemetry or smart audio on any of the whoop builds and that is where I could use some help. I want to make sure it is all correct before I start soldering.
Connecting the camera to the VTX is simple but not sure about hooking up the VTX and RX to the controller for full telemetry and smart audio. Here is the specs on the parts. A shout out to @HighTechPauper if I could and of course anyone else who can help me out.

004.png

The FC shows different grounds for the VTX and the camera but the camera plugs into the VTX for ground, pos, and signal. Will that be ok?

I was able to just fit the RX in the canopy with the camera and VTX antenna wire.

005.jpeg
 
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After looking at all of this I would recommend wiring like this...

Video will need to go to the Video In (from cam) and Video Out (to vTX) so that you get your OSD.
Run the vTX power to the recommended spots on the FC.
For the camera I would run the power off the vTX and not use the Cam power/ground on the FC.
Hook the vTX Smart Audio wire to the recommended TX1.
For the R-XSR, I do NOT see a spot for Smart Port Telemetry on the FC, so I would flash the RX with the FPort firmware and hook it to the "nTX2/Inv TX2" pad.
This should allow you to have it all (in theory) by setting the UART1 for Smart Audio, and setting UART2 for Serial RX and setting Serial Receiver Provider to FrSky FPort in the config tab. Since I have never done FPort I do not know if you need to set Telemetry on the Ports page in BF, I think you will need to watch a JB video about setting up FPort to have an idea on how to set that up in BF.
And don't forget to tick the telemetry slider in the Config page also.

Let me know if this makes sense or you have more questions I might be able to answer.
 
After looking at all of this I would recommend wiring like this...

Video will need to go to the Video In (from cam) and Video Out (to vTX) so that you get your OSD.
Run the vTX power to the recommended spots on the FC.
For the camera I would run the power off the vTX and not use the Cam power/ground on the FC.
Hook the vTX Smart Audio wire to the recommended TX1.
For the R-XSR, I do NOT see a spot for Smart Port Telemetry on the FC, so I would flash the RX with the FPort firmware and hook it to the "nTX2/Inv TX2" pad.
This should allow you to have it all (in theory) by setting the UART1 for Smart Audio, and setting UART2 for Serial RX and setting Serial Receiver Provider to FrSky FPort in the config tab. Since I have never done FPort I do not know if you need to set Telemetry on the Ports page in BF, I think you will need to watch a JB video about setting up FPort to have an idea on how to set that up in BF.
And don't forget to tick the telemetry slider in the Config page also.

Let me know if this makes sense or you have more questions I might be able to answer.
Thanks for the "instant" reply. I won't be able to really dig in on it till tonight.
I sort of remember a JB video showing how to get both of the ports working with one wire, I will have to search for that. Thanks again...
 
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Yup, that is the FPort stuff, it is SBus and Smart Port Telemetry on a single wire instead of 2, and since there is not enough UART's on the FC according to the pic I see above, you will need to run FPort to get Telemetry I think. Good luck buddy, here's to praying all works with no out of box failures!
 
Is this video correct that if you do this you don't have to flash the R-XSR to get it to work properly with a F4 controller?
 
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I have never seen anything that you could "flash" to the RX to get un-inverted outputs, if you have some info on that please post me a link, and from what I can tell on that GepRC-12A-F4 v1.1 the "RC" pad is an "inverted" port 2 receive, the "nTX2/Inv TX2" is an inverted port 2 transmit and these pads should be used for Frsky receivers. The other 2 pads to the right of the F4 CPU labeled UART2_TX and UART2_RX are the "un-inverted" pads for use with Flysky, Spectrum etc.
 
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I have never seen anything that you could "flash" to the RX to get un-inverted outputs, if you have some info on that please post me a link, and from what I can tell on that GepRC-12A-F4 v1.1 the "RC" pad is an "inverted" port 2 receive, the "nTX2/Inv TX2" is an inverted port 2 transmit and these pads should be used for Frsky receivers. The other 2 pads to the right of the F4 CPU labeled UART2_TX and UART2_RX are the "un-inverted" pads for use with Flysky, Spectrum etc.
From what I get from that video is that those tiny solder pads are uninverted to use on an normal uart (uninverted).
Thats my question, if I use the uninverted s-port and sbus solder pads instead of the supplied connector wires, can it go to a normal uart without the need to flash.
 
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The answer is yes you understand the video correctly, now my question is what exact pads do you plan to solder them to on the FC? And why don't you use the "inverted" pads on the FC that they give you?
 
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The answer is yes you understand the video correctly, now my question is what exact pads do you plan to solder them to on the FC? And why don't you use the "inverted" pads on the FC that they give you?
I would rather not flash the RX as it is a PITA having to make up a cable to do it among other things. If the RX can be used "as is" I think I would prefer that.
Would it not connect to the UART2 as the other brands do? This links shows the other hook ups.
GEP-12A-F4 Flight Controller 12A ESC - GEPRC
 
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Ok, first off, if you watch any YT vids on the subject you will see that since there is no way to know what firmware is on the RX, and it is highly recommended to ALWAYS flash Frsky RX's. If you bought an R-XSR it should have come with a cable that is the RX connector on one end and a servo connector on the other end, I will try to post a pic in a minute.

SBUS is the control link that controls the FC for flight by relaying your stick and switch inputs, Smart Port is the Telemetry link that provides any sensors that the FC generates back to the RX so that it can be sent to the TX for use in things like monitoring battery voltage or RSSI through OpenTX scripts. Most people don't feel the need for Telemetry since we can see these things on the OSD that exists now on most FC's, but I still configure it all and use both since more than once I have been flying and not paying attention to the OSD when my radio says "13.97 volts" and then realize I am about to kill a battery.

FPort is the combination of both the SBUS and Smart Port into one wire, and since your FC doesn't have enough ports to run the 2 separate wires needed for SBUS and Smart Port (since they MUST be on separate and completely unused ports, i.e. they can't both be on port 2) so without flashing and running FPort you will not be able to get Telemetry back to the radio.
 
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Ok, first off, if you watch any YT vids on the subject you will see that since there is no way to know what firmware is on the RX, and it is highly recommended to ALWAYS flash Frsky RX's. If you bought an R-XSR it should have come with a cable that is the RX connector on one end and a servo connector on the other end, I will try to post a pic in a minute.

SBUS is the control link that controls the FC for flight by relaying your stick and switch inputs, Smart Port is the Telemetry link that provides any sensors that the FC generates back to the RX so that it can be sent to the TX for use in things like monitoring battery voltage or RSSI through OpenTX scripts. Most people don't feel the need for Telemetry since we can see these things on the OSD that exists now on most FC's, but I still configure it all and use both since more than once I have been flying and not paying attention to the OSD when my radio says "13.97 volts" and then realize I am about to kill a battery.

FPort is the combination of both the SBUS and Smart Port into one wire, and since your FC doesn't have enough ports to run the 2 separate wires needed for SBUS and Smart Port (since they MUST be on separate and completely unused ports, i.e. they can't both be on port 2) so without flashing and running FPort you will not be able to get Telemetry back to the radio.
Thank you for the explanation.
I do have a couple of those cables but it is keyed and will not fit into the 3 pin port at the bottom of my QX7.
 
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You can always trim the key off the connector, and it's seems strange since my QX7S is keyed, and the cable that came with my R-XSR's is also keyed to fit the proper slot on the bottom of the QX7S.
 
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Now I feel stupid... I was trying to use the port on the bottom corner and not the one under the flap next to the memory card!

image1.jpeg
 
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BTW... if it fit there, then the next thing that would have happened is "I know it's connected properly, but I can't get the RX to flash, what could be wrong?" ;)?
 
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I finally got enough time to put this puppy together and of course nothing goes as planned although at least nothing burned up when first powered on...

First I must say my new wireless soldering iron is a champ. The pads on this FC are so tiny and so close together I needed a fine tip iron. This one worked like a charm.
HAKKO | Soldering Iron | HAKKO FX-901

As for the not going as planned, it looks the the Diamond VTX/DVR unit is bad. I get nothing but dark lines in the goggles and this is what gets recorded to its DVR. I plugged the camera into the other Diamond VTX unit in my other whoop and it works fine.

I flashed the R-XSR with the FPort firmware and did the JB trick to get both ports on one wire connected to the "nTX2/INV TX2" pad, but the only sensors I get with "Discover new sensors" on my QX7 is RSSI and RxBT. No battery or any other sensors are found.

Tried a little flight in the house here LOS and it seems to fly just fine, just no video and no sensors. It is really a tight fit getting everything inside the canopy but they just made it (RunCam Nano 2, R-XSR, AXII RHCP Antenna). I found the canopy on Ebay and it worked out very well.

Here is how it looks assembled...
IMG_9940.jpg
IMG_9939.jpg
IMG_9936.jpg
 
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