Cant Bind Old Taranis X9D with FuriBee x215 (XM+)

[PhilipMiddleton]

I'm new to RC (well, modern RC anyway). I played with RC in the past, but life happened and I didnt have time/money for it. Last time I played with RC was basically the same month the Taranis come out (I purchased one of the first batch to be released). That was 4 or 5 years ago?

I've recently purchased a couple of RTF Drones and I'm slowly getting the hang of flying.
I only really played with ground based vehicles before, well, successfully at least.
I've just purchased a FuriBee x215 Pro with XM+ Rx from Gearbest.
I couldnt get my old Taranis to bind to it. It just refused to bind at all.
So, looking at the firmware on the Taranis I realised it was hopelessly out of date.
I upgraded the Open-TX from 1.1.02 to 2.2.1 thinking that might fix things.
I now realize that was wrong (its the XJT module that talks to the Rx), but the upgrade was a good idea anyway (gave me more options,and the bootloader).
Using the bootloader, I upgraded the builtin XJT module in my Taranis from whatever it was to the latest LBT version (XJT_EU_V20_build170317.hex.frk from fr-sky website)
Again, I try to Bind and again, nothing.

To Clarify:
* Put the Taranis in Bind Mode with Mode D16, Channel Range : CH1-16 1-16
* When pressing bind I get 4 options, I select the top option "CH1-8 Telem ON". These 4 options I have never seen on any youtube videos, must be to do with the latest Open-TX firmware. Hope I'm guessing correct.
* The Taranis starts chirping (3 high pitch fast beeps then a pause), repeating indefinitely
* Power on the XM+ on the FuriBee with the bind button held. Both Red and Green lights go on solid on the XM+ It does not matter how long I hold down the bind button, nuthing different happens.
* release the bind button on the XM+ . Still nothing changes (red and green light on XM+ are still on & the Taranis is still chirping).
* Power down the XM+, Power down the Taranis.
* Power up Taranis. Power up the XM+. Red light flashing on XM+
Taranis still not bound.
*** Am I doing anything wrong here?

I think this means that the XM+ firmware must be the FCC firmware and my XJT firmware before my flashing was the EU firmware and now its the EU LBT firmware
*** Does this sound like a correct assumption?
If so, is there a way of flashing it using the FC its currently hooked up to (using BetaFlight or some other software) or do I need to de-solder it and hook it up to my Taranis to flash?
I've been trying to get intelligent information from GearBest but at Best, they keep asking the same questions I have already answered, or they stick to their old stuffy formula of "Get ALL the details, including the irrelevant details, then ask for a video explaining the problem and showing them step by step, then delay some more before handing to the tech team".
I'm guessing I need to flash it with XM+LBT170313.frk from the frsky website. I'm trying to avoid solder work not because I cant solder, but if I re-solder things and it still does not work, then if I have to send it back, I'm going to guess they will say "You soldered something, warranty void" and I'll be stuck with the bill to send it back to me (In Australia). I get that kind of feeling or vibe from the tone of their emails. Still, it ifs just the XM+ module, I'll just buy another one.
All that said, I think its just a case of flashing the XM+ with the latest LBT software (XM+LBT170313.frk)
What do you guys thing?

Thanks in Advance.

EDIT - Corrected firmware filename - it was slightly wrong. Was "LBT170313.frk" should have been "XM+LBT170313.frk".

 

[VirtueViolater]

This sounds like a good thread for Randy's expertise, he uses Taranis

 

[PhilipMiddleton]

Going to try flashing my Taranis XJT module to FCC firmware to see if my assumption is correct.
Its not what I want in the end, but it will tell me if its just a firmware issue. If it works, I'll flash them both (Tx and Rx) to the latest LBT firmware.

 

[PhilipMiddleton]

Well, my assumption was correct.
I flashed my Taranis XJT module to FCC/Non-EU and she bound up straight away.
Now I know its not a hardware problem, after i've finished playing with BetaFlight I'll flash both Rx and Tx to the LBT firmware.
For now, I'm just playing with configuring the Taranis and configuring the FC - getting my head around it all.
Now that I can see things working, its finally starting to be fun!

 

[Wayno52]

Well done for persisting Philip. Soon be airborne

 

[PhilipMiddleton]

Yep. Got it airborne today. I'm not much good controlling it and my backyard is full of 4WD's and sheds, so was a bit small for my first erratic flight. Man, I feel I need to put a plate under the battery. I did a bunch of hard touch and goes smashing my battery on the ground. That cant be good for the battery.
Yeah, think I'm going to make a battery plate (3D print one) till I stop doing that!
Havnt reflashed the Transmitter or receiver to LBT yet.

What firmware do others use in Australia? From what I read, the LBT (EU) firmware seems the better option (possible legalities aside).
I'm talking about the firmware in the actual built in transmitter module (XJT) in the Tx, and the Receiver (XM+).

 

[HighTechPauper]

Well, my assumption was correct.
I flashed my Taranis XJT module to FCC/Non-EU and she bound up straight away.
Now I know its not a hardware problem, after i've finished playing with BetaFlight I'll flash both Rx and Tx to the LBT firmware.
For now, I'm just playing with configuring the Taranis and configuring the FC - getting my head around it all.
Now that I can see things working, its finally starting to be fun!

Sorry I didn't see this until now @PhilipMiddleton, I would have suggested a flash so you were spot on there, good to know it is working for you now. Being in the US I run Non-EU but I don't think there is any real difference except the Listen Before Talk function required for EU, so perhaps there will be no difference in performance. I think I have read that EU-LBT transmitters cannot be flashed with Non-EU firmware so maybe it is good that you have the choice.

Welcome to the forum!
Randy

 

[PhilipMiddleton]

Hello Randy.
Thank you for responding. (no sarcasm intended).
Yeah, its all working, I'm now struggling to find the time to play with it.
I havnt flashed them both to EU yet, but the reason I was considering it was I found a youtube video (

) that indicates that the LBT EU may put out a little more power than the FCC / non-EU firmware.
Its an old video (2 years old) and There's not a lot of difference, but I am basing my desire to change to the EU version on that. That and I like the idea of LBT.
What do you think about that video, and do you think its still relevant?

Im in Australia, so not part of the EU, so no legal requirement for me to go to EU firmware, I just liked the idea of LBT and the marginally better power output levels as shown in that video.
Thinking about it, I wonder if LBT adds any appreciable lag time?

I've also seen comments about Eu shipped transmitters being locked to EU firmware. Probably why everybody in china sells the non-EU version to preserve flexibility and maximise market scope. If so, wish they would advertise that! Would have saved me some time, but then again, I now have a better understanding of things than if I was simply told the answer without any explanation or research.

 

[HighTechPauper]

Sorry Philip, that is fairly difficult to digest completely, so I only skimmed through it to take note of certain parts. LBT is clearly a good idea in theory regardless, and a little extra power SHOULD equate to a better signal, but I believe the difference between them is negligible even if the readings we see are accurate or there would be much more "discussion" out there over it. I don't think it gives much improvement in practicality anyway while we are out flying in the real world, performance isn't always as easy to guage as hard numbers. The FrSky stuff is very good, I wouldn't overthink it at first, go fly, and slowly test the limits, and If you have the option you can always do your own range and penetration tests and see. Sometimes you find that your mileage may vary and there is no denying it, so see what works best for you. The thing can already fly further than I can walk to search for it, and everytime I send my P4P straight out over 5 miles of open water I know if something goes wrong that is is gone forever. If you're gonna fly hard, your gonna crash, let's hope it's not too far away.

Wow, I'm boring...