Frequency interaction between video TX and Garmin dog tracker - What to do?

[Mactadpole]

https://pixhawk.org/peripherals/telemetry/crossfire

Just so it's clear to folks, it appears telemetry is only working with the PX4 flight control stack FC software not APM. I see no mention of it working with Mission Planner, which I don't even know if PX4 works with MP. I have only ever used APM. It currently sounds to me like the TBS crew is leaving it up to the APM developers to merge some part of the PX4 code so it works with it as well. There seems to be a bit of setup required to get it working well with Taranis at the moment as well. I'm in a holding pattern on this one for now.

I can't seem to find any info on the Crossfire storing the last GPS position of the copter if it goes down and continuing to transmit that position even if the main flight batteries are ejected. Any idea @fltundra?

 

[fltundra]

Posted by Perna

"It looks like a lot of people getting confused about this. Here is what works now:
If you run PX4 flight stack on your FC it is now able to talk direct to crossfire, core pro, blackbox by BST. PX4 will provide BST frames like current senor ( battery, current, capacity ), GPS ( the same data like the TBS GPS ) and attitude ( artificial horizon ). For all who run a blackbox I would not touch it ( never touch a running system

).
For all core pro and crossfire users this gives you the ability to get all relevant information direct from your FC and you will have the same features available like you have by connecting a TBS GPS and TBS current sensor to your crossfire ( latest coordinates on the crossfire OLED, MAVLink emulator with real time position tracking on any MAVLink GCS ). With a GPS source it's also much more easy to find your lost plane again. Due the internal battery it will always send you the latest recorded coordinates as soon as you get into crossfire range.

This update does not cover full telemetry like upload waypoints or configure your FC. Full MAVLink support will come with the next crossfire update. It's just an interface who makes PX4 talk BST with the frames mentioned above.

APM, PX4, Pixhawk...
Pixhawk, Pixhack, PixFalco are the hardware and APM and PX4 is the software you run on those FCs. All of them can run both APM and PX4
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/differences-between-apm-px4-pixhawk
APM could actually merge this code as they use the same driver sets.

MAVLink inside crossfire.
It my be confusing because you can connect to the crossfire TX by the same GCS ( APM Planner, Droid Planner, QGroundControl ) you can configure your FC and plan missions but not yet over crossfire.
This is why the crossfire TX is emulating an FC internally to make it work with already existing tools and apps. Due the low bandwidth but great range we are really limited in sending data up and down. So we decided to send only the most important stuff back to the crossfire TX. The link is not capable of sending all FC frames up and down. Up to crossfire version V1.09 Mavlink is only to see live tracking of your wing/copter on a MAVLink GCS.

With the next update we are going to change this. We are going to merge a data radio inside crossfire so you have all features you are used to have with your MAVLink data radio. This means an additional data radio will be not required anymore and everything FC related can also be done direct over crossfire.

I hope this helps to figure out how it works now and how it will work any time soon

"

 

[fltundra]

I can't seem to find any info on the Crossfire storing the last GPS position of the copter if it goes down and continuing to transmit that position even if the main flight batteries are ejected. Any idea @fltundra?

The Diversity Receiver has a built in lipo.

 

[Mactadpole]

Posted by Perna

"It looks like a lot of people getting confused about this. Here is what works now:
If you run PX4 flight stack on your FC it is now able to talk direct to crossfire, core pro, blackbox by BST. PX4 will provide BST frames like current senor ( battery, current, capacity ), GPS ( the same data like the TBS GPS ) and attitude ( artificial horizon ). For all who run a blackbox I would not touch it ( never touch a running system

).
For all core pro and crossfire users this gives you the ability to get all relevant information direct from your FC and you will have the same features available like you have by connecting a TBS GPS and TBS current sensor to your crossfire ( latest coordinates on the crossfire OLED, MAVLink emulator with real time position tracking on any MAVLink GCS ). With a GPS source it's also much more easy to find your lost plane again. Due the internal battery it will always send you the latest recorded coordinates as soon as you get into crossfire range.

This update does not cover full telemetry like upload waypoints or configure your FC. Full MAVLink support will come with the next crossfire update. It's just an interface who makes PX4 talk BST with the frames mentioned above.

APM, PX4, Pixhawk...
Pixhawk, Pixhack, PixFalco are the hardware and APM and PX4 is the software you run on those FCs. All of them can run both APM and PX4
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/differences-between-apm-px4-pixhawk
APM could actually merge this code as they use the same driver sets.

MAVLink inside crossfire.
It my be confusing because you can connect to the crossfire TX by the same GCS ( APM Planner, Droid Planner, QGroundControl ) you can configure your FC and plan missions but not yet over crossfire.
This is why the crossfire TX is emulating an FC internally to make it work with already existing tools and apps. Due the low bandwidth but great range we are really limited in sending data up and down. So we decided to send only the most important stuff back to the crossfire TX. The link is not capable of sending all FC frames up and down. Up to crossfire version V1.09 Mavlink is only to see live tracking of your wing/copter on a MAVLink GCS.

With the next update we are going to change this. We are going to merge a data radio inside crossfire so you have all features you are used to have with your MAVLink data radio. This means an additional data radio will be not required anymore and everything FC related can also be done direct over crossfire.

I hope this helps to figure out how it works now and how it will work any time soon

"

My summary post was based on Perna's info and what I could find elsewhere.

The Diversity Receiver has a built in lipo.

I know there is a lipo in the receiver but that does not necessarily mean it is storing coordinates to transmit if all other battery power fails. It could just simply be passing it through for transmission. I'll see what I can find or ask on the other forum.

 

[fltundra]

My summary post was based on Perna's info and what I could find elsewhere.



I know there is a lipo in the receiver but that does not necessarily mean it is storing coordinates to transmit if all other battery power fails. It could just simply be passing it through for transmission. I'll see what I can find or ask on the other forum.

Even if it doesn't store them you can still radio direction to find it.

 

[Mactadpole]

Jumping back on here to say I am now considering the Dragon Link v3 (Advanced Complete System). It addresses some of my concerns with the Crossfire and already has the Mavlink telemetry data connection implemented so you can have a connection with your Pixhawk and your choice of GCS via bluetooth or wired from the Dragon Link TX. Pretty slick. It also works as a downed copter/plane locator and does save the last GPS coordinates. Reading through the endless thread on the other forum but looks good so far. I also like that it has an app that can be connected to via bluetooth for making changes to settings, etc.

Not trying to start controversy over which is better, I just care about which LRS currently fits my needs.

 

[fltundra]

Jumping back on here to say I am now considering the Dragon Link v3 (Advanced Complete System). It addresses some of my concerns with the Crossfire and already has the Mavlink telemetry data connection implemented so you can have a connection with your Pixhawk and your choice of GCS via bluetooth or wired from the Dragon Link TX. Pretty slick. It also works as a downed copter/plane locator and does save the last GPS coordinates. Reading through the endless thread on the other forum but looks good so far. I also like that it has an app that can be connected to via bluetooth for making changes to settings, etc.

Not trying to start controversy over which is better, I just care about which LRS currently fits my needs.

The girlfriend and the dog thing in his videos is kinda silly. And have seen a lot of issues with customer service. Getting a response from TBS has never been an issue. Really can't say enough how important it is if a problem arises, they will respond and take care of it.

 

[Mactadpole]

Like I said - not trying to start a debate...just putting the options out there and stating what appears to fit my needs as far as features go right now.

I've long considered DL or Scherrer as long range systems to give a go. The owner of DL and his techs are extremely active over on the "other forum" thread and are cranking out updated features much faster than Xfire, at least in terms of working with Pixhawk and all of its GCS's. I see a consistent stream of kudos for support on that and other threads for DL. I also don't have to change my video frequency or worry about using the RFD900's if not happy with their built in radio modem feature. If I give it a go and regret it you can say you told me so.

 

[Bartman]

Shawn,

I tried an EZUHF system a while back but it had all sorts of problems with Windows 8. That's probably been resolved but in the mean time I went with Dragonlink and it worked awesome.