Need help switching from 1-man to 2-man config with Taranis and Alexmos

Hi everyone,

I need help with the following issue:

I have a T960 hex all set up with a new gimbal flying a GH4 and would like to be able to fly it in both 1-man and 2-man configurations.

The setup:
- Both copter and gimbal have their own X8R receiver.
- Both Rx's are using Sbus
- The gimbal is utilizing a 32 bit Alexmos board through Sbus. The gimbal uses encoders on the motors. The reason I mention the encoders is because using them requires me to put a second X8R receiver on the gimbal itself as there is no possibility of a slip ring with this setup.
- The copter also has it's own X8R receiver connected to a Naza-M V2 flight controller though Sbus.

The problem:
- I would like to be able to switch between using this copter in 1-man and 2-man configurations. In 1-man configuration I'd like control over the tilt and roll using the pots, and start/stop of camera using a 2-way or 3-way switch. In 2-man configuration I'd like the second Taranis to control the gimbal and camera only, with the sticks controlling gimbal pitch and yaw. I realize that I can bind one Tx to both Rx's. I also realize that, since I cannot bind 2 Txs to one Rx, I will probably need to do a re-bind according to whether I'll be flying 1-man or 2-man, and I'll probably need to switch models on the pilot Tx. I'm Ok with this, but can't figure out how to configure the Tx Models and Mixes on each receiver to make it work, and am unclear as to what binding modes I should use.

Specific questions:
- Can the X9D Tx even be bound to 2 X8R's that are both using Sbus at the same time?
- if so, how would I go about setting this up?

Am I asking too much of this equipment?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Looks great, unfortunately there can be no connections between the gimbal and the flight controller. The gimbal is an entirely self contained unit. It's even removable via 4 quick releases.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Johnn80, thanks for the suggestion, but I, as the camera operator, can't be tethered to the pilot. Otherwise that would be an awesome solution.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This is sounding interesting. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me, and everyone.

Question - being that all gimbal-related gear must live directly on my gimbal, as I have no option for slip rings in the yaw motor, I must ask, how big is this module? I would need to find a place to mount it. And also, what type of connection does it use from the module to the controller? And, does the module communicate directly with the X8R receiver? I cannot bind 2 Tx's to one receiver,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It's actually not that fast when you have to deal with those dang little jumpers!

 

Thanks so much for all the info and advise everyone!

I went with the FrSky XJT module and it works great so far. Easy setup on the Taranis, and an easy bind. And it's simple stupid to just pop it out of one Tx and into the other, with appropriately setup models on each.

Problem solved!

 

Gawd I wish there were! Unfortunately, the encoder-equipped motors this gimbal uses does not have a slip ring on the yaw motor. Someday soon I hope!

 

Sorry for the confusion.

For one man operation, I have the internal XJT on the first Taranis bound to the RX on the copter, and external XJT bound to the RX on the gimbal. When I go to a two-man operation, I simply move the external XJT, which is already bound to the RX on the gimbal, to the other Taranis. The internal XJT on the second Taranis is not bound to anything.

Appropriate models and mixes are setup on each Tx.

 

Well, I've managed to get this thing up and working .. almost! Everything I was trying to do with the XJT module is working as it should, but now I'm having an issue with switching Basecam/gimbal profiles from the Tx. When I make the switch my gimbal goes all wackadoodle. And, as you can imagine, switching gimbal profiles is paramount for going from a one-man to a two-man operation as there is a different use of the sticks for each setup. With the one-man setup I need the sticks to control the copter, and on the two-man setup I need the sticks to control the gimbal. Damnit! Sooo close!

 

A couple of you have asked for a breakdown of how I managed to get the External XJT module switch, from Tx to Tx, working, so here it is:

Note 1) The main reason this works is because I have an RX dedicated to the copter only, and a second Rx for the gimbal only.
Note 2) The main advantage to this type of setup, and the only reason I looked into it in the first place, is to eliminate the need for doing a re-bind of the gimbal Rx every time I want to switch from a one-man (one Tx) to a two-man (two Tx's) setup.
Note 3) This setup is for the 32bit V3 Basecam (Alexmos) board, and a Taranis X9D Tx, with a FrSky X8R Rx.
Note 4) I already had both my Transmitter models bound with 16 channels, but just 8 should work as well.
Note 5) Some of my steps may be wrong, or unnecessary, but they worked for me, so ...

Here are the steps I eventually used:

1)Bind the external XJT module to the Gimbal Rx:
a) Attach the XJT module to the back of your Gimbal Tx
b) In the GimbalTx, go to the Model Setup page and then to the External RF section.
c) Set the Mode to XJT and D16
d) Set the channel range to 17-32
e) Leave the Receiver Number at 1
f) Exit out, thus saving the new settings
g) Turn off the Tx
h) Hold down the Failsafe button on the XJT module while powering up the Transmitter. The Red LED will blink while the green LED will glow steady. This means it's ready to be bound. Let it sit there, blinking away.
i) Hold down the Failsafe button on your Gimbal Rx while powering it up. Same thing here, the red LED will blinbk while the green LED will glow steady. It, too, is now ready to be bound.
j) Back in the Tx, go back into the same model setup page and go to Bind in the External RF section. Hit the ENT button. You'll hear a beep.
k) Turn off the Tx and the Rx.
l) Power the Tx and Rx back up. Now you should see a steady green light on the Rx, meaning it's bound.
M) Setup the mixes you'll want for your gimbal on the mix page for this model, in channels 17-32, or channels 17-24 if you bound you Rx for 8 channels.

2)Repeat this process for the Pilot Tx
Note:This second part may not even be required since the XJT module really only needs to be bound once. But, my impetus for doing it is that each model needs to be bound as well, and we'll be using different models in each Tx. I haven't tested to see if it is required, I just know that it won't hurt and is working for me. If anyone out there can tell us it's not necessary, please let us know and we can skip this step.

3)Create 2 different profiles in the BaseCam GUI software, one for the pilot (one-man setup), and one for the Camera Operator (two-man setup). This is necessary due to the fact that you'll need to maintain control of the sticks for piloting your craft with the one-man setup on the Pilot Tx, but will use the stick for gimbal control with the two-man setup on the Cam Op Tx. It will most likely be that the only difference in these profiles is in the RC section, where you'll be defining your gimbal controls. The PID's and such will likely remain the same.

Note:I'm not going into the specifics of setting up the gimbal controls in the RC section of the GUI software because they will be different for everyone, but I will say this ..
Note:When setting up your RC controls in the baseCam GUI software - even though your Tx model is setup for channels 17-32 or 17-24, you will want to use virtual channels 1-16 or 1-8 in the GUI, depending on how you bound your Rx, Don't ask me why. So, the control you set up on your Tx for channel 17 will correspond to Virt Ch 1 in the GUI. and so on.

That's pretty much it. You should now be able to swap the XJT Module from Tx to Tx as desired, with no re-binding necessary.

One last note, and it's a bit of a downer, though I'm confident i can solve it!
Note: You will need to switch gimbal profiles in order to make this whole thing work as it's truly supposed to. There are a couple different ways of doing this in the BaseCam GUI using a 3 position switch on your Tx. Unfortunately, I have not been able to make this work properly thus far. While I have no problem setting up the control, and making the switch work, it causes my gimbal to freak out. I can still make the profile switch by doing it in the GUi and writing to the board, but that's no good! The major downer about this is that I am now forced to connect up my BaseCam board to my laptop each time I want to change from a one-man to two-man setup. So, if anyone out there can offer any advice to make this work properly, I, for one, would love to hear it!