WKM Futaba SBUS channel assignment - Still rather clueless

[sdfoiler]

Ok, I've been reading for days and weeks on this forum as well as others to try to get my feet wet with this machine. The parts have been ordered and should arrive in the next day or two. I think I understand all the principles of how things work, but I'm still stuck on the "channel assignments" for the transmitter/reciever/wkm.

I am building the 450 Flamewheel with WKM and a fpv camera and would like a switch for IOC and a switch for Control Mode.

I have a Futaba T8FG Super transmitter with an 8 channel receiver. I understand I will connect the receiver to the WKM with a single SBUS connection. So that will give me the 8 channels on the WKM. Is it possible for me to do fpv (requires 2 channels) and ALSO have 2 switches for IOC and Control Mode on this 8 channel receiver? Or will I need to upgrade to a 14 channel receiver?

For initial setup, will I need a knob for setting the gains? Or do people adjust that in software after each trial until they get it set where they want it?

Here's how I understand the channel assignment according to the wkm guide:
1 - A
2 - E
3 - T
4 - R
5 - X2 (IOC Switch)
6 - X3
7 - U (Control Mode Switch)
8 -

So with these channels, would I then use 6 and 8 for my fpv camera to control tilt and pan? I'm guessing I can change the channel numbers if I choose to, but assuming I stay with their "default" configuration, is my thinking right?

Sorry I'm a little clueless. I'm definitely a NOOB with this machine and the Futaba SBUS system and want to make sure I have a relatively good understanding before I start putting things together in a few days. If you have suggestions on how I should set things up, I'm definitely listening. I'm planning on taking it slowly so fpv won't be active until I'm confident at flying since this will be my first multi.

THanks for any and all help! It is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[elossam]

Sbus from rx to x2 in Dji. Tilt servo fits in F2 output from Dji. Camera roll servo goes to F1 Dji output but requires no control chanel as it stays allways leveled. I use one rotary butons for gain adjust and a three position switch to choose tilt camera position betwee 0°,45° or 90°. Hope that help a little.

 

[swisser]

You can do what you describe but using that 8 channel receiver you'll have to go without remote gain control so that you've got two free for your FPV camera control. Given the amount you must have spent to get the WKM, FPV gear etc I would have thought it was worth the relatively small extra amount to get a better receiver. Remote gain is really useful - I only wish they'd more fully support SBUS so I could have two (or more) remote gains whilst still having IOC.

 

[BorisS]

japp thats the problem at the moment and it p.... me off ! If they would ad two more virutal ports we could use it all remote gains IOC and cam control.

 

[swisser]

Let me know if you want walking through the settings. The 8FG Super is nice in having so many assignable switches, so you can have three position switches for flight mode, one for failsafe, one for IOC, variable dials/sliders for gain, camera movement etc. and still have some left over for things like starting timers, dual rates, etc.

 

[BorisS]

Japp and it would be great if DJI would add some additional virtual X2 X3 X...... channels/ports so we could use them all together and dont have to sacrifice one feature for the other.

We should start spaming them with this request !!

 

[sdfoiler]

Let me know if you want walking through the settings. The 8FG Super is nice in having so many assignable switches, so you can have three position switches for flight mode, one for failsafe, one for IOC, variable dials/sliders for gain, camera movement etc. and still have some left over for things like starting timers, dual rates, etc.

I may do that. I think I've convinced myself to get the 14 channel futaba reciever so I don't have to choose which things to use.

So does this make sense:
1 - A
2 - E
3 - T
4 - R
5 - X2 (IOC Switch - 3 position switch)
6 - X3 (atti gain with a knob on the transmitter)
7 - U (Control Mode Switch - 3 position switch)
8 - (Basic gain with a knob on the transmitter) ??

9 - Pan (Head tracking)
10 - Tilt (Head tracking)

Just to make sure I'm not doing something dumb - I can use the first 8 channels via sbus and the rest off the 14 channel receiver, correct?

Would this be the recommended way of having gains and modes available during flight? Once again, for now, I'm not going to use the fpv until I get a good feel for flying by sight. It sounds like people are using remote gains quite often during flight. Is that both, or mainly atti? I thought it would be good to have a failsafe switch on the controller instead of just shutting it off. But if I need both gains to be adjusted remotely, then I'm out of channels on the first 8.

Thanks for the help, guys! I started the build last night, so this is all perfect timing! I'd like to set it up right the first time if possible.

 

[BorisS]

shfolier, this is a misunderstanding. There is no way at the moment to operate all the feature of the WKM. With a traditional RX that would have enough channels there are just not enough channel ports on the MC. X2 and X3 can only be used once. So X2 and X3 can do one of the four following Basic Gain tunning, Attitude gain tuning, Gimbal control, IOC.

S-bus only connects via one port. And all the ofter assignments are virtual. But again DJI only allows 2 virutall prots/channels X2 and X3 so the same game again you can only assign 2 of the 4 given functions/features.

Your best approach at the moment it to not get a traditional futaba RX but a S-bus receiver. If they change this BS that they are pulling at the moment than it will only change for the S-bus because physically they will not be able to add addtional port to the MC.

Boris

 

[BorisS]

With any of these three you will be more than euipped for the WKM. If they change the channel issue than only based on s-bus.

R6203SB 3/18 Channel High Voltage S.Bus Receiver

Stock Number: FUTL7665 Dimensions: 0.88 x 1.44 x 0.38 in (22.5 x 37 x 9 mm) Weight: 0.25 oz (7.2 g)

---

R6203SBE 3/18 Channel High Voltage S.Bus Receiver

Stock Number: FUTL7666 Dimensions: 0.89 x 1.47 x 0.37 in (22.5 x 37.4 x 9.3 mm) Weight: 0.22 oz (6.3g)

---

R6208SB 8/18 Channel S.Bus High Voltage Receiver

Stock Number: FUTL7668 Dimensions: 0.98 x 1.86 x 0.56 in (24.9 x 47.3 x 14.3 mm) Weight: 0.49 oz (13.8 g)

wow this paste actually worked. Bartman damm good forum !!!

 

[swisser]

The plan that you've drawn overlooks that though you've got enough channels on your TX and RX (assuming you go with the 14 channel receiver) that there aren't enough available on the WK controller. Having both the gain adjustment channels available is nice, but then you can't use IOC. So you need to choose between IOC and having two gain channels or IOC and only one gain channel. Just to complicate matters further you can assign two gain settings to a single channel, but to me it only makes sense with Pitch and Roll. In your shoes I'd probably start with two gain channels - one for basic gain for Pitch and Roll and one for attitude gain for Pitch and Roll. Once you're happy with those then you can give up one of those and have IOC available.

If you use SBUS then the controller will go in to failsafe if the receiver stops receiving, no setup required, but yes it's a good idea to also put failsafe mode on a switch. This doesn't use a connector on the controller. It will of course use one of your TX/RX channels, but if you're getting the 14 channel receiver you'll have plenty. To put failsafe on a switch program a custom mix for channel 7 / U (the flight mode switch) which when activated adjust the output from that channel. Then assign that mix to a switch on your TX. It's pretty obvious when you've got your receiver hooked up to the assistant software.

 

[sdfoiler]

Ok, things are starting to make sense. Once again, thanks for the help everyone. I'm beginning to see what all the talk is about the WKM lacking enough ports now. Boriss, I've got the 6208 receiver - so should be good to go there. Swisser, I'll take your advice for now and set it up with the two gains and remove IOC for now. Once things are in place, I'll throw the IOC back in there and remove one of the gains.

I looked at the 6014 14 channel receiver and just realized it doesn't support SBUS. Bummer. Not that it's a huge deal, but would have made things cleaner. But for now I'll be fine with the 6208 until I go to fpv. I may look at using one of these instead of the 14 channel receiver and just put it on channel 9,10,11:

FUTABA SBD-1 S.Bus Decoder
http://www.futaba-rc.com/sbus/futm4191-lg.jpg


I'll be playing with the software interface to the WKM tonight, so once things are operational, I'll post back and document how I set things up. There is so much info to take in with all of this. Hopefully it would help a noob like me at least get a better understanding from the start. The good thing is when I move to a bigger frame, at least I'll have some of the electronics figured out already.

Hopefully there will be another multi flying this weekend. Thanks for all the help!!!

 

[sdfoiler]

Just a small update. Fished at least the first step in the Flamewheel FPV. Got the motors spinning. Something I didn't know - the props start spinning upon entering the start sequence. I assumed I had something way wrong when the motors started spinning even though the throttle was all the way down. Took me awhile to figure out that is what is supposed to happen. I was pleasantly suprised to find everything worked the first time. Did some small hover tests inside the house to make sure.

This morning with no wind, took it outside to try a short hover test before work. Amazingly enough, everything worked as well as can be expected for having all the gains set at 100. Things left to do are mounting the fpv camera to at least see video through the goggles, and start adjusting gains. Man this is going to be a fun, fun toy!

Anyone have a starting place for gains for a f450 with the kit motors, 10" props, wkm, and 3S 6000 battery? I spent an hour searching this morning - I SWEAR I saw a google doc that had people's configs for the gains, but for the life of me, I can't find that link any more.

Once I've got the gains adjusted, I'll post a thread on the build, the settings of the WKM and the Futaba t8fg and a vid of the aircraft in action. Just in case the next noob that knows nothing about this stuff decides they want to be like me and come into this with no prior knowledge.

 

[sdfoiler]

Another update - Probably the final for this thread. I'll write up something next week on the process.

I've had a day of flying on the new setup. All I can say is I coiuld have never imagined how rock solid this toy could be. By the end of the day, I was confident enough to hand the controller to my 11 year old and told him to have fun. Granted, he was in GPS mode, but still pretty impressive. Velcro'd a gopro on it just to get an idea of what's going on. I was confident enough by the time the sun set that I now have the FPV camera mounted and will fly by glasses tomorrow.

Still need to get the gains dialed in. I don't have enough time on the MR yet to tell if a slight change is doing anything.

Thanks again for the help everyone!

 

[Jking3]

Sdfoiler, I'm just setting up my 8fg now with a wkm and f550. Did you ever put something up about your process?

A few pics of the wkm assistant and the 8fg screen setup would be really helpful.

thanks.

J