Repost: Another Skyleader Conversion
Posted: 22 Feb 2018, 23:48
Repost from Feb 15, 2017 on behalf of Mosfets
My Skyleader conversion Part 1.
First can I give a big thanks to PhilG for releasing his 7ch Arduino code and all those who had input to its development. I shall break my conversion description into a few posts rather than bore you with too much information in one go (not that I would rather bore you multiple times, you understand?)
After reading a few posts on having a proportional backup whilst learning to fly single channel I decided to convert this Skyleader 4 channel transmitter. I was given the set in the early 80's but never did do anything with it, just stored it.
Original Condition
As seen from the photgraph it needed a good clean, once stripped, this was done with 'MUC OFF'. The results were better than I expected, the case came up looking like new.
I could now decide on the features I wanted:-
The RF module to be used was a Fly Sky FS-RM002 as I had a stock of suitable receivers.
These receivers are 6 channel, so would add controls for channels 5 & 6.
Use a converted USB voltage/current monitor for a new display to monitor the battery level/capacity.
Although my receivers are only 6 channel, still use the ch7 switch for the range check feature and try to port ch7 to ch6 in software.
For the Expo and Rates controls I decided to use slider controls through the existing but unused and blanked off front slots.
I gathered all the necessary components together and soldered the wires/terminals on to connect them to one of the 'new commercial Arduino PCB boards.
This ended up with the transmitter looking like this....
Controls
Controls are as follows:-
Top (left to right) Ch5 Sw Lo/Mid/Hi, Ch7 toggle, Bind Sw, On/Off Sw, Compound SC Sw
Front (left to right excluding joysticks) Throttle Cut Sw, Expo slider, Display Reset, Rates slider, Mix Sw
Tune in for the next installment.
Ade
Mosfets
Re: Another Skyleader Conversion
Postby Mosfets » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:46 pm
My Skyleader conversion Part 2.
With the hardware built it was time to give attention to the software.
Rrogramming the nano board via the SPI port proved a little more time consuming due to my not thinking things through logically. I did not have a USBasp programmer, but not to worry, I could programm another Nano into an AVR programmer. Duly programmed to emulate an AVR programmer and header fitted, I attempted to program the TX nano, all I got was errors or that no programmer was found. After a bit of searching I realised although it was emulating an AVR programmer you did not use this as the selected programmer but instead selected 'Arduino as ISP'. However attempt after attempt still left me with a board with no ppm output. Then looking through the Arduino IDE I saw the option of 'Upload Using Programmer'. Sucess. What a numpty! I had been overwriting the programmer with the code I wanted to go into the TX nano, no wonder I had problems.
I'm not finished there's more to come.
Ade
Mosfets
Re: Another Skyleader Conversion
Postby Mosfets » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:47 pm
My Skyleader conversion Part 3.
With the board now programmed I could test out how the TX was performing. Using my previously built PPM & PWM Tester/Analyser I could see everything was moving in a way it should, but I did not seem to get full throw on the first 3 channels. After looking at Phil's code the reason was soon determined to be the fact that rotary controls with full sweep were expected to be used for the expo/rate controls. My sliders only gave limited travel and did not go to zero volts hence I always had expo and rates applied.
Looking at the code and I saw that by altering two lines of code (to put constraints into an accepted range) there should be a way to have a work around and continue using the sliders. I measured the voltage range at the sliders and calculated the ADC value range they produced. With the code ammended I went back to programming the board only to hit a brick wall again.
At each try to program the IDE came back with 'USBtiny device not connected' even though I had not told it to look for one or that I was using one. Strange. In desperation I tried programming another fresh board, same response. I tried a nano with built in USB interface, that failed also but with different error messages. I tried re-installing the IDE, nowt doing. After a while I gave up and ordered a USBasp programmer.
It came within a few days, drivers installed and then I had fun and games with selcting a port in the IDE, the device was recognised but not associated to a COM port. However by trial and error after selecting an availble com port (an internal Bluetooth port would you believe!) it worked. Why? How? I did not care, I had got the board programmed again and my expo and rates now worked fine with full range available on all channels.
Time to fit the RF module.
The end is nigh....
Ade
Mosfets
Re: Another Skyleader Conversion
Postby Mosfets » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:52 pm
My Skyleader conversion Part 4.
The FlySky RF module has quite a large footprint so I separated the PCBs and stacked them instead to make my installation easier. A bind switch header was fitted and also a header to bring in the battery voltage together with the signals from/to the nano board (I decided to use the FlySky on board 5 volt regulator to power the encoder circuitry).
Now for the moment of truth using the RF link to fully test the TX out.....all worked fine first time (that made a change).
The USB meter works fine and gives a good indication of the information all on one screen.
Front View
Inside View
I've almost completed my very first conversion. I've still to alter the code to get ch7 onto ch6, do battery and PPM connections to the DIN socket, but I'm not in too much of a rush for that.
Thanks again Phil for the code.
It may be a steep learning curve but I would recommend anyone to have a go, stick to Phil's design and you should not have the problems I experienced.
Now I need a plane, some where I have all the wood to build a Blunderbird.......
Ade
My Skyleader conversion Part 1.
First can I give a big thanks to PhilG for releasing his 7ch Arduino code and all those who had input to its development. I shall break my conversion description into a few posts rather than bore you with too much information in one go (not that I would rather bore you multiple times, you understand?)
After reading a few posts on having a proportional backup whilst learning to fly single channel I decided to convert this Skyleader 4 channel transmitter. I was given the set in the early 80's but never did do anything with it, just stored it.
As seen from the photgraph it needed a good clean, once stripped, this was done with 'MUC OFF'. The results were better than I expected, the case came up looking like new.
I could now decide on the features I wanted:-
The RF module to be used was a Fly Sky FS-RM002 as I had a stock of suitable receivers.
These receivers are 6 channel, so would add controls for channels 5 & 6.
Use a converted USB voltage/current monitor for a new display to monitor the battery level/capacity.
Although my receivers are only 6 channel, still use the ch7 switch for the range check feature and try to port ch7 to ch6 in software.
For the Expo and Rates controls I decided to use slider controls through the existing but unused and blanked off front slots.
I gathered all the necessary components together and soldered the wires/terminals on to connect them to one of the 'new commercial Arduino PCB boards.
This ended up with the transmitter looking like this....
Controls are as follows:-
Top (left to right) Ch5 Sw Lo/Mid/Hi, Ch7 toggle, Bind Sw, On/Off Sw, Compound SC Sw
Front (left to right excluding joysticks) Throttle Cut Sw, Expo slider, Display Reset, Rates slider, Mix Sw
Tune in for the next installment.
Ade
Mosfets
Re: Another Skyleader Conversion
Postby Mosfets » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:46 pm
My Skyleader conversion Part 2.
With the hardware built it was time to give attention to the software.
Rrogramming the nano board via the SPI port proved a little more time consuming due to my not thinking things through logically. I did not have a USBasp programmer, but not to worry, I could programm another Nano into an AVR programmer. Duly programmed to emulate an AVR programmer and header fitted, I attempted to program the TX nano, all I got was errors or that no programmer was found. After a bit of searching I realised although it was emulating an AVR programmer you did not use this as the selected programmer but instead selected 'Arduino as ISP'. However attempt after attempt still left me with a board with no ppm output. Then looking through the Arduino IDE I saw the option of 'Upload Using Programmer'. Sucess. What a numpty! I had been overwriting the programmer with the code I wanted to go into the TX nano, no wonder I had problems.
I'm not finished there's more to come.
Ade
Mosfets
Re: Another Skyleader Conversion
Postby Mosfets » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:47 pm
My Skyleader conversion Part 3.
With the board now programmed I could test out how the TX was performing. Using my previously built PPM & PWM Tester/Analyser I could see everything was moving in a way it should, but I did not seem to get full throw on the first 3 channels. After looking at Phil's code the reason was soon determined to be the fact that rotary controls with full sweep were expected to be used for the expo/rate controls. My sliders only gave limited travel and did not go to zero volts hence I always had expo and rates applied.
Looking at the code and I saw that by altering two lines of code (to put constraints into an accepted range) there should be a way to have a work around and continue using the sliders. I measured the voltage range at the sliders and calculated the ADC value range they produced. With the code ammended I went back to programming the board only to hit a brick wall again.
At each try to program the IDE came back with 'USBtiny device not connected' even though I had not told it to look for one or that I was using one. Strange. In desperation I tried programming another fresh board, same response. I tried a nano with built in USB interface, that failed also but with different error messages. I tried re-installing the IDE, nowt doing. After a while I gave up and ordered a USBasp programmer.
It came within a few days, drivers installed and then I had fun and games with selcting a port in the IDE, the device was recognised but not associated to a COM port. However by trial and error after selecting an availble com port (an internal Bluetooth port would you believe!) it worked. Why? How? I did not care, I had got the board programmed again and my expo and rates now worked fine with full range available on all channels.
Time to fit the RF module.
The end is nigh....
Ade
Mosfets
Re: Another Skyleader Conversion
Postby Mosfets » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:52 pm
My Skyleader conversion Part 4.
The FlySky RF module has quite a large footprint so I separated the PCBs and stacked them instead to make my installation easier. A bind switch header was fitted and also a header to bring in the battery voltage together with the signals from/to the nano board (I decided to use the FlySky on board 5 volt regulator to power the encoder circuitry).
Now for the moment of truth using the RF link to fully test the TX out.....all worked fine first time (that made a change).
The USB meter works fine and gives a good indication of the information all on one screen.
I've almost completed my very first conversion. I've still to alter the code to get ch7 onto ch6, do battery and PPM connections to the DIN socket, but I'm not in too much of a rush for that.
Thanks again Phil for the code.
It may be a steep learning curve but I would recommend anyone to have a go, stick to Phil's design and you should not have the problems I experienced.
Now I need a plane, some where I have all the wood to build a Blunderbird.......
Ade