I cannot say how much these videos helped me out as I have not flown in over a year. I cannot remember how the hell I set this up 2 years ago. Covid curse has shut down racing and I have been just simulating since 11/19. I probably will have to binge watch more videos. Thank you Josh!!!
Joshua I can't thank you enough for producing such fast easy to follow instructions on how to set up realpit. I really appreciate you just walking me through every single thing to enter in CLI. Worked perfectly the very first time! You are the single person that has taught me more about this hobby/sport than all others by far. Gonna learn something today? Damn right!
Joshua, I have been using these for couple months now and have them on all my quads. I love them. BTW if people are short UARTS and you have SmartAudio on the Tx of a UART, you can use the Rx of the same UART for the Realpit. Smartaudio only needs the Tx line. Just locate the Serial Rx pin related to the Smartaudio UART like you mentioned and remap it accordingly (eg. resource SERIAL_RX 3 NONE and resource PINIO 1 B11 ). A suggestion for cases that other pads are not available on the FC.
I like that for post crash if my antenna gets knocked off and I'm far from where I crashed. Often happens when flying in my field! Great stuff as always! Keep killing it!
Nice! Bravo to the creators and cheers for the info Joshua, you the man! Just bought this before I even finished watching this vid, its a must have! So handy!
thanks m8! Ive been waiting for this!! Installed as smoothly as your video!!! I don't fly with other pilots but installed this just because I hate the heat my vtx produces while on the bench. Also got the M8 charger because of your review.
Josh, get that GPS antenna off the arm. You should put two large zipties next to each other, zipped to the arm, and leave about an inch not snipped. Wrap it from the top and zip it at the bottom so when you mount the GPS to the top of the unsnipped portion, the surface of the GPS is flush with the surface of the arm, then all you have to do is heat shrinktube it all together. I have it like this on all my builds.
Its great. Been using this for a little while now. Boots up quick. I started using this after I started seeing a bug in Betaflight using the Low_Power_On_Disarm. My flight controller wasn't kicking the VTx up to full power on ARM. Now I just flip the system on before I arm and we are good to go.
Thank you for the CLI resourcing min max! Was having a joyous time trying to get mine finished.. Hope your ok with me linking your video in mine. I installed the Real Pit to the Mamba Mini`s LED Strip... Have a great day! ScooterPie,
Great video Joshua! I have a MUCH simpler option. Just install a miniature 12v switch inline with the +v rail to the VTX. You can get tiny surface mount switches anywhere! Job done. 👍
This doesn't require Lua script. And you aren to able to reach your quad on the starting line once the race has started. So while a physical switch is possible, it is not comparable product.@@Ja5onB0urn3
For those of you that saw my questions to Joshua about the Omnibus F4 V5 I have an answer. I am running a Spektrum Spm4649T receiver. I have the signal on the receiver hooked up to Tx3. The Smartaudio is hooked up to Tx1 and the gps is hooked up to Uart 6. For the RealPit I have it hooked up to the led strip 1 and it works finally. Thanks again Joshua, Tony
Just to highlight. With this and Betaflight you CAN change VTX channel without the VTX being on using LUA scripts. It was a throw away comment, but this is critical for racers who may need to change channels between races without knocking other pilots out of the air. Another way to do this (and may be worthwhile of another really short video) is to change change channel on the FC using BF CLI. (set vtx_band = 4 set vtx_channel = 6 save ). This way you only power the FC (and do not even need a battery as the FC gets power from USB).
@@KiSwiSje As usual, must with with VTX that has Tramp or Smartaudio. :) The startup sequence sets the VTX to the channel the one set in the FC. Some FC's can power the RX directly from the USB. You don't even need a computer, just a powered USB cable (like an iPhone charger wall wart :) ) I tested it with my KakuteF4V2 with MatekHV VTX. Works fine. I use Betaflight 4 and the new launch mode for racing. Test on your own setup to ensure it works for you.
FYI before you dump your radio on the ground that clasp on the newbeedrone neck strap will unhook itself if you pick it up in a certain way. Sew a regular “dog leash” style one on. Can get them at Lowe’s for .89$
I do not know why we can't have a programmable logic signal control on any of the digital out lines. Seems obvious to me. Configure in the adjustment tab "aux3 > 1900; trigger pa6 high".
Great, but shouldn't it work without this device too? Betaflight has this pitmode option in the modes tab. Didn't work for me actually, even though my vtx (akk oscar backpack) supports pit mode and smartaudio is connected.
No, it doesn't work without this device. Pit Mode is not true power off, for one thing. Some vTX put out too much power even in pit mode, and can interfere. More importantly, many SmartAudio vTX refuse to go back into pit mode after power up.
You can do the same thing with a 12mmx12mm mos trigger switch, that costs about 50 cents, with less wiring, and the ability to handle a MUCH higher amp load, (even the HD realpit is only rated at 2amp, the 50 cent switch I use is rated for 200amps) or a one dollar trigger switch/voltage regulator combo board that's not much bigger, if you needed to drop the output voltage at the same time.
Yeah you can. But this one is nicely soldered to a PCB and easy to work with. Nobody is representing it as anything except a little FET on a PCB. If you can do it cheaper, more power to you :-)
I would love to see how you have Aux 1 setup for that quad. It looks like it’s controlling 4 different functions... and had some interesting things going on in the mixer too...
Back in my pre-FPV quad flying days I wanted to switch something on/off through the PPM signal from the receiver in my GPS quad, could've bought such a switch, but it cost half that to make one with a microcontroller & MOSFET, so I did. What did I want to switch on/off by the transmitter? A 50 watt LED sitting underneath the craft pointing down :D
licensetodrive leds use low side switching. This is a high side switch. It safely isolates the component from our FCs to not allow current to flow through the MCU.
Technically LEDs can use low or high side switching, but I get your point about it being a high side switch, I have a bunch of both in my parts collection.
There's a flightcontroller in the pipeline with this feature already integrated ;) And you can also directly solder the vtx to the pcb board of the fc !
Thanks for the reply and all you do for the community. This video gave me something else to buy which is not a bad thing. I have a few builds I am working on and one will be the remix frame with a mix of purple and gold stand offs, your FC and ESC combo and your purple and gold motors. I can't wait to get the parts and see how it will all look. (no clone parts this time)
Pit mode is still transmitting power and can interfere in some circumstances. Some vTX (like Unify) refuse to go back into pit mode after power-up. Some vTX "glitch" when changing power settings. So you arm the quad and then a second afterwards the video drops out for a fraction of a second.
Joshua Bardwell very interesting, especially as I have a Unify. It would be great if you could set vtx power on a switch like in the Kiss Gui. Thanks for the reply 👍
You actually can assign pinio to that VTX PitMode mode. However I’ve chosen to not overwrite it and use the custom switches so that people that have VTXs that use the PitMode function can still utilize it w hole also using the VTX power switch. If you wanted to use vtx pit mode mode just set pinio to 39 instead of 40.
Nice! Have you done a video on the vtx_ settings in BF? I've been trying to get 'vtx_low_power_disarm' working - mainly so I can run high wattage on my Mach3 but not smoke it when it's sitting still.
@@JoshuaBardwell Appreciate that. I can only speak on my own very limited experience and the Tramp VTX (ImmersionRC Tramp HV) has a Pit mode capability and with Betaflight Mode it seemed like the logical choice for me. I have used it and it seems to work fine so far. I always appreciate your videos and have learnt so much from you, Thank you.
Hi @joshua, thanks for the very thorough videos. You mentioned at 9:39 that we can have up to 4 of those connected to the FC. where is the limitation to 4?
Ground side is NOT the safest side for vtxs. Maybe LEDs but not vtx's. This is a high side switch. and 100% universal with all current VTXs. the Voltage range is much higher as well. @@HighTideFPV
if the vtx is not powered, you can not use the lua script to read the settings, or change the channel, I think. Same goes for the betaflight OSD method. Only way to do this is with the wand, or with the (experimental) android app, using the connected tag. I can not easely test this, but with your setup it should be easy enough to verify this. Maybe some day we will see this sort of thing built into fc's and betaflight? Better still would be if a vtx starts up in a real 0mW pitmode.
apparantely, I am mistaken ... ArchmageAU commented on this. "Just to highlight. With this and Betaflight you CAN change VTX channel without the VTX being on using LUA scripts."
@@KiSwiSje Some FC's can power the RX using the USB (like Omnibus). On those, the TX LUA script will work without even having to start Betaflight configurator. Just plug the FC into a powered USB cable. It's a neat little hack.
ArchmageAU is correct. You can write the setting to the FC using OSD or CLI and then when the vTX powers up, it will take the new setting. You should verify whether the vTX briefly blasts the old channel though.
So, it is like connecting basis to signal wire, in your case it's connected to pin M5 on FC, and connecting vbat to collector, emmiter to vin on vtx. The current flow from collector to emmiter that is going to power the vtx up is controlled by output from signal wire .. cmiiw
@JoshuaBardwell pinio_box=40,41,42,43 aux 2 40 2 1600 2100 0 Why this way and not that way: set pinio_box= 40,255,255,255 set pinio_config 1,129,129,129 The thing I'm asking about is the configuration guide Flywoo - 5V/12V 2A V2.0 BEC Module w/ Switch I don't understand why different "magic" commands need to be used in Betaflight; both switches seem to work on the same principle.
Joshua, is the set up the same for Tiny’s “2-12s LED PDB with FC Switch”. I want to use this board for all my LED’s on my bangGod, just one switch for all on/all off. It lists as good for 21 AMP current limit. Thank you
If you don't want to have the User2, User3, and User4 visible, you can type "set pinio_box = 40,0,0,0" and then you will only have User1 visible in the Modes tab.
You can also just click the hide unused modes button at the top. We did all 4 just so that you have the ability to easily configure more than 1 realpit if you needed to.
@@TinysLEDs That is also an option. I personally never use that little switch. If one was to end up using another user defined box they would have to go into the CLI tab again anyway to set User2, 3, or 4 so it's really a matter of taste. Both options work in the end.
I was wondering why wouldn't be possible to power something directly from an MCU pin, like the buzzer out. And the problem is that pins handle only up to 25mA. This is why Tiny's Led exist. I would like to know what signal/voltage is the remapped pad outputting.
You don't want to power off your receiver with one of these, you want to put your quad into failsafe instead to control that. Set the switch so when the VTX is off failsafe is on. You can do up to 3 quads this way all bound to the same model. Extra points if you put a mix on that switch that allows another switch to move the main switch 20 points or so. Then you can have a remote VTX switch and a quad switch switch. This is the ideal team racing setup... 3 quads... all plugged in... and the ability to select each quad and turn off all VTX while still having control of the quad.
Soo it's an electronic switch with a fancy name? It's a damned good idea nevertheless. I wonder if we'll ever get to the stage of analogue video transmitters adopting the spread spectrum technique of avoiding interference, if such a thing is even possible.
It’s a high side switch. Safe to use on anything we have on our quads. Low side switch options have possible issues of allowing current to flow into the MCU and fry it.
robrow there are essentially two main types of transistor, NPN & PNP, MOSFETs have P-channel & N-channel types. The most commonly used type is NPN & N-channel which when used as power switches essentially turn ground (low side) on/off, whilst the PNP & P-channel turn positive voltage (high side) on/off.
ooh this could help me, currently i use the runcam split 2 on my second quad as a ground camera, obviously i dont want to power the whole quad so i've jerry rigged a jst connector to power it by itself or via the quads power line.
One more device to fry or cause weird issues when 100% working device doesn't turn on when it need to :) But I see the good side too. It can help to toggle off and on VTX'es without PIT mode built in. For example - to Matek VTX-HV owners. The real problem would be lack of I/O pins in some FC boards.
Only reason this device would not work would be user error in configuration. Also. This can use almost any pad on an FC. So lacking of of I/O pins would not really be an issue for any modern FC. You do not need a Full UART or anything like that. Just a pad on the FC that is able to be assigned to PINIO function.
I have your fc and esc. Blheli keeps saying saying theres nothing to read: on esc 4, there for motor 4 doesn't turn. I can't seem to digure out how to dix it. If you could help me out i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you Mr. Bardwell.
Im kinda surprised no VTX's yet have come out with this built it... Taking a PWM signal means it can also be connected to rx's with spare out[uts like the L9R while FC runs on SBus.... Great idea, but it's so small it ll need heatshrinking onto the VTX or similar- which brings me back to the first sentence......lol Anyway, thank you again :)
This would be very convenient to switch GPS on and off for rescue mode. If I just race proximity I don't need to wait for 5 minutes for the GPS to lock 6 satellites.
Could you please explain the aux command? If I understand it correctly this command is trying to map range 1600..2100 of AUX2 to USER1 but then (maybe because of missing arguments in the command?) betaflight just ignores it and answers AUX2 range 1600..2100 is mapped to CAMERA_CONTROL_1 and then you proceed to using the GUI and map it there instead, doing it the "normal" way. And you are using AUX4 in the GUI.
Don't get confused about "aux 2" and "aux 4". The "aux" command is used to define Aux Modes, but the numbering is sequential. So the very first aux mode you define is "aux 1" and the 2nd one is "aux 2" and so forth. The aux channel that you use (Aux 4) to activate the mode is one of the later parameters. To be honest, I think you should probably just define the aux mode in the Modes tab rather than trying to type it in to the CLI. But since it is part of the instructions for setting up RealPit, I included it here in case people are setting up for the first time.
Yup, after saving the pinio_box line the USER 1 mode will be available in the modes tab and that is all you need (except for assigning the pad of course).
I think this whole topic would be worth a video that explains every aspect of it in more depth. For quite some time now I have thought it might be nice if I could switch arbitrary stuff on and off remotely, but never researched deeper into the topic because I just did not know there actually existed such a clean and simple way to remap and reconfigure arbitrary pins and have user modes. It was this video that actually made me look up the dos and read deeper into it. And here is also the main point of criticism: When watching your video the pedantic programmer in me immediately said: "wait a moment, I am supposed to blindly enter these commands with magic numbers in it without any explanation and without knowing how to undo the effects of the command. I must first look up what it actually does." . While this had the beneficial effect of making me actually look up the documentation and finally understand how to to it, it also left me with dissatisfaction about how incomplete it was presented, how much better and less confusing it could have been if there would have been just a few more explanations and no blind copy-pasting of unexplained commands. And this is where I believe that another follow-up video would be helpful, a video that fully explains what the IDs 40...43 actually are (and what other IDs there also exist), what the pinio_box actually does, how it creates a mapping from USER1...USER4 to PINIO1...PINIO4 and what other funny mappings could theoretically be made with this command (for example actuate a certain pinio when the quad is armed, etc.). You could dive really deep into this topic if you want to , for example explaining where the pin names for the resources actually come from when looking into the data sheet of the microcontroller, it would be a very interesting video and fun to watch even for experts as long as everything you say is factually correct and you don't leave people with unanswered question marks in their heads. And for completeness sake it should also explain that the aux command used in this video was actually redundant and people should use the GUI to map the ranges instead.
@@foo2332 That feature also completely slipped my attention. AFAIK it is in BF since 3.4 and was introduced to enable (or rather disable) the Runcam bluetooth adapter for the Speedybee app.
@@foo2332 The IDs 40 - 43 are hardcoded and map to the modes USER1 - USER4. There aren't any more as for now. Combining modes (e.g. arm and RealPit) works transparently like with any other modes. This is nothing new, you could assign different mode functions to the same Aux since forever. It would be worth explaining though that you can (and in many cases should) configure pinio switches in your failsafe settings, too.
Hmmmm. LED output sounds interesting. Could help make my 3D kwad a total acid trip if flying around dusk for everytime I switch a mode. Does the switch work off a straight PWM signal if I trip it off the signal output from my CrossfireNano RX? I have ch 3 and ch 4 outputting for controlling the switching of FPV cams without having to go through the FC.
Just wait for FC with such future, also VTX comes with such future, so just a mater of time (yield about it years ago...) China fast on cloning things, but slow on creating what i ask! And what we NEED!
@@TinysLEDs yes only now, after 2 years off me rumbling about that :D also in CLracing F7. But they do it wrong, that power switch always was, it's easy to do with ESC, it's even better to use ESC as it has 2 switches available! and much cleaner power ON =)
Does anyone know if it is normal that my lantian rc realpit measures 1.1V when switched off between ground and vtx+ pad? 5V when on. My vtx does not transmit at either on/off.
solved, mamba mini stack was doa, some pads not putting out 5V but 1.8V for some reason, even when nothing is connected, AND when something is connected, weird stuff
@@JoshuaBardwell Thanks for the response! it's a 12V solenoid. I was planning to do a Bb gun out of co2 pump and this solenoid would push the button. Now depends how much power I'd need to push it. I'm still waiting for the pump to arrive. My aim was to have a drone dogfight :D.
No, I haven't. pinio is a bit esoteric and basically manufacturers of accessories like RealPit will just tell you the right command to input to make their hardware work. Aux is just the way of storing the Aux Modes from the Modes tab, and there is not really any reason to input the aux command manually.
Joshua Bardwell ok...thanks for the response...the reason I asked is that one time I was trying to add a buzzer to a FC without a buzzer- pad (hyperlite f4 - non OSD version) by remapping the beeper resource to the one associated with motor 5 and then wanted to map an aux to that beeper...but now I remember I incorrectly thought my problem was not knowing the right aux CLI command...instead the problem was the beeper can’t use any old pad...it has to have an additional transistor on the pad to get it to work. TLDR, I know...
Is the default off so it doesn't power on the VTX until the receiver is talking to the TX to turn it off? But then you idea of switching the RX off wouldn't work as you could never power the RX up ?
Listen to JB surmising about during a race a crashed pilot being able to switch off both VTX and RX. My point was this wont work because you can never switch on power to the RX with power already being supplied to the RX.
3 ordered from RMRC was going to order direct from Tiny's site but $15 minimum post to the UK v $3 seems a bargain to save the cam and VTX killing a battery while hiking to GPS coordinates even going to set failsafe to power them off.
Two reasons why this might not work. 1. Betaflight flashes the buzzer, so it would turn your vTX on and off, which of course wouldn't be what you want. 2. The buzzer- pad has a transistor buffer that is designed for the current draw of the buzzer. If the vTX draws more current than the buzzer- circuit is designed for, it will burn out the circuit.
Do you know if it's possible to control one of these without a flight controller? Say I wanted to put this in my wing, could one switch it on and off with an aux switch directly from the Taranis?
I don't think this is the right tool for that. I'm not sure if it works from a PWM signal. But they do make PWM-controlled switches that can plug directly into your receiver.
hi Joshua, I'm trying to implement this in INAV. so far I found that resource mapping is not available in inav. any workaround you can think of? do you think it may work using buzz- or led ports?
I think that RealPit might work with a PWM input as well as the pinio function shown here. Try it with a PWM output from a typical receiver and test. If it does work, there are various ways you could get a PWM signal into the realpit to switch it.
@@JoshuaBardwell cool, I'm connecting realpit directly to a 4s battery (15V). I connected the "fc" port on realpit to a pwm ch in frsky. the channel output is ranging between 100mv to 220mv, making realpit forward between 2V to 2.6V (to the "vtx+" port). I'm looking to get 0V when off and 15V when on. thanks for the help I keep looking
Do you recommend this realpit powered straight off the battery pads on the PDB rather than the 5V on the FC? I'm only using 4S. If I remember about 6 months ago, I had brown outs, then finally nothing. The 5V regulator on the PDB burned out, so I had to swap out PDBs.
The RealPit just passes through whatever voltage you give it. So if your vTX runs off of 5v, then you give it 5v. If your vTX runs off of vBat then you give it vBat.
Well the problem is if you're using the DJI controller once you turn off the air unit you failsafe. But if you're using a other controller then you can use realpit with the air unit. But realpit maxes out at 1 amp so you would want like a 12v regulator or run the air unit off 4s voltage to keep the amps low.
Pit mode is already pretty good on many transmitters, but it doesn't works right on any of my VTXs. On the Tramp-compatible Atlatl (V1), I can turn pit mode on but can't turn it off again without power-cycling, and on the TBS-compatible Atlatl (V2) and the AKK FX3 ultimate I can't activate it at all. Power and channel control work, it's just pit mode that's non-functional. What a shame.
it will get the new channel info from the FC upon powerup and then switch immediately. But you should DEFINITELY test each individual vTX to find out if it "blips" on the old channel or not.
If you are talking about an onboard DVR like the Runcam Mini FPV DVR then you don't even need any additional hardware: ruclips.net/video/0Xhzg45I36k/видео.html For the DVR in your googles you are out of luck - the video receiver module does not know anything about your quad's arming status.
yup i did this for the first time the other day .i never flew with anybody before .i asked him what channel he was on . he relied wit ha completey different channel i told him i was on 1200mw and i was going to plug in n bam i blew his video .he happen to keep her up in the air .i still hand my hand on the plug..pheww lol crazy shi*t bro ....
Hey Joshua, I am trying to set up the Realpit on my Omnibus f4 V5 board. I have the RDQ Mach 3 set up with smartaudio on Tx6. I want to use the Realpit on Rx6. I have the Spektrum Spm4649 on Tx3. I also have my gps on Uart 1. I made sure of trying this a number of times that my vtx is working correctly. When I wire the Realpit up and I am in the modes tab I can see the user 1 tab light up when I flip the switch for Aux 1. I have saved all the changes I made to the resources but I do not get the Realpit to light up nor the vtx to power up. I have tried two different Realpits and neither on of them turn on. Please help me and thanks, Tony
Most likely this points to a problem with your resource reassignment. How did you identify which pin number was assigned to RX6? When you type "resource" do you see any other resource on that pin number? If so, type "resource none" to clear all except the pinio 1 resource. When you type "resource list" do you see pinio 1 assigned to the pin number in question?
I initially used resource to find out that Rx6 was assigned to C07. From there I assigned all the commands like you did. I even reformatted the firmware to make sure it was clean. I did not notice if there were any other resources assigned to that Rx6. On the Readytofly website it says that uart 6 has a header through-hole connected to it. I was thinking of switch the gps and smartaudio uarts to see if that helps. Or I may use the pwm5 pin. If I configure it correctly and I’m testing it out should the pin output 5 volts? Thanks again!! Tony P.s. I’m st working so I’ll update this in the morning.
Joshua, I just pulled the resource command off of the fc. I did a new firmware install to make sure all was clear. C07 is on the Serial rx and also the PWM 4 areas. I did notice with the serial rx3 that it uses B11. The B11 is located no where else besides the Uart 3. I'm going to switch the gps to uart 6 and the smart audio and the Realpit to uart3. I hope that helps. Tony
Joshua, I switched everything around. I did another resource command and I see that the Pinio is set to B11 as I assigned it. In the modes tab I can see the user 1 assigned to Aux 1 as I set it and it activates. Now the Realpit has a red led but the Mach 3 is not powered on with the battery connected. I'm about to give up. Any ideas? Thanks, Tony
The usual way this is handled is to ask everyone for a few minutes to get your quad onto whatever channel you've been assigned. The faster you are able to do this, the nicer it is for everybody. Basically, you wait for people to be landed and shout, "Can I have a minute to get on channel? Nobody fly okay? Thanks."
If someone asks while I am still flying I just fly closer, slower and lower and say "ok". Usually, with high quality VTX it is nothing but a little static.
I cannot say how much these videos helped me out as I have not flown in over a year. I cannot remember how the hell I set this up 2 years ago. Covid curse has shut down racing and I have been just simulating since 11/19. I probably will have to binge watch more videos. Thank you Josh!!!
Joshua I can't thank you enough for producing such fast easy to follow instructions on how to set up realpit. I really appreciate you just walking me through every single thing to enter in CLI. Worked perfectly the very first time! You are the single person that has taught me more about this hobby/sport than all others by far. Gonna learn something today? Damn right!
Joshua, I have been using these for couple months now and have them on all my quads. I love them. BTW if people are short UARTS and you have SmartAudio on the Tx of a UART, you can use the Rx of the same UART for the Realpit. Smartaudio only needs the Tx line. Just locate the Serial Rx pin related to the Smartaudio UART like you mentioned and remap it accordingly (eg. resource SERIAL_RX 3 NONE and resource PINIO 1 B11 ). A suggestion for cases that other pads are not available on the FC.
I like that for post crash if my antenna gets knocked off and I'm far from where I crashed. Often happens when flying in my field! Great stuff as always! Keep killing it!
Nice! Bravo to the creators and cheers for the info Joshua, you the man! Just bought this before I even finished watching this vid, its a must have! So handy!
Owen Callaghan thanks for your support man! Let me know if you need any help.
thanks m8! Ive been waiting for this!! Installed as smoothly as your video!!! I don't fly with other pilots but installed this just because I hate the heat my vtx produces while on the bench. Also got the M8 charger because of your review.
Josh, get that GPS antenna off the arm. You should put two large zipties next to each other, zipped to the arm, and leave about an inch not snipped. Wrap it from the top and zip it at the bottom so when you mount the GPS to the top of the unsnipped portion, the surface of the GPS is flush with the surface of the arm, then all you have to do is heat shrinktube it all together. I have it like this on all my builds.
Its great. Been using this for a little while now. Boots up quick. I started using this after I started seeing a bug in Betaflight using the Low_Power_On_Disarm. My flight controller wasn't kicking the VTx up to full power on ARM. Now I just flip the system on before I arm and we are good to go.
Tech is getting better day after day
Thank you for the CLI resourcing min max! Was having a joyous time trying to get mine finished.. Hope your ok with me linking your video in mine. I installed the Real Pit to the Mamba Mini`s LED Strip...
Have a great day! ScooterPie,
Great video - I learned something!!!!! Thank you tons!!!! Thanks for all your videos, this hobby is tons of fun thanks to your videos!!!!
Great video Joshua! I have a MUCH simpler option. Just install a miniature 12v switch inline with the +v rail to the VTX. You can get tiny surface mount switches anywhere! Job done. 👍
Can't be triggered remotely though.
Fair comment, 🙌 probably come in handy if you crash and you don't wanna fry the VTX, although I use Lua Script on my QX7. Cracking product tho. 👍
This doesn't require Lua script. And you aren to able to reach your quad on the starting line once the race has started. So while a physical switch is possible, it is not comparable product.@@Ja5onB0urn3
For those of you that saw my questions to Joshua about the Omnibus F4 V5 I have an answer. I am running a Spektrum Spm4649T receiver. I have the signal on the receiver hooked up to Tx3. The Smartaudio is hooked up to Tx1 and the gps is hooked up to Uart 6. For the RealPit I have it hooked up to the led strip 1 and it works finally. Thanks again Joshua, Tony
Glad you got it working Tony!
Just to highlight. With this and Betaflight you CAN change VTX channel without the VTX being on using LUA scripts.
It was a throw away comment, but this is critical for racers who may need to change channels between races without knocking other pilots out of the air.
Another way to do this (and may be worthwhile of another really short video) is to change change channel on the FC using BF CLI. (set vtx_band = 4 set vtx_channel = 6 save ). This way you only power the FC (and do not even need a battery as the FC gets power from USB).
Yes correct.
I stand corrected ... I assume you tested this with all popular vtx's ?
@@KiSwiSje As usual, must with with VTX that has Tramp or Smartaudio. :) The startup sequence sets the VTX to the channel the one set in the FC.
Some FC's can power the RX directly from the USB. You don't even need a computer, just a powered USB cable (like an iPhone charger wall wart :) )
I tested it with my KakuteF4V2 with MatekHV VTX. Works fine. I use Betaflight 4 and the new launch mode for racing.
Test on your own setup to ensure it works for you.
FYI before you dump your radio on the ground that clasp on the newbeedrone neck strap will unhook itself if you pick it up in a certain way. Sew a regular “dog leash” style one on. Can get them at Lowe’s for .89$
Newbeedrone has a new clasp on their lanyards that is supposed to fix this. Personally, I solder mine shut.
Now we just need to incorporate into the FC!
So true. This feature should be every FC, at least one switchable 5V line.
@@Gosuminer clracing f7, build in
@@SaverioGarzi That's cool, but I really hope this catches on because it would be so useful for racers and freestyle pilots alike.
This I already in the WhitenoiseFPV Synergy FC.
I do not know why we can't have a programmable logic signal control on any of the digital out lines. Seems obvious to me. Configure in the adjustment tab "aux3 > 1900; trigger pa6 high".
useful little device, i hope in the future we will see this feature directly on the FC, like at the new Matek F722-SE
Would love to see where you mounted it. Great video as always.
It's really tiny so I just put it on top of the vTX next to the crossfire receiver.
Great, but shouldn't it work without this device too? Betaflight has this pitmode option in the modes tab. Didn't work for me actually, even though my vtx (akk oscar backpack) supports pit mode and smartaudio is connected.
No, it doesn't work without this device. Pit Mode is not true power off, for one thing. Some vTX put out too much power even in pit mode, and can interfere. More importantly, many SmartAudio vTX refuse to go back into pit mode after power up.
You can do the same thing with a 12mmx12mm mos trigger switch, that costs about 50 cents, with less wiring, and the ability to handle a MUCH higher amp load, (even the HD realpit is only rated at 2amp, the 50 cent switch I use is rated for 200amps) or a one dollar trigger switch/voltage regulator combo board that's not much bigger, if you needed to drop the output voltage at the same time.
Yeah you can. But this one is nicely soldered to a PCB and easy to work with. Nobody is representing it as anything except a little FET on a PCB. If you can do it cheaper, more power to you :-)
I just bought one of these and some pink and blue LEDs to add to a quad to do our babies gender reveal. Having a lil trouble getting it sorted
I would love to see how you have Aux 1 setup for that quad. It looks like it’s controlling 4 different functions... and had some interesting things going on in the mixer too...
Thx for the info, Joshua. I definitely am going to use this, at least on the VTX.
Thanks for the tip! Nice Josh! Thanks!
Back in my pre-FPV quad flying days I wanted to switch something on/off through the PPM signal from the receiver in my GPS quad, could've bought such a switch, but it cost half that to make one with a microcontroller & MOSFET, so I did.
What did I want to switch on/off by the transmitter? A 50 watt LED sitting underneath the craft pointing down :D
licensetodrive leds use low side switching. This is a high side switch. It safely isolates the component from our FCs to not allow current to flow through the MCU.
Technically LEDs can use low or high side switching, but I get your point about it being a high side switch, I have a bunch of both in my parts collection.
Great video, would this work on a inav3.0.1 wing and f405-wing flight controller? Thanks
Cool video - simple but effective! Happy flying
There's a flightcontroller in the pipeline with this feature already integrated ;) And you can also directly solder the vtx to the pcb board of the fc !
Oh man that would have been great last weekend!
I also noticed you Kapton tape on RX do you prefer to clear heat shrink? I have it but have never used it but think I will give it a try.
Clear heat shrink is fine but it's often a little thicker than Kapton and also I never quite have the right size.
Thanks for the reply and all you do for the community. This video gave me something else to buy which is not a bad thing. I have a few builds I am working on and one will be the remix frame with a mix of purple and gold stand offs, your FC and ESC combo and your purple and gold motors. I can't wait to get the parts and see how it will all look. (no clone parts this time)
@Joshua Bardwell what clay do you find works well for holding parts as you solder them ?
Could you show the setup with your JBF4?
Could you please explain what you have set up in your mixer tab for channel 5?
How come you don’t use the ‘vtx pit mode’ option in the modes tab?
Pit mode is still transmitting power and can interfere in some circumstances.
Some vTX (like Unify) refuse to go back into pit mode after power-up.
Some vTX "glitch" when changing power settings. So you arm the quad and then a second afterwards the video drops out for a fraction of a second.
Joshua Bardwell very interesting, especially as I have a Unify. It would be great if you could set vtx power on a switch like in the Kiss Gui. Thanks for the reply 👍
You actually can assign pinio to that VTX PitMode mode. However I’ve chosen to not overwrite it and use the custom switches so that people that have VTXs that use the PitMode function can still utilize it w hole also using the VTX power switch. If you wanted to use vtx pit mode mode just set pinio to 39 instead of 40.
awesome! I wonder if something like this could be integrated right onto a flight controller.
Nice! Have you done a video on the vtx_ settings in BF? I've been trying to get 'vtx_low_power_disarm' working - mainly so I can run high wattage on my Mach3 but not smoke it when it's sitting still.
I have a Tramp VTX and I simply used the Pit Mode option in Betaflight Modes to do this. No need to buy anything or solder anything.
Like I say in the video, put mode is not guaranteed to avoid interference. And put mode doesn't work reliably on many vTX.
@@JoshuaBardwell Appreciate that. I can only speak on my own very limited experience and the Tramp VTX (ImmersionRC Tramp HV) has a Pit mode capability and with Betaflight Mode it seemed like the logical choice for me. I have used it and it seems to work fine so far. I always appreciate your videos and have learnt so much from you, Thank you.
That "pit mode" is just super low power. This is ZERO power and universal for any vtx. or any other product you would like to use. @@cavman7
Another Home Run Mr B. Thanks.
Check out the olaffpv vtx assassin too!
Hi @joshua, thanks for the very thorough videos. You mentioned at 9:39 that we can have up to 4 of those connected to the FC. where is the limitation to 4?
I believe that the pinio function only supports up to four user modes. So that limits you to being able to switch only up to four realpit devices.
Joshua Bardwell
Makes sense, thanks 🥇
Hello, would that work on Caddx vista? Thank you Joshua
You could wire your vtx ground to your buzzer ground. And then setup up mode switch to control the vtx.
This is risky because the buzzer circuit probably can't handle as much current as the vTX needs. It might burn out.
@@JoshuaBardwell true but if it's just for a race vtx they do demand the lowest amperage and the ground side is the safest side.
Ground side is NOT the safest side for vtxs. Maybe LEDs but not vtx's. This is a high side switch. and 100% universal with all current VTXs. the Voltage range is much higher as well. @@HighTideFPV
@@TinysLEDs I suppose so if you didn't have your vtx on 5v. A lot of vtxs are ran on lipo voltage now days.
if the vtx is not powered, you can not use the lua script to read the settings, or change the channel, I think. Same goes for the betaflight OSD method. Only way to do this is with the wand, or with the (experimental) android app, using the connected tag. I can not easely test this, but with your setup it should be easy enough to verify this. Maybe some day we will see this sort of thing built into fc's and betaflight? Better still would be if a vtx starts up in a real 0mW pitmode.
apparantely, I am mistaken ... ArchmageAU commented on this. "Just to highlight. With this and Betaflight you CAN change VTX channel without the VTX being on using LUA scripts."
@@KiSwiSje Some FC's can power the RX using the USB (like Omnibus). On those, the TX LUA script will work without even having to start Betaflight configurator. Just plug the FC into a powered USB cable.
It's a neat little hack.
ArchmageAU is correct. You can write the setting to the FC using OSD or CLI and then when the vTX powers up, it will take the new setting. You should verify whether the vTX briefly blasts the old channel though.
So, it is like connecting basis to signal wire, in your case it's connected to pin M5 on FC, and connecting vbat to collector, emmiter to vin on vtx.
The current flow from collector to emmiter that is going to power the vtx up is controlled by output from signal wire .. cmiiw
@JoshuaBardwell
pinio_box=40,41,42,43
aux 2 40 2 1600 2100 0
Why this way and not that way:
set pinio_box= 40,255,255,255
set pinio_config 1,129,129,129
The thing I'm asking about is the configuration guide Flywoo - 5V/12V 2A V2.0 BEC Module w/ Switch
I don't understand why different "magic" commands need to be used in Betaflight; both switches seem to work on the same principle.
Joshua, is the set up the same for Tiny’s “2-12s LED PDB with FC Switch”. I want to use this board for all my LED’s on my bangGod, just one switch for all on/all off. It lists as good for 21 AMP current limit. Thank you
If you don't want to have the User2, User3, and User4 visible, you can type "set pinio_box = 40,0,0,0" and then you will only have User1 visible in the Modes tab.
You can also just click the hide unused modes button at the top. We did all 4 just so that you have the ability to easily configure more than 1 realpit if you needed to.
@@TinysLEDs That is also an option. I personally never use that little switch. If one was to end up using another user defined box they would have to go into the CLI tab again anyway to set User2, 3, or 4 so it's really a matter of taste. Both options work in the end.
Where can I buy the black knobs and a black handle? Seems the same as the Steele Edition but I can't find them anywhere.
I use to power my vtx from vcc pad on my pdb. And I do run an lc filter also.. Does this tiny do filtering also?
this is so cool...thank you J.B
I have the Hobbywing Stack and was wondering, do i put the Camera signal wire onto the VTX switch?
I was wondering why wouldn't be possible to power something directly from an MCU pin, like the buzzer out. And the problem is that pins handle only up to 25mA. This is why Tiny's Led exist. I would like to know what signal/voltage is the remapped pad outputting.
Great idea that I may just have to use. Maybe for LEDs on a long range for me since I don't race
They would work fine for LEDs. You can actually have 4 independent realpits on your quad or wire multiple to one pad.
@@TinysLEDs They will be in my next order
Hey, on the subject of video, I would like to get on board DVR for my quad. Can you do a video about the best and cheapest way to get usable footage?
This is the one that I personally use. Decase it and cover it with clear heat shrink to get it smaller.
bit.ly/2FTiYVt
You don't want to power off your receiver with one of these, you want to put your quad into failsafe instead to control that. Set the switch so when the VTX is off failsafe is on. You can do up to 3 quads this way all bound to the same model. Extra points if you put a mix on that switch that allows another switch to move the main switch 20 points or so. Then you can have a remote VTX switch and a quad switch switch. This is the ideal team racing setup... 3 quads... all plugged in... and the ability to select each quad and turn off all VTX while still having control of the quad.
Are you using crossfire? I tried using failsafe for this purpose and couldn't get it to work?
Soo it's an electronic switch with a fancy name? It's a damned good idea nevertheless.
I wonder if we'll ever get to the stage of analogue video transmitters adopting the spread spectrum technique of avoiding interference, if such a thing is even possible.
It’s a high side switch. Safe to use on anything we have on our quads. Low side switch options have possible issues of allowing current to flow into the MCU and fry it.
Could you briefly explain what these 2 types of switch are? TIA
www.helicomicro.com/2018/11/29/r2teck-nexg1-en-approche/
robrow there are essentially two main types of transistor, NPN & PNP, MOSFETs have P-channel & N-channel types.
The most commonly used type is NPN & N-channel which when used as power switches essentially turn ground (low side) on/off, whilst the PNP & P-channel turn positive voltage (high side) on/off.
licensetodrive Thanks, today I learned something more 👍
ooh this could help me, currently i use the runcam split 2 on my second quad as a ground camera, obviously i dont want to power the whole quad so i've jerry rigged a jst connector to power it by itself or via the quads power line.
Will this work for a Caddax or DJI air unit?
One more device to fry or cause weird issues when 100% working device doesn't turn on when it need to :) But I see the good side too. It can help to toggle off and on VTX'es without PIT mode built in. For example - to Matek VTX-HV owners. The real problem would be lack of I/O pins in some FC boards.
Only reason this device would not work would be user error in configuration.
Also. This can use almost any pad on an FC. So lacking of of I/O pins would not really be an issue for any modern FC. You do not need a Full UART or anything like that. Just a pad on the FC that is able to be assigned to PINIO function.
@@TinysLEDs For many "decent" FCs it is still an issue if you wish to keep LED strip and buzzer functional.
So these unit will work on a caddx vista unit as well?
It works on anything as long as it's pulling less than about 1 amp. So the DJI unit must be powered from about 12v or higher to be safe.
It's great for reducing power when you land or take off far away from your position.
Thank you again for this video!
Would the same cli lines work on the JBF4? I’m trying to use the LED pad to control it so I know I will need to use the correct pin designation.
Yes exactly.
Which one of these fpv cameras will You install on this quad: Runcam Micro Eagle Pro or Foxeer Micro Falkor?
I have your fc and esc. Blheli keeps saying saying theres nothing to read: on esc 4, there for motor 4 doesn't turn. I can't seem to digure out how to dix it. If you could help me out i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you Mr. Bardwell.
This usually means signal wire 4 is not connected or damaged.
Im kinda surprised no VTX's yet have come out with this built it...
Taking a PWM signal means it can also be connected to rx's with spare out[uts like the L9R while FC runs on SBus....
Great idea, but it's so small it
ll need heatshrinking onto the VTX or similar- which brings me back to the first sentence......lol
Anyway, thank you again :)
BLeeKiis Too I offer mounting solutions for unify VTXs in 30x30 and 20x20, and a drop in add on board for the Emax Mini Mag stack! Tinysleds.com
Whitenoise FPV has one coming out soon. he also does boards that mount the vtx onto the stack that include realpit. I'm using one with my unify nano
This would be very convenient to switch GPS on and off for rescue mode. If I just race proximity I don't need to wait for 5 minutes for the GPS to lock 6 satellites.
You can set the "min sats" to zero. Then you can arm any time you want but if you have < 8 sats GPS Rescue won't work.
@@JoshuaBardwell really? I have set minimum sats to 6 and it works just fine.
Could you please explain the aux command? If I understand it correctly this command is trying to map range 1600..2100 of AUX2 to USER1 but then (maybe because of missing arguments in the command?) betaflight just ignores it and answers AUX2 range 1600..2100 is mapped to CAMERA_CONTROL_1 and then you proceed to using the GUI and map it there instead, doing it the "normal" way. And you are using AUX4 in the GUI.
Don't get confused about "aux 2" and "aux 4". The "aux" command is used to define Aux Modes, but the numbering is sequential. So the very first aux mode you define is "aux 1" and the 2nd one is "aux 2" and so forth. The aux channel that you use (Aux 4) to activate the mode is one of the later parameters.
To be honest, I think you should probably just define the aux mode in the Modes tab rather than trying to type it in to the CLI. But since it is part of the instructions for setting up RealPit, I included it here in case people are setting up for the first time.
Yup, after saving the pinio_box line the USER 1 mode will be available in the modes tab and that is all you need (except for assigning the pad of course).
I think this whole topic would be worth a video that explains every aspect of it in more depth. For quite some time now I have thought it might be nice if I could switch arbitrary stuff on and off remotely, but never researched deeper into the topic because I just did not know there actually existed such a clean and simple way to remap and reconfigure arbitrary pins and have user modes. It was this video that actually made me look up the dos and read deeper into it.
And here is also the main point of criticism: When watching your video the pedantic programmer in me immediately said: "wait a moment, I am supposed to blindly enter these commands with magic numbers in it without any explanation and without knowing how to undo the effects of the command. I must first look up what it actually does." . While this had the beneficial effect of making me actually look up the documentation and finally understand how to to it, it also left me with dissatisfaction about how incomplete it was presented, how much better and less confusing it could have been if there would have been just a few more explanations and no blind copy-pasting of unexplained commands.
And this is where I believe that another follow-up video would be helpful, a video that fully explains what the IDs 40...43 actually are (and what other IDs there also exist), what the pinio_box actually does, how it creates a mapping from USER1...USER4 to PINIO1...PINIO4 and what other funny mappings could theoretically be made with this command (for example actuate a certain pinio when the quad is armed, etc.). You could dive really deep into this topic if you want to , for example explaining where the pin names for the resources actually come from when looking into the data sheet of the microcontroller, it would be a very interesting video and fun to watch even for experts as long as everything you say is factually correct and you don't leave people with unanswered question marks in their heads.
And for completeness sake it should also explain that the aux command used in this video was actually redundant and people should use the GUI to map the ranges instead.
@@foo2332 That feature also completely slipped my attention. AFAIK it is in BF since 3.4 and was introduced to enable (or rather disable) the Runcam bluetooth adapter for the Speedybee app.
@@foo2332 The IDs 40 - 43 are hardcoded and map to the modes USER1 - USER4. There aren't any more as for now. Combining modes (e.g. arm and RealPit) works transparently like with any other modes. This is nothing new, you could assign different mode functions to the same Aux since forever. It would be worth explaining though that you can (and in many cases should) configure pinio switches in your failsafe settings, too.
Hmmmm. LED output sounds interesting. Could help make my 3D kwad a total acid trip if flying around dusk for everytime I switch a mode.
Does the switch work off a straight PWM signal if I trip it off the signal output from my CrossfireNano RX? I have ch 3 and ch 4 outputting for controlling the switching of FPV cams without having to go through the FC.
It does not work using PWM. It uses the PINIO feature in Betaflight.
Would this work only on analog or digital like dji 03 unit as well ?
It works on any vTX. It switches the power so it doesn't matter.
@ thank you sir!
Excellent info, thanks
Just wait for FC with such future, also VTX comes with such future, so just a mater of time (yield about it years ago...) China fast on cloning things, but slow on creating what i ask! And what we NEED!
Rc Reviews Lt it’s already in the Whitenoise Synergy FC
@@TinysLEDs yes only now, after 2 years off me rumbling about that :D also in CLracing F7. But they do it wrong, that power switch always was, it's easy to do with ESC, it's even better to use ESC as it has 2 switches available! and much cleaner power ON =)
That's fantastic, JB! The Betaflight devs should think about creating a specific mode for it... So we could use an UART. 😃
MC's Creations it would still need to use PINIO feature. Maybe just making it more simple for setup.
@@TinysLEDs Sure, that's exactly what I'm talking about. 😊
Does anyone know if it is normal that my lantian rc realpit measures 1.1V when switched off between ground and vtx+ pad?
5V when on.
My vtx does not transmit at either on/off.
solved, mamba mini stack was doa, some pads not putting out 5V but 1.8V for some reason, even when nothing is connected, AND when something is connected, weird stuff
Very good. Thanks!
Matek have it in their f722 FC already
What would I need If I wanted to control solenoid on my drone remotely ?
Depends on how much current the solenoid pulls. You could use a RealPit if the solenoid pulls up to 1 amp.
@@JoshuaBardwell Thanks for the response! it's a 12V solenoid. I was planning to do a Bb gun out of co2 pump and this solenoid would push the button. Now depends how much power I'd need to push it. I'm still waiting for the pump to arrive. My aim was to have a drone dogfight :D.
Dude...have you done any videos on the pinio_box or aux CLI commands you used here?
No, I haven't. pinio is a bit esoteric and basically manufacturers of accessories like RealPit will just tell you the right command to input to make their hardware work. Aux is just the way of storing the Aux Modes from the Modes tab, and there is not really any reason to input the aux command manually.
Joshua Bardwell ok...thanks for the response...the reason I asked is that one time I was trying to add a buzzer to a FC without a buzzer- pad (hyperlite f4 - non OSD version) by remapping the beeper resource to the one associated with motor 5 and then wanted to map an aux to that beeper...but now I remember I incorrectly thought my problem was not knowing the right aux CLI command...instead the problem was the beeper can’t use any old pad...it has to have an additional transistor on the pad to get it to work. TLDR, I know...
Is the default off so it doesn't power on the VTX until the receiver is talking to the TX to turn it off? But then you idea of switching the RX off wouldn't work as you could never power the RX up ?
This does not switch off your RX. And yes default is OFF for whatever is attached to this.
Listen to JB surmising about during a race a crashed pilot being able to switch off both VTX and RX. My point was this wont work because you can never switch on power to the RX with power already being supplied to the RX.
3 ordered from RMRC was going to order direct from Tiny's site but $15 minimum post to the UK v $3 seems a bargain to save the cam and VTX killing a battery while hiking to GPS coordinates even going to set failsafe to power them off.
can't I just connect the ground of my vtx to the buzz- and use it as a relay?
Two reasons why this might not work.
1. Betaflight flashes the buzzer, so it would turn your vTX on and off, which of course wouldn't be what you want.
2. The buzzer- pad has a transistor buffer that is designed for the current draw of the buzzer. If the vTX draws more current than the buzzer- circuit is designed for, it will burn out the circuit.
@@JoshuaBardwell Didn't thought about that, but still thanks for the quick response.
*try to use a conical soldering tip
Do you know if it's possible to control one of these without a flight controller? Say I wanted to put this in my wing, could one switch it on and off with an aux switch directly from the Taranis?
I don't think this is the right tool for that. I'm not sure if it works from a PWM signal. But they do make PWM-controlled switches that can plug directly into your receiver.
This would also work to control a non-RGB led?
Yes, as long as it pulls under 1 amp.
Adding this feature to your next version of FC?
Hi Joshua, do you know how to change name USER1 to something else in Betaflight ?
No you can't change it as far as I know.
hi Joshua,
I'm trying to implement this in INAV. so far I found that resource mapping is not available in inav.
any workaround you can think of? do you think it may work using buzz- or led ports?
I think that RealPit might work with a PWM input as well as the pinio function shown here. Try it with a PWM output from a typical receiver and test. If it does work, there are various ways you could get a PWM signal into the realpit to switch it.
@@JoshuaBardwell
cool,
I'm connecting realpit directly to a 4s battery (15V). I connected the "fc" port on realpit to a pwm ch in frsky. the channel output is ranging between 100mv to 220mv, making realpit forward between 2V to 2.6V (to the "vtx+" port).
I'm looking to get 0V when off and 15V when on.
thanks for the help I keep looking
Do you recommend this realpit powered straight off the battery pads on the PDB rather than the 5V on the FC? I'm only using 4S. If I remember about 6 months ago, I had brown outs, then finally nothing. The 5V regulator on the PDB burned out, so I had to swap out PDBs.
The RealPit just passes through whatever voltage you give it. So if your vTX runs off of 5v, then you give it 5v. If your vTX runs off of vBat then you give it vBat.
Always appreciate your input. I get it, I was just suggesting so others didn’t burn out a regulator.
Now I have to buy one more thing ... again ... 😂
is there a pit controller that will work on a dji air unit
Well the problem is if you're using the DJI controller once you turn off the air unit you failsafe. But if you're using a other controller then you can use realpit with the air unit. But realpit maxes out at 1 amp so you would want like a 12v regulator or run the air unit off 4s voltage to keep the amps low.
Pit mode is already pretty good on many transmitters, but it doesn't works right on any of my VTXs. On the Tramp-compatible Atlatl (V1), I can turn pit mode on but can't turn it off again without power-cycling, and on the TBS-compatible Atlatl (V2) and the AKK FX3 ultimate I can't activate it at all. Power and channel control work, it's just pit mode that's non-functional. What a shame.
If you are using smartaudio or tramp to control your channel won't the VTX, when powered up after the FC, then be on at the default channel?
it will get the new channel info from the FC upon powerup and then switch immediately. But you should DEFINITELY test each individual vTX to find out if it "blips" on the old channel or not.
I wish there was a similar device that you could use to activate the start/stop record button on a DVR on arm/disarm.
If you are talking about an onboard DVR like the Runcam Mini FPV DVR then you don't even need any additional hardware: ruclips.net/video/0Xhzg45I36k/видео.html
For the DVR in your googles you are out of luck - the video receiver module does not know anything about your quad's arming status.
yup i did this for the first time the other day .i never flew with anybody before .i asked him what channel he was on . he relied wit ha completey different channel i told him i was on 1200mw and i was going to plug in n bam i blew his video .he happen to keep her up in the air .i still hand my hand on the plug..pheww lol crazy shi*t bro ....
If you get blue-tac on electronics (like 4 n 1 esc) is it conductive?
It's never been an issue for me before.
Hey Joshua,
I am trying to set up the Realpit on my Omnibus f4 V5 board. I have the RDQ Mach 3 set up with smartaudio on Tx6. I want to use the Realpit on Rx6. I have the Spektrum Spm4649 on Tx3. I also have my gps on Uart 1. I made sure of trying this a number of times that my vtx is working correctly. When I wire the Realpit up and I am in the modes tab I can see the user 1 tab light up when I flip the switch for Aux 1. I have saved all the changes I made to the resources but I do not get the Realpit to light up nor the vtx to power up. I have tried two different Realpits and neither on of them turn on. Please help me and thanks, Tony
Most likely this points to a problem with your resource reassignment.
How did you identify which pin number was assigned to RX6?
When you type "resource" do you see any other resource on that pin number? If so, type "resource none" to clear all except the pinio 1 resource.
When you type "resource list" do you see pinio 1 assigned to the pin number in question?
I initially used resource to find out that Rx6 was assigned to C07. From there I assigned all the commands like you did. I even reformatted the firmware to make sure it was clean. I did not notice if there were any other resources assigned to that Rx6. On the Readytofly website it says that uart 6 has a header through-hole connected to it. I was thinking of switch the gps and smartaudio uarts to see if that helps. Or I may use the pwm5 pin. If I configure it correctly and I’m testing it out should the pin output 5 volts? Thanks again!! Tony
P.s. I’m st working so I’ll update this in the morning.
Joshua,
I just pulled the resource command off of the fc. I did a new firmware install to make sure all was clear. C07 is on the Serial rx and also the PWM 4 areas. I did notice with the serial rx3 that it uses B11. The B11 is located no where else besides the Uart 3. I'm going to switch the gps to uart 6 and the smart audio and the Realpit to uart3. I hope that helps. Tony
Joshua,
I switched everything around. I did another resource command and I see that the Pinio is set to B11 as I assigned it. In the modes tab I can see the user 1 assigned to Aux 1 as I set it and it activates. Now the Realpit has a red led but the Mach 3 is not powered on with the battery connected. I'm about to give up. Any ideas? Thanks, Tony
If I install led's instead of the VTX I still need to write the same code on the CLI?
Exactly the same.
When are you supposed to plug in if people are always flying around to avoid killing someone else’s video feed ?
The usual way this is handled is to ask everyone for a few minutes to get your quad onto whatever channel you've been assigned. The faster you are able to do this, the nicer it is for everybody. Basically, you wait for people to be landed and shout, "Can I have a minute to get on channel? Nobody fly okay? Thanks."
Good to know, thanks Joshua
If someone asks while I am still flying I just fly closer, slower and lower and say "ok". Usually, with high quality VTX it is nothing but a little static.
how long till this is integrated into lua / on an FC! :)
It already is built in to the CLRacing F7 I believe.
It is also built into the Whitenoise SynergyF4 Flight controller coming very soon.
The Matek F722-SE has a VTX Power Switch as well as a Camera Switcher to allow for two cameras.
tx = transmit and rx = receive ... on the radio side of things
What a great idea!