Quad Me Up

Smart Audio and Tramp VTX control are no longer working out of the box in Betaflight 4.1 right after flashing. The reason is that in Betaflight 4.1 you have to configure something that is called VTX Tables. Why you have to do it? Long story, the bottom line is that you have to do it.

How to fix SmartAudio and Tramp VTX in Betaflight?

Just copy-paste one of those snippets in the CLI, and save. There is really no reason to think about it for too long…

IRC Tramp compatible VTXes

vtxtable bands 5
vtxtable channels 8
vtxtable band 1 BOSCAM_A A CUSTOM 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725
vtxtable band 2 BOSCAM_B B CUSTOM 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866
vtxtable band 3 BOSCAM_E E CUSTOM 5705 5685 5665 5645 5885 5905 5925 5945
vtxtable band 4 FATSHARK F CUSTOM 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880
vtxtable band 5 RACEBAND R CUSTOM 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917
vtxtable powerlevels 5
vtxtable powervalues 25 100 200 400 600
vtxtable powerlabels 25 100 200 400 600

SmartAudio 1.0 compatible devices

vtxtable bands 5
vtxtable channels 8
vtxtable band 1 BOSCAM_A A FACTORY 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725
vtxtable band 2 BOSCAM_B B FACTORY 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866
vtxtable band 3 BOSCAM_E E FACTORY 5705 5685 5665 5645 5885 5905 5925 5945
vtxtable band 4 FATSHARK F FACTORY 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880
vtxtable band 5 RACEBAND R FACTORY 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917
vtxtable powerlevels 4
vtxtable powervalues 7 16 25 40
vtxtable powerlabels 25 200 500 800

SmartAudio 2.0 compatible devices

vtxtable bands 5
vtxtable channels 8
vtxtable band 1 BOSCAM_A A FACTORY 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725
vtxtable band 2 BOSCAM_B B FACTORY 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866
vtxtable band 3 BOSCAM_E E FACTORY 5705 5685 5665 5645 5885 5905 5925 5945
vtxtable band 4 FATSHARK F FACTORY 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880
vtxtable band 5 RACEBAND R FACTORY 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917
vtxtable powerlevels 4
vtxtable powervalues 0 1 2 3
vtxtable powerlabels 25 200 500 800

SmartAudio 2.1 compatible devices

vtxtable bands 5
vtxtable channels 8
vtxtable band 1 BOSCAM_A A FACTORY 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725
vtxtable band 2 BOSCAM_B B FACTORY 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866
vtxtable band 3 BOSCAM_E E FACTORY 5705 5685 5665 5645 5885 5905 5925 5945
vtxtable band 4 FATSHARK F FACTORY 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880
vtxtable band 5 RACEBAND R FACTORY 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917
vtxtable powerlevels 4
vtxtable powervalues 14 20 26 30
vtxtable powerlabels 25 100 400 1W

The snippets were taken from ttps://github.com/betaflight/betaflight/blob/master/docs/VTX.md#complete-examples

INAV is great, but INAV is not the best in everything. For example, INAVs internal IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) algorithm is suffering from the infamous artificial horizon drift. I explained this phenomenon already in one of the videos, you can watch it over here. We somehow mitigated this on fixed-wing airplanes in INAV 2.2.1, but it's not gone yet and there is no fix for multirotors for example.

Last weekend I started hacking something that might, or might not, help. Technology progressed quite a lot in the last few years, and right now we have much more advanced all-in-one IMU chips than when the workhorse MPU6000 changed RC hobby forever.

The idea behind the hack is simple: use secondary, hardware IMU, to help INAV correct horizon drift and some of the magnetometer related problems as well. There are pretty amazing IMUs like Vector Nav VN-100, VN-200, and VN-300. But they cost more than most RC hobby airplanes. The cheapest VN-100 is $500 for the chip only. Or $800 for a ready to use version. Nobody would buy something like that for a foam airplane. There are, however, much cheaper (and less capable) integrated IMUs. One of them is Bosch BNO055.

Bosch BNO055 has an integrated accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. It allows getting data from each sensor separately or to use sensor fusion (probably relatively simple Kalman) to combine data from 3 sensors into roll, pitch and yaw (including absolute magnetic heading) Euler angles or quaternions.

So far, so good. After a few days of work, I was able to connect GY-955 which contains BNO055 plus some extra electronics to INAV via I2C and get basic data from it. The next step is to check is this whole secondary IMU idea makes sense. The idea is to switch the OSD artificial horizon and heading to a new data source. If it will work and data obtained from BNO055 will be good quality, to switch other navigation-related functions of INAV to secondary IMU. Bear in mind that stabilization and main PID look will still be fed by the data obtained from primary IMU.

Let's do a "Questions and Answers" about new EU drone regulations that will be (should be) the law starting from June 2020. It's all described in EASA regulations 2019/945 and 2019/947 as well as explained by me over here.

In this video let's talk in-depth about:

• what will happen when you will be caught flying illegally
• FPV and BVLOS
• flying in parks
• cops will not be able to figure out what goes where
• 25mW VTX power restriction and how to change that
• 19m/s speed limitations
• what about 6S LiPos
• what about gas and nitro models?
• what will happen with all DJI drones like Phantom, Mavic, Spark, Inspire and so on

Although I moved to 7-inch FPV drones, from time to time I would like to have something small. Not a whoop, just something small. Like 2-inch propellers. Banggood has a nice promo, so I purchased a Diatone Rabbit R249 NX and here is what I think about it. "Amazing"? Niah. Closer to "fine" than "good". For all the details watch the review.

Lets go back a few years and let's see how FPV (at least for me) was looking like in 2015 and 2016. Wow… When I watched my old FPV videos from that time I could not belive how bad pilot I was and how superior current hardware as software is. 4 year is a very long period of time in FPV world…

Today it's time for the next brave step: to maiden this awkward airplane powered by a impeller centrifugal fan and check if it works. To be honest, I'm not that optimistic about it… The efficiency of 3D printed squirrel-cage fan is non-existent and the whole setup generates only around 200g of thrust. In theory, it should be enough to make the airplane fly, but I'm not so sure about it…

The topic for today is super simple: what is happening to the RC hobby market size? Is it growing, is it shrinking? Are consumer-grade drones like DJI Mavic a part of RC hobby? And what about toys? Why FrSky is pushing a new ACCESS protocol?

al-Qaeda origin, armed with explosives DIY drone (it's not the USA drone one that Iran shot down) was supposedly shot down by Syrian Arab Army. It was supposed to be a terrorist attack that was stopped by a heroic effort of brave soldiers. Anyhow, we've seen armed, home built drones before and we will hear about them in the future. Hey, this time we even have pictures of this armed and dangerous drone. The problem is that it just looks like fake news and the proof are the pictures themselves!