Turnigy 9x

As technology progresses and we RC hobbyist find the need to mount additional things to our transmitter, the need for adjustable mount points arises. Of course, if these transmitter manufacturer were current with the time, we would have more elegant solutions in place. Instead, follow along for a solution if you don’t like every hobbyist best friend, tape and velcro.

Check out this Walkera QR w100s quad that allows you to mount an iPhone so you can get a first person point of view, while still being able to control via your radio transmitter.

There are other tools and software such as iKopter, that allows for waypoint programming of your drone with Google Maps overlayed, all right from the phone. Then there are the popular telemetry displays that many pilots are already attaching to their TX.

For my purpose, I simply need a rear mount point that I can attach my HiSky HT-8 or Tactic Anylink module to. And be able to easily be removed, pivot and adjust as needed. Kindda like how Lego pieces snaps together.

With that thought in mind, why not use lego pieces. My little boys has a bunch of Lego Hero Factory (Bionicle) pieces all over the place. And I noticed that the pieces is perfect for what I had in mind.

Without their knowledge, I took a piece.

It used a Dremel to cut it in half right at the line. Then I drilled a hole and stuck the ball and stem through it. epoxy it in place because I didn’t want to bother removing the case and coming up with a mount solution. Hot glue may work just as well.

Here’s the stud:

Then I use a screw to securely attach the other half:

Now, I can attach and switch between the AnyLink or HT-8 module easily. And the TX still fits in my existing transmitter case without having to update the layout.

It holds securely and can pivot in every which way. You can extend it with other Lego Hero Factory pieces for additional accessories addon or to make things for secure. It’s really up to your imagination at this point.

update (06/21/2013)
I found that Walkera made a couple of mounts available that obviously fit their radio and possibly others.

Here’s the Phone Holder A for their bigger radios: 2402D, Devo7, Devo10, Devo8s, Devo12, DevoF4 and F7, 2801PRO

And this is the Phone Holder B that fits their smaller radios: Devo 4, 6, 6s, 7E

Here’s the instruction for how it mounts onto the smaller radio.

What an exciting day for micro R/C hobbyist. Hobby King just introduced a new module that is compatible with Spektrum DSMX and DSM2 technology for your Turnigy 9x and other radio that accepts JR style module.

OrangeRX DSMX/DSM2 Transmitter Module

It’s a full range system too. So you can fly all the Horizon Hobby DSM2 and DSMX BnF system with your Turnigy 9x.

Price is decent at $30.

New Hobby King OrangeRX DSMX and DSM2 Transmitter Module for the Turnigy 9x

Thanks to Julian for giving me the heads up on it’s availability. :)

When you first get your TH9x, Turnigy 9x radio, I recommend you calibrate your sticks. It’s a quick procedure that ensure your sticks range of motion is seen correctly by the firmware. Keep in mind, this should work for all the variants of the FlySky FS-TH9x. i.e. Turnigy 9x, Imax-9x, Eurgle and CopterX

If not, here’s the procedure all new Turnigy 9x owners should perform.

Enter calibration mode:

On the left stick, press and hold the trim up.
On the right stick, press and hold the trim to the left.
Keep both trims held while turning on the power.

You will see the following screen if you successfully entered into the calibration mode:

Calibration steps:

1. Begin by centering both sticks. Then press and hold the Menu button down until you hear a confirmation beep.

• The numbers 0000 on the top will increase to 0001.

2. The right stick gets calibrated first.

• Move the right stick diagonally to the upper right. Hold it there while long pressing the menu button down until the confirmation beep.
• The numbers 0001 will now increase to 0002.
• Now, move the same stick diagonally to the lower left position. Hold it there while long pressing the menu button till the confirmation beep is heard.
• The numbers 0002 will increase to 0003.
• Done with the right stick. We will do the left stick in the same manner.

3. The left stick gets calibrated next.

• Move the left stick diagonally to the upper right corner. Hold it there and then long press the menu button until the confirmation beep is heard.
• The numbers on the display will increment to 0004.
• Finally, move the left stick to the lower left corner and long press the menu button. The beep will sound.
• The numbers  will change to 0005 now.

4. Finally, recenter both sticks. Long press the menu button until the beep is heard. The number will stay at 0005.

5. Exit and save the calibration result by double pressing the exit button. This will save your calibration and return to the regular menu.

That’s all there is to it. You have successfully calibrated your sticks. Hope that helped you guys out.

Every now and then I see someone on the forum looking for the Turnigy 9x manual. So I compiled a few and am linking them here for your convenience.

First up is the Imax-9x. Which is the same radio as the Turnigy 9x. The manual is fully applicable and has nice soft colorations. Looks good. Click on the logo to download from Box.net:

The Copter X is also a pretty nicely put together manual. Fully applicable to the Turnigy 9x. Click on the Copter X logo to download from Box.net

The Eurgle is a no frills, black and white manual. Good because the PDF is only 6MB in size. It is available in two parts from Hobby King, but I combined both parts into one file to make it convenient for you guys. Click on it’s logo to download from Box.net.

Here’s how I prepare the DSM2 module harvested from the HP6DSM transmitter. The DX4e and DX5e has a similar module and pinout.

How I wire up the HP6DSM module for the er9x DSM2 hack

You can find more information as well as the schematic by Pat MacKenzie here: Spektrum DSM2 module from HP6DSM

• Basically, you have a 4k7 (4700ohm) resistor soldered to the 3.3v and signal pad of the DSM2 module. (Pins 2 and 6)
• Then you simply got three wires that needs to go to the appropriate place…
  1. Pin 1 is your ground pin. That’s the Black wire and should be soldered to any ground point on the transmitter. Those BIG rectangular pads in the third pictures above, are a good, easy place to solder to.
  2. Pin 2 is the power pin. It’s the Red wire in the photo and need to be connected a 3.3v power source. It can take power from a 3.3v regulator like the one I harvested from the donor transmitter, as seen in the third photo, or alternatively, a 3.3v uBec. Both the 3.3v regulator or uBec takes power from a suitable source on your transmitter. I have always use the pin (7th pin from the left) that feeds power to the rear module. I cut the trace and put a RX switch on it. Flip one way and power goes to the rear module. Flip the switch the other way and power goes to the DSM2 module.
  3. Pin 6 is the signal pin. That’s the White wire in the photo above. It needs to be connected to your transmitter’s PPM output. A diode is soldered inline as per the schematic previously linked to.

I took this photo to share on RCGroups. I figured I’ll post here as well.

RCGroups forum member Heli Pad gifted me this Harbor Freight Tools case and I configured it to hold 5 micro heli.

From top to bottom:

1. Blade mCP X with extended tail boom
2. WL Toys v911 (HobbyKing FP100)
3. Blade mSR
4. modded 9958MSR
5. Xieda 9958 (HobbyKing HK-190)

Perfectly fits five micro helicopter and full size transmitter.

All those brands and model of helicopter are flown with the Turnigy 9x modded for DSM2 capabilities.

Behind the foam on top are pockets for the tools and extra parts. You can see how those pockets looks like over at Harbor Freight’s site.

I pulled out a block of foam, keeping them intact. Then cut a 1/4 off the bottom and reinserted back into place. It makes a nice little recessed compartment for my 1s LiPo battery.

1S LiPo compartment recessed.

Can anyone guess what this little momentary switch is for?

Little pressure switch hot glued into place.

Strip of white LED lights hooked up to a 3S 2000mAh LiPo.

Here’s the configuration…

And a charger powered off the same 3S LiPo pack that powers the LED

Just wanted to share the transmitter sticks that just arrived. At our local flynite, quite a few of us has the Turnigy 9x transmitter. Often times, it takes a double, triple check to make sure I am picking up the one that is mine. With these new sticks, it should help me identify my TX from the others. That is until my buddies read this blog post and decide to get some red ones like these.

These were $2.34 a pair from R2hobbies.com and my entire order only cost a little over $3 bucks to ship from Australia. Not bad considering I bought other things as well.

The 3mm Futaba sticks are the correct size and model for compatibility with the Turnigy 9x and it’s other variants: FlySky FS-TH9x, Eurgle, Imax, etc…

Update (2013-05-30) – Hobby King now carries compatible sticks. The ends looks less “sharp” so it may be more comfortable. Only $1.89 from here.

I was asked how I solved the problem with the antenna wire on the Turnigy 9x to allow for the rear module to be removed. The easy way would to buy the original FlySky TH9x module, which comes with the antenna properly mounted on the rear module. However, if you’re handy with a soldering iron and a drill, read how I tackle the problem.

First, I de-solder the coax cable to remove the antenna. Moved it to the back and resolder. Below, you can see how I secure the antenna to allow it to pivot. It holds very securely and has a firmness when rotating. So it feels like it was built that way at the factory. You can use one screw or two. Both works great.

This is how I affixed the antenna. The upper part already has a lip to catch. I inserted the two, small screws at the bottom to secure and allow the rotation.

The spacer I used came from the top of the HP6DSM that donated the DSM2 module. I cut and then sanded down to that line for a nice reveal and final fit and finish. It allows the antenna to be protected by the transmitter handle. Insertion and removal of module is still easy. The complete rear module can now be removed.

How the mod looks from the rear. The entire module is now removable.

Here’s a three photos superimposed on each other to show the range of motion.

Showing the range of motion on the Turnigy 9x antenna mod.

Reference post: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20127812&postcount=14458

Here’s a X1TXN (AMTX10?) DSM2 module taken from a HP6DSM transmitter. It was easy to install into the Turnigy 9x running the latest er9x firmware. Just three wires, a diode and resistor. It works great!!!

Here’s some photos for your reference.

Front and back of the DSM2 module from the HP6DSM

Here’s the relevant pinout according to this post:
1 GND Module Ground
2 VDD Module power input
3 IRQ Interrupt Request
4 RST Reset, active High
5 MOSI Master out, slave In data
6 nSS Slave Select, Active Low
7 SCLK SPI data clock
8 MISO Master in, slave out data
9 GND Module Ground
10 XOUT Clock output from module
11 TXRX Switch antenna to transmit direction
12 RXTX Switch antenna to receive direction

Here’s a link to the post and schematic on how to hook things up.

Pin out of the X1TXN module. Only pins 1, 2 and 6 are used.

A sample of how you can implement a switch to be able to toggle between the internal DSM module and the module on the back. Here, the white LED glow seen through the speaker grill denote that the internal DSM2 module is ON. The white LED was so bright, I had to put a diffuser in it so that the pilot doesn’t get blinded. I cut the sticker from an MLP4DSM transmitter and used 3M 77 spray adhesive to turn it into a sticker. Gives it that extra fit and finish to complete the mod.

Some reference links:

• Installation guide: Using the MPLS4DSM module to convert your 9X to a DSM2 based transmitter
• My DSM2 posts: er9x DSM2 Mod
• Original post that got the ball rolling on er9x Google codes page: Issue 330: Add support for DSM2 (spektrum) TX boards
• Current DSM2 discussion thread on the 9x Forum: DSM2 work
• Another discussion about DSM2 on the 9x Forum: DSM for dummys?

Update 04/27/2012 – Good news. It looks like there is no more need to cut the trace and solder in the resistor as demonstrated in this post unless you’re still running stock firmware.

The latest ER9X firmware has a an option call “Enable PPMSIM” in the Radio Setup screen. It allows you to turn it ON and the er9x firmware routes the PPM signal to the trainer port through a alternate path. Therefore, it bypasses the module and thus the need to add the resistor.

Original Post below…

Here’s my quick writeup on the trainer port resistor mod.

First, some helpful links to original articles on this. They contain a description of the problem and the solution.

1. Original PDF on “Fixing the 9x PPM in problem”
2. A more visual description of the issue and illustrated steps to fix.
3. An updated version of the above with a video.

I prefer to use version 3.

The reason is because it has since been discovered that the problem only appear to affect the Turnigy 9x module. Others have noted that using an Assan module or FrSky module in the back doesn’t exhibit the issue.

Therefore, instead of modding the transmitter. We are going to apply the fix to only the Turnigy module. This is also simplier because you only have to unscrew two screws instead of the 6 screws + unfasten a wire harness to gain access to the Turnigy rear board.

Please follow the above video for a howto. It’s pretty simple and well done.

• Use a 1k resistor. (I chose to use SMD)
• Cut the trace with an xacto knife or file.
• Solder on the 1k ohm resistor. (surface mounted 102 resistor)

Here’s a photo for your reference: