Meatball Racing

Radio Control Blog

Multiprotocol Transmitter Module

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I can’t say enough about pascallanger and others who have worked to put together the open source 4-in-1 multiprotocol module. It’s a collection of all of the transmitter protocols that are open source, or have been reverse engineered, compiled into one. Combined with the 4-in-1 module hardware, you can control a huge variety of models with different receivers and protocols with the same transmitter. And now you can get it as a ready to use module for $40.

With the 4-in-1 I’ve been able to fly:

  1. Inductrix (Tiny Whoop) bind-and-fly (DSM Protocol)
  2. Assault 100 (HiSky HT-8 Protocol)
  3. FT Flyer with FlySky receiver
  4. FT Snowball with FlySky receiver
  5. FT Tiny Trainer with HobbyKing HK-T6A-V2 receiver (FlySky protocol)
  6. XK K110 bind-and-fly micro-heli (Futaba SFHSS Protocol)

It will work with several other protocols including SLT for AnyLink models and RealFlight simulator.
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Budget FPV Ground Station < $100

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Now that I got my ham license and some FPV equipment, I needed a way to set it up so that it’s usable at the flying field. Also, don’t let the title fool you – most of the money ($75) was spent on the FPV system itself, (including camera!). Other parts I was able to borrow or steal…

I started with the two-monitor portable DVD system that my kids use to watch movies on road trips. The 1st monitor is the “brain” that has the DVD player. The 2nd monitor simply accepts power and an A/V signal from the 1st. I stole this monitor for use with my ground station. I tested it by powering it on through the cigarette lighter jack and then hooking it up to the FPV receiver. With the FPV transmitter off I saw static instead of the dreaded “blue screen” – which is good!

fpv-screen-static
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Ham Radio for FPV

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I finally jumped into FPV by purchasing my first kit, a Quanum Tx/Rx/Camera package I got for around $60 from HobbyKing while it was on sale.

With it’s 600mW transmit power, it should be more than enough for some field flying, even with trees in the way. But before I fire it up, I needed to get legal. The FCC has a rule called Part 15 about “unlicensed equipment” which states what sort of emissions a device can have to be operated without a radio license. It’s rather complex and the only FCC Part 15 certified FPV systems I’ve seen are 20-25mW. So it was time for me to ante up and get my amateur radio license so I can be a legal, card-carrying operator.

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DIY lithium powered lawn mower

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While this isn’t about anything R/C, it’s somewhat related… I recently converted a lead-acid battery powered mower to lithium-ion batteries. Anyone that is in R/C and has a lawn to mow should follow this course.

For the record, I hate mowing the lawn. It’s a useless pursuit. We’ve all got better things to do with both our time and our resources like water and land. This Washington Post article “Lawns are a soul-crushing timesuck and most of us would be better off without them” pretty much sums up my opinion.

The purpose of upgrading to an electric mower is to get the job done faster, and without smelling like a snowblower repairman when I’m done.
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Sponsor Yourself

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I’m not sponsored by HobbyKing or any of their brands (Turnigy, TrackStar, Quanum, etc.), but I’ve found that they’ve been a boon for someone getting back into any radio control hobby on a budget.

Truth-be-told, I feel like more of a product tester than anything. That is sort of what sponsored drivers/pilots do anyway: they get access to the newest stuff for testing and feedback.

I just do testing and feedback on the stuff I buy, and since it’s so darn cheap I don’t really mind.

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Hobby Stores getting left behind

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Dear hobby shop owners and employees,

This is a plea, asking you to get to know your competition. If you don’t know what a Turnigy 9x or an XT60 is, you’ve become a slave to your distributors, and your customers are likely going to leave you behind. There is an enterprising young man named Anthony Hand who moved to China and started a company called HobbyKing. You should pay attention to what they (and others) are doing as they’re rewriting the rules of radio control hobbies.

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