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QX7 Trainer buddy box link


Sheepish
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I’m having issues setting up a wired buddy box link between a QX7 and a Radiomaster TX16S.

i have tried many things spent a lot of time and read lots on the internet but nothing works.

 

I have tried mono and stereo leads, I have tried either tx as master or slave, I have tried different switches to transfer control, I have read RCDIY’s posting on the net and Sean Culls posting and many others too.  

I am obviously missing something basic but I have no idea what it is.  

I have programmed over 30 models using OpenTx, updated firmware many times and am familiar with companion but this is the first time I am truly puzzled as to why this doesn’t work.

Does anyone have any thoughts please?

 

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There could be more going on here Sheepish, as the receiver comes into it.

There are some incompatible receivers with the QX7

The Lead should be Mono.

The Master is Bound to the model, and the Slave, just offers its sticks

A separate Channel is used on the Slave for that model.

So

What receiver is in the model 

And is any of this equipment Secondhand

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Hi Denis

Thanks for the reply.

I have tried both mono and stereo leads with no success including a JR/Spektrum one too.

The strange thing is that even looking at the monitors on the tx’s nothing ever transfers between the two when the trainer switch is selected.  This is why I wonder if I have missed something basic in a setting somewhere.

The receiver I was using is a Radiomaster R168 with V1 EU LBT ACCST firmware which will bind happily to either the QX7 or the TX16S.  All the gear is new to me and works happily with all the other multiple receivers X8r, X8r pro, X4R, X6r etc.that I have.  
Shaun

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Hi Shaun

No criticism of pre owned stuff. Is just that we had a pre owned at the field, and eventually found that the trainer port has been damaged or shorted out.

Ok

Basic trainer once ready.

Both Transmitters are charged.

The Master is Bound and working the model.

Both Transmitters are switched OFF

Switch the Master ON

The Slave is never switched ON

Push the buddy lead into the Master

Now

With the Slave always OFF

Push the Buddy lead into the Slave

Did the Slave now power up?

Edited by Denis Watkins
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Hi Denis

 

No offence taken, I’m just puzzled why nothing works and pleased that you are helping.

 

I have tried the method you describe and the slave never powers up.  It’s the same way as I would have always have set up this in the past with older 27 and 35mhz tx’s and I was surprised it didn’t work.

All the methods I have seen described show both tx’s switched on, the trainer function set to master or slave, a switch allocated for change over and the model bound to the master tx.  
Having said that this doesn’t work either and neither the tx channel monitors or the model respond to the change over switch being used.  I also understand I may need to change the channel mapping to get the right control moving with the change over and also that I may need to set a calibration for the slave tx on the master to avoid a trim change but I have never got this far.

 

This is all why I believe I’m missing something silly here.  I have tried multiple leads including a known working mono lead in this application as I know that some audio leads can have attenuation in them which can cause problems I believe.

 

The only place I haven’t looked yet is in the firmware download options to see if there is an extra trainer option I am missing in opentx but this is straw grasping on a epic scale I think.?

Shaun

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Shaun, I can only repeat part of my last post,

as I think you are close to a solution.

With WIRELESS buddy, both TX are powered up.

 

But with BUDDY CABLE, the Master provides the power

And the Slave provides just the sticks

And only comes on when the lead is plugged in.

 

Also, watch the YouTube videos of when a different make is slaved

Edited by Denis Watkins
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36 minutes ago, Denis Watkins said:

But with BUDDY CABLE, the Master provides the power

And the Slave provides just the sticks

And only comes on when the lead is plugged in.

I find it hard to believe you can do that with a mono jack, in my opinion you need two wires to power up the slave, and a third wire to transfer the stick positions.

 

But even a stereo jack could have its problems, read THIS for example.

Edited by Max Z
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Hi Denis

 

It makes no difference if the slave is on or off it never powers up when connected with a lead and never accepts the transfer between the master tx either.

 Both tx’s are running OpenTx, all be it at different levels, so they should be the same, or not?

There seem to be many videos online showing how this works with similar and dissimilar tx’s but what I have seems to obey none of the rules.  
Perhaps it is a faulty socket but a wired USB dongle for a simulator works happily when plugged into either of the tx I have so I’m not convinced there is a problem here.

I just took a look at the setup parameters on companion and I can see nothing here that helps either.

 

Hi Max Z

 

The mono cable was/is a specific requirement for Spektrum tx’s as it’s something I have tried in the past.  I didn’t believe it either ?

 

Thanks for the link on the 4 pole plugs, I did wonder if all 3.5mm plugs were the same length and it would explain why the ones I have don’t work.  It doesn’t explain why I seem to be the only one with the problem though?

 

Shaun

 

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Hi Denis

 

i have just taken a look at the wired USB dongle I have for my simulator.  
It’s exactly the same dimensions as the ex JR mono buddy lead I have and this dongle works with no problems in the same sockets on both tx’s I’m trying to connect.

 

Shaun from the puzzled even more dept….

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The TX16SS is a four way jack the tip is ground next insert detect then PPM and closest to the cable is not used. Spectrum use a stereo jack which presumably again are ground, insert detect and PPM. My X9D plus will accept either mono or stereo.

 

It looks to me that plugging the lead into the slave when it is not switched on turns it on and the boot up sequence does not transmit. 

 

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I have been told that the slave has to be charged up even though it is not switched on. This leads me to think that inserting the buddy jack turns the slaves power on. The power is not coming from the master. I know it looks that way and is easily assumed because when the jack is plugged in the slave turns on. Give me a few minutes to have another think.

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Thanks EarlyBird 

I have a working mono Spektrum lead I’ve tried and it doesn’t work.

 

I’ve tried setting either tx I have to master or slave, allocating different switches and leaving the slave switched on or off but nothing seems to work.  The ports seem to bE OK as they work with the simulator dongle.

 

The only part I have found different from the descriptions I have seen online is that it is possible to allocate the trainer switch in global functions or special functions in opentx or indeed both.  All the combinations I have tried so far don’t work.

 

Shaun

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Thanks EarlyBird

I’ll see what happens when the four section lead turns up at the end of the week.

 

It doesn’t explain why the USB to 3.5mm sim dongle works fine with a mono plug in the same socket though?

 

Unless it’s looking to connect to different parts of the connector I suppose.

 

 

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From the picture that EarlyBird posted, it looks like inserting the mono plug grounds the "B" pin on the socket, thereby presumably switching off the HF part so no transmission-to-air occurs. The point of the jack connects to the "C" pin, transmitting the PPM signal to the master, or, in case of the sim, to the computer.

 

It still does not explain why a similar mono plug does not work for a buddy lead.........?

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Hi Max Z

 

it also doesn’t predict what’s going to happen when I insert a four section plug into the QX7 at the other end of the cable either.  Online wisdom says these need only mono or stereo plugs but no test I have done has turned on the QX7 by inserting a plug when it’s set to be a slave TX. 
Nothing I’ve read online would suggest this amount of drama which is why I’m puzzled still.

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You did say you watched lots of video's, but I am throwing it in anyway....

 

For the master Tx, have you set a Global Function "Trainer", enabling the trainer mode to work with any model?

Or the Special Function to work with a specific model, and have you selected that model?

 

See THIS video from 4:30

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1 hour ago, Sheepish said:

Interestingly there can be no transmission from the slave tx whether it is switched on or off because wisdom says you have to turn off the RF transmission from the internal and any external RF modules in the system parameters.

 

 

This is exactly what I expect the mono plug to do by shorting pin B to pin A.

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Whilst I don't have a Radiomaster, I connect my brother's QX7 to my FrSky X10 Express using a mono cable. Both Teacher and Student (more PC than the other descriptions!!!! - so I've been told) TXs are switched on and then the cable plugged in. My X10 (the Teacher) has a momentary switch assigned to to switch on 'Trainer Sticks' when activated and the QX7 has a 'Student' model setup up with both Internal and External RF set OFF and the Trainer Mode set to Student / Jack. I am assuming that the cable is plugged into the trainer port (not headphone port) on the QX7? Channel mapping takes place in the System settings on the Teacher TX.

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8 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

I connect my brother's QX7 to my FrSky X10 Express using a mono cable. Both Teacher and Student (more PC than the other descriptions!!!! - so I've been told) TXs are switched on and then the cable plugged in

That's good confirmation of what I have read previously.  FrSky use a mono cable and both TXs are switched on prior to the cable being connected. Radiomaster use a four way jack but, it looks like, a stereo cable should work. Spectrum also use a stereo cable. For both of these the student TX is not turned on. 

 

Is there a connection here??

With the Radiomaster/Spectrum both using a stereo cable do they both have Insert Detection? 

Connecting a Radiomaster stereo cable into a FrSky mono socket could cause a problem or not depending on the position of the PPM contact for example if the mono PPM contact is in the same location as the Radiomaster Insert Detection contact, hopefully not as surely this must have been thought of. I will keep searching the web.

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