Taranis starter questions

[Nigel Argall]

Greetings folks. Following my post earlier in the year regarding which 2.4 gig kit to get, I eventually (for better or worse!) went down the Taranis route and now have a shiny new X9D. I have had just a few high stress evenings over the summer (as I am not best friends with computer technology) but, amazingly, TX is now programmed and working – believe me, if I can do it, anyone can (special thanks to Barry Cole for his excellent mini-manual).
Now I have just a few really basic questions (almost embarrassed to ask...)
1) How critical is the physical set up of the RX? – the only advice I can find at all in the RX manual is ‘Keep the two aerials apart’. See pic – I am planning to just tape them to the sides of the cockpit. Is that enough? I seem to remember reading somewhere that 2.4 Rx aerials should be at 90 degrees to each other? Incidentally, I assume the plastic tabs at the ends are NOT part of the aerial itself?
2) How do I do a range check? – I can get to this through the model set up menu but that seems a very complicated way to get to it before each session. Am I missing a shortcut somewhere?
3) Daft question but the RX (an X8R) is described as ‘8 channel’ but if I plug the battery into channel 8 to power everything, surely I lose the use of this channel? All my old 35meg JR kit always had a separate socket for the battery. Again, am I missing something here?
Thanks as always!

[Peter Balcombe]

Nigel,
I’m sure that Barry will chip in, but as a starter for 10:

The Rx black lumps on the end of the 2 antenna wires are the important bits and these should really be located so that one is at 90 degrees to the other to assist reception as sometimes one antenna will receive a better signal than the other, depending on model orientation to the Tx. Earlier receivers didn’t have the black lumps and it was the unsheathed ends of the cables which were the working bits (the sheathed bits are just screened connections to the Rx circuitry).
As always, keep the antenna away from big conducting items such as carbon reinforcement.

I think that if you need all 8 channels, you just connect the battery to any one of the channels via a heavy duty Y lead.

If you are using the internal Tx module then you have to set/unset the range check mode via the menu button - “Range”.
External XJT module is via button on the module.
Peter

[Barry_Cole]

Yes,
Basically what Peter says. If you need all 8CH, you can plug the battery in to either of the two sockets under the main servo outputs. One is S-Bus out and the other RSSI, unless you need these, and that is some way away yet. You can use thse. However do NOT plug the battery into the plug between the aerials. (S-Port). You should be using this for your vario.

The plastic bits on the aerials are part of the aerial,

Nigel, you can give me a ring anytime. not tomorrow, as I am out flying.

BC

[Dave Cooper]

Hi Nigel

Just as an aside, one of our club members recently reported servo 'glitching' on his 2.4 GHz Taranis setup (not sure what model Rx though). On investigation, he had sited the aerials close to nearby servo leads (it was quite a tight compartment on a flying wing). Moving these apart, and a bit of re-routeing of leads solved the problem.

Something to bear in mind when planning equipment layouts perhaps.
Dave

[Barry_Cole]

Good radio installation is vital with any system. This is one of the "problems" with 2.4, that it seems immune from all the old problems that we knew about and could see happening back on 35 and 27 meg systems. 2.4 is susceptible to interference from servo leads, and power wiring, it just does not show up so much.

Keep the aerials away from any other wiring as much as possible and all will be well. Range testing and careful first flights, will show up most problems.

I used to get strange things happen in my workshop. (No comments please) Some jittering and the like, but then I changed the tube lights to LED ones and no more issues.

The FrSky radio link is accepted as one of the best on the market, and value for your pound, dollar, euro, or whatever you spend must the the best on the market.

I like it, anyway....

BC

[Nigel Argall]

Thanks one and all - great help as always.

[Dave Cooper]

Yes, I would echo Barry's views. The FrSky /Taranis offerings are certainly very popular and good value for money (especially compared with the high-end systems !). Indeed, something like 90% of our club's regular flyers use them and they are quite demanding of their kit.

I don't know about the Lua scripts but I have heard that the manuals /instructions are a bit wanting. On the other hand, I'm sure a query or to on the internet would cover most needs.

I'll be upgrading to '2.4' next year and Taranis will certainly be on my short-list.
Regards,
Dave

[john slater]

Having bought my Taranis last year I have used some tutorials given by a man called `richardmrazek' on youtube, he is very methodical working through each tutorial for the beginner from lesson 1 onwards, well worth looking at.
All the best with your Taranis and enjoy.
John

[Dave Cooper]

Nigel

Have sent you a 'pm' with a few queries on it. Hope you don't mind as I seem to have mislaid your email address.

Best regards,
Dave

[Barry_Cole]

Dave,
I have sent you an e-mail.

BC