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I am really starting to get annoyed. I did my research and, I think, purchased smart. I got that damn quadcopter a couple of weeks ago and the controller months ago but the little bit that I need to make them talk to each other cannot be had. ANYWHERE.
I am really starting to get annoyed. I did my research and, I think, purchased smart. I got that damn quadcopter a couple of weeks ago and the controller months ago but the little bit that I need to make them talk to each other cannot be had. ANYWHERE.
I know, right? I am still learning so I am not sure I have it all straight but bear with me and I will try to explain.
The list of stuff that gets one of these things in the air is actually pretty long. You can buy a RTF (Ready To Fly) kit that has it all in one box or you can do a BNF (Bind And Fly) that has some of it or a total DIY and make the whole thing yourself. I went with a BNF quadcopter because I wanted to use a better controller/radio than most of the sub $100 quads come with. The idea was that it would be more like flying the racing drone I will get someday. If you are trying to learn to drive a Ferrari, it doesn't make much sense to practice in a bumper car, right? So I did the BNF quad which, in the little guys, includes the flight controller as well as all the bits that make the thing fly (motors, props, and all the electronics that make them work). The problem is that the controller I got does NOT speak the same protocol natively as my little quad. Poop.
The thing is that there are a bunch of different flight controllers and transmitters on the market. Some of them speak in proprietary protocols. The controller you hold in your hand is just the sticks. The transmitter is what interprets the signals from you moving them around and sends them over the air to the flight controller on the quad. The transmitter and the flight controller need to speak the same protocol. OK. Fine. This is easy, though, when you are flying a larger quad (like a racing drone) because you can choose your transmitter and flight controller combination. BUT... With the little guys... The flight controller is sort of "built in" so you have to have the right transmitter to work with them.
I thought I had planned around this by purchasing a modular controller. That is, I can plug different transmitters into the controller so that I can change the protocol it speaks. In theory this works GREAT. The problem I am having is that the damn plug-in I want (an OrangeRX DSMX transmitter) can't be had for love or money! My favorite for buying all this stuff, GetFPV.com, has had it on backorder for weeks but said it would be in stock 11/29. That, by the way, is TODAY.
I know, right? I am still learning so I am not sure I have it all straight but bear with me and I will try to explain.
The list of stuff that gets one of these things in the air is actually pretty long. You can buy a RTF (Ready To Fly) kit that has it all in one box or you can do a BNF (Bind And Fly) that has some of it or a total DIY and make the whole thing yourself. I went with a BNF quadcopter because I wanted to use a better controller/radio than most of the sub $100 quads come with. The idea was that it would be more like flying the racing drone I will get someday. If you are trying to learn to drive a Ferrari, it doesn't make much sense to practice in a bumper car, right? So I did the BNF quad which, in the little guys, includes the flight controller as well as all the bits that make the thing fly (motors, props, and all the electronics that make them work). The problem is that the controller I got does NOT speak the same protocol natively as my little quad. Poop.
The thing is that there are a bunch of different flight controllers and transmitters on the market. Some of them speak in proprietary protocols. The controller you hold in your hand is just the sticks. The transmitter is what interprets the signals from you moving them around and sends them over the air to the flight controller on the quad. The transmitter and the flight controller need to speak the same protocol. OK. Fine. This is easy, though, when you are flying a larger quad (like a racing drone) because you can choose your transmitter and flight controller combination. BUT... With the little guys... The flight controller is sort of "built in" so you have to have the right transmitter to work with them.
I thought I had planned around this by purchasing a modular controller. That is, I can plug different transmitters into the controller so that I can change the protocol it speaks. In theory this works GREAT. The problem I am having is that the damn plug-in I want (an OrangeRX DSMX transmitter) can't be had for love or money! My favorite for buying all this stuff, GetFPV.com, has had it on backorder for weeks but said it would be in stock 11/29. That, by the way, is TODAY.
11-29-2016, 03:24 AM
I did my research and, I think, purchased smart. I got that damn quadcopter a couple of weeks ago and the controller months ago but the little bit that I need to make them talk to each other cannot be had. ANYWHERE. 
I am still learning so I am not sure I have it all straight but bear with me and I will try to explain.
