EzOSDManual

Pro Features Guide Preliminary.July2009

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Contents
Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 SensorBoardPCB.......................................................................................................................................... 3 BlankingtheOSDdisplay .............................................................................................................................. 4 RxRSSIDisplay .............................................................................................................................................. 4

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Overview
ThisdocumentcontainsdetailsonsomeofthemoreadvancedfeaturesoftheEzOSD.Theseare featureswhicharenotrequiredbyanymeanstoflyFPVwiththeEzOSD,butarecertainlynicetohave. Thetwofeaturescurrentlydocumentedherearereceiversignalstrengthdisplay,andenabling/disabling theOSDdisplayusingasparereceiverchannel.

SensorBoardPCB
TheEzOSDcurrentsensorcontainsasmallmicrocontroller.Thismicrocontrollercommunicatesthe batteryvoltageandcurrenttotheOSDitself,andalsokeepstrackofmAhconsumedduringaflight. IthasacoupleofsetsofPCBpadswhicharenotnormallypopulatedwithconnectorsorcables,these areshowninthediagrambelow,andarelabeledANAandPWM.

Thesepadsmaybeaccessedbycarefullytrimmingawaytheheatshrinkandlabelfromthebottomof thesensorboard,intheareamarkedEzBUS.Thepadsarequiteclosetotheedgeoftheboard,soa fewmillimetersoflabel/shrinkmayberemovedwithouttheneedtoremoveitall.

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BlankingtheOSDdisplay
ThepadsmarkedPWMmaybeusedtoblanktheOSDdisplayduringflight.Twoconnection possibilitiesexist: 1) Takea3pin0.1header,trimthepinsalittle,andsolderthemintothethreeholes. 2) Takeastandard3wireservocable,andsolderthethreewirestothethreePWMpads. Inbothcases,theleftmostPWMpinisthePWMsignal(orange,white,oryellowintheservocable), andtherightmostisground(blackorbrownintheservocable). NotethatwhentheOSDdisplayisblanked,anyalarmwillcausethedisplaytoreturn.Agoodexample ofthisisalowvoltagealarm,thiswillunblankthedisplay,andwarnthepilottolandquickly.

RxRSSIDisplay
ThepinsmarkedANAareananaloginput,whichmaybeusedtoshowthereceiversignalstrength. NotethatEzOSDFirmwarerev.0.99orlaterisrequiredtotakeadvantageofthisfeature. InordertousetheRSSIfeatureyoullfirstneedtofindtheRSSIvoltageoutputpininsideyourRC receiver,whichmeansopeningupyourRCreceiver.Takenotionthatdoingsowillvoiditswarranty,so dontattemptthisunlessyoureconfidentyouwillbeabletosuccessfullyputitbacktogetheragain. Mostmodernreceiversusesurfacemounttechnologywhichgetssmallerwitheachrevision.Thismakes solderingontotheRSSIpinverydifficultandreallynotrecommendedunlessyouarequiteskilledinthe artofsoldering.Obviouslywetakenoresponsibilityifyouturnyourpreciousreceiverintoamolten blobofsolderandplastic,somakesureyouvegottherighttoolsandexpertisetocompletethis modificationsuccessfully. MostreceiversusethesamechipsetfortheRFfrontendandhenceuseasimilarRSSIimplementation.A popularICusedintheRFfrontendofRCreceiversistheToshibaTA31136,thisiscommonlyusedbyRC receiversfromFutabaforexample. PicturedbelowistheFutabaR168DPPCMreceiverwithcircledinbluetheRSSIoutputpin.Simply solderingapieceofwiretothispinandanearbygroundconnection(forexamplethegroundofthestrip ofservooutputpins)androutingthesewirestothesensorboardoftheOSDwillbesufficient.However careshouldbetakenthatthiswireiskeptasshortaspossibleandroutedclearofnoisywires,suchas thoseconnectedtothebattery,ESCandmotor.

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Calibration
Anewfeaturewasaddedinfirmwareversion0.99whichallowstheRSSIlevelstobecalibrated.This calibrationMUSTbecompletediftheRSSIfeatureistobeused,ifnotthevaluesdisplayedwillbe meaningless. Asecondpageispresentinthemenu,accessedbymovingthecursordownthepage,andpasttheExit entry.

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 Tocalibratethesystem,highlighttheRSSIMaxentry,and,withyourR/CtransmitterON,pressthe menubutton.Thevaluetotherightshouldchange,butalwaysremainataroundavalueof~200. Next,reducethelengthofyourR/Ctransmitterantennabyslidingitdownintothetransmitterand movetheRCplanewiththereceiverawayfromit,graduallyincreasingthedistancebetweenthetwo. YoullreachapointwheretheservosstartglitchingortheRxentersitsfailsafemode,thisisthepoint wherethereceiverlosessignal.NowhighlighttheRSSIMinentry,andpressthemenubutton.Thevalue hereshouldbearound90formostreceivers. WARNING:Ifthisprocedureisbeingperformedwhiletheequipmentisinstalledinamodel,andifpower isappliedtothemotor,takeextremecareduringthistest.ManyPPMreceiverswillglitchtheservos,and cancausethemotortostartunexpectedly,onaPCMreceiverthemotorcouldbesettoaspecificthrottle setting,alsocausingforthemotortostartrunning. NotethatanalternativetechniqueforsettingtheRSSIMinthresholdistoswitchtheR/Ctransmitteroff completely.Thishoweverwillmeantheresagreyareawherethebehaviourofthereceivercannotbe predicted.The0%settingwillnowcorrespondtotheR/Ctransmitterbeingoff,whichmeansyoucant besurewhatsafetymarginisleftwhenyourecloseto0%,asnormallyyouobviouslywouldntbe turningyourtransmitteroffinflight. Also,takenoticethatRSSIisarelativeindicatorofsignalstrength,henceiftheRSSIhasdroppedto50% thatdoesntmeanyoucanflytwiceasfarbeforelosingcontrol,mostRSSIsignalcurvesarenotlinear. AnotherthingtowatchoutforisthefactthatifsomeoneisusingthesameR/Ctransmitterfrequency nearyouandyoureflyingtowardsthisR/CtransmittertheRSSIcannotdistinquishbetweenthesignal receivedfromyourtransmitterandtheothertransmitter,henceitllindicatethereceivedsignal strength,butyoucanstilllosecontrolduetothefactthatthemodelisclosertotheothertransmitter thanyours. InsummarytheRSSIindicatorisjustthat,anindicator.Ifyouthinkyoureflyingtofaroutyouprobably are.Thesignalreceivedbythereceiverisinfluencedbyalargenumberoffactors,antennaorientation (bothonthereceiverandtransmitter)isoneveryimportantone,wedrecommendalwayskeeping enoughmarginleftforthereturnflightandusecautionandcommonsensewhenflyingfurtheroutby usingtheRSSIasameansofdetermininghowmuchfurtheryoucanfly.

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