Small / Easy?? Feature request or 2 !

I am being presumptuous, as I know nothing of the work you must do in order to improve my life. But here is a thought or 2 in case no one has put it forth yet and you find yourself bored...

I understand that the power switch is more electronic than physical, and as I have started flying with LIFEPO batts in my TX (DEVO 10) I was wondering how hard it would be to put a Time out timer on the transmitter? In other words, if nothing is touched for say 30 mins... or an hour or 2... then the unit powers down... maybe with a warning chime or 2. This might save me a battery pack some day.

The other thought is that I love the voltage alarms for the TX but it seems when the TX voltage goes LOW it only flashes the display of volts on/off. Can it be made to make a chime and or vibrate when the voltage hits an alarm?

Don't get me wrong, I am loving Deviation, thanks... I understand there are many desires out there and even with no changes ever, I THANK YOU.

Regards,
John

I have the voltage alarm implemented with a configurable alert interval on my Devo10. All I have to do is clean it up a bit and create a pull request for PB. Stay tuned, I know PB is very busy atm with the Devo 7E port so it may take a while.

No idea how to do the inactivity alert/powerdown yet, I'm still reading code.

I think a continuous non-stop inactivity alarm is a better idea

But you might not hear it if the tx is in his case...

Thanks all,
Yes, you may not hear it... like maybe you're at work or gone for a day or 2. Just trying to get a failsafe to prevent the battery being drawn down to zero. Maybe I should just not be stupid, that would also work. Thanks for looking into it and looking forward to the batt alarm.

Regards,
John

JFS737 wrote: Just trying to get a failsafe to prevent the battery being drawn down to zero.

I've just coded a release that switch off the TX 3 minutes (time configurable in the tx.ini) after the critical battery alarm.
If you're able to compile a release (and can't wait for the next official release), you may try it here:
bitbucket.org/destructionBlack/deviationdevo10
Be warn that this switch off even while you are flying!
This release also beeps every X seconds when the battery voltage is too low.
It not only works for the Devo10 but also for the 6 & 8.

domcars0 wrote:

JFS737 wrote: Just trying to get a failsafe to prevent the battery being drawn down to zero.

I've just coded a release that switch off the TX 3 minutes (time configurable in the tx.ini) after the critical battery alarm.
If you're able to compile a release (and can't wait for the next official release), you may try it here:
bitbucket.org/destructionBlack/deviationdevo10
Be warn that this switch off even while you are flying!
This release also beeps every X seconds when the battery voltage is too low.
It not only works for the Devo10 but also for the 6 & 8.

IMO this is too dangerous. A malfunction would put people in danger or destroy your aircraft.

Even with your aircraft benched, loss of signal could trigger a failsafe and throttle up your heli or plane and either harm you or your property.

I don't think it's wise to have an auto turn off. I'd rather ruin a battery.

I think that flying 3mns after the critical battery alarm is something
that a "normal" guy will never do ... abnormal guys can do anything
In my code, I propose that in case of 'momentarily' low battery voltage, shutdown counter is stopped if voltage go up to critical voltage and reset if voltage go up to critical voltage plus 200mV.

domcars0 wrote: I think that flying 3mns after the critical battery alarm is something
that a "normal" guy will never do ... abnormal guys can do anything
In my code, I propose that in case of 'momentarily' low battery voltage, shutdown counter is stopped if voltage go up to critical voltage and reset if voltage go up to critical voltage plus 200mV.

When I hear these arguments I have only one image in front of my eyes: my 3yo son who loves to orbit around me while I'm working on something. Can you imagine a 700 class heli (even with the blades removed) spinning up in the face of a little boy?

I think we must consider safety of people first.

Please, everyone who wants to contribute, before implementing something 'cool' ask around, what's safe for you might not be for another.

I cannot compile but I like what you've done. 3 minutes scares the beans out of me but as long as it's configurable in a .txt .ini file it seems fine. I could put 300 minutes in there or more likely, 90...

Thanks,
John

sbstnp wrote: When I hear these arguments I have only one image in front of my eyes: my 3yo son who loves to orbit around me while I'm working on something. Can you imagine a 700 class heli (even with the blades removed) spinning up in the face of a little boy?

Sorry sbstnp but I really don't understand what you mean? I don't understand why you think that automatic power off the Tx N minutes after the critical battery alarm is unsafe? RC helicopter is a dangerous hobby, I really think that a guy who is able to setup his heli while the TX battery is beeping battery alarm since more than X minutes is a guy who is able to make his 700 class flying test in his bedroom ... and we really can't do anything for him, we are not psychiatrist
You were speaking of "malfunction", but a malfunction of any component or any piece of software in the heli operating chain can put people in danger ? Why do you think particulary to this feature ? Thank's

domcars0 wrote: and we cant really do something for him, we are not psychiatrist

Thanks for the insult.

Bottom line is: I personally don't think turning off the TX automatically under any circumstances can be safe.

And I gave you arguments. Please come back with your arguments, maybe I overlooked something.

If you really want to do it cleanly and safely, you keep it disabled by default, and add a configuration option to enable it.

What if my TX ADC malfunctions and instead of displaying the wrong voltage the TX turns off by itself and I crash a 5000 euros plane . Should I come knocking on your door? After all, commit history is kept on bitbucket.org and a court of law could easily access this information.

Before implementing anything remotely unsafe, think about the liabilities.

My opinion:
I have lost a lipo because I forgot to shut my (old WK2402) tx down. My fault.
But I want to have the ultimate control over the status of my tx. If I want it to go off, I use the switch. I do not want any automatism to decide this for me.
Ok, I can not go over the physics - if the capacity is used, it will turn off by itself.
But since then I use AA-NiCDs and don't have to take them out of the tx to load them (using the charge plug and a cheap power adaptor). The current the tx draws is less enough to give me large flight time (several hours and I have a second full charged set in my case) and charging takes the night.

If someone still wants to use lipos I would suggest to use some kind of electronic between lipo and tx to shut the current off if the voltage gets too low.

Batteries are cheaper than repairing a crashed heli.
I don't want or need an automatic shutoff of my TX.
If I forget to shut it off the worst that can happen is that I have to recharge or replace my batteries.
I always watch my battery voltage to be sure it's high enough to fly safely.

sbstnp wrote: After all, commit history is kept on bitbucket.org and a court of law could easily access this information.

Hi PB,
Reading your reply I realized that as I've tested this code only on the emus (too lazy to switch to Windows to flash the TX), I did not take care that the PWR_Shutdown() functions was not the same in the emus and in the Tx You are right, until the switch stay on, PWR_Shutdown() only reboot the TX ... In fact switch off the TX with the swith on 'On' seems impossible...
I'm really sorry.
It taught me that I must always test code on the TX before commit it...Thanks

But I've coded a configurable alarm if nothing (sticks, buttons or screen) is touched for more than X minutes (X configurable from Off to 60mns). I'm very happy with it. It save my battery charge more than once