Deviation for Devo F4?

There are not information about the video status on the osd chip. The osd chips has not a lot of documentation. I think that the blue screen is putting by the lcd display

What I did to solve the video switch selection Sir was figure it out on one model as the basic 4 channel model plus video on my GEAR switch I added, then used BuildFS to extract the FS file, make a copy of that model file from models 1 through to 10 plus the default, then recompile it as an FS file again, so now that setup is standard on all my models before I even add a model.

And seriously, I'm SO pleased with how well the video on/off switch is working with that small switch I added, I really recommend adding it on your F4!!

I have the short range telemetry modules I got almost free, but that's all I have. I have ordered the Vcc and temperature sensors for them but they haven't arrived yet, so I haven't added any in a model yet, therefore I don't know what comes up the screen as information and when. But it's nice to know it comes on as an overlay on the video.

That's what I did, too. For my PPM input ist's even necessary. But it's not really user-friendly to have to use a PC to configure the TX correctly

I only used the PC to setup a default model where the video was on the GEAR switch. So now I can make new models on the transmitter without the PC and the GEAR switch already has been set up to control the video from scratch.

Got the video setup working on my F4. I'm using the THR trim and virtual switch arrangement which works well enough, since I don't have any hardware switches yet. I made a template with the settings for video, which works OK for toggling video on and off.

In other news ...
I'm going through the thread again to try to see if I can work out the connections for switches. I initiated a new thread for adding switches to the F4, mainly for my own benefit, but maybe it'll help others who want to do that too, but don't want to spend the time searching through this thread.
Also, I installed a 3-in-1 module - at least 2 out of 3 since I don't know where to connect to make the 3rd module active. I did it with wire-wrapping because it was easy and I need the nRF for the MJX hexacopter I'll use to carry the video gear. I'd appreciate any suggestions for the activating the 3rd module.

Forgot to mention in my last post...
While browsing the F4, I noticed on the Stick input page that all of the values for controls on the left side of the page appear to be correct, while all those values on the right side of the page are incorrect.
For what it's worth.

As far as switches go, I already figured out the GEAR and FMODE switches, and Sir figured on the A and B switches (the 3 way switches added to the 7E). If you look back just a little you'll see the photos.

The ones on the right side are not incorrect, they are basically off the screen hhehehe. The screen can only show the first number of the value (unless it's negative, in which case it just shows a minus value)

Epitaph wrote: As far as switches go, I already figured out the GEAR and FMODE switches, and Sir figured on the A and B switches (the 3 way switches added to the 7E). If you look back just a little you'll see the photos.

Yeah, I'm working on it - I'll get it sorted out.
The 7E is a Devo I've never owned, so I haven't paid attention to threads concerning that one. So I missed that conversation.

Basically on the 7E you can add two 3-way switched connected directly to the button matrix, and they control A0/A1/A2 and B0/B1/B2. Sir figured out the wiring on the button matrix to get them to work on the F4, so that adds two 3-way switches, and then the GEAR and FMODE switches I figured out give another two 2 way switches, but the soldering for these last 2 switches isn't easy.

This is my transmitter right now



From left to right:

- HOLD: Directly connected to the throttle stick. When switched down, it puts the signal directly into GND. Not programmable, but I might change it later if I I feel like figuring out another switch...
- PPM1: This dial is controlled via an Arduino, and is the only thing running through it. Fully proportional
-GEAR: This switch is a small 2 position switch I added connected to GEAR in the firmware. I use this for turning video on and off so I can use the throttle trim switches as trim switches, or something else.
-SW A: This is one of the 3-way switches that Sir figured out, and can be programmed for anything
-FMODE: This is a 2 way switch that switches between FMODE1 and FMODE2 (haven't figured out FMODE0 yet), and can be used to control anything
-SW B: This is the other 3 way switch that Sir figured out, and works the same way as SW A does, and can also me used to control anything.

With this setup I have almost the same amount of control as the F7... I have the same amount of switches, although I don't have a trainer function (don't need it) and my throttle hold is not programmable. But everything else can be assigned to something. And I might figure out AIL D/R for the fun of it, which is another 3 way switch... and I can add more controls via the Arduino too (another 7 in total), but I just don't need them!!

Epitaph wrote: Basically on the 7E you can add two 3-way switched connected directly to the button matrix, and they control A0/A1/A2 and B0/B1/B2. Sir figured out the wiring on the button matrix to get them to work on the F4, so that adds two 3-way switches, and then the GEAR and FMODE switches I figured out give another two 2 way switches, but the soldering for these last 2 switches isn't easy.

- What about diodes? I have some coming. There are 3 posts on the switches I have. Do I need a diode on each post or only on some posts? I can't quite tell from the photos.
- Could one of SirD's 3-positon switches be used for FMODE and the other for MIX? Wouldn't that eliminate one or more MCU solder points? I feel like I'm missing something there.

Epitaph wrote: This is my transmitter right now

Nice! I like that GEAR switch. Is it a toggle or a momentary action?
Those switch plates on the face of the Tx, are they plastic or metal?
I don't think I'll need a rotary dial, so no Arduino of me - I think.

You need diodes for the SW A and SW B switches, you put a diode on each extreme of the switch. On this thread you can see where to put the diodes and in what direction. Basically, you just don't put a diode on the middle wire (the red one)

The SW A and SW B solder points are not on the MCU, they are on the buttons. The MCU solder points I have shown are for GEAR (purple wire) and FMODE (green wire).

The GEAR switch I added is a toggle... it's the power switch off an old WK2402 transmitter!! The thing is, I wanted a nice small switch that I wouldn't knock accidentally in flight, but was big enough to be comfortable to use. The cutout is already made in the plastic as the Devo 10 uses this for the trim switches for their pots



I found that the power switch I used looks very similar to the stock Devo 10 trim switch and is the same size too. It was just a case of cutting out the rectangle in the metal faceplate to match the plastic inside, then I used some hot glue to stick the switch in place, and just wired it into the GEAR switch. I can reassign the switch for something else when i set up a model if I am setting up one without FPV, but I don't really need that many switches, so I have made the default profile with this switch already set up as the FPV toggle.

The hardest ones as I said are the GEAR and FMODE switches as they are soldered to the MCU, so if you leave them for last and only use them if you REALLY need them... but the SW A and B switches are easy to solder, just remember to use the diodes and what way around they have to be soldered on.

The switch plates themselves are metal, and be careful, they "scar" (as in remove the black colour) very easily. Inside the transmitter you can see the metal colour you need to cut out, and the plastic of the transmitter itself already has the holes to size for the different switches (but if you put a switch where I have the dial you will have to do that yourself as the cutout in the plastic is for a dial, not a switch).

The metal itself is very thin, you can cut it with an x-acto knife even if you want... that's what I used!!

This thread has been a tremendous help in getting me up an running flying with my new Devo F4. However, I am running into an issue trying to save settings on my radio. I have tried using 4.0.1 and 5.0.0 versions of the deviation firmware with similar results. Here is what I did:

1. Put the F4 in DFU mode.
2. Flashed the .dfu file
3. Reboot F4
4. Deviation USB shows on the screen
5. The devo.fs that shows up on my drive is empty
6. I use the buildfs.exe to write devo.fs directly to the device
7. Safely remove from PC and reboot the F4
8. Things work correctly for the 1st model in the list that I have populated.
9. For any other model/settings, the settings are gone after rebooting the F4.
10. They default to whatever was originally in devo.fs
11. After this point, no matter how many times I update the devo.fs file, the settings never appear to get saved.
12. To change any of the files now, I have to reflash the stock F4 firmware (.dfu), boot into it and then follow steps from 1. again.

Any advice? Specific build number that I should try?

Also, how do I assign different functions to the trim buttons? I want to use the throttle trim buttons for Virt1/Virt2 interface.
Cheers.

You are using stock nimh batteries, right? You either can,power it using a 2s lipo or settin down,voltage alert, directly in tx.ini. Lower it to 3.8, warning voltage, too. Then don't enter the tx menu in deviation anymore. If you do, it would overwrite the values as there are still some bugs. Devo f7 firmware which is currently,used,for f4 supports only voltage warning down to 6V which is too high for nimh batteries (which aren't used for f7)

For getting how to set up trim switches, simply read the manual

@SirDomsen - Thanks...! I am using regular alkaline cells on my F4, 2S lipo is still on the slow boat from China...

I think I am going to go look at the code to see if I can figure something out about the settings corruption. It is a bit annoying to flash twice to just change a few parameters. Even the last selected model is not saved over power downs.

One other issue that I am seeing is that the "centered yaw" value is constantly +20, no matter how I calibrate the joysticks. Pitch/Roll/Throttle all move from -100 to +100 with 0+-2 at the center. Yaw varies from -85 to +100 with the center at +20. I have tried changing the calibration values in tx.ini to no avail. This behaviour goes away when I load the original Devo F4 0.2A firmware. Has anyone else had this issue too? Any idea what could be happening?

The only reason I can think of is after I fix the battery voltage issue, all of this will go away since after that settings will be saved on the onboard SPI flash after calibration! In case anyone else is wondering, the values to set in tx.ini are "batt_alarm" and "batt_critical".

Update

- That was it. The calibration and model saving issues are fixed by setting the above values in the tx.ini! Thanks again @SirDomsen!

SirDomsen wrote: ... setting down,voltage alert, directly in tx.ini. Lower it to 3.8, warning voltage, too...

I looked at my tx.ini file,but don't see anything about these 2 settings. Can someone post the text showing how those settings should appear in the tx.ini file?
Thanks.

As sensaurabh mentioned batt_critical and batt_alarm. Make sure you watch tx.ini, not hardware.ini!