TBS CROSSFIRE Micro TX, Manual

Page 1: ...k vitals and telemetry Self healing frequency hopping link Receiver beacon mode to recover your downed aircraft Super easy binding and configuration via built in OLED display OpenTX LUA or TBS TANGO remote Low latency control for perfect immersive feeling Free output mappable 8 output diversity with integrated backup battery or super tiny receiver 4g weight only both with up to 12 channel PPM Abil...

Page 2: ...ther radios Connecting CROSSFIRE Micro transmitter to radio Push button functionality Connecting CROSSFIRE Diversity receiver Connecting CROSSFIRE Micro receiver Connecting CROSSFIRE Nano receiver Connecting antenna Binding Auto bind Head tracking Set failsafe BST Connectivity with TBS equipment Controlling UNIFY PRO VTX with SmartAudio Antenna Operation Status display Up and downlink status Find ...

Page 3: ...ration Standard transmitter configuration Micro transmitter configuration Receiver PWM or PPM servo output Receiver SBUS output Receiver RSSI or and LQ output Serial bridge MAVLink MAVLink APM Disable telemetry CRSF DSMX SmartAudio Transmission power Dynamic transmission power Transmission frequency Operating modes RF Profiles MyVTX CRSF Connectivity with flight controller COLIBRI Minimum requirem...

Page 4: ...RSF Configuring BetaFlight for CRSF protocol Discovering telemetry data sensors Configuration of CORE PRO CROSSFIRE RX with LUA Scripts or the TBS TANGO Requirements Setup Telemetry TBS Tango Firmware upgrade Installing TBS Agent Emergency update FAQ Good practices 4 ...

Page 5: ...B for firmware upgrade Recovery mode Diversity RX Beacon mode receiver backup LiPo battery operating time of approx 2 days Failsafe Pre set servo positions or stops outputting servo pulse selectable in configuration menu or via push button Antenna connector Standard SMA not RP SMA Operating range Variable depending on output power and radio environment Input power TX 3 5 to 12 6V via RC or HT 3 pi...

Page 6: ...ansmission power output when it comes to racing Recommended power output is generally 100mW however in some countries the maximum will be 25mW Please check your countries regulations The New LED Color System on the TBS CROSSFIRE allows Race Directors to see the power output at a glance Note Use of different power outputs during racing can cause control lockouts for pilots Crossfire LED Color Codin...

Page 7: ...Overview The following diagram indicates the essential inputs and features of the transmitter and receiver Standard transmitter module Diversity receiver unit 7 ...

Page 8: ...Micro transmitter module Micro receiver unit Nano receiver unit 8 ...

Page 9: ...r simply fits into the slot on the back of the radio The radio battery power to the TBS CROSSFIRE and no additional power is necessary for RF output up to 500mW As of firmware V2 40 ability to unlock 2W RF power when powered from RC or HT port at own risk Insert the JR adapter into the slot on the back of the radio remove the adhesive sheet from the TBS CROSSFIRE back and align the four studs with...

Page 10: ... own a Hitec Graupner or JR radio does not work for Spektrum radios without a JR module slot you can still use the trainer output connector to get the necessary power and PPM control signals to the TBS CROSSFIRE transmitter Note that this will not provide CRSF data see the following section Connect the included cable to the radio trainer port and the other end to the left port RC on the transmitte...

Page 11: ...ct any other radio or have a custom setup you can use the 3 pin pigtail cable and solder the wires according to the table below to suit your needs Radio pin left in photo above TBS CROSSFIRE 3 pin cable White PPM 1 PPM Red Power 2 Power Black Ground 3 Ground CRSF with other radios To add CRSF capability to any supported radio you will need to use the expansion port cable called TBS CROSSFIRE JR Ad...

Page 12: ...en 868 MHz and 915 MHz Once changed it will blink white 1x for 868 MHz and 2x for 915 MHz Short press Enter bind mode LED blinking green If the receivers needs to be updated it will start blinking blue Press the button again to confirm The update will start and the LED will be solid blue until the update is complete Once update is complete the LED will turn solid green or orange If there is a link...

Page 13: ...The CROSSFIRE Micro TX module fits perfectly on the back of the TBS TANGO FPV remote It clips easily in place and can use the telemetry compatible CRSF format between the module and radio 13 ...

Page 14: ...commended Make sure that adequate power is available by letting the model run for a few minutes with servos connected and check your BEC temperature If you want to connect additional TBS products to you setup e g CORE PRO CURRENT SENSOR BLACKBOX and GPS we are providing a 3 way BST splitter adapter to connect everything together The receiver servo header pin polarity is standard and shown in the p...

Page 15: ...ight pilots with a STM32Fx processor board e g Naze32 and similar can select the n i SBUS Not Inverted SBUS to directly connect to your FC without any inverters or special soldering hacks TBS CROSSFIRE Micro receiver V1 1 Output channel Output mapping options PPM SBUS and CRSF RC only no telemetry BST telemetry support TBS GPS TBS CORE PRO TBS FPVision layer TBS POWER CUBE TBS CROSSFIRE Micro rece...

Page 16: ...it does not come with any headers to reduce overall size and setup flexibility Break out boards are available both a simple servo board and a duo CROSSFIRE Nano and UNIFY PRO Nano on the same board The pads along the right side for 5V GND CH1 and CH2 in the following picture are spaced 2 54mm apart for normal headers While the bottom row for CH3 CH4 and BST SCL and BST SDA are 2 00mm apart To conn...

Page 17: ...he CROSSFIRE 2 It is never good to operate a radio without an antenna This affects both the transmitter and the receiver 3 The receiver is designed for a maximum of 10dBm If you operate your transmitter at more than 500mW holding the transmitter too close may damage the receiver Always keep at least one meter separation between transmitter and receiver while powered Binding Binding the transmitter...

Page 18: ... initiate the binding process This also applies if you need to update your RX What you need to use auto bind The receiver have been bound to the transmitter before Both the transmitter and the receiver need to be on FW 2 31 or newer Head tracking The standard TBS CROSSFIRE transmitter supports standard head tracking input via the right 3 pin HT port Solder the included pigtail cable to suit your p...

Page 19: ... 4 Turn off the transmitter and check that the set position is taken Standard TX 1 Turn on and off the transmitter and receiver 2 Move the sticks and switches to the desired position 3 Go to the CROSSFIRE menu and select Bind it initiates the failsafe process this time 4 Wait until Failsafe set appears on the display 5 Turn off the transmitter and check that the set position is taken Alternatively...

Page 20: ...f the eight servo connectors or by BST 5V TBS CORE PRO FPVISION This is only device is providing 5V on the BST line Power type BST 5V VBATT ESC BEC 5V FC 5V TBS CROSSFIRE PWR IN PWR IN TBS BLACKBOX PWR IN PWR IN TBS GPS PWR IN TBS CORE PRO FPVISION PWR OUT PWR IN TBS CURRENT SENSOR PWR IN PWR OUT TBS BULLETPROOF ESC Older version obsolete PWR OUT 20 ...

Page 21: ...to configure the CROSSFIRE RX channel mapping to output SmartAudio on output channel 4 see the Configuration chapter later on in this manual on how to access and navigate the menu Antenna Transmitter antenna Diversity receiver antenna The TBS CROSSFIRE components come with standard dipole antennas these are perfect for normal flying Metallic objects such as cables or handles should be kept away fr...

Page 22: ...t shrink tubing with a small scissor or cutting plier Disconnect the small U FL connector and replace with a new replacement For further details on how to mount you receiver antennas please visit this page Flexible antenna MicroVee antenna PCB Race antenna Micro Nano receiver antenna with U FL connector An overview of all available antennas for the CROSSFIRE system can be found here 22 ...

Page 23: ...ower present in a received radio signal typ 1dBm good to 130dBm bad logarithmic scale LQ Link Quality based on the percentage of signal data received at the end point 0 to 300 SNR Signal to noise ratio compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise The RSSI determines your available link budget on a logarithmic scale with each additional 6dBm representing twice the range o...

Page 24: ...etection modes are being developed Install our TBS GPS module or any other gps connected to a flight controller APM INav BetaFlight CRFSF or MavLink connection required to the BST port on side of the receiver In normal use the GPS coordinates are continuously updated and the latest data is displayed on the Find Mode screen If the model loses power you can review the last known coordinates to locat...

Page 25: ...nning in the selected operation mode Once the receiver entered the find mode also a power saving mode will be activated This power saving mode will decrease the beacon signal interval over time It stays for 10 beacon signals on the same interval level and remain on the slowest once reached The interval levels are 1s 5s 10s 15s 30s and 60s This means it can take up to 60s for your transmitter to pi...

Page 26: ...e all steps above and ensure the GPS is having a solid sat lock Receiver with GPS and TBS CORE PRO Make all steps above and simulate a take off This can be done throttle above 3A or walking your receiver until you see the take off message on the OSD Simulating flight The find mode is armed now and you need to simulate a flight Just separate transmitter and receiver by more than 50 meters 26 ...

Page 27: ...spond in find mode For all other scenarios you should be able to regain control When you see find mode activated on your LCD give it more than a minute before you deactivate it again beacon timing see description above If you use the DIY reflector point and hold in different directions until you get your link back Link regained Once you got your link back to your copter plane you can now try to fi...

Page 28: ... of link and backup battery Diversity RX only status Receiver LED indicators Description Solid green Link is up and running OK Solid red No packages received from the transmitter and receiver is in failsafe mode Fast red blinking Receiver needs a update confirmation on the tx is required Slow green blinking Receiver is in binding mode Fast green blinking Receiver bootloader active or firmware upgr...

Page 29: ...Red Backup battery is charging Diversity RX only The backup battery is used if the model gets lost The receiver can stay alive even if the entire plane or copter does not have power anymore 29 ...

Page 30: ...es you the ability to track your copter plane in real time with any MAVLink capable app on your phone e g Droidplanner app or GCS on your PC or MAC e g QGroundControl TBS Telemetry data is sent in JSON format if this mode is active This option has been removed in later firmware versions Serial Bridge This mode is used for serial bridge between your connected device and the receiver Please refer to...

Page 31: ...31 ...

Page 32: ...time telemetry updates will now stream from the CROSSFIRE transmitter to your handheld device For instance a live map overlay makes this a great way to track race performance or to locate a down aircraft 32 ...

Page 33: ...r right navigation Menu navigation Up down left right or joystick press Micro transmitter configuration To configure the internal settings on the micro transmitter a TBS TANGO remote or an OpenTX radio with LUA scripts is required The changes are stored internally on the transmitter module so if you do not own such a remote you can borrow one for a minute to make the necessary changes and then pop...

Page 34: ...fault value 1 PWM Ch1 bis 12 PPM RSSI LQ RSSI LQ PWM Ch 1 2 PWM Ch1 bis 12 PPM RSSI LQ RSSI LQ PWM Ch 2 3 PWM Ch1 to 12 RSSI LQ RSSI LQ SBUS n i SBUS Serial TX MAVLink TX CRSF TX SmartAudio PWM Ch 3 4 PWM Ch1 bis 12 RSSI LQ RSSI LQ Serial RX MAVLink RX CRSF RX PWM Ch 4 5 PWM Ch1 bis 12 RSSI LQ RSSI LQ PWM Ch 5 6 PWM Ch1 bis 12 RSSI LQ RSSI LQ Serial RTS PWM Ch 6 7 PWM Ch1 bis 12 RSSI LQ RSSI LQ Se...

Page 35: ...ROSSFIRE Micro and Nano RX support SBUS and n i SBUS non inverted respectively The diversity receiver exposes this functionality on output port 8 selectable via the output port mapping menu The Micro RX V1 only has one output port and it is either PWM PPM SBUS n i SBUS or CRSF capable The micro receiver v2 got 4 6 outputs where you can choose more than one output Receiver RSSI or and LQ output To ...

Page 36: ...trol for the uplink as the wireless close range telemetry module does not support it The app link mode on the TX will automatically change to bridge on the first few bytes sent down from the receiver if the mode is not set to OFF MAVLink MAVLink V1 is a very lightweight header only message marshalling library for air vehicles Most of the common flight controller support MAVLink message format For ...

Page 37: ...u use the TBS CORE PRO all required messages will be forwarded The engine also adapt the MAVLink bandwidth to make it perfectly fit the RF link bandwidth This gives you the best performance for both OSD on the TBS CORE PRO side and on the telemetry over TBS CROSSFIRE in terms of latency and update rate If you run the system with a TBS CORE PRO you can decide if you want to run the digital TBS curr...

Page 38: ...try can be disabled under RX Settings If the telemetry is turned off the transmitter will not get any feedback This will affect the dynamic power and the status information on the transmitter side Dynamic power will be automatically switched off and remain on the max power setting Links statistics will not be updated anymore and the RF mode will be set to 50Hz Note None of this will affect the the...

Page 39: ...ackup system for Spektrum receivers SmartAudio With SmartAudio you can control your Unify VTX straight through the CROSSFIRE Menu LUA Script You can setup your channel band power level or a custom frequency All versions of SmartAudio are supported 39 ...

Page 40: ...imum output power of the micro tx It is also only available on the micro modul Please check if your Radio is capable to provide enough power for the 1 2 W option Otherwise you might break the electronics inside of your radio The TBS TANGO can handle these power levels To change RF power 1 Enter the configuration menu LUA script select General Crossfire TX and Max Power 2 Pick the RF output power y...

Page 41: ...itself and can be fixed by following this guide by boltrc com 41 ...

Page 42: ...n the main display standard TX or as sensor in OpenTX Transmission frequency CC Wikipedia The TBS CROSSFIRE supports two different frequency bands depending on your local regulation Below is a general overview of the primary frequency segmentation General area Frequency ITU Region 1 Europe Africa Middle East yellow 868 MHz SRD band ITU Region 2 America Greenland blue 915 MHz ISM band ITU Region 3 ...

Page 43: ...MHz yes 868CE 868 MHz LBT technique No limitations no 915FCC 915 MHz No limitations no If you locked your Crossfire by accident you can unlock it by following these manual Operating modes The link has two operation modes which are based on three RF profiles Every mode has its pros and cons TBS CROSSFIRE always switches between two RF profiles depending on the current link health while you are flyi...

Page 44: ...ple commands The range improves about two fold You can also force the Crossfire to use this profile so it does not switch in to the 150Hz mode Low update rate profile This mode is made for ultra long range It has a very low update rate 4Hz Only 4 new servo positions per second is sent over the link but it will give you 4 times more range compared to the Normal update rate profile Telemetry has eve...

Page 45: ... the previous chapters Now you get a new menu in the TBS CROSSFIRE TX Menu Settings Description Active activate deactivate the global vtx settings Band Band settings Race Low A B E Airwave User Frequency Channel Frequency 1 8 5620 5920 Power Vtx power level 25 100 400 max mW Note This setting will override all your vtx settings like Pitmode power level etc till you disable them Then the VTx will r...

Page 46: ...ocol the CRSF protocol also supports remote changes of the flight controller settings BetaFlight KISS The CROSSFIRE receiver firmware 1 59 and later comes our latest digital CRSF V2 CR os SF ire protocol It has the following advantages R C data transferred at high speed serial format Up to 150Hz 3x faster than SBUS Lower latency CRC protection error detection Bidirectional communication telemetry ...

Page 47: ...RX CROSSFIRE DIVERSITY RX Clean BetaFlight Serial port COLIBRI or other Ch Pin 1 TX Ch Pin 1 TX 5V GND Ch Pin 8 TX 5V GND UART1 or 3 RX 5V GND Not available Ch Pin 2 RX only Ch Pin 7 RX only UART1 or 3 TX In addition to the CRSF serial connection you might want to connect BST BlackSheep Telemetry between the CROSSFIRE RX and COLIBRI to provide more telemetry and make changes remotely on the CORE P...

Page 48: ... CRSF enabled and running Setting up receiver for CRSF With the CROSSFIRE receiver powered and connected go into the settings menu turn Telemetry to On then open the Output mapping screen On the CROSSFIRE MICRO V1 only CRSF TX will be available For the CROSSFIRE DIVERSITY RX change Output 8 to CRSF TX and Output 7 to CRSF RX While on the CROSSFIRE MICRO V2 RX change Output 1 to CRSF TX and Output ...

Page 49: ... USB to the the flight controller Hit Ports and disable UART2 and enable UART3 Click Save and reboot Next open the Configurations and in the Receiver section pick Serial based receiver and CRSF To allow flight controller telemetry to be sent back make sure Telemetry is enabled in the Other features section 49 ...

Page 50: ...sensors will populate the list f ex CROSSFIRE downlink uplink stats altitude GPS position battery voltage current draw current consumption FC pitch FC roll FC yaw and more The availables sensors depend on the auxiliary sensors you may have connected e g TBS GPS TBS Current sensor TBS POWERCUBE and or CRSF flight controller No Sensors found If you are having problems with discovering more than just...

Page 51: ...try data points as you want to the main radio screens and set up any alarms that might come in handy Having the radio stats on one screen and flight critical information on anther provides a fine way of keeping on top operations 51 ...

Page 52: ... at http www open tx org TBS CROSSFIRE LUA script package on root of SD card Currently provided at https downloads open tx org 2 2 sdcard TBS CROSSFIRE TX RX V1 62 or higher TBS CORE PRO FPVision V1 70 or higher TBS CORE PRO with SmartAudio purchased after 07 2015 for UNIFY PRO control Setup Connect the devices as normal via BST cables and the fc by CRSF and make sure the CROSSFIRE radio link is u...

Page 53: ...will show up immediately e g TBS CROSSFIRE TX TBS CROSSFIRE Diversity RX or TBS CORE PRO Pick either to change the settings TBS CROSSFIRE TX settings TBS CORE PRO FPVision settings TBS CROSSFIRE RX Note The outputs 7 and8 are only available if the receiver is a diversity rx 53 ...

Page 54: ...X settings does only appear when the corresponding output has been configured to SmartAudio and the SA wire of a UNIFY PRO is connected to it The changes will be committed once you leave the settings page 54 ...

Page 55: ...ROSSFIRE RX TPWR Uplink transmitting power TBS CROSSFIRE TX TRSS Downlink signal strength antenna radio controller TBS CROSSFIRE TX TQly Downlink link quality valid packets TBS CROSSFIRE TX TSNR Downlink signal to noise ratio TBS CROSSFIRE TX GPS GPS Coordinates TBS GPS Compass BF Alt GPS Altitudes TBS GPS Compass BF Sats GPS Satellites acquired TBS GPS Compass BF Magnetic orientation TBS GPS Comp...

Page 56: ...USB cable on the transmitter or receiver power is provided via USB The software will automatically detect the device and offer you the option to upgrade the firmware if a newer version is available If you like beta versions press F1 and enable the checkbox When the status indicator is green and says Connected you can upgrade or downgrade the firmware To upgrade the firmware select the latest versi...

Page 57: ...firmware needs to be loaded by BST for emergency update This requires a TBS CORE PRO or a diversity receiver Connect the micro receiver to one of those devices by BST Press and hold the bind button of the micro receiver while powering up the TBS CORE PRO or the diversity receiver by USB In case of the diversity receiver you need to keep pressing the bind button while powering up the micro receiver...

Page 58: ...ossfire Go to Trainer port settings and select ACT Student and 8 Ch or 12 Ch Does the transmitter forget the receiver when I bind a new receiver No The receiver stores the serial number of the transmitter Everything is based on this So you can bind as many receivers as you want What happens if I have more than one receiver running at time We recommend to run only one receiver at time but if you li...

Page 59: ...se and can cause problems When using powerful R C transmitters make sure your groundstation equipment is properly shielded Adding Return To Home RTH to an unreliable system does not increase the chances of getting your plane back Work on making your system reliable without RTH first then add RTH as an additional safety measure if you must Avoid powering the VTx directly from battery step up or ste...

Page 60: ...ceiver as possible to lower the RF noise floor and EMI interference Do not buy the cheapest equipment unless it is proven to work reliably e g parts falling off multitudes of bug fix firmware updates community hacks and mods are a good indicator of poor quality and something you do NOT want to buy for a safe system Do due diligence and some research before sending your aircraft skyward Manual writ...