How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

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How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby pldb64 » Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:27 pm

For once i seem to have found a topic for which Bruce hasn't made a video that explains everything! :-) ... i'm sure it's on the drawing board though!

I've just hooked up an FLD-02 to my DHT FrSky DIY unit and i'm now trying to figure out how to configure the damn thing.

I'm using it with a newly received D4R-II receiver but there is nothing connected for analog or data stream telemetery so its only RSSI and the default A1/A2 data that is being sent back to the display.

I've spent 2 hours trolling through RCG trying to find out how to configure the settings on the display (and the alarm configurations) and yet to find something that explains how to set this up properly. I've found the link to the 3rd party software that makes it all nice and easy to setup, but i don't have the cable to do that so i'm stuck doing it manually.

Does anyone on here have an FLD-02 setup and can they explain how/what/why? ... Or can i be so bold as to request a little video clip to explain it all. I'm quite sure a half way decent clip on here would go viral!

Thanks
peter
Turnigy 9x, FrSky 2-Way/Telemetry DHT DIY, Smartieparts BRD, ER9x FW
AXN-Floater (stock esc, motor & prop, HK orange 9g servos)
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Re: How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby RCModelReviews » Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:58 am

Stay tuned -- I've got the same gear sitting on the bench waiting to be reviewed so no doubt I'll go through the same learning curve. Might as well do a video of the process eh?
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Re: How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby pldb64 » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:50 am

Hi Bruce,

Will look forward to your thoughts on FrSky telemetry once the FPV backpack is out the door!

Having gotten a bit further into how to setup the various sensors etc, i'd be interested in your thoughts on one aspect that has been a hot topic (apparently) in the RCG forum. That is the question of whether there is a risk of electical ground loops being introduced by the use of the sensors (particularly the battery voltage sensor) when connecting up to the Rx and what would need to happen for such a ground loop to then become system threatening.

Likewise (but separate to the ground loop discussion), i'd be interseted in your view of where/how to connect up the sensors. For example, with the battery voltage sensor, should the red/black wires of the sensor be connected directly to the corresponding wires out of the ESC, or would it be a better option to create the parallel circuit across the balance lead?

I've also noticed in the last few days that FrSky are just about to (or have just) released a current sensor. From what i've seen that is intended to work with the LiPO voltage sensor which has the OLED display (different to the simple battery voltage sensor). The unfortunate part is that these interesting pieces of telemetry data are not currently able to be alarmed with the FLD-02 (only batter voltage sensor values and Tx/Rx RSSI values can be alarmed). Presumably there will be an FLD-02 FW upgrade in the future, but that is only presumption on my part.

I'm still none the wiser as to how to get alarm values to "stick" in the DHT module using FLD-02 as the interface!

Thanks
Peter
Turnigy 9x, FrSky 2-Way/Telemetry DHT DIY, Smartieparts BRD, ER9x FW
AXN-Floater (stock esc, motor & prop, HK orange 9g servos)
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Re: How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby RCModelReviews » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:27 am

pldb64 wrote:I've also noticed in the last few days that FrSky are just about to (or have just) released a current sensor. From what i've seen that is intended to work with the LiPO voltage sensor which has the OLED display (different to the simple battery voltage sensor).

Yes, I have one of those here and it will included in my review.

The unfortunate part is that these interesting pieces of telemetry data are not currently able to be alarmed with the FLD-02 (only batter voltage sensor values and Tx/Rx RSSI values can be alarmed). Presumably there will be an FLD-02 FW upgrade in the future, but that is only presumption on my part.

Yes, I told FrSky they ought to allow alarm settings for altitude and distance at least -- so as to allow people to keep under the common 400-foot altitude level and also ensure that when flying in confined spaces, they don't overfly nearby buildings or residential areas -- which is also often a condition of the use of public parks etc.

An alarm on the G-sensor info would be handy too -- might save some folded wings -- although I suspect that the lag in the telemetry stream would mean that any such alarm would sound too late to be of use.

I'm still none the wiser as to how to get alarm values to "stick" in the DHT module using FLD-02 as the interface!

I'll see what I can uncover.
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Re: How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby pldb64 » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:31 am

Hi Bruce et al,

Ok - spent another couple of nights playing around with the FLD-02 and the 3rd party telemetery config tool and i've sorted out a few things that might be of use to others that are wanting to use something similar.

My configuration is as follows;
FrSky DHT DIY module
FLD-02 connected to the DHT via the provided cable
Battery Voltage sensor setup to measure 0-13.2 V for 3S packs - changed from standard config which is for 5S packs (explained in FrSky sensor doc)
Sensor is connected to battery side of the ESC (in parallel) and then into the telemetery port of the D4RII Rx
FUC-3 cable used to connect DHT to PC for use with config tool

The confusing part (at least for me) was understanding how to use the settings that were available in the FLD_02 settings screen (called menu). The real "ahaaa" moment for me in using the alarm threseholds was realising that there are only two threseholds that can be set for each of the 3 measures that can be alarmed (A1, A2 analog and RSSI). So for example, the A2 input has the A2_1 and A2_2 thresholds. A2 is what i've setup to measure my 3S battery voltage. So for example, the A2 input could be setup to have an alarm at 11.25V (time to land alarm) and then a second alarm at 11.10V (really really time to land alarm). Once you grasp the 2 thresholds per alarm part - the information in the FLD-02 screens becomes a little more obvious.

The next thing to understand is that you don't put in the desired alarm voltage directly into the FLD-02 alarm setting. You need to put in a number that is the ratio of the desired alarm voltage compared to the full voltage range being measured. Hence since i'm measuring up to 13.2V, and the ratio is based on 256 steps, my threseholds became 215 & 218 (13.2/256 * 215 = 11.086V & 13.2/256 * 218 = 11.24V)

(Note that the other item that needs to be set correctly in FLD-02 to make this work is the divider settings. The A1 setting is 4 by default and should be left as it is. The A2 divider setting is 1 by default. In my case, i need to set this to 4 in order to get the correct voltages and alarms working. If you left the voltage sensor at its default location for 5S, then you'd need to set the divider to 6).

The next thing to understand is that the FLD-02 shows 4 alarm states (0,1,2,3) with 0 being "Off", 1 = 1 beep, 2 = 2 beeps, 3 = 3 beeps.

So for each thresehold you can set what number of beeps you want the DHT to sound for the alarm.

I'd originally looked at this and incorrectly thought i could set an alarm value against each beep count (meaning i could set an alarm value for 0, 1, 2 & 3 beeps) for each item being mesaured (meaning i'd end up with up to 12 alarms)... that was completely back to front! But that's how i interpreted the user interface of the FLD-02. Doh! Lack of usable documentation was a real problem here.

So my final FLD-02 setting for A2 looked like the follow:
A2 voltage divider setting = 4
FLD-02 showing A2_1, set the thresehold to "1 < 218" meaning i get a single beep when the voltage drops below 11.24V
FLD-02 showing A2_2, set the thresehold to "2 < 215" meaning i get a double beep when the voltage drops below 11.09V

You can set similar alarms for RSSI. These are absolute values rather than ratios as described above. Hence you set the RSSI1 & RSSI2 to whatever level you desire. The default / recommended values are 43 & 40 dbm

Similar to the above,
FLD-02 showing RSSI1, set the thresehold to "2 < 43" to get a double beep when signal level drops below 43 dbm
FLD-02 showing RSSI2, set the thresehold to "3 < 40" to get a triple beep when signal level drops below 40 dbm

I haven't yet been able to determine if the 2 beeps for battery voltage sounds exactly the same as the 2 beeps for RSSI levels. If they are teh same, then i'll probably have my final setup as:

1 beep for battery voltage (since i have the 9X/ER9X beeper based on a flight timer anyway)
2 beeps for < 43 dbm
3 beeps for < 40 dbm

Thats about it! ... i've got it setup the way i think is most useful to me.

Finally - using the 3rd party software for setting up the alarms via a PC turned out to be relatively straight forward (once i had the driver installed properly). I used the FUC-3 USB/UART cable that is avaiable from your friendly FrSky distributor. I needed to install the driver that is available on the FrSky website. This installs the SiLabs CP210 USB/UART driver (on XP in my case).

The 3rd party software (free) is then dependent on knowing what Com port your device is listening to. This can be found in your device manager list when the device is plugged into your PC. It should show up under the Ports (COM & LPT) list. This then goes into the window at the top right of the telemetery setting software.

The rest of how to use the software is pretty straight forward given the explanations above of what the DHT is expecting.

If you have your Rx powered up, then you can view the A1, A2 & RSSI data in real time.

Probably better to setup using this 3rd party s/w, but also useful to know how to use the FLD-02 in case you need to make changes at the field.

I'll look to take some pictures and add them into this explanation if anyone is intersted.

That's all for now.
Peter
Turnigy 9x, FrSky 2-Way/Telemetry DHT DIY, Smartieparts BRD, ER9x FW
AXN-Floater (stock esc, motor & prop, HK orange 9g servos)
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Re: How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby RCModelReviews » Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:32 am

Yes, the user-interface on the DHT-U and FLD-02 is pretty kludgy and I've emailed FrSky about it.

For instance, on the DHT-U you can set your altitude to display in feet or meters -- but the alarm setting values must be in tens of meters (nowhere does it say that). This lead to a bit of head-scratching.

Also, they fail to have listened when I suggested that if there's no barometric sensor being used, then altitude info should be taken from the GPS sensor. As things stand, even though the GPS can deliver altitude, you'll get no reading unless you also fit the barometric sensor (which is *incorrectly* labeled "vario" -- there is no vario function in the FrSky dashboard products).

I also find it gobsmackingly crazy that you can't plug the vario or the GPS (or any of the digital sensors) straight into the side of the new 4-channel full-range 2-way receiver -- you have to use the telemetry hub. There goes any hope of using the vario and/or GPS in a DLG or other small model -- because the telemetry hub is rather bulky.

The review process started yesterday but I'm waiting to hear back from FrSky before I continue. Their website is down and I've not yet gotten an acknowledgement of my email to them. We'll see what happens.
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Re: How to configure FrSky FLD-02 Telemetery display

Postby AlanGP » Tue May 01, 2012 11:46 am

There is a very useful tool for setting the voltage alarms on the FLD-02 written by PagesFlyingCircus - I have seen his post/comment on the recent FrSky Telemetry Part 1 video so I dont suppose he will mind if I point you to it:

https://www.sites.google.com/site/pages ... -telemetry

Hope this helps
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