FrSky Q-X7 - an F3F-ready transmitter for £100!

The FrSky Q-X7 is an inexpensive transmitter which sits just below the X9D in the Taranis family. Because of its low price - just £100 - it's easy to overlook it as a 'serious' transmitter. This would be a mistake, as it's a modern, nicely designed unit with perfectly adequate mechanics and a well proven RF link. More to the point: it's capable of controlling an F3F competition glider, with all the sophisticated mixing.

E-Soar Plus 3.0

A year has passed since the last update to E-Soar Plus, my OpenTx template for sport and F5J. In the meantime, OpenTx 2.2 has been released, one of the key enhancements being an increase in the number of logical switches from 32 to 64.

Which brings us to  E-Soar Plus 3.0. This new version takes advantage of the extra logical switches to provide a choice of three motor arming methods, thereby addressing the main gripe from users. In this post I'll describe the background to this and other changes.

Advanced snapflap mixing with OpenTx and Lua

In this post, I'll describe a snapflap mix with the emphasis on 'trimmability'. It offers full control over the snapflap curve, with all adjustments via dedicated controls. In addition, alerts are sounded when snapflap exceeds user-defined thresholds. The mix has been part of my Needle 115 setup for a couple of years now.

A simple way to measure stick tension

My trusty Taranis X9D has finally suffered its first major issue in four years - a broken spring on the elevator gimbal. And yes, it failed in flight! Fortunately I was able to land the model safely.

Horus X10 preview - an upgrade for your X9D?

The Horus X10 is the second 'quality' radio to be released by FrSky. The new radio bridges the gap between the venerable Taranis X9D and the premium Horus X12S. Will it be good enough to persuade X9D users to upgrade? Will X12 users all suddenly want to downgrade? Let's indulge in a bit of informed speculation! [20 Nov 2017: section on charging updated].

Checking out your new FrSky transmitter

Over the years I've set up a variety of transmitters for myself and friends and as a result I've got to know what to look for and what to check out with new kit. So in this post, I list a few tips, including an effective method for checking the range.

Getting inside the Horus

The Horus is a sweet piece of kit - when it's fully operational. Unfortunately my own unit arrived with a gimbal that was double-centring. To FrSky's credit, it didn't take long to receive a replacement gimbal, and today I cracked open the transmitter to install it. It also offered an opportunity to inspect the Horus internals. Was it all good news? Read on...