Flysky i10 PPM

A while back I reviewed the Flysky i10 radio.  It is a great radio for the price, but I needed PPM output from the receiver in order to feed my Pixhawk.  PPM is a single wire interface for all channels, in place of the one-cable-per-channel PWM interface, which is about 40 years old.

The manual tells you nothing about how to do this, but the online forums were filled with people saying it could be done.  I tried everything, and could not find a way to do it.

Finally, I found a bunch of postings about a very helpful fellow at Diamond Hobby, Jim Ogorek, who might be able to help (email: jim@diamondhobby.com).  In spite of the fact that I bought the radio through another retailer, Amazon, he helped me by sending me the update software for the radio.  Note that there are two versions, US and China.  I needed China because my radio showed up as a "CN" device on windows.

After running the software on my PC and connecting up the radio, I was able to update the transmitter, and it then updated the receiver, and bingo, I had PPM!  You go to the receiver menu on the transmitter and there is a simple check box for PPM and it enables PPM output on ch1 of the receiver.  Works like a charm.

Hobbyking S500 Frame Review

S500 Quadcopter

I am building a new quadcopter for higher quality photography using the hobbyking s500 frame, which is similar to the sk450, but slightly larger.  It is now flying and I can comment on its pros and cons.

Pro

• Slightly stiffer arms than Sk450
• Plenty of space for electronics
• Higher landing gear to allow for camera gimbal
• Adjustable mount for gimbal - can shift gimbal forward and backward 
• Integrated pcb for power distribution 
• Spare parts available
• Low cost 

Con

• Landing gear not too sturdy 
• Landing gear too low to use included adjustable mount with 2 axis gimbal, have to hard mount to pcb

Note Top of Landing Gear, too flexible, not well attached to frame

I used sunnysky 2212 motors and they are much better than the turnigy motors on the SK450 - powerful, quiet, less vibration, smaller. I was also able to use my pixhawk controller which would not interface properly to the turnigy plush ESCs when I tried it on the SK450. For the S500 build, I used low cost Spider ESCs with SimonK firmware, which worked well with the pixhawk. Carbon fiber props and the previously reviewed Flysky i10 radio rounded out the build. 

First outdoor test flight is shown below. 

Summary 

The S500 is a good frame for a camera quadcopter, but it is not recommended for a beginner builder. Modifications are needed for camera mounting, the landing gear, and perhaps for power wiring so it helps if you have some experience with building  quads. 

S500 fully assembled with Gimbal, Telemetry

Flysky i10 Review

I recently bought the Flysky i10 radio for my latest quadcopter project.  I love this RC unit.

The system, as delivered, includes the transmitter with rechargeable battery, receiver, external voltage sensor, rpm sensor, and temperature sensor along with a useful manual on CD.  The manual is actually well written and useful, unlike many Chinese radios.  Build quality seems good, no obvious cheap parts or poor assembly.

Transmitter

The transmitter has a touch screen interface, somewhat Android-like, and it is easier to use than the older text menu driven systems.  You can set up almost anything through the interface: limits, mixes, switch assignments, delays, failsafes, etc.  The transmitter itself is slim, with rubberized grips, making it easy to hold.  There are many different switches and knobs which can be attached to any channel.  This was great for the quadcopter as you could get 2, 3, or more flight modes on one switch or knob without using cumbersome control mixing.   Camera gimbal control is also easy with the two variable control knobs on the top corners of the transmitter, easily manipulated by your index fingers while your thumbs work the joysticks. Joystick feel is good.  The transmitter can also be programmed via USB, which I have not tried yet, and it also has an SD card for storage.  Telemetry data from the receiver and sensors is shown on the transmitter LCD display.

Home screen

Icons for customizing transmitter

Receiver

The ia10 receiver has 10 channel ports which work well with my Pixhawk and standard servos.  It also has an "Ibus" which can be used to output PPM (I have not figured this out yet), or take inputs from the telemetry sensors.  Ibus documentation is not great, so check back in a while and see if I can figure out how to use it for PPM and other purposes.  Range seems very good in my experience.

Receiver as installed on my Quadcopter

Testing

I installed the system on an S500 quadcopter and used a generic PPM converter to generate PPM for my Pixhawk controller.  It was relatively simple to set up the control functions, map the flight modes to a three position switch, and range check the system.  Performance during test flights and a long hot outdoor flying session was excellent.

Summary

I highly recommend this radio for quadcopters and believe it will also be an excellent choice for airplanes, traditional helicopters, and other vehicles.  The price, about $200 US, is unbeatable for the value received.

Sensors included with the System