I recently purchased a small Telemetry module from Newegg.com for about $25, it runs on the unlicensed 900 MHz band. It was quite easy to hook it up to my Hobbyking Micro APM and now I can monitor the Quadcopter while in flight, just as if it was connected to my PC via USB. No need to connect USB on the ground, as this telemetry connection handles all communications.
A new cable must be made using the supplied telemetry cable from the telemetry module and the one supplied with the APM. Also remember to connect as follows:
The PC connection was also painless, stuck the module into a USB port and the driver loaded automatically onto my Windows 7 laptop.
The only other trick is to select 57.6Kbps in Mission Planner to get the link to work.
Note: Telemetry module is from Excelvan and is called "Radio Telemetry Kit 915Mhz Module for APM APM2.5 2.6 Pixhawk PX4 RC Multicopter Quadcopter" and is available on Newegg.com
A new cable must be made using the supplied telemetry cable from the telemetry module and the one supplied with the APM. Also remember to connect as follows:
 |
| Telemetry Module with black antenna |
| Telemetry Module | APM |
| 5V | 5V |
| Gnd | Gnd |
| TX | RX |
| RX | TX |
The PC connection was also painless, stuck the module into a USB port and the driver loaded automatically onto my Windows 7 laptop.
The only other trick is to select 57.6Kbps in Mission Planner to get the link to work.
Note: Telemetry module is from Excelvan and is called "Radio Telemetry Kit 915Mhz Module for APM APM2.5 2.6 Pixhawk PX4 RC Multicopter Quadcopter" and is available on Newegg.com
Update-Pixhawk Test
I also purchased a unit for use with my Pixhawk-S500 quadcopter covered elsewhere on this blog. This time, I could use the included cable to connect the telemetry unit to my Pixhawk, although I had to shave a little plastic on the Pixhawk end, as the Pixhawk uses unusual connectors. As with the APM, I set the rate to 57600 and was connected to Mavlink on the Pixhawk. Works like a charm.
