Lee: Thanks for this brief description. I'm hoping you will dive into more thorough evaluation and comparisons with Happymodel and perhaps other manufacturer alternatives. - Jim
Lee: I was all in for the ELRS bandwagon on the Happymodel platform until I realized that it may have constraints for fixed wing flying that requires more than 4 variable channel controls (aileron, elevator, throttle, rudder, flaps, pan & tilt camera, plus on/off controls suck as gear, lights, stabilization mode 1,2,3,4,5,6, return to home, loiter, etc). A reply from Joshua Bardwell seemed to confirm my fears. What is your assessment on this question? Thanks! - Jim
You can use the white folding stick antenna and solder a cloverleaf omni directional onto it's end so your goggles can fold without unscrewing the antennas for transport . Or a folding 850mhz on the transmitter so it always stays screwed on and does not power up without an antenna . I think so .
I have put Happymodel ELRS receivers in my Mobula 7 and ET115. The ep2 version with veramic antenna. Very good range, and very small receivers. In my 5 and 7” quads I installed the ep2. Still testing the range/reception. But so far so good. And the price of the RX’s end the TX is very friendly. I believe the latest official OpenTX version has CRSF shot enabled so it’s no longer necessary to install a nightly build of OpenTX. Thnx for the informative video’s👍
OpenTX 2.3.12+ has CRSFSHOT which is what ELRS needs. EdgeTX also has it in their inaugural 2.4 release. Be careful of what transmitter you're using as some need the inverter mod for the higher baud rates, otherwise you are handicapping your link speed
I was using ElRs for a while. It does work good however there is an issue for fixed wing. There is only 4 full resolution channels. A motor and 3 servo's are fine but if you want flaps or a pan servo those work in steps and have no set center position. It worked great on my dart 250 and ar wing but when I tried it on my phoenix 2400 it was a no go. I have since swapped them back to crossfire. I am still using ELRS in an RC car. Quads and wings are great on ELRS.
@@Sergei75000 Yes. It doesn't matter which hardware we're talking about, the firmware across the board is the same - only 4 full res channels. ELRS is meant for quads and wings, not planes etc and it is a very big part of how and why it is so good at what it does - super sensitivity (range) and high, very consistent packet rates
If you're not into hardcore racing and shaving nanoseconds off the latency isn't a must have, is there a reason to choose 2.4GHz over 900MHz? Seems like 900MHz is more generally versatile?
ExpressLRS 2.4GHz has been flown out 35km on 100mw 900MHz has been flown out 40km on 10mw. In both those flights there was no failsafe and video was the limiting factor. 2.4GHz has the fastest packet rate of any link used for FPV. ExpressLRS has the best packet consistency of any system, lowest jitter, The system is vastly superior to any other RC link that is popular in FPV.
Bought a Jumper T-Lite V2, 49USD .. First ELRS Transmitter .. Make sure to bring my readers lol ... Ill see if the stock 100mw is sufficient .. this looks fun for more range .. JR modules are my fav, still Roc my 9XR Pro, so this is so me .. cheers
I already have crossfire but this come interesting the 2.4ghz for the price point to be used on small drones, cinewoops where you not going to far and and the cost of tbs rx is double than this where i live. In fact the cost of this rx is same as the frsky xm+ !
One of the manufacturers is making a high output receiver. it might even be betafpv....come to think of it the one you mentioned been 20dbi....thats 100mW, enough for super long range telem and on a ardupilot / open tx system that is unrivaled other than a full herelink setup which is magnitudes higher in cost
You can also look at the DIY receiver options on the ExpressLRS website/GitHub. The 900mhz Rx use a RFM95W which is 100mw, and the 2.4ghz us a TCXO version SX1280 that is also 100mw. I think fatboyfpv actually sells some of the DIY versions?
I'm wauting for the empty box version where you build a ultimate unflashed booster yourself . Then you can upgrade it with an internet connection and suitable computers that work . A timer inside the midule could self delete any old software you managed to get
interesting but with only 4 channels a bit limited in terms of flexibility of adding pan tilt zoom or other and with the white plastic the module looks like a wireless doorbell. stay safe Lee.
x2 Questions.... Did your 2.4Ghz module have the capacitor mod? Please could you let us know the PCB board version? I just bought one direct from BetaFPV & was v1.0 PCB with the cap missing so means opening up to update which is a PITA. Also 868Mhz doesnt appear in the ExpressLRS Configurator target drop down list so how do you flash the 886Mhz firmware?
thank you for the description, very informative 👍🏼. I'm currently new to the rc World somthing I've been looking in to for years, but with it being a little expensive at time it was a bit of a problem. I'm currently looking to build a quadcopter with this being a great affordable price what kind of controller would it be compatible with, ie can I use the t16 or any other controller? would you recommend would I need a specific adapter to use with a crossfire controller? Thank you 👍🏼.
i really hope that ELRS taks off ... specially in the TinyWhoop, Toohtpick section or as you mentioned ... Parkflyer planes ... right now ... i would not thrust it on my 5" quads or where i fly in highly noisey environment
@@slickwithit5499 its new... and not widespread IMHO ... and you know how it is with "cheap" products ... looking back at the FrSky Receivers ... i get failsafes after failsafes with them ... taking out my Futaba ... no issues at all... in short ... i hast to be tested very well first, before it slap it into my Freestyle quads
@@deltageek7177 good to know .. but ELRS isn't broadly available for ppl that don't wana solder an TX/RX or reflash they existing stuff... its just now that you can get dedicated hardware for it ... for example .. i waited around 6month to a year before i switched to Corssfire, cause you never know what issues or bugs come out once you let hundreds or thousands of ppl use it... same is with Firmware ;)
there are two major issues that are holding me back. first: only 4 full channels - auxiliary are only for switches. talked to developers about it, but there aren't any plans to change this in the foreseeable future. second: legal status. I'm not sure about this but i don't think the current implementation is really compliant to all rules in the EU. but to say something nice. I really dig the idea of an opensource control link. i really want to use it instead of the r9 system I'm using now.
@@derrogers Ah, ok. Thx for the info! I am new to this, so sorry, if this is a stupid question: The 4 channels are for throttle, yaw, pitch and roll, right? So how is an arm-switch supposed to work, if there are only 4 channels? Or what is this auxiliary thing you mentioned?
Let's not scare everyone away. In regards to the first point, yes only the first 4 channels are full channels. When using the hybrid switches mode, Aux 2-7 can be 2, 3 or 6 position switches and aux8 is a 16 position switch. This obviously isn't perfect for everyone, but I would think it's enough for most people. You can probably even use aux 8 for pan camera. Not sure how great it would be but 16 positions isn't that bad. In regards to the second point, your right, probably not compliant. From what I read on the GitHub it follows most rules but doesn't implement LBT. Realistically, not like anyone is going to chase you for it.
@@ThunderBoy0750 not adhering to the regulatory means at some point somebody could prevent hardware manufacturers from selling this devices. like the FCC did with Hobbyking and getpfv regarding their 5.8ghz vtxs. DIY isn't an option for everyone. and as an growing open source project they have to tackle this issue sooner or later.
@@Painless360 Thank You For the reply Sir and I can't wait! I have alot of Drones that use PixHawk and i won't have to worry about range issues again Thanks
