iKon Flybarless and Hobbywing telemetry via f.port on R161 • No Inverter! • No Solder! TX16s 

That's exactly what I had in mind when I made it. It's relatively fiddly, but the video shows all the requisite steps.

Much appreciated!

Great to hear!

Glad to help. This is a very simple and elegant way to get full telemetry from iKon and a Hobbywing ESC. Works very well in my setups so far.

Great to hear! Good job. Cool stuff right?

Thanks Bren!

Yup, and it works well. That might just be the next video ;)

Works too :)

I was wondering if it only works on iKon 2 flight controller or any flight controller like the H1. Barvion Demon x3., Etc.

Welcome to the channel. Just so happens I do have a heli setup vid: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xrzejjKo1xA.html

I don’t know anything about vbar.

They actually have a diagram in the Ikon software setup to show you wiring.

@@RCVideoReviews Well the video was way easier to follow, thanks!

You’re welcome.

:) I tinker alot. Don't kick yourself.

Probably if you can find them and f.port firmware for it.

RP3-H is ELRS/CRSF. If you have an ELRS TX you can bind the two. I haven't tested for telemetry using CRSF on ikon though and likely won't as I'm leaving iKon for Rotorflight.

Not while running the f.port firmware. f.port combines s.bus and telemetry together on the wire. So the other end of the wire needs to understand f.port.

Telemetry works with other options. F.port allows control and telemetry on one wire without the s.bus inverter. Racedayquads still has R161s in stock.

@@RCVideoReviews Looks like even Racedayquads is now sold out. Can this be done with another RX and the TX16S or how would it be done with separate S.Bus and S.Port connections?

I've had that problem myself a couple of times. I've found two fixes: 1) Flash a stock s.bus firmware first. 2) Use the frsky stk tool. I have seen what you're talking about and when they are good and stuck, the only thing that worked was the stk tool. It's not supposed to be like that and I'm not sure why it happens, but those are the fixes I've found.

@@RCVideoReviews I found the problem, it's a faulty wiring. Thank you, John.

Sorry, don't know about the BeastX or if BeastX even supports F.port v2.

@@RCVideoReviews alright.thanks

I can't answer this with any fact-based information because I didn't do any sort of side-by-side comparison or testing. My suspicion is there would be no difference in range.

There’s a link to it in the description.

Thank you!

Jim, I don't usually break down specific use cases for every piece of equipment I review. i.e. When I do a video on a Matek F722 I don't explain "this is a flight computer that I will load iNav on for use in a fixed wing airplane" At some level, people that watch these videos have to be accountable to pick up google and ask it what an iKon2 does. The video thumbnail and video description explain precisely what this function does: "In this video I'll show you how to flash the Radiomaster R161 receiver with f.port v2 and how to use f.port in your iKon configuration for control and telemetry without the use of an inverter" Let me ask you, did you search google for iKon2? Because when I do, the very first hit is "iKon2 FLYBARLESS" Up until a few weeks ago I'd never flown a helicopter, but even then I knew the term FLYBARLESS applied to helicopters. Regarding the question from Drone Pilot below: He's a special case: #1 He's an experienced quad pilot with lots of hours configuring betaflight #2 He's a degreed electrical engineer, so when he hears terms like inverted f.port he knows that the implications are. #3 His experience with both flight computers and electronics let him find entirely new ways of doing things like stuffing express lrs modules inside his radio in place of a 4-in-1 module. I appreciate your comment, but you have to understand if I can't make assumptions about what people know, or if people can't take a minute or two to use google and ask a simple question, then I have no possible way of figuring out where to start or stop a video. Suppose I did describe the flybarless, then the next questions become, Can I put a flybarless on my plane? Can I put it on my quad? Can I put it on my car? Why f.port vs s.bus? Why doesn't it come with f.port enabled? How does f.port work? Why do you need a telemetry wire from the esc? Why doesn't the current sensor work? Why pin 5 instead of pin 6? Why not use the inverted s.bus pad? I have to eventually put a stake in the ground or these videos will never get finished. I'll also note, I've never seen you in discord. You should join us there and you can get realtime information about what's going on with the channel.

I don't know. Would need a kbar with which to test.

I use it regularly. Works fine.

@@RCVideoReviews that’s great to hear,thanks

You're welcome. I have this setup on all 3 helis.

@@RCVideoReviews I’m in the process of making the switch from spektrum to opentx

@@davidosborne4970 If you can find a stash of these r161s out there, grab them. They're no longer being made and they are a very good solution for use on Helis with an Ikon.

Search for s.bus f.port receivers.

I found a place in the UK that still has R161s in stock (FCC and EU), ordered and got it in flashed as in the video. Ordered 2 more at $16.58 + $6.05 shipping (air mail took about 10 days to the US), checking today they upped the pricing on them by about 10 dollars... supply and demand i guess.

@@russgreer4012 do you mind to send me the link? Please

if you want a direct replacment, the xsr uses the same firmware.

@@RCVideoReviews thank you for the reply

They're known to work at 8.4v. I use 7.4v on mine. I also believe the manual has been updated to reflect 8.4v

@@RCVideoReviews Thanks John..excellent I will order some, by the way do you think I can get the same telemetry also with spirit gt flybarless?