MANUAL FOR TX700
2013, November 11

Date, updates, and person
Revision 1.1 03-12-2013, By Patrick M
Affected pages, ETC
ALL
Revision/ updates .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Technical specifications ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Inputs/Output connectors ................................................................................................................................. 3
Hardware specifications .................................................................................................................................... 4
Physical Dimensions .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Legal Information .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Adapter wireing ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Binding ............................................................................................................................................................... 6
Change unique ID code ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Output Power selection button ......................................................................................................................... 9
Failsafe ............................................................................................................................................................... 9
Compatibility TX-RX ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Compatible RC's ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Head Tracker.................................................................................................................................................... 10
Compatible Headtrackers ................................................................................................................................ 10
Option Board ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Modem Setup Option Board ........................................................................................................................... 11
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How to get best range ..................................................................................................................................... 11
LED indicator .................................................................................................................................................... 11
Range Check .................................................................................................................................................... 11
Known Limitations ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Abbreviations................................................................................................................................................... 12
FPV general trouble shooting guide ................................................................................................................ 15
Radio Technical stuff ....................................................................................................................................... 17
Warning and Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................. 19
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RF Output power : 500mW/1000mW/2000mW
RF Output connector BNC female.
The power of the transmitter is user selectable via easy to access 3 way switch.
( We recommend to use as little as possible power, so power up is possible in case an out of range situation is experienced)
The Transmitter can handle full power, continually no time limit.
The Antenna output is designed for 50 Ohm load; however the transmitter stage is specially protected and can handle full power at both open and shorted antenna.
It is normal to perform range check with antenna removed and 500mW setting.
The PPM input signal can be either constant frame repeat time or variable, Positive or Negative polarisation, the special double speed Futaba PPM signal is also accepted, Auto detects and auto handle.
The Main PPM signal must contain from 4-12 servo channels, if main PPM signal has under 4 ch it will be refused. Note Graupner call each way a servo travel for a channel, so in Graupner terms a 24 Channel setting handle 12 servoes and is what we call a 12 channel signal.
DIN 3 pin female screw type for POWER and MAIN-PPM input
1 PPM
2 POWER
3 GROUND
The female DIN connector seen from outside the TX
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Stereo Jack for Audio Demodulator input and Headtracker PPM input
The top of the connector is Head-Tracker PPM input (shorted HT)
The Ring of the connector is AUDIO input from the wireless video system receiver.
Ground is common for both signals.
Shielded cables are recommended to avoid cross talk.
Supply voltage 5-25V for 500mW power
Supply voltage 6-25V for 500mW-1000mW-2000mW power
Supply power usage is 3 times the transmit power.
Supply current at 20V (500mW x 3 = 1.5W / 20V = 0.075 Ampere)
Supply current at 10V (500mW x 3 = 1.5W / 10V = 0.15 Ampere)
Supply current at 6V (2000mW x 3 = 6W / 6V = 1 Ampere)
Battery life - The TX unit draw about 1.5W as mentioned at 500mW out, to find the current it draws we use ohm law. Like in the examples, watt / supply volt = Current, the supply voltage can be anything from 6-25V.
Example with a 3S lipo: 1.5W / 11V = 0.126A
To find the time you can run with a given battery size, take your battery mAh and divide with current usage also in mA. Example: 1000mAh / 126mA = 7.9 hrs, remember to keep a good safe margin, some batteries like LIPO do not like to be totally empty.
When using the power-up feature, input supply power will also go up. The unit has about 30-40% efficiency, so an easy rule is the input usage is 3 times as much power as the output power. At 2W RF out; the TX unit consume almost 6W, this means 4W is radiated as heat.
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The TX unit can deliver 500mW out at only 5V as supply voltage; it will stop working at 3.3V or under.
For 1W and 2W output, you need supply voltage of at least 6V. Maximum is 25V !
Peak operating heat sink temperature -40 C to + 80 C
Suggested Operating heat sink range - 20 C to + 60C
PPM input both, main PPM and HT PPM level 1.5Vpp to 10Vpp
AC or DC coubled, this means it is also JR and Graupner student signal compatible, however for serious stable long range flight, it is recommended to use a 3-5V DC coupled PPM signal for best stable signal to noise margin.
Height
Width
Length
Weight
32mm
74mm
100mm
280 grams
The radio system is using frequency hopping, random sequence, and very short timeslots, the time per channel is only 15mS, this means it apply to the 10mW pr average channel regulation in EU and many other areas, this means the 500mW peak setting can be used legally without any radio amateur licence.
Futaba
JR/Graupner
Multiplex
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The binding function stores the TX signal unique ID code and PPM frame rate and number of servos into the receiver; this must be done every time the number of servos is changed on the RC unit. (or another RC system is used with this system)
To bind
1.
Power off Tx and Rx.
2.
Powerup the TX, (we assume right plane memory is recalled on your RC unit).
3.
Hold down bind button on TX while connection adapter cable.
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4.
Remove finger from the bind button.
5.
Power up receiver, make sure both antennas are connected and within 20 meter distance.
6.
Wait 1-2 sec, see the RX LEDs go from lit into fast blink mode.
7.
Power off Tx (Rx is still on).
8.
Power on Tx (Rx is still on).
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9.
Test all servo functions on plane works and have ultra fast and smooth response.
10.
With TX on, try to power OFF, and ON the rx and prove it lock to the tx very fast after power on.
Instruction video on how to bind and store failsafe - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS2wXoorQHQaYmoSLE5_esg
If you use external battery for the LRS TX, then the binding procedure is a little bit different. Leave the RC unit on all the time and connected to the LRS TX, the power on/off to the TX as mentioned in the binding procedure is only the LRS TX, now it will work, the binding mode is only activated when button is held down while power to the LRS TX is applied.
Remove the top lit, inside the TX unit you will find a DIP switch with 8 tiny white slide up/down buttons, note the text ID code next to it. If you need to create a take-over mission, then the two TX units must have the same ID code to be accepted by the RX. If you need to fly side by side with a friend, just be sure you use different ID code. After ID code change, a new bind must be performed.
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The 3 way transmit power switch is located near the antenna connector on the top. It’s most easy to access while in flight. Move the connector close to the antenna connector for low power mode. It is recommend to use as little as possible power, so power-up is possible in case an out of range situation is experienced, this way it is possible to regain control and fly back home.
The same push button on the top is used both for binding and for storing failsafe into the receiver.

When the button is pressed while the TX is powered on it’s in the binding process.

When the TX is in normal flight mode, the button is used to store failsafe.
Link to binding guide on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BO-uwYcfys
Read about the failsafe store and different modes of failsafe in the receiver manual.
All versions of TSLRS RX units can be binded and work together with any versions of TSLRS TX units, because the over air signals are kept the same from the very start. The TSLRS system parts is NOT TX-RX compatible with any other brands of long range systems, we all use our own radio modulation system.
Any Radio Control remote system with PPM output should be able to use, check your manual for student out and if it is compatible with PC simulators and other types of RC systems, then you know you got a PPM signal and not a special un-compatible digital signal. The PPM signal can be any polarity and also variable speed and even the special Futaba double speed mode is supported.
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The Head tracker input must be 6 channels PPM. It accepts positive or negative polarization, variable or fixed frame rate auto detect and auto handle. Channel 5 and 6 are the two HT (PAN/TILT) signals. They are added after the used MAIN-PPM channels. In case the main PPM signal has 12 channels, there are no free channels to use. Then the two HT signals will be merged into channel 10 and 11, leaving channel 12 free to use for the main PPM. The reason for this is easy to understand, look at the receivers: The channel 12 connector can be either PPM out or servo channel 12 out, the different output mode is configured on the
RX. In case you need PPM out and use a HT at the same time, of course you need the HT signals to be on ch
10-11 where normal servo connectors exist.
The Fat Shark, M.I.G. Tracker, Magnetic Inertial Gyro or any other type with the required signals, see Heat
Tracker section above.
The extra add on board called Option-Board can be installed by the user.
The extra features are:

Firmware upgrade via USB connector.

Both the TX main board and the Option board CPU can be upgraded with this option board.

Data Demodulator and PC USB interface for UAV systems. (live 2 way data is then possible)

Voltage monitor with audio alarm.
THIS SECTION WILL BE UPDATED WHEN THE OPTION BOARD IS RELEASED.
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The audio signal is 1200 Baud FSK from a video receiver, the level can be from 200mV to 2000mV adjustable from the upgrade board trimmer, adjust trimmer for carrier LED LIT, find the two points where the LED is not lit and set it in the middle of that for best margin to both sides. Install FTDI232 VCD driver on the PC, run your UAV control software to display live flight parameters.
THIS SECTION WILL BE UPDATED WHEN THE OPTION BOARD IS RELEASED.
Archived range is only the result of the wanted signal to noise ratio. Local noise emitters are the most common way to ruin good receiver’s capabilities to pick up weak signals at long range. The system has got a transmitter to receiver calculated line of sight range of over 100 km. We know at least one customer who actually performed a full flight over 100 km out and back. To be able to get the full possible range this system can deliver, you need to be very sure nothing on your plane emit noise in the used frequency band, if it does it will affect the range.. This means also it is very easy to detect using range checks.
Constant light = PPM OK, POWER SUPPLY OK
Blinking LED = Power supply ok, but no valid PPM
No Light = No power supply voltage
Can be done just like any conventional RC systems, in this case simply unmount the TX antenna, and set it to low power, then expect 4-10 meters of range, then check you have same (short) range with motor on/off, and with video cams and video transmitters on/off, if no change in the range result, then mount TX antenna again and fly. If any unit on your plane affect your range, you are supposed to seek and fix it, if you want to take full advantage of the systems capabilities or at least obtain a system with best possible signal to noise margin.
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Landscape variations and noise pollution in the flight area is known to shorten the range of any wireless link. Use at least 1/10 of the distance as height. For example at 3 km distance stay 300 meters up to get full range. Standard transmitter with 500mW and the standard quarter wave antenna will give you a 3-5km range in normal city area may be much longer in areas with no noise pollution.
Names often used on UHF LRS pages and when talking about radio control and video links and FPV.
RC - Radio Control, remote wireless control of something.
RC unit - The radio control unit you hold in your hand, can be a Futaba, JR, Graupner, Multiplex or other.
Servo - when connected to rudders/ailerons/elevator they steer a plane.
Servo pulse - is a digital pulse width that hold position information, 1.5mS is centre position.
LRS - Long Range System, often a short for this system sometimes also called UHF LRS
UHF - Ultra Height Frequencies, is 300-3000MHz, but radio amateurs often call UHF = 70CM band, also known as the 430-470MHz area
TX - Transmitter used to transfer a signal to a receiver
RX - Receiver used to receive the radio signal and output the signals, pulses, audio, video, data
RC RX - Radio control receiver, can be any type any brand and any coding system, they all output standard servo pulses
LRS TX - the metal box containing the 500mW transmitter used for this long range system.
LRS RX - the receiver located in the plane, this receiver is connected directly to servoes and 5V supply
RSSI - received signal strength indication, is often an analog voltage that goes up or down depending of radio signal level in a receiver
Video TX - Video transmitter, located on a plane, car, boat or helicopter often using 900-1300-2400MHz
Video RX - Video receiver, located on ground, when connected to a TV screen you can see live pictures from the Video TX
Video Splitter - is an amplifier that will allow the user to distribute a video signal to several things at the same time.
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PPM - Pulse Period Modulation, is the pulse system used in trainer/student systems, it contains high resolution information on all servo positions assigned.
PPM inverted - the pulse can be normal or inverted, some older systems do not handle both when connected as student/trainer
LOS - Line Of Sight is the distance from ground to a plane with nothing in the way, not even ground.
Long Range - is normally not defined, but when a plane is not visible by direct sight it is normally called long range
BNC - is the connector name/type used for the TX and Booster for the LRS, same connector is used on
Ethernet systems.
Booster - is an amplifier that will take radio signals and boost them up to a more powerful level.
LNA - Low Noise Amplifier is used in receivers as the front end stage, they improve the sensitivity and therefore also the range
Diversity - is often a double antenna and/or double receiver system with auto switching to the best signal, this improves the useable range a lot.
GPS - often we use a GPS receiver on planes to feed speed, position, and height information to OSD systems.
OSD - On Screen Display, will overlay interesting information to a live video signal.
Logger - will record data or measurements for playback / view later, some OSD systems can log some informations too.
Modem - Modulator Demodulator, encode data into sound, and back again, can use audio line in a wireless video system to transfer data like GPS positions.
Head Tracker - a unit mounted on a person’s head, will then control remote located servos so a remote camera follow head movements, gives Virtual Reality experience to FPV.
FPV - First Person View, like pilot view out the front window.
UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, a UAV is a fully computer guided plane, not a radio controlled plane, if RC'ed it is an FPV or just a normal RC plane.
Trainer - Most advanced RC units have trainer connectors with PPM in/out so they can be connected via a cable to a student RC unit.
Student - Most advanced RC units have trainer connectors that can be configured to output PPM signals for a PC simulator or trainer RC unit or LRS.
Patch - A patch antenna is a directional antenna that will when pointed to a plane improve the range.
Yagi - A Yagi antenna is a directional antenna that will when pointed to a plane improve the range.
Dish - A Dish antenna is a directional antenna with highest possible gain, will when pointed to a plane
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improve the range.
Gain - antenna gain is often named in db, the more db the more gain, and also a more narrow beam, so pointing correctly is harder with high gain.
RF - Radio Frequency, any frequency that is not directly hearable audio
RF module - often a plug in box or module or printed circuit board that can be changed/added in RC units, normally a transmitter.
BEC - Battery Eliminator Circuit, is a 5V-6V regulator often linear type that makes supply for RC RX and servos.
SBEC - Switching Battery Eliminator Circuit, is a 5V-6V regulator switch mode type handles more input voltage and have lower loss.
RC Receiver Battery or Supply , is normally 4 or 5 NIMH cells providing 4.8 or 6V of steady and stable supply, such a battery must be able to handle all servo max currents and still provide sufficient stable voltage, do not use spring loaded battery cassettes or weak current capable cells like normal alkaline types, today more new and fancy battery types like lipo and lion and such can also be used if receiver and servoes can handle the different voltage range they provide.
Fading - when the distance and positions and angles of a wireless system is changed, the radio signal will also change.
Multipath Fading - a direct signal and a reflected signal hit the receiver antenna with -180 deg phase, creating a zero signal level.
Nulling - is the same as Multipath fading.
FHSS - Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum, a way to send data using many different frequencies, makes a system immune to noise and jamming proof.
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Please read this first and try some of this before asking around.
Any FPV system a car, plane, or helicopter is often a compact system, containing: Transmitters, receivers, sensors, high power pulsed electrical, vibrations, microcontroller electronic boards, video camera, switch mode supply to be able to combine all this into a tiny lightweight platform is a huge challenge and to make all units perform perfectly without interfering each other is often an almost impossible task, even for skilled electronic educated persons.
Here are a few design hints:
Plane size small planes are cheap and easy to transport, but they are not optimum FPV platforms. The smaller type the more compromised performance you must expect to get.
Receivers must be located as far away from transmitters as possible, at least a distance that can prove no degrade of the receiver system range when the Tx is operating or not.
It is advised to keep receivers away from all electronics in general, speed controllers and switch mode supplies are known to be able to jam.
Electric Motor controller a range check must prove no degrade/change when motor is off, halve, full power, this also apply for gasoline and methanol engines.
Transmitters for live video or data back telemetry will always have harmonics like 2x 3x and so on. Of their wanted frequency the level might be low and under demanded levels, but when located near a receiver that may operate on a x2 or x3 frequency it is doomed to fail. Plan your frequency bands to avoid using any channel at the exact harmonic of any other system you use.
GPS are often small module receivers, designed to be cheap and just cheap!! That is what we like, but cheap comes a problem. They are not designed to be working near transmitters; some cannot handle anything not even if it is even GHZ away. So a SAW frontend is a must too and a good high level capable frontend is a must too and even then some GPS modules do not like to be located near 900 or 1300MHz video transmitters first harmonic of 900MHz is 1800Mhz, a GPS works at 1575MHz its front end system is often several hundred MHz wide, even if they have a SAW, so 1300 and 1800 can jam it. A 2.4GHz video
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transmitter is harmonic at 4.8GHz, so it is no big problem, it is a known fact that most 2.4Ghz video transmitters are most likely better with most GPS units.
Video stripes is often seen when a power supply is not clean or ground / signal wires are shared with power or other units on the plane, note if the stripes are constant or change with motors or servos or other items moving or operation, try to touch camera or video transmitter, see if any change in the stripes.
Grounding items with analog signals specially video signals are super sensitive to grounding problems. You cannot supply a pulsing current on a ground wire to a video connected device, if this ground wire is the same for the video signal, it is quite difficult to explain how to split signal ground with power ground. A
“Star” kind of grounding has a zero current / zero voltage in the centre point.
Power supply cleanness.
Try to mount external battery on different items and be sure they are super clean and is smart to try to locate a problem.
Switch mode , it is often seen SBEC or other switch mode regulators are designed to be cheap and they don’t have no really good filter, extra 100uH coils and 470-1000uF on the input and output might help, input is just as important as the output.
S hielding some devices radiate magnetic pulses, specially SBEC and cameras, if they are contained in a closed metal case the problem will be less, but weight will go up, iron cases are better for low frequency magnetic problems.
Camera some types radiate radio noise, uncased types are the worst. Cased types can also do it, the case is maybe painted and therefore not fully shielded, the wires from it works like radiating antennas, ferrite torrid and aluminum-foil is a good solution and distance to GPS and other receivers is a good idea tool.
Servos some RC servos types are only designed to be used near receivers, clear enough, but when located near a transmitter they can be jammed, moved or stopped or other strange things even periodic problems have been seen. Tricks/solutions: Aluminium-foil around the servo, wire turned on ferrite torrid.
Electrical motors are also inside servos and they will also radiate magnetic pulses when they move.
Some systems like video transmitters and cameras and OSD systems do not like to be near this field.
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Vibrations is a normal problem for receivers and transmitters, their coils and crystals and filters have microphone behaviour, packed in foam and they also avoid loud sound
SWR a video transmitter with a badly matched antenna and/or badly grounded will have high frequency currents going on its signal and power cables.
When having range or interference problems, try to isolate the different items, like turn it off or change their position dramatically or bypass its function until you find a change in your problem, then you have found the noisy item.
Any wireless radio system contains of a transmitter side antenna and a receiver side antenna.
Both sides must have the same polarization to perform most optimum, the most common polarizations are horizontal, vertical, circular left or right.
If a horizontal is “talking” to a vertical, the link loss will have an added extra loss of 26dB
If a circular left is “talking” to a circular right, the link loss will have an added extra loss of 26dB
If a circular left is “talking” to a vertical or horizontal, the link loss will have an added extra loss of 3dB
This is why it is smart to combine a horizontal or vertical often mounted in a plane, with a circular receiver on the ground, then the 26dB drop can nearly be avoided.
Pointing a whip style antenna to a plane is the worst thing you can do. Imagine looking into the end of the whip, It is almost impossible to see from a distance, radio waves work this way too, makes antenna most visible and right polarization.
It is normal that radio links have a 26dB extra margin in its link budget / range calculation so you will not loose contact - when one antenna is rotated in an unlucky angle, a diversity system will take full advantage of its link budget, so the resulting useable range is almost 10 times as much as a non diversity system, if no other parameters are changed.
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A downlink diversity system also solves one other problem, fading and nulling, the most perfect diversity system would have 3 antennas to handle signals from any angle perfect, but the gain from doing this is often minimal and cost and complexity is big, a 2 antenna diversity is the most common compromise.
All cellular systems use diversity on the receiver side and brute transmitter power on the tx side to perfect the link, a cell side tx is over 26dB more power full over the handset transmitter to obtain an equal quality link, also handset side have a cheaper receiver with less sensitivity, we do not have space for a diversity antenna system on a cell phone.
Wavelength and frequency - a double frequency will have half the wavelength. Long wavelength cannot pass through small holes, like take a 27MHz walkie-talkie and try to use it inside two cars, (cars are made of metal, and the window holes are much under the wavelength) the useable range is then really bad, now go out of the cars and see you will have 10 times the range, at higher frequencies you don’t have the car window problem, but air attenuation is higher with higher frequencies, so a longer range is easier to get using lower frequencies.
Gain - Adding more antenna gain will only make the beam more narrow, point the antenna right and you get more range, point the antenna wrong and you lose signal, any gain over 8-10dB will be hard to point to a moving target like a plane, you need a tracker system or a cheap friend that will work for free to point the antenna.
An 18dB gain yagi antenna on the receiver side and 500mW 2.4GHz video transmitter with 0dB antenna, have a proven LOS of 51km when both polarizations are right.
Range and dB - Improving a systems link budget with 10dB will increase the range by a 3 times factor, 10dB power is the same as 10 times the power.
20dB more power gives 6 times the range, 100 times more power, combining more power with more gain is often the way to get longer range and also improving receiver side sensitivity is a good way to go.
Bandwidth vs. range - Video transmitters with audio, stereo and mono exist, the video signal is 5MHz wide, and the audio is 5KHz wide, A factor 1000 in bandwidth, so in theory the same range will be achieved on the audio as the video link with only 1/1000 of the power, that is why those systems have a much lower power in the audio, often see -20dBc to -30dBc, dBc means dB under the main Carrier -30dBc is the same as
1/1000.
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When using any wireless RC system bad things can happen, batteries can fail; hardware can fall out of planes and many other things. Whatever bad happens, no one at Scherrer UHF or Danish Aviation Systems or any of our suppliers or reselling companies cannot be held directly or indirectly financial or personal responsible. We strongly suggest all our users to follow any local laws, and perform good safe and serious
FPV and UAV flights. You agree to this by purchasing and using this system!
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