Use the Blade SR Tx for Simulating! HP6DSM or LP5DSM for FMS or Clearview!

[BrandonB]

WARNING - This thread is for informational purposes only, if you mod your TX like this you are doing it at your own risk. If you mess up your TX you are 100% responsible for your own actions. Now on with the mod.


This is a tutorial for using the Stock Blade SR transmitter, or any model HP6DSM or LP5DSM Eflite transmitter, to connect to a PC running Windows Vista/7 32 or 64 bit in order to use FMS or Clearview R/C Simulator.

Modding the transmitter:



Open the transmitter by removing the batteries, then the 4 screws in the rear of the transmitter and open her up by swinging the rear panel down as shown



We want to remove and isolate the Red and Black wires leading from the trainer jack on the rear panel to the 4 pin plug on the main board. This will convert the transmitter from Eflite trainer standard to Spektrum trainer standard (I seem to remember that the PPM signls are inverted from Spektrum, but I've tested it with a DX5e without inverting the signal and I found that they were trainer compatible!). Eflite powers their trainer jacks so that the slave transitter will get it's power from master transmitter in a trainer (buddy) configuration. By leaving only the Yellow and Orange wires (PPM signal) connected, we can connect to Spektrum radios (using a mono cable) or to our PC's microphone input. Best way to remove the pins is to unplug the harness and, using a safety pin or tiny flathead screwdriver, carefully lift the little plastic tabs adjacent the pin you are trying to remove, and then slide out the pin. Remove the Red and Black and isolate them from eachother and everything else with tape or heatshrink tubing. Plug the trainer harness back into the main board.
Also notice the piece of fuel tubing over the collective detent spring: this smooths out the detents and makes it feel more like Spektrum. You can fine tune the tension by minute adjustments to the screw holding the spring (mine is not too tight, not too loose).



If the transmitter is to be a dummy box permanently, you can unplug the black plug which goes to the small pcb with the big square shiny metal chip on it. This is the 2.4 Ghz transmitter and the trainer port will still function without it. Unplugging it saves a few hundred milliamps of current draw from the AA batteries, of course you won't be able to fly in real life, so keep that in mind.
Also notice the small switch on the main board just below and to the right of the trainer harness plug: This I'm thinking is a mode switch (mode1<-->mode2). Best leave it alone unless you want mode 1. Yikes!



Put the transmitter back together and get yourself a 6ft mono 1/8" male-male audio cable (a stereo will work, I'm doing it, but it's not Spektrum compatible). With the transmitter off, plug one end of you cable into the trainer port on the transmitter and the other end into your microphone input on your computer.

Installing the software:
Go to this website and download SmartPropoPlus and the appropriate PPJoy for your type of OS (32 or 64 bit).
Click the Start Menu and type (without quotes) 'cmd' and then right click on the 'cmd' program and select 'Run as administrator'.
Type the following (without quotes): "Bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING ON"
Type exit and hit enter then reboot. What you just did is allowed drivers which are in test mode or which simply are not signed by Microsoft to be installed to the OS. It also reminds you of the fact by showing a small indication on the corner of your desktop. Don't like it? Deal with it, we need to do this.
Run the PPJoy installer you downloaded, ok-->next-->>>done.
Run the SmartPropoPlus installer (installspp...) you downloaded, Select 'Generic SmartPropoPlus', next-->install-->done.

Setup the software:
Click the Start Menu and type (without quotes) 'configure joysticks' and hit enter (you can also find the ppjoy folder in your programs and select 'configure joysticks'). Click 'Add...' and add a virtual joystick (press 'Add' again). Select that joystick you just added (PPJoy Virtual Joystick 1) and click 'Mapping...', then click 'Next >'. Setup as follows:
5 Axes, 0 Buttons, 0 POV hats
Axis 1: Y Axis
Axis 2: Z Rotation
Axis 3: Z Axis
Axis 4: X Axis
Axis 5: Dial
Click 'Next >', setup as follows:
Y Axis: Analog 0
Z Rotation: Analog 1
Z Axis: Analog 2
X Axis: Analog 3
Dial: Analog 4
Click 'Next >'-->Next-->Finish.
Click 'Done'.

Click the Start Menu and type (without quotes) 'sppconsole' and hit enter (or you can run 'sppconsole' from your desktop), open the 'Advanced' menu and select 'Audio Source...'. Select the port you plugged your trainer cable into (should be microphone) and hit 'OK'. Select 'PPM (Generic)', 'Auto-detect' checked, 'Enable Audio input selection' unchecked, IMPORTANT: 'PPJoy Extention' CHECKED. Hit 'Hide' ('Done' closes the program, hide just minimizes it).

Open up the dipswitch access on the transmitter and turn off CPPM (flip switch 7 down) then turn on your transmitter. Remember to undo this BEFORE YOU FLY YOU HELI!!! If you forget to YOU WILL CRASH!!! You will have to flip this switch everytime you want to simulate.

Click the Start menu and type (without quotes) 'game controllers' and hit enter (run the 'Setup USB Game Controllers' Control Panel). In the 'Game Controllers' window, select 'Parallel Port Joystick device 1' and click 'Properties'. Select the 'Setting' tab and click 'Calibrate...'. Follow the wizard. Done-->OK-->OK.

You are now ready for FMS or Clearview!

FMS:
Download FMS http://www.n.ethz.ch/student/mmoelle...ms2alpha85.exe and install it.
Download d3drm.dll http://www.driverskit.net/dll/get/494.html and unzip it to the folder that FMS is installed to (c:\program files\FMS or c:\program files (x86)\FMS). Without this you'll just get a black screen when you run FMS.
Run FMS, select the 'Controls' menu, 'Analog Control...', then select 'Joystick interface' and hit 'Mapping/Calibration'.
Setup as follows:
Rudder: 3 Inv
Elevator: 5
Aileron: 6 Inv
Throttle: 4
Tail: 3 Inv
Nick: 5
Roll: 6 Inv
Pitch: 4

Click 'Calibrate', follow the instructions, when finished click 'Ok'-->Ok.
Simulate!

Cleaview:
Download Cleaview http://rcflightsim.com/download.html and install it.
Run Clearview, open the 'Settings' menu and select 'Controller Setup'. Setup as follows:
Throttle: Y Axis, reverse
Rudder: X Axis, reverse
Aileron: Z Rotation, reverse
Elevator: Z Axis, reverse
IdleUp: Set On: Dial, Set Off: Dial
Throttle Hold: F1 on and F2 off via the keyboard

Hit Calibrate and follow the instructions. When finished hit 'Accept'.
Simulate!

Other simulators will work too (Heli-X, Helisim).

Have fun guys!
Brandon

[BrandonB]

I forgot to mention that the channel 5 knob activates the 'Dial' channel on the joystick driver. In my setup, this turns idle up on and off by turning it up or down. Unfortunatly the idle up switch doesn't work and throttle up switch causes the driver to think you're jerking the sticks around like mad so try it and see what happens
Only 6 channels gets transmitted via PPM on the HP6DSM, a channel for throttle signal to the the ESC, a channel for the rudder, 3 channels for the servos which are gracefully mixed by the HP6DSM, and finally a channel for the channel 5 knob. Throttle hold is simply the throttle channel set super low and Idle up switch is simply throttle all the way up if flat-line or mixed v-curve, depending on where the SM TCM ADJ knob is turned to (all the way up or all the way down respectivly). Also Idle up switch doesn't work when the CCPM dipswitch is set to off, which we need for sim use.

[revoracer]

Type the following (without quotes): "Bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING ON"
Type exit and hit enter then reboot. What you just did is allowed drivers which are in test mode or which simply are not signed by Microsoft to be installed to the OS. It also reminds you of the fact by showing a small indication on the corner of your desktop. Don't like it? Deal with it, we need to do this.
Run the PPJoy installer you downloaded, ok-->next-->>>done.


how do i get rid of that step with the info on the bottem right of the screen i just broke down and bought realflight.

[BrandonB]

LOL. Type the following (without quotes): "Bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING OFF"
That'll do it (after reboot).

[BrandonB]

Oh yeah, you need to be in admin mode. Do that by clicking the Start Orb (start menu) then start typing "command" (without quotes). Right click on the command prompt program which pops up in the list and click "run as administrator". You have to click OK or yes or type in your password at this point to get admin command prompt. Then, you may type in the following (without quotes): "Bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING ON"
Reboot.

[scoti333]

Here's a quicker mod:
Get Phoenix!

[BrandonB]

$$$

[Bustedknuckles5]

05-10-2010 04:59 PM BrandonB
Also notice the small switch on the main board just below and to the right of the trainer harness plug: This I'm thinking is a mode switch (mode1<-->mode2). Best leave it alone unless you want mode 1. Yikes!

Does anyone know what that mode switch might be for?
I am asking as I just bought a mSR BnF and bound it to my Tx for the SR, it works but has very low pyro rate, There is a thread about the issue in the mSR sub forum but nobody has solution for it other then buying a good Tx. which for me is not an option for at least a few months. I was wondering if maybe this mode switch might increase the pyro rate?
and yes I am to much of noob to actual.y just flip the switch and see what happens.

[BrandonB]

The reason pyros are slow with the SR Tx is because the rudder rate for the SR is programed to be slow. This is good for the novice CP pilot, but makes the mSR boring. Nothing you can do about this I'm afraid.
In regards to that switch, it's been rumored to be the mode1/mode2 switch. But having never played with it I can't say for sure. Who knows, maybe it turns off the built in SR program!

Here's the explaination on the modes:
http://rcsource.hobbypeople.net/faqs/radmode.htm

[Jumna]

Good tutorial, Brandon. Maybe I'll try my stock TX and smartPropo again on FMS. I had gotten it to almost work, but the heli showed too much erratic movement (mostly up/down) that I got annoyed with it and went back to a game pad. I had not known to cut the wires, and I had heard to change dip switch 8 to turn off ccpm, but hadn't changed dip switch 7. Looks like I shoulda toggled switch 7 too/instead, and consider cutting those wires! Thanks.

[Jumna]

I finally got around to trying this mod of the stock Tx and it works! Much nicer to use the same box on sim and real life! Thanks Brandon. On my pc, I had some erratic movement on the sim until I lowered the volume to nearly zero on the microphone input.

On FMS, if you use the T-Rex model on http://www.trextuning.com/videos.htm, it reminds me of SR behavior, esp if you set the tail on expo. The stock transmitter worked well on the Heli-x sim too.

[Bustedknuckles5]

Finally got my dx6i. I have been using this mod with my stock SR tx and am curious about using the dx6i for my sims. Do I need to do the same modification to the trainer port or can it just be used stock? I don not want to open my new tx up unless I have to. I would prefer using the same tx for both the sims and for real flight.
Thanks in advance for any info.

[Jumna]

I'm guessing it shouldn't need modification, since the the change to the stock Tx was to make it more "spectrum".

[ruger1]

I tried to get this to work on my PC, but for some reason, I can't get the stock SR controller to calibrate. I tried to calibrate through the "game controller" tab under control panel as well as through the game. Under control panel it does nothing, in game the bars move all over without input. Did I miss something? Does the Tx have to be on for it to work? I've tried it on and off no change. My mic volume is muted, because as soon as I plugged in the Tx there was a weird buzz sound that was very annoying. Any help would be great, thanks

[micheleamerica]

Hi all,
I'm having exactly the same issue as ruger1 and can't find the reason for it. It is impossible to calibrate the controller, some channels don't seem to match the use and the noise does not stop. All of this after religiously following the instructions in the first post.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks

[Jumna]

It can be a little tricky. The Tx must be on during calibration. Smartpropo plus has a website that has useful directions & troubleshooting, the link is included with the software downloaded, or google it. Also, you will need to play with the different inputs. If you're using line in, mute mic. Having line in at a very low volume may help.

[BrandonB]

Make sure that you're getting signal in the recording properties when the Tx is on and also that you loose the signal when the Tx is off. If that checks out, then do as stated in the previous posts and lower the record volume to around 5, or until you start to see that the signal is no longer at Max volume. It is possible that the signal is getting clipped due to the high record volume.
http://www.smartpropoplus.com/dnn/Se...8/Default.aspx
On the above site is instructions on how to perform advanced troubleshooting using two tools called PPM Thermometer and WinScope. Winscope will show you if you have a clipped and possibly distorted signal. Thermometer will tell you if SmartPropo will even recognize channels. If these don't work, you need to check your connections and make sure smartpropo is using the right input. Goodluck!

In regards to dx6i, I use SmartPropoPlus to plug in my Dx6i. No mods required, just set up a new model in memory called SIM (even this is optional). Also, the DX5e (I know, its not the 6i but my friend has it) will not function with a mono cable (or is it stereo? I forgot, either way, one will work, the other won't. 6i does NOT have this issue).

[BrandonB]

In regard to the buzz sound: make sure the recording volume on the SPP input is turned down to the lowest for it to work (i think its 5% for me). Also, my buddy's gotten the buzz before and we fixed it by muting the Line input. He wasn't even using line input, he was using mic input, but apparently these built in soundcard tend to bleed channels pretty bad. Mute everything that you're not using in both recording and playback properties windows to fix this.

[micheleamerica]

Thanks for your help BrandonB.
In fact I was able to make this mod work (almost) perfectly by making sure that all sound inputs, except the mic, were set to zero and by setting the mic input with a very low volume. I supose that as BrandonB said there is a lot of bleeding between input channels that gets eliminated by setting all volumes to zero.
Another thing that I did was to turn off all "advanced sound features" of my sound driver.
I said almost because I still cant get rid of the annoying buzzing sound while using SmartPropoPlus and also because when i have the throttle stick at its lowest I get some interference with the other inputs. Anyone knows what this might be ? In any case I'm waiting for the PRE-Flight Blade USB interface which should allow me to use the Tx without the passing by the mic input.

[micheleamerica]

Hi all,
I forgot to check the default positions for the wires that had to be disconnected. Anyone can help me out with that because I need to put the Tx back as it came.
Thanks