G9X v4.2 boards completed + general "update" (babble from gruvin :p)

[Bryan]

Hello all.

We have just received news from China that our 50x v4.2 main boards have been completed.

We're now awaiting shipping and testing before making the boards available at the online store (http://gruvin9x.com).

Here's a photo of a single board, sent to us from China ...

In case you're not already aware , there is very little practical difference between this v4.2 board and the previous version 4.1. Just a couple of minor tweaks I would say -- from most folks perspective, anyway.

Oh yes -- the price. We have yet to settle on a final price. But we are happy to report that it should be under $100 this time -- possibly even including shipping. This is great news indeed! If demand grows to justify it, then we are certainly open to ordering larger batches to get the price down ever lower. Unfortunately, there simply isn't enough historical data to even guess what will happen here. So we have to just wait and see.

That reminds me ... I've been busy (hand) making more gProg and SD-card interface boards, to go with the 50 v4.2 main boards. Of course, I wanted to get the Chinese to make these as well, since it would be a LOT cheaper. Alas, due to the small board sizes involved, the minimum economical quantities required for simply don't make sense. Should this situation improve to the point where it does make sense, then we could probably better than half the retail price of those two boards as well. Again, unless some marketing guru (with money to burn) comes along and supports our little project in this regard, then we'll just have to wait and see what unfolds. You can of course help by spreading the word as far and wide as possible. :-D

- - -

In other news, I have finally found an economically priced yet powerful WiFi TCP/IP "modem" -- here. This particular device even has an onboard scripting language, making it capable of reacting to network socket data, without an external micro-controller. One example script configures the unit to accept incoming TCP connections and simply pass data back and forth like a simple (high speed) serial modem. Of course, we do have an 'external microcontroller' on our 4 board, so that may well not be needed. but it's pretty darn cool, regardless -- especially for the price.

The device operates in the 2.4GHz band, making its suitability for us somewhat questionable. However, I'm reasonably confident it could be used without much trouble, alongside Fr-Sky's systems, since they are frequency agile, etc. Time and field testing will confirm.

Oh -- why and what for? Well, I thought it might be nice to have an Android or iPhone/Pad app to show telemetry data or to operate as a secondary control interface -- or whatever. In practice, using BlueTooth (as mere hobbyists without a million dollars to throw at Apple/HTC/etc) for this purpose generally requires that the Android/iPhone/Pad be jail-broken, to allow installation of otherwise not present drivers -- and other such potential nuisances. However, using a Wi-Fi TCP/IP interface instead means that full functionality can be realised using standard TCP/IP networking features, without any fancy jail-break antics. Just load the app and run -- in theory.  More on this later, with any luck.

- - -

In case you haven't heard, the gruvin9x now officially recommends the use of open9x firmware. No further public releases are planned for gruvin9x firmware, although we will probably be using gruvin9x as a platform for initial testing and development of the receiver multiplexer controller board we're currently still working on.

Among many other great things, open9x now has full support for the SD-card interface, in that you can backup and restore individual models to/from the card. Telemetry loving is also supported -- not quite complete and still experimental as of this writing -- but I'm told the finishing touches will be applied soon.

- - -

So, what does the future hold? 

We're all still waiting to see what Fr-Sky actually come up with in terms of their own ('officially rumored') RC transmitter. We're also keeping a casual eye on the very promising looking ersky9x(?) ARM-bnased controller board, currently in its first public release devilment version. Depending what happens in those and other places, we may or may not look at progressing our own gruvin9x controller board further. For now though, we want to concentrate on stabilizing the current version and trying to ensure that retail stock levels can be maintained. 

Personally, I would be looking to consolidate everything we've learned, to hopefully come up with an even cheaper, yet every bit as useful platform for further development. There are so very many ideas and possibilities floating around. But I want to remain grounded in what is actually practical and useful in the field. For example, high-res colour touch screens sound great and all -- but you simply cannot see them out in the sunlight, as you can the transreflective monochrome versions.

Well, I've babbled enough, for now. Time will tell.

--
Bryan.

[Cam]

Couldn't have put it better ! All looking good.

Cam.

>Hello all.
>
>We have just received news from China that our 50x v4.2 main boards
>have been completed.
>
>We're now awaiting shipping and testing before making the boards
>available at the online store (http://gruvin9x.com).
>
>Here's a photo of a single board, sent to us from China ...
>

[Dmitri]

Hi all,
As per Brian recommendation: "In case you haven't heard, the gruvin9x

now officially recommends the use
of open9x firmware."

I just installed the open9x, in general seems to be a good firmware
but the very first question is why the rotary encoders don't work it's
a good feature that makes the set up process a bit easier.
Could somebody tell me please if I missed some option or encoders are
not supported in the open9x?
Thank you!

> here<http://www.glynstore.com/bluegiga-wf121-wi-fi-module/?setCurrencyId=3>.

>  G9Xv42CF.jpg
> 74KViewDownload

[Bertrand Songis]

Yes. REs are supported. What do you want to do with them? Navigate in the menus (are there enabled in General Settings?) or use it in Mixer? (Did you choose them as a Mixer source?)

Bertrand.

2012/7/9 Dmitri <pass...@gmail.com>

[Romolo Manfredini]

Did you compiled open9x by yourself or you downloaded it from companion ???
RE are indeed supported in open9x either for navigating / editing the menus or as also Bertrand states as mixer sources.

[Ferenc Roman]

do we have somewhere a hex file for gruvin? I am behid the FireWall
need authentication but where to set it?

[Romolo Manfredini]

Companion use system proxy settings...
so under windows it will use default settings for the internet connection.
About open9x binary if you tell me which option you need then i can indicate you the url on the server.

Open9x binaries are build at runtime on demand on a compilation server.

[Ferenc Roman]

PCB=V4 EXT=FRSKY TEMPLATES=NO AUDIO=YES HAPTIC=YES PPM_CENTER_ADJUSTABLE=YES EEPROM_PROGRESS_BAR=YES EXTRA_ROTARY_ENCODERS=YES FLIGHT_PHASES=YES

[Dmitri]

Hi Bertrand,
Looks like I don't know how to enable the REs in General Settings,
could you please walk me through the menu?
As the REs are not working for me the way I used to, but only when I
enter the mixers menu I am able to click one of them to go deeper to
the mixer settings as I would hold the enter button and after this
point the TX doesn't react on any rotations/clicking.
Thank you!

On Jul 9, 6:54 am, Bertrand Songis <bson...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes. REs are supported. What do you want to do with them? Navigate in the
> menus (are there enabled in General Settings?) or use it in Mixer? (Did you
> choose them as a Mixer source?)
> Bertrand.
>

> 2012/7/9 Dmitri <passa...@gmail.com>