Finally got my ELEV-8 in the air this weekend. :thumb:
I think I will have to check for vibrations, although I didn't notice anything right off the bat. Getting a pulsing, whining sound when flying. Maybe a bad motor or esc - I'll have to check each individually. I was only able to get the gain up to around 35 before it got too twitchy, too many oscillations. Anything less than that and it's pretty mushy feeling and doesn't hold attitude very well. For comparison, I flew my friend's ELEV-8 with gain at 75 and it flew great. That was with the Sport board though, I have the Open but I would think they are almost identical component-wise.
I flew it with the firmware that came on it, so maybe there is a newer version available. Anyone know if the Sport firmware is compatible with the Open? I'll keep tuning it when I get some time, but I'm thinking it's probably vibration related at this point.
Finally got around to balancing my props and checking each motor/esc. I was able to bump up the gain a little bit and it's definitely flying better, just not nearly as stable as with the hoverfly sport. I installed the latest firmware for the Open (still at 2.0), so at this point I'm pretty sure the difference in stability is due to the newer firmware for the Sport.
Has anyone tried both boards and noticed a big difference between them?
I just took one of my Quads out and flew it with the latest firmware (2.0) and I did not have any issues, even with my gain at what I typically fly with, which is right around %26. I would check and ensure that the ESC's are programmed correctly, and that you have set your min and max throttle points on your ESC's as well. After that is complete, I would check your booms and motor mounts for any lost or loose screws, as this will cause a significant vibration and change the way it handles. Give these a look and let me know if you find anything or not, and we can go from there.
I just took one of my Quads out and flew it with the latest firmware (2.0) and I did not have any issues, even with my gain at what I typically fly with, which is right around %26. I would check and ensure that the ESC's are programmed correctly, and that you have set your min and max throttle points on your ESC's as well. After that is complete, I would check your booms and motor mounts for any lost or loose screws, as this will cause a significant vibration and change the way it handles. Give these a look and let me know if you find anything or not, and we can go from there.
Ok, good suggestions, I'll give them a try. Thanks!
Been doing lots of flying with the OPEN board. A few crashes, into sand. Didn't break anything except props. Now, however, I am experiencing a yaw problem that I cannot correct. The copter will boot up fine, arm fine, and hover, but it does not respond to yaw commands. I know that the OPEN board is getting the yaw channel, since it will not arm without it.
Has anybody else had a problem with yaw? Is it possible that I have wrecked the OPEN board? Is there a test that I could perform to make sure the OPEN board is operating okay?
Been doing lots of flying with the OPEN board. A few crashes, into sand. Didn't break anything except props. Now, however, I am experiencing a yaw problem that I cannot correct. The copter will boot up fine, arm fine, and hover, but it does not respond to yaw commands. I know that the OPEN board is getting the yaw channel, since it will not arm without it.
Has anybody else had a problem with yaw? Is it possible that I have wrecked the OPEN board? Is there a test that I could perform to make sure the OPEN board is operating okay?
Thanks...
Dal - make sure that your rudder channel on the transmitter has been set to 100%, so that all of the throw on the left stick is being sent to the OPEN board. Aside from that, I also find the absence of yaw quite odd. Maybe take a look at the pulse widths on the receiver side on a scope to see that they're being received across a full range, too. Download new firmware from the Hoverfly Update Client, too.
Let's see if Nick has anything to say as well - he usually solves these problems very quickly with our own flight crew at Parallax.
If you're stil down, I can lend you an OPEN board to see if that fixes the problem. Drop me your shipping address via e-mail. I doubt there's a firmware bug, but I admit to sometimes switching around various pieces of hardware and winding up with a functional project too. Sometimes there was something else I fixed during such rebuilds that may have addressed the problem, rather than what I thought was the real cause.
Ken, thanks for the ideas. We scoped the yaw channel, and we are getting pulse widths from 1.1 to 1.9us. We tried flying again, and at first, no yaw as before. However, on the second attempt, yaw works. When we lost yaw last week it was sudden, during a flight. We tried multiple times to fly again to get it back, and no yaw. We seem to have an intermittent problem
Some related info: In the past, we have had to use a large trim on the yaw channel to keep the craft stable. Stable flight was with a pulse of 1.4 instead of 1.5 us. Today, stable flight is with a pulse of 1.5us, as one would expect.
So for now we are flying again. Would be nice to understand what went wrong. Other than trim, we don't think we changed anything.
Dal,
There are a few things that could be causing the Yaw problem. First, ensure that you have set the Min and Max Throttle points with your ESC's and Transmitter. If you have not, then you could possibly have motors that are spinning at different speeds, thereby causing the yaw problem. The thing that I am afraid of that may have happened is that during one of your crashes into sand, you may have bent or tweaked a boom. Check your booms by looking straight down them, from the motor end to the chassis plate, and check to ensure that the boom is not bent, as well as that the motor is not offset to one side. I have seen the effect of a canted motor before, and it is as if you have no Yaw in your craft at all. Give your booms and motors a look and let us know how they fare!
I had a crash that caused a significant deterioration of the performance of one of the axis on an ITG-3200 (the gyro in the Sport / Open boards). I hit *really hard* and afterwards everything seemed ok, but the response of my X axis was less than half that of the other two. It's possible this has happened to you.
Well, I'm out of action until my "crash kit" arrives,. but figured out what was wrong ... the battery position is making the elev-8 too back heavy, causing it to tend to go backwards.
@NetHog,
One way to secure them is with the clear heat shrink, this also protects them if you crash it hard. I have seen others that used things from zip ties to super glue. It all depends on how you want it to look! As for your battery, if you secure it under the control board and have keep your weight centered on the chassis, you should be good to go. Oh, and "Low and Slow" always prevails when learning to fly!
Made my repairs on Sunday, got everything running, but the test run cost me another prop ...
New tact, I "threw together" a converter to plug my DX6i into FMS (Flying Model Simulator) - should also in theory work with CRRCsim. I'm going to make sure I can master the simulator before going out again.
For the curious, it uses the "FMSPIC 19200 / 0xFF" serial protocol, that converts the PPM signals into a series of serial data representing the pulse lengths.
Hello, i have Elev-8 already, and i wanna use Maytech Esc.
On ESC programmer card have options like this:
BATTERY: LiPo/NiMH
Governor mode: RPM OFF / First range / Second range
Start : Very Soft/ Soft / Start ACC
Brake: ON / OFF
Timing: Auto / Low 7-22 / Hight 22 - 30
Rotation: Normal / Reverse
Cut Off volg: 2.8v/50% / 3.0v/60% / 3.2v/65%
Cut Off Power: Reduce / Stop
Follow the Hoverfly Sport recommendations as much as possible. The rule of thumb is disabling things where the ESC would "take control" as it would conflict with the control board. I would personally think (based on http://www.nemhobby.com/images/text-file/NEM/Manual%20NEM%20(MR)%20series%20ESC.pdf):
BATTERY: NiMH - this changes the battery threshold so that the ESC doesn't take control Get yourself a LiPo alarm
Govenor mode: "RPM OFF" - (actually RPM Control OFF), allows full control by the control board
Start: "Start Acc" - allows full accellerator start
Brake: Off
Timing: Auto
Rotation: Normal, but you can select "Reverse" instead of swapping wires around to reverse the motor, a cool feature
Cut off: 2.8v/50% - as low as possible (again, get a LiPo alarm instead)
Cut Off Power: Reduce (Can't imagine any benefit of picking Stop over reduce here)
Follow the Hoverfly Sport recommendations as much as possible. The rule of thumb is disabling things where the ESC would "take control" as it would conflict with the control board. I would personally think (based on http://www.nemhobby.com/images/text-file/NEM/Manual%20NEM%20(MR)%20series%20ESC.pdf):
BATTERY: NiMH - this changes the battery threshold so that the ESC doesn't take control Get yourself a LiPo alarm
Govenor mode: "RPM OFF" - (actually RPM Control OFF), allows full control by the control board
Start: "Start Acc" - allows full accellerator start
Brake: Off
Timing: Auto
Rotation: Normal, but you can select "Reverse" instead of swapping wires around to reverse the motor, a cool feature
Cut off: 2.8v/50% - as low as possible (again, get a LiPo alarm instead)
Cut Off Power: Reduce (Can't imagine any benefit of picking Stop over reduce here)
Thanks for quick reply, i'm using same setting like that. but i don't know what's the problem's cause,
if i control my Elev-8 when try to move forward i just press left stick forward very very slowly but quad copter move very fast.
also when fly to the top some time it move sideways.
If you are having issues with the Quadcopter moving rapidly when you give small adjustments, you can adjust the end points in your transmitter down to around %50 from %100 which they are likely at right now. By adjusting the end points down, you are in a way decreasing the sensitivity of the craft.
When you mention that you use the left stick to move forward, are you speaking of the throttle? I ask because typically the left stick is throttle(y-axis), and rudder(x-axis). The right stick is your elevator(forward and backwards) on the y-axis, and your ailerons(left and right) on the x-axis. If you are experiencing the craft moving sideways (yawing) when you throttle up, you most likely have an issue with your transmitter, and need to send it back to the manufacturer. I have seen this before, and this is caused by the controller having internal component malfunctions.
If you could provide a little more information as to what is going on, I am certain we can get you up and flying. Giving as many details as you can think of is not a bad thing, it actually helps us all to debug what is going on!
I forgot to post this up here yesterday, but the ELEV-8 HEX UPGRADE KIT IS NOW AVAILABLE AND IN STOCK. I said it would be available by the end of the month, and there's nothing like cutting it close! The link to it is below.
It's also possible that you haven't set the throttle range of your ESCs. If they are set to "auto", that's bad. They need to use a fixed throttle range. Sometimes you can do this by powering up the ESCwith the throttle stick set to full throttle, then moving the throttle stick to no throttle after powering up the ESC. I do not know if the Maytech ESCs can be set this way. If they do not have the option to set the throttle range they won't be usable for flying a quad, as all four ESCs need to use exactly the same throttle range.
If you are having issues with the Quadcopter moving rapidly when you give small adjustments, you can adjust the end points in your transmitter down to around P from 0 which they are likely at right now. By adjusting the end points down, you are in a way decreasing the sensitivity of the craft.
When you mention that you use the left stick to move forward, are you speaking of the throttle? I ask because typically the left stick is throttle(y-axis), and rudder(x-axis). The right stick is your elevator(forward and backwards) on the y-axis, and your ailerons(left and right) on the x-axis. If you are experiencing the craft moving sideways (yawing) when you throttle up, you most likely have an issue with your transmitter, and need to send it back to the manufacturer. I have seen this before, and this is caused by the controller having internal component malfunctions.
If you could provide a little more information as to what is going on, I am certain we can get you up and flying. Giving as many details as you can think of is not a bad thing, it actually helps us all to debug what is going on!
It's also possible that you haven't set the throttle range of your ESCs. If they are set to "auto", that's bad. They need to use a fixed throttle range. Sometimes you can do this by powering up the ESCwith the throttle stick set to full throttle, then moving the throttle stick to no throttle after powering up the ESC. I do not know if the Maytech ESCs can be set this way. If they do not have the option to set the throttle range they won't be usable for flying a quad, as all four ESCs need to use exactly the same throttle range.
i mean right stick, i thing just wrong transmitter setting. because when i check my DX7S, All (Throttle, aileron, Elevator, Rudder and gear) set %100. maybe you can give me advice ideal setting for Beginner like me, i really confused about this. anyway, I had damaged 7 propellers so far
Set your gear gain to %25 and increase or decrease from there. You should be able to achieve good flights right around there. Give this a try and see if your flights improve. Let us know what happens with the change.
i mean right stick, i thing just wrong transmitter setting. because when i check my DX7S, All (Throttle, aileron, Elevator, Rudder and gear) set 0. maybe you can give me advice ideal setting for Beginner like me, i really confused about this. anyway, I had damaged 7 propellers so far
erick2012, I recently acquired an ELEV-8 myself (thanks OBC). I'm using a Spektrum DX7 to fly it. I'll go through how to setup the transmitter with you if you'd like.
If someone hasn't already helped you out, I'll post the instructions here tomorrow.
I just uploaded my first ELEV-8 video. It's was shot with a HackHD. I need to modify my enclosure since the camera's wide angle lens catches the edge of the Plexiglass front panel (left corners of video). You'll want to skip the beginning (start at 1:40) and end (stop at 5:21) of the video (the video includes some setup and take down footage with the quadcopter on the ground); I don't have any software yet that can edit the HD video. Until I get some software that can edit HD video, I'll need to be better at starting videos right before take off and stopping them as soon as the ELEV-8 lands. (I will soon be able to control the camera from the remote.)
Set your gear gain to 25% and increase or decrease from there. You should be able to achieve good flights right around there. Give this a try and see if your flights improve. Let us know what happens with the change.
Thanks, I will let you know until my quadcopter fixed, because it's already crash again and 1 motor brushless broken.
erick2012, I recently acquired an ELEV-8 myself (thanks OBC). I'm using a Spektrum DX7 to fly it. I'll go through how to setup the transmitter with you if you'd like.
If someone hasn't already helped you out, I'll post the instructions here tomorrow.
I just uploaded (it's still uploading) my first ELEV-8 video (if YouTube can process the HD MOV file). It's was shot with a HackHD. I need to modify my enclosure since the camera's wide angle lens catches the edge of the Plexiglass front panel (left corners of video). You'll want to skip the beginning and end of the video (the video includes some setup and take down footage with the quadcopter on the ground); I don't have any software yet that can edit the HD video.
Yeah it's realy help for beginner like me. anyway your Elev-8 fly so stable, it's very kool.
In my spare time, I have been working on a little PC application that gets input from a source (Xbox 360 controller, Saitek x45 joystick and hodas, mouse/keyboard, whatever...) and translates those inputs to a serial stream, which can then be fed to a transmitter to be sent to an Elev-8 (or any other RC something-er-other).
Here is a screenshot of the application's front end, in front of Visual Studio:
The serial stream will get from the computer to the quad copter via a Propeller chip running a simple "serial-to-PPM" translator program. This translator program is designed to emulate an RC trainer box, or "buddy box", which is plugged into the host transmitter (in my case, a Spektrum DX8). Thus, the PC application gets input from a source (Xbox 360 controller), sends it to a translating Propeller, which sends that data to the transmitter, which is finally received and interpreted by the quad copter.
I have not actually tested the app in the field yet, which is why I am not posting the executable or source code yet, but they will be coming.
Thank you, Cluso! I'm sure this kind of thing has been done before. I think the real "meat" in all of this is in providing a good example, or even [nearly] empty frame, for interfacing a custom PC application in a "modern" language with an embedded application. This kind of thing can be extended to demonstrate all kinds of different functionality.
As an update, I have the Propeller firmware reading and communicating with the C# program just fine. However, there are some blocking problems I need to figure out. In this case, the Propeller code needs to continue dumping out a bit stream to the transmitter even while new bytes are being received from the computer. I just need to take a moment to think of an elegant solution .
It's also possible to use the small green PCB from one of the small transmitters that come with the RTF micro helicopters.
Here's a picture the small TX PCB I removed from one of these small transmitters.
It just uses an asynchronous serial signal as input. I used this with a Wii Nunchuck and a Propeller to fly a couple of different helicopters (with Spektrum receivers). (It's kind of cool to have a one handed heli/quadcopter TX.)
I have to plug the PCB back into the original TX's main PCB in order to get it to bind with a new receiver. (I plan to figure out how to get the Propeller to send the binding instructions directly sometime.)
I'd think this might make it even easier to interface your quadcopter with a PC. It should be more accuate than generating a PPM signal since the module transmits the exact number sent to it over the serial connection. It's also a lot smaller than a DX8. I've wondered if it's possible to use this to send more than just four channels of information, but I haven't tried it (yet).
Has anyone heard anything about the status of the Hoverfly Open board? Wasn't it supposed to replace the Hoverfly Sport in the Elev-8 kit? Has that happened yet? I looked on the Hoverfly site and couldn't find any information about the Open board and it doesn't seem to be available through the Parallax store either.
The lastest issure of Servo magazine has the "setup" part of the ELEV-8 articles. The article describes setting up the Open board (there are also pictures of the Open board in the article). I'm pretty sure the most recent ELEV-8s are shipped with the Open board.
The lastest issure of Servo magazine has the "setup" part of the ELEV-8 articles. The article describes setting up the Open board (there are also pictures of the Open board in the article). I'm pretty sure the most recent ELEV-8s are shipped with the Open board.
That's interesting. Do you know if it's possible to buy the Open board by itself without the Elev-8 kit?
Comments
I think I will have to check for vibrations, although I didn't notice anything right off the bat. Getting a pulsing, whining sound when flying. Maybe a bad motor or esc - I'll have to check each individually. I was only able to get the gain up to around 35 before it got too twitchy, too many oscillations. Anything less than that and it's pretty mushy feeling and doesn't hold attitude very well. For comparison, I flew my friend's ELEV-8 with gain at 75 and it flew great. That was with the Sport board though, I have the Open but I would think they are almost identical component-wise.
I flew it with the firmware that came on it, so maybe there is a newer version available. Anyone know if the Sport firmware is compatible with the Open? I'll keep tuning it when I get some time, but I'm thinking it's probably vibration related at this point.
Has anyone tried both boards and noticed a big difference between them?
Ok, good suggestions, I'll give them a try. Thanks!
Has anybody else had a problem with yaw? Is it possible that I have wrecked the OPEN board? Is there a test that I could perform to make sure the OPEN board is operating okay?
Thanks...
Dal - make sure that your rudder channel on the transmitter has been set to 100%, so that all of the throw on the left stick is being sent to the OPEN board. Aside from that, I also find the absence of yaw quite odd. Maybe take a look at the pulse widths on the receiver side on a scope to see that they're being received across a full range, too. Download new firmware from the Hoverfly Update Client, too.
Let's see if Nick has anything to say as well - he usually solves these problems very quickly with our own flight crew at Parallax.
If you're stil down, I can lend you an OPEN board to see if that fixes the problem. Drop me your shipping address via e-mail. I doubt there's a firmware bug, but I admit to sometimes switching around various pieces of hardware and winding up with a functional project too. Sometimes there was something else I fixed during such rebuilds that may have addressed the problem, rather than what I thought was the real cause.
Some related info: In the past, we have had to use a large trim on the yaw channel to keep the craft stable. Stable flight was with a pulse of 1.4 instead of 1.5 us. Today, stable flight is with a pulse of 1.5us, as one would expect.
So for now we are flying again. Would be nice to understand what went wrong. Other than trim, we don't think we changed anything.
Thanks,
Dal
There are a few things that could be causing the Yaw problem. First, ensure that you have set the Min and Max Throttle points with your ESC's and Transmitter. If you have not, then you could possibly have motors that are spinning at different speeds, thereby causing the yaw problem. The thing that I am afraid of that may have happened is that during one of your crashes into sand, you may have bent or tweaked a boom. Check your booms by looking straight down them, from the motor end to the chassis plate, and check to ensure that the boom is not bent, as well as that the motor is not offset to one side. I have seen the effect of a canted motor before, and it is as if you have no Yaw in your craft at all. Give your booms and motors a look and let us know how they fare!
Ok, so my amature flying experience... having a hard time getting it to go "straight up". Also having a hard time with controlled descent.
Separately, any tips on how to secure the LED tube?
One way to secure them is with the clear heat shrink, this also protects them if you crash it hard. I have seen others that used things from zip ties to super glue. It all depends on how you want it to look! As for your battery, if you secure it under the control board and have keep your weight centered on the chassis, you should be good to go. Oh, and "Low and Slow" always prevails when learning to fly!
New tact, I "threw together" a converter to plug my DX6i into FMS (Flying Model Simulator) - should also in theory work with CRRCsim. I'm going to make sure I can master the simulator before going out again.
For the curious, it uses the "FMSPIC 19200 / 0xFF" serial protocol, that converts the PPM signals into a series of serial data representing the pulse lengths.
On ESC programmer card have options like this:
BATTERY: LiPo/NiMH
Governor mode: RPM OFF / First range / Second range
Start : Very Soft/ Soft / Start ACC
Brake: ON / OFF
Timing: Auto / Low 7-22 / Hight 22 - 30
Rotation: Normal / Reverse
Cut Off volg: 2.8v/50% / 3.0v/60% / 3.2v/65%
Cut Off Power: Reduce / Stop
can anyone tell me the best option for elev-8?
BATTERY: NiMH - this changes the battery threshold so that the ESC doesn't take control Get yourself a LiPo alarm
Govenor mode: "RPM OFF" - (actually RPM Control OFF), allows full control by the control board
Start: "Start Acc" - allows full accellerator start
Brake: Off
Timing: Auto
Rotation: Normal, but you can select "Reverse" instead of swapping wires around to reverse the motor, a cool feature
Cut off: 2.8v/50% - as low as possible (again, get a LiPo alarm instead)
Cut Off Power: Reduce (Can't imagine any benefit of picking Stop over reduce here)
Thanks for quick reply, i'm using same setting like that. but i don't know what's the problem's cause,
if i control my Elev-8 when try to move forward i just press left stick forward very very slowly but quad copter move very fast.
also when fly to the top some time it move sideways.
My Elev-8 Specification:
Controller: Spektrum DX7S
Receiver: AR8000
Battery: LiPo 3S 4400mA 25C
When you mention that you use the left stick to move forward, are you speaking of the throttle? I ask because typically the left stick is throttle(y-axis), and rudder(x-axis). The right stick is your elevator(forward and backwards) on the y-axis, and your ailerons(left and right) on the x-axis. If you are experiencing the craft moving sideways (yawing) when you throttle up, you most likely have an issue with your transmitter, and need to send it back to the manufacturer. I have seen this before, and this is caused by the controller having internal component malfunctions.
If you could provide a little more information as to what is going on, I am certain we can get you up and flying. Giving as many details as you can think of is not a bad thing, it actually helps us all to debug what is going on!
http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/80040/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/861/Default.aspx
i mean right stick, i thing just wrong transmitter setting. because when i check my DX7S, All (Throttle, aileron, Elevator, Rudder and gear) set %100. maybe you can give me advice ideal setting for Beginner like me, i really confused about this. anyway, I had damaged 7 propellers so far
erick2012, I recently acquired an ELEV-8 myself (thanks OBC). I'm using a Spektrum DX7 to fly it. I'll go through how to setup the transmitter with you if you'd like.
If someone hasn't already helped you out, I'll post the instructions here tomorrow.
I just uploaded my first ELEV-8 video. It's was shot with a HackHD. I need to modify my enclosure since the camera's wide angle lens catches the edge of the Plexiglass front panel (left corners of video). You'll want to skip the beginning (start at 1:40) and end (stop at 5:21) of the video (the video includes some setup and take down footage with the quadcopter on the ground); I don't have any software yet that can edit the HD video. Until I get some software that can edit HD video, I'll need to be better at starting videos right before take off and stopping them as soon as the ELEV-8 lands. (I will soon be able to control the camera from the remote.)
Thanks, I will let you know until my quadcopter fixed, because it's already crash again and 1 motor brushless broken.
Yeah it's realy help for beginner like me. anyway your Elev-8 fly so stable, it's very kool.
In my spare time, I have been working on a little PC application that gets input from a source (Xbox 360 controller, Saitek x45 joystick and hodas, mouse/keyboard, whatever...) and translates those inputs to a serial stream, which can then be fed to a transmitter to be sent to an Elev-8 (or any other RC something-er-other).
Here is a screenshot of the application's front end, in front of Visual Studio:
The serial stream will get from the computer to the quad copter via a Propeller chip running a simple "serial-to-PPM" translator program. This translator program is designed to emulate an RC trainer box, or "buddy box", which is plugged into the host transmitter (in my case, a Spektrum DX8). Thus, the PC application gets input from a source (Xbox 360 controller), sends it to a translating Propeller, which sends that data to the transmitter, which is finally received and interpreted by the quad copter.
I have not actually tested the app in the field yet, which is why I am not posting the executable or source code yet, but they will be coming.
Thought I'd fill you guys in
Cheers!
Daniel
Recently I saw a hack for a Spektrum DX6i. Perhaps this could give you a few further ideas. http://hackaday.com/2012/09/05/adding-features-to-a-dx6i-transmitter/
Thank you, Cluso! I'm sure this kind of thing has been done before. I think the real "meat" in all of this is in providing a good example, or even [nearly] empty frame, for interfacing a custom PC application in a "modern" language with an embedded application. This kind of thing can be extended to demonstrate all kinds of different functionality.
As an update, I have the Propeller firmware reading and communicating with the C# program just fine. However, there are some blocking problems I need to figure out. In this case, the Propeller code needs to continue dumping out a bit stream to the transmitter even while new bytes are being received from the computer. I just need to take a moment to think of an elegant solution
Here's a picture the small TX PCB I removed from one of these small transmitters.
It just uses an asynchronous serial signal as input. I used this with a Wii Nunchuck and a Propeller to fly a couple of different helicopters (with Spektrum receivers). (It's kind of cool to have a one handed heli/quadcopter TX.)
I have to plug the PCB back into the original TX's main PCB in order to get it to bind with a new receiver. (I plan to figure out how to get the Propeller to send the binding instructions directly sometime.)
I'd think this might make it even easier to interface your quadcopter with a PC. It should be more accuate than generating a PPM signal since the module transmits the exact number sent to it over the serial connection. It's also a lot smaller than a DX8. I've wondered if it's possible to use this to send more than just four channels of information, but I haven't tried it (yet).