Drones - Beginner Guide with Tinyhawk 2

More of a cliff notes than a guide, should be used as a reference for any weird issues.

Table of Contents

Glossary for newcomers

FrSky X Lite Pro Manual

This is the user manual for this radio: https://www.manualsclub.com/frsky/frsky-2-4ghz-accst-taranis-x-lite-user-manual-2/

Configuring the flight controller - Betaflight

Betaflight guide by Joshua Bardwell

Highly recommend watching this for a general overview to get introduced to Betaflight. Guide can be found here.

Backing up settings

Before flashing the lastest firmware or anything, it is a good idea to back up all the settings on the FCU.

This can be done in the “CLI” section, by typing the following command:

diff all

And then clicking “Save to file”.

Restoring settings

Open the txt file saved in the last step, copy everything, paste it into the CLI and hit enter. It should save automatically but it is good practice to enter save as well.

Selecting the correct profile for battery type

In the tinyhawk 2 kit there is a 1S and a 2S battery. The 1S battery is intended for indoors flying. The 2S will deliver twice the voltage to the motors which will give a lot more thrust. As such, different tunings are required for ease of control, the FCU should come programmed with different profiles for these two battery types.

These can be selected in this software, through “stick commands” (see here) or through a condition in the adjustments menu. With expert mode checked, under adjustments a condition can be used to set OSD Profile Selection which will change this. I used one of the Potentiometers as I did not have a spare 3 position switch.

Configuring endpoints

Before completing this step the gimbals on the radio need to be calibrated correctly.

In the “receiver” section of Betaflight, the channel endpoints for the gimbals (but ideally for all) should be configured to go from 1000 to 2000 with a midpoint of 1500. This is what the FCU is expecting and the drone may not respond correctly if not configured correctly.

This can be configured on the radio but it is often easier to just do it on the FCU itself. Midpoints will need to be shifted on the radio itself, but the ranges can be changed easily. You will need to record the ranges your gimbals report, mine were all 988 and 2012 with a midpoint of 1500.

In the “CLI” section, the ranges can be converted using the commands:

# rxrange CHANNEL_NUM BEGIN END
rxrange 0 988 2012
rxrange 1 988 2012
rxrange 2 988 2012
rxrange 3 988 2012

This will set the corresponding gimbal channels to the correct ranges. Save and verify that it is working correctly in the receiver section.

A more comprehensive guide can be found here: https://oscarliang.com/adjust-tx-channel-mid-end-point/ and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1azl1f8qJ84

Project: Mockingbird for Tinyhawk

This is another guide on how to configure the tinyhawk to fly as best as it can with more optimal tunings than what it ships with.

The guide can be found here.

It is highly recommended that the FCU settings be completely backed up before changing anything.

Configuring the radio - OpenTX Companion Software

Updating the radio firmware

For the love of all things holy check the usb cable used to update the radio as it may not work. Much time was wasted as I used a cable I thought was fine, as it charged the device and identified it correctly, but the OpenTX companion software refused to communicate with it until I tried a new a cable.

Also, make sure not to power on the radio when attempting to flash a new firmware else it will not work. For backing up settings and models, turn the radio on first, plug it in and then select USB Storage (SD).

Solving the throttle warning issue - Calibrating Gimbals and Mode 2

Usually one of two things: either gimbals are not calibrated correctly or the controller is in the wrong stick mode

For the first problem, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6n_Ak860lA

For the second, check in OpenTX Companion, Settings -> Settings -> Default Stick Mode and make sure that it is set to Mode 2 (RUD THR ELE AIL). Also, check on the radio itself as this was set on my OpenTX profile but didn’t carry over to the radio when it was flashed. This video shows how to check this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE0_sfbdlSU

Adding a not terrible soundpack Amber

The default english voice pack for the controller is highly grating and robotic. Most people either turn the volume off or install Amber, a much calmer voice pack.

Download here