Confused over which interface I need to use

[rumpig]

Hi guys,

I have win xp and a hitec eclipse and have read through hear and tried everything from changing bios settings to going through ppjoy 100 times changing settings.
I have made a parallel connection as per the pic on but have seen on other sites that pins 4 & 5 are shorted. Do I need to do this or not?

I downloaded the port tester and on Lpt2 the acknowledge box blinks with a tick. Does this mean it is working properly and I just need to keep playing with the settings?

I have also read that I need to use a pic interface with winxp.
so Im a bit confused, so any help will will be appreciated

Cheers Matt.

[rumpig]

Well i have been playing with some settings with lpt2 and can get it to sort of work. When I install drivers for lpt2 from within ppjoy my comptuter emits a scheeching type of sound when I turn on my tx. I can sort of use it on fms but when I go to calibrate some of the bars are jumping up and down.
Anyone have any ideas on what to do?

Cheers Matt.

[rumpig]

I have found out that if I disable the parallel port in the sound hardware the screeching goes away but then I cant use the tx, so obivoulsy I need it enabled.
Any ideas anyone?

Cheers Matt.

[Eric Brouwer]

The parallel interface will generally not work with WinXP. There is PPJoy that can be used with the parallel interface, but on about 50% of all WinXP PCs that I have tested, I could not get it to work correct. The problem is that XP does not allow direct port access, thus the options are disabled in FMS.

Another problem with the parallel port is that some PCs require a signal level very close to 5V for the port to see the signal as a high. With some ports that have internal protection resistors on each of the pins, the resistor values vary between 47ohm up to 2K2, preventing a high enough signal level, even when using the transistor-type interface. The problem can be overcome by using an external power supply to power the interface.

The better option on WinXP is to go for a FMS Serial PIC, or USB joystick interface. Although more expensive, they work first time, and will keep on working.

Below is the connections that I use on all Hitec interfaces.



Pin 4 & 5 are shorted to turn off the transmitter part of the radio, but on the Eclipse, this option is not available inside the transmitter. The pins can still be connected, but you will have to turn on the transmitter to use with the interface. It is highly recommended that you remove the crystal when using the interface.

For more info on interfaces, please visit my

[rumpig]

Thanks for the reply eric,

I got the interface to work but the computers internal speaker goes crazy. Im not sure what it means but the sim works fine. Does anyone think that it will harm or damage the computer, maybe putting a load some where or something of the like. If I pull the internal speaker off its great no noise, but dont want to kill the computer.

Any suggestions

Matt.

[EricMaier]

Question for you Eric,

I just received my interface cable from Matt Clement. It's a parallel port interface for my Hitec Flash 5X radio. I'm using XP. After a very discouraging evening trying to get it set up I'm finding out today that this is a hit or miss interface. Not Matt's specifically but trying to use a parallel port with XP.

Any advise would be great.

Thanks,

Eric

[Eric Brouwer]

The parallel port interface is not supported under WinXP. There is a program called PPJoy, which I tried out, but could not get up and running. I think the problem lies on my parallel port, which have 470 ohm protection resistors in series with each of the port's pins.

PPJoy reads the parallel port, and then creates a virtual joystick under Windows. This will allow you to use the parallel interface with other software as well. I have not tried out any of the never versions of PPJoy, but according to the forum, there is quite a lot of guys that is using PPJoy without problems.

Have a look on for the latest version.

[olivier2]

Hi,

UPDATE 02/08/04

FMS INTERFACES

This is a small summary of what I think which are the possible interfaces for FMS. Good study!
The general rule : the PC needs from your transmitter the following :
a) the ground
b) the PPM OUT-signal
How to find those 2 contacts on your buddy connector or how to find the connections in case your transmitter is not fitted with a buddy box connector, check out my website (http://users.belgacom.net/TX2TX) chapter 1 paragraph 1.1


A) For Win 95-98-Millennium with FMS, 2 easy possibilities (above all
possibilities that are also possible for Win 2000 and XP, see section "B").
1) THROUGH THE PARALLEL-port (LPT1)
eventually with a resistor and zenerdiode, see the manual of FMS c("handbuch" in German)
(http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index.html) or some examples on my
website which I personally tested (http://users.belgacom.net/TX2TX) figure
7f-fms and others in chapter 7. Or here : (German).

2) THROUGH THE SERIAL-port
See the manual of FMS ("handbuch" in German) (http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index.html)

If you think you're not able to make such a cable, buy eventually one :



(German)

B) For Win 2000 and Win XP with FMS, a SIMPLE connection through the
parallel-port or serial port is not working, those 2 versions of Windows are
handling other protocols on these ports than Win 95-98-Millenium.

Your options then :
1) VIA PPJOY
By downloading and installing PPJOY and connecting your transmitter with a simple parallel or serial interface.
download :
installation :

2) THROUGH THE SOUNDCARD
With smartpropo :
The advantage is that it's simple to make : 1 audio-cable and a resistor or
potmeter

3) THROUGH THE SERIAL PORT (Com-port)
a) via an interface with a programmable IC (PIC), which is described in the
directory of FMS, see .FMS\Doc\Interface\readme_en.htm on your harddisk.
Or "Simple PCM" : this one has the advantage to use the power of the transmitter and not by the control-signals ofthe PC. And as such is neither depending on the system settings, neither of the used program :


Or
b) or the same electronic interface that you can buy ready to use here :




(German)
(French)

4) THROUGH THE USB-port
(selfmade)







(French)
(French)
(French-German selfmade)

(German : kit)
(German)
(German)
If you have a 4-axis joystick, you can use an interface-cable
gameport-->USB, for sale in every computershop, thus ideal for modern
laptops without a COM-port

5) THROUGH THE GAME-port
a) with an interface which transforms the signal of the transmitter in a
joystick-signal
(French)
(selfmade)



(German)
(German)

b) buy a 4-axis-controller joystick

(German)

c) or make yourself a 4-axis joystick with an old RC-transmitter, removing
all electronics, replacing the 4 potmeters by potmeters of 200K (not 100K
like mostly mentioned), and wiring like in :

(French)
(French)

6) Or make a partition on your harddisk where you will install Windows
95-98-Millennium. Then you can connect your radio simply via the
parallel-port or Serial-port as described in the manual of FMS and start the
older Windows (see section "A").

Hope this helps,
Olivier
--
: buddy box compatibility problems between
different brands of RC-transmitters.