Any help possible for a DX5e owner?

[Wardy]

Hi Folks,
I have bought a Spektrum DX5e, but inquiries at the www.spectrum have informed me that they don't sell or have a preferred FMS interface to recommend. I have a big soft spot for any PIC device as I use Picaxe18X's a lot and Picaxe08M's with my students and would like to be able to interface my RC to the computer via a PIC. However I need advice as to what is the best route. I have discovered a few suppliers of PIC interfaces on the www but they do not specifically mention Spektrum let alone DX5e, so I am being a bit cautious (not that the kits sounds a lot of money, but I just don't want hassles going down blind endings with random experimentation). Can you folk recommend a PIC interface that I can build to get a DX5e working with FMS over a serial port (either a real one, or a USB make believe one)? Is it possible?

Cheers, Wardy

I offer my apolgies if I am asking a "dumb" question I have searched the site to my best ability and could not identify any previous Topic/Response that helped me with my question.

[Steve Lewin]

Personally I wouldn't bother with a PIC serial interface. They can be a real pain to get working with any recent Microsoft operating system. A proper USB interface is the way to go...and any that works with JR transmitters should be o.k. with a DX5e. The main thing to be careful of is that the DX5e is fussy about the plug you use with it. Most 3.5mm MONO jacks are o.k. but it definitely doesn't like stereo jacks, though they work with many JR and Spektrum transmitters.

If you really want to build your own interface there are several designs around the Internet using various PICs but these days the parts alone cost a lot more than just buying an interface for around $10.

Steve

[Wardy]

Thanks Steve, I had seen the Spektrum and JR mentioned as having similar interfaces but I had not seen any authorative statement to that effect. I can change plugs etc if that is a problem. They probably use a stereo socket on the transmitter but use the other channel connector earthed out thru the chassis connection as a signal to the transmitter to turn on in slave mode. It would be easy enough to do. I will check the USB interfaces and prices. While I love a good fiddle with anything electronic, however I know from experience that some things are better left to the experts. Thanks for the advice, Rob

[Wardy]

Hi Folks, thanks for the advice. I have since since acted on your advice and bought a "Usb Flight Sim Simulator Cable Futaba Esky Jr Spektrum" from eBay for the excellent price of Aus $10 with free postage. It came from Hong Kong with a CD and a RC-Simulator package on it. Excellent I thought, however after much time wasted I had to contact the seller, and asked his advice as I was getting nowhere fast. While waiting for his reply I put the interface in another computer and noticed it had annouced itself in the USB devices list as a "Game Controller HID". I finally thought well why not look at it with the Game Controller option in the Control Panel ,and there it was, it was actually a Game controller emulator, wired up to listen to RC-TXers!!! (Nothing like what was shown on the included CD) Suddenly I was able to wiggle controls and get a response from the Game Controller window. Great I thought now to get back the supplied simulator, still no go! However when I tried it with FMS it worked fine. Calibration, invert, exponential etc was fine. Turns out, after infor from the seller, the "complimentary software" only works with the other TXer interface he sells. I was not going to buy it as well as FMS was working, but it was a totally misleading thing to do.

However if you buy one they are quite good, but don't be mislead by the "helpful" inclusions.

I should add that I have a DX5e Spektrum and was running it on an Home Edition XP, and the USB game "dongle" interface required no installation files. It was just plug it in, check it with the Game Control option in Control Panel, calibrate and head for FMS and away you go. The included software was very annoying as I have yet another useless bit of software clogging up my system (time for the F word to clean it all out, I mean of course, Format it and begin again).

Cheers and thanks folks, Rob