CX20 telemetry ongoing.

A few entries ago we added a telemetry unit to the CX20. We opted for an internal installation to keep the craft looking clean and to protect the electronics.

The CX20 comes in a variety of configurations internally. Most people opt for the 'open' configuration because it offers the most options for modifications and tuning. Some of the other versions are typically more 'ready to go', more reliability and consistency. The added benefits mean that mods and addons are not always possible.
The 'Open' version uses an altered APM (autopilot). These altered units are capable of pretty much anything you could want it to do. The tradeoff is that they have been changed from regular configuration in many cases and there is a lot more tinkering required 'under the hood'. to enable some of the abilities. This is a bit of a problem for people that just want to put the battery in and fly. It's a true hobbyist tinkerer's setup. If you are willing to do a lot of digging and searching for answers, you can get a very adaptable custom platform that can grow with you and more importantly, you usually pay a lot less and you really know the way it works.
Another tradeoff is that the 'open' version comes in several different combinations. The variety means that even though it's an open version, what specific parts does it have and how will it integrate with any extras you wish to add.
In the case of our CX20 test craft, despite being very similar to ones that other owners have had success with, we could not get it to work properly with the telemetry unit. While the superbly supportive group of CX 20 owners online had all sorts of idea, we persued every one of them and all failed to get the stubborn module to work with the system. After some discussion, we decided to change the APM to a more consistant one in very popular use. This is one of the most popular models on the market. It's very much the one that many others are based on.



This one is also a perfect base line (in our opinion) that can be adapted easily for almost all equipment we will be testing.

It should be an almost direct swapout with the one already in the CX20. It is also the same as the heart of the upcoming Big Bird Build.

So the telemetry in the CX20 will be on hold until this gets installed. and the complexity of installing the telemetry in this is simply plugging the transmitter to the socket on the far left. No soldering, no digging through forums to resolve how to configure it.