Hugh Hemington
Well-Known Member
The Open 9x crowd has improved firmware for the Turnigy 9x and all other variants of this radio. That includes the FlySky, Eurgle and a few others.
Their main Wiki page is: http://openrcforums.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
The forum index is here: http://openrcforums.com/forum/index.php
With the Turnigy 9x you basically have two choices for upgrading the firmware. You can buy a SmartieParts board that presses against the correct six spots on the main board (you hope), and that puts the "USBasp" (or programmer) inside your radio where you connect to your computer via micro-USB. http://www.smartieparts.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=331
Or you can buy a USBasp and extend the correct contacts out of the radio with a cable, soldering to the correct spots. I chose the second option.
The "instructions" (Step 2 on the wiki) are about what we've all come to expect. A guy who can't solder did three videos, where one would have sufficed, and didn't really cover very much. But in the video, he did divulge two critical pieces of information:
Where on the board you solder the wires/signals. And what pins do what on the standard USBasp.
The video showed someone soldering both ends of ribbon cable. You probably know that ribbon cable does not solder well, because the jacket is not heat resistant (because it's RIBBON CABLE!). He didn't, and had some difficulty.
I opted to use a PS/2 keyboard extension cable I had lying around. Since this solution calls for six conductors, this cable works well. The wires are colored. You know they are straight through, and they stand up to soldering better than ribbon cable. While I may be able to push most of the wire back inside the radio, I wouldn't want it to foul the gimbals, and I don't really care if the end of the PS/2 cable sticks out the hole I ground into the side with my dremel tool. If you attempt this mod on your Turnigy, I highly recommend you sacrifice an old PS/2 extension cable on the alter of better firmware. Having colored wires is much easier than only one colored wire and the rest gray.
My USBasp is on order from here: http://9xrprogrammer.com/index.php/shop/35-programming-6-pin
Although I got the $9 one! (splurged) When it arrives, I'll have to adapt/solder the six wires at the end of the cable to the correct six wires on the ribbon cable. Or I'll solder the wires directly to the PCB and use the male/female connectors of the PS/2 cable to connect to my radio whenever I want to flash the firmware again.
Their main Wiki page is: http://openrcforums.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
The forum index is here: http://openrcforums.com/forum/index.php
With the Turnigy 9x you basically have two choices for upgrading the firmware. You can buy a SmartieParts board that presses against the correct six spots on the main board (you hope), and that puts the "USBasp" (or programmer) inside your radio where you connect to your computer via micro-USB. http://www.smartieparts.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=331
Or you can buy a USBasp and extend the correct contacts out of the radio with a cable, soldering to the correct spots. I chose the second option.
The "instructions" (Step 2 on the wiki) are about what we've all come to expect. A guy who can't solder did three videos, where one would have sufficed, and didn't really cover very much. But in the video, he did divulge two critical pieces of information:
Where on the board you solder the wires/signals. And what pins do what on the standard USBasp.
The video showed someone soldering both ends of ribbon cable. You probably know that ribbon cable does not solder well, because the jacket is not heat resistant (because it's RIBBON CABLE!). He didn't, and had some difficulty.
I opted to use a PS/2 keyboard extension cable I had lying around. Since this solution calls for six conductors, this cable works well. The wires are colored. You know they are straight through, and they stand up to soldering better than ribbon cable. While I may be able to push most of the wire back inside the radio, I wouldn't want it to foul the gimbals, and I don't really care if the end of the PS/2 cable sticks out the hole I ground into the side with my dremel tool. If you attempt this mod on your Turnigy, I highly recommend you sacrifice an old PS/2 extension cable on the alter of better firmware. Having colored wires is much easier than only one colored wire and the rest gray.
My USBasp is on order from here: http://9xrprogrammer.com/index.php/shop/35-programming-6-pin
Although I got the $9 one! (splurged) When it arrives, I'll have to adapt/solder the six wires at the end of the cable to the correct six wires on the ribbon cable. Or I'll solder the wires directly to the PCB and use the male/female connectors of the PS/2 cable to connect to my radio whenever I want to flash the firmware again.