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Review: Frsky S8R Receiver with an interesting feature
#1
Hello fellow RC fans.

Today, I will be reviewing the new 

S8R receiver from FrSky

The product was provided by Banggood, free of charge for this review.
http://www.banggood.com/Frsky-S8R-16CH-3...mds=search

[Image: wN1nyKYl.jpg]

First, let's talk about FrSky X-series receivers in general.

They are impressive receivers. The best part of them is that they have excellent reception and are simple to set up. It's easy to update them with a Taranis or with USB tools like the STK tool (www.banggood.com/FrSky-STK-S_port-Tool-Kit-for-Upgrade-S_Port-Products-p-1099105.html)

They all have failsafe, in the case of a brown-out, they acquire signal fast. Most of the hardware is the same on them, which makes it easy for FrSky to update them and when a new firmware is available, all of them get it immediately.

They all have diversity, too, and that's good. If one antenna gets bad reception or maybe gets cut off, the other one comes in handy.

Last but not least, every FrSky x and s-series receiver has Smartport telemetry. We take it as granted, but you can't find proper telemetry in most receivers by other manufacturers.

Thy are very consistent, if you have an x4r-sb and don't need the 3 PWM channels and the analog telemetry, you can swap it to an xsr, and you just have to rebind it, the FC won't even notice the difference.

The S8R has the usual SE2431L front-end for antenna switching, the cc2500 RF chip, and the Silabs STM32F103 C8T6 MCU.

[Image: X8R(1).jpg][Image: SKU16677401-500x500.jpg]

The S8R's unique ability

Now, let's see the S8R. On the outside, it looks just like the good old X8R. It has the same case, with only one letter difference on the sticker. 

It can stabilize you plane! It has a gyro and an accelerometer built-in. It behaves like the FC in a multicopter.

I was curious what accelerometer + gyro chip the receiver has, but it is hidden between the two boards. My guess is an MPU6000 or an MPU6050 as they are tiny, simple, cheap and robust.

The S8R has the usual two LEDs found on any other FrSky receiver, one blue and one green. In addition to those, it also has two LEDs to tell you the state of the stabilization system.

If the blue and the yellow LEDs are off, you are good to go. BUT. The one I received is missing those two LEDs. You can see it on the bottom left of the picture that only two spots are filled. There is a thread over on RCGroups where several customers are complaining because of that. I really hope FrSky fixes this simple mistake in the next batch

I attached a picture of the other side of the receiver if you are interested.

[Image: qnmitDX.jpg][Image: DXxmqf3.jpg]


What you get in the box

Of course, you get the receiver. There is also a decently sized 3M tape to mount the receiver in your plane.

There is also a really good manual in the package. I really like what FrSky did here. Every FrSky product comes with a really well written, printed manual. It has lots of useful info. You should read it if you buy one of these, everything you need to know is written there. If you

Setting it up

First, it is advised to install the latest firmware on the receiver, available from FrSky's website (http://www.frsky-rc.com/download/view.ph...rmware-S8R)

You can install it with your Taranis or with the STK tool linked above.

Then, you have to calibrate it. To do that, you need a FrSky transmitter running OpenTX 2.2 or higher, or the STK tool connected to a computer.

Once that's done, you just have to secure it into your plane. To configure it, you will need the same setup. Set what kind of plane you have, connect the servos and test it. Every servo can be reversed, luckily. 

You have to tune what gains the stabilizer should use. The default ones are a good starting point. If it feels sluggish, you can increase them. If it is overcontrolling, just decrease them. Very simple. You can do this in-flight with the channel 9. I have put it on my S2 knob, I can easily reach it.

Modes

The S8R has four modes:
  • Stabilization
  • Automatic level
  • Hover
  • Knife-edge
  • (And you can turn off the smart stuff)
Stabilization

This mode keeps the nose pointed in the right direction. This can be useful in high winds for example, which may turn the plane in any direction. The receiver counteracts the wind in this mode.


Automatic level

This mode levels the plane when you let go of the sticks. This can be useful for relaxing flights, you can just lean back and enjoy the view. It might also be easier for a beginner. If the plane is sinking or climbing, you can use an offset to counter that. Fun fact: commercial planes are tilted 3 degrees upwards when flying long flights.

Hover

This mode points the model's nose straight up so it hovers. It uses the rudder and the elevator axis, which means you control the aileron to turn the plane and the throttle to manage the altitude. Useful if you want to show off  Cool

Knife-edge

As the name suggests, this mode keeps the plane in a knife-edge attitude. (The wing pointing up)

Summary

As I couldn't test it yet, I can't be sure it works, but on the bench, it works well. It is easy to set up with the LUA script on the Taranis. It supports delta and V-tail mixing, you can also configure that with the LUA script.

Pros:
  • Easy to set up
  • Works well on bench
  • Can be tuned in-flight
  • Built-in Delta and V-tail mixing
  • Smartport telemetry
Cons:
  • Can only be mounted 4 ways, it would be nice to have the ability to mount it as we like and have the calibration script figure out the orientation
  • LEDs missing (probably only on the first batch, so if you buy now yours should be fine.)
Verdict

This is a great product, probably first of its class. Does its job very well, at a reasonable price.

Video

Sorry guys, it was raining so here is a potato quality video of me demonstrating the s8r's capabilities:

Proper video coming soon!




Link
If you got interested in buying one, you can buy it here: https://goo.gl/N0B3r9

Thanks for reading, peace
[-] The following 1 user Likes varkokonyi's post:
  • Oscar
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