Howdy folks,

I picked up a Taranis QX7 during the pandemic a couple of years ago to start flying in the sim, and just picked up at Moblite7.

I imagine the QX7 firmware (OpenTX) is fairly long in the tooth and the Betaflight on moblite7 is 3.7.something.

What is the guidance for updating these things?

In the software world, it's typical to keep things running on the old version as long as possible to ensure that things remain stable. Should I follow the same policy? 

The reason I want to update is because I'm getting abysmal Tx range on the moblite7 outside. The the tune of 50'. I'm wondering if getting a newer version of firmware on both the Tx and the flight controller would get me a longer range.

There is no requirement to update the firmware unless you have a specific need or just want to stay current. The latest version of OpenTX is currently 2.3.14. I've been running that version on my X9D since it was released last July with no issues so you could update to that version if you feel you want to.

I would probably leave the Betaflight firmware on the Moblite7 alone as it will have been tuned specifically for that quad and if you update then you will need to retune all the PIDs and filters yourself to get it flying nicely which might be a challenge if you have no experience with tuning.

The Moblite7 has an SPI receiver built into the FC. Those receivers are renowned for poor range and only really designed for (very close) proximity flying or flying indoors which is likely why you are getting short range outdoors. Updating the firmware on either the QX7 or Moblite7 won't increase the receiver range. You could of course install an external full range receiver but doing that will also increase the weight and thus reduce the flight time.

I am old school IT (retired) and agree with NOT upgrading anything unless it is absolutely necessary.

From my experience, the range is a hardware issue that you can't fix with software. Most of the
tiny whoops and some of the tiny open prop quads just don't have much range unless you have an ELRS
version. The built in receivers on those little FC boards just aren't that powerful.

If you want something with more range consider getting something with ELRS and keep the Moblite7
for the shorter areas. 

(11-Apr-2022, 06:58 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote: I am old school IT (retired) and agree with NOT upgrading anything unless it is absolutely necessary.

From my experience, the range is a hardware issue that you can't fix with software. Most of the
tiny whoops and some of the tiny open prop quads just don't have much range unless you have an ELRS
version. The built in receivers on those little FC boards just aren't that powerful.

If you want something with more range consider getting something with ELRS and keep the Moblite7
for the shorter areas. 

Good call. After looking at my Tx (Taranis QX7) I realized that I bound the drone to the internal radio, D16. While a newer standard? it's not as good as the D8. D8 is supported by an external module that I also have. Anyway, it've got a much better range!

Thanks for your advice fellas.