You might try Helifreak.com for some information. There is a Futaba sub forum there.

Yes Helifreak and Run Ryder

I feel like a FPV pilgrim in an unholy land on those forums lol.  

The velcro mount for the Crossfire was totally pissing off my OCD.  Really, it's just not proper lol.  



So I took a break from the programming and mixing to design a proper Crossfire mount.  Here is the link to my thingiverse:  https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4633310

I had to go two pieces.  The mount piece, designed to contour the back of the 16SZ, is meant to be printed in PLA.  My printer needed to print it in 0.1 resolution to get the ridges which serve to secure the module case which itself has opposing ridges.



The back of the 16SZ has absolutely nothing to secure the mount.  So I'm using automotive 3M double sided tape to secure the mount to the back.  The module case which is meant to be printed in TPU was designed to be just a bit smaller than the module thereby using friction to keep the module securely in place.



I'm using Proto Pasta "carbon infused" PLA for the mount which looks pretty friggin OEM against the back of the Futaba if I don't say so myself.    



And the sleeved module just slides into place and locks against the exactly opposing ridges on the mount (that was a pain to design lol).



Money shots incoming ...  

That looks way better  

One thing to note is that you lose the ability to use the Crossfire module with the TBS Cloud because the WiFi module is contained within the JR module adapter, so with the Crossfire module no longer making use of that adapter any WiFi functionality is lost. If you're not making use of any TBS Cloud features then it's a non-issue, but just something to point out to others who might decide to go the same route and do need to retain TBS Cloud connectivity. It may be possible to remove the WiFi module from the JR bay adapter and design a custom housing for it that can stick to the back of the Futaba, but I don't know if the connectivity to that would play nicely with the way the Crossfire module has to connect to Futaba. It would probably require some further investigation.

Thanks for the heads up Snow.  I don't actually use TBS cloud.  So that JR module adapter actually has electronics in it??  LOL I thought this whole time it was just divvying up the wires to the proper pins in the module bay.  I just threw mine away after chopping the wires off.  

[edit] Come to think of it though, I guess you could gut the electronics in there and include it somehow in your Futaba setup if you really wanted to use it.

Holy crap it talks!!!    

(25-Oct-2020, 05:06 PM)the.ronin Wrote: Thanks for the heads up Snow.  I don't actually use TBS cloud.  So that JR module adapter actually has electronics in it??  LOL I thought this whole time it was just divvying up the wires to the proper pins in the module bay.  I just threw mine away after chopping the wires off.  

Yes, this is what's inside the JR module bay adapter...

https://intofpv.com/t-tbs-crossfire-lite...jr-adapter

I would have kept it in case you ever sell your Crossfire module to someone for a newer model. Oh well. Too late now I guess.

(25-Oct-2020, 06:26 PM)the.ronin Wrote: Holy crap it talks!!!    

Now all you need to do is get the Amber sound pack on it

You mean like this guy?    

Setting up a new model from scratch can be straight forward once you get Futaba's logic behind its menu structure.  In this walk-through, we will set up a new model, connect it with Crossfire, and set up basic arming and flight mode switches.  The same logic can be used for setting up other switches such as for buzzer, crash mode, LEDs, etc.


Creating A New Model

From the main screen, hit Model select.



In the Model select screen, hit New.



If the model is not a multicopter, click on Linkage menu from the main screen.  You can quickly get back to the main screen by clicking HOME/EXIT.  In the Linkage menu, hit Model type.



Click on the Model type which in the pic below is set to airplane.



In the Model type screen, hit Multicopter.



You can rename the model by hitting Model select from the main screen.  Click on the model and hit Rename.



Here you can rename your model.  Note that the keyboard spans multiple pages.




Activating Trainer Port for Crossfire

This assumes you have already bound the Crossfire RX.  From the Main Screen, click on Linkage Menu.



From the Linkage menu, click on System type.  From the System type screen, make sure FASSTest 12CH is selected.



On page 2, make sure CRSF is set to ON.



From the main screen, go back to the Linkage menu and go to page 2.  Click on Trainer.



Set ACT/INH to ACT (active vs. inhibit) and set Channel mode to 8 or 12 channels depending on how you set up your RX.



At this point, the Crossfire module should be on.




Setting Up Main Channels

From the main screen, click on Linkage menu.



From the Linkage menu, click on Function.  Here all of your channels and corresponding functions with their assigned switches and trims are all laid out.  Let's say you want to change the default AETR mapping to TAER.  Start with changing the Aileron function by clicking on it to bring up that channel's Function select screen.



Click on Throttle and that will take you back to the Function screen with Throttle now the function for Channel 1.



To see the radio control assigned to that channel's function, click on the assigned Control which in the pic above is J3.



This will bring up the Hardware select screen showing the selected J3 control and where it corresponds to physically on the radio itself.  Use this screen to change switch assignments to specific functions assigned to selected channels.




Adjusting Endpoints

Once you have the main channels assigned, you need to make sure the endpoints are as close as possible to 1,000 - 2,000 with midpoint 1,500.  In the following Betaflight screen, you can see how far my end- and mid-points are under default settings.







From the main screen, hit Linkage menu.



From the Linkage menu, hit End point.  Here you can adjust endpoints for all available channels and their assigned functions.  To adjust the Throttle lower bound end point, click on the second Travel column and use the double and single up arrow buttons to adjust the Throttle's lower bound by 10 or 1 increment, respectively.



To adjust the upper bound, click on the first Travel column and use the up arrows accordingly.



To adjust the midpoint of specific channels, you can simply use the trim switches for that specific channel on the radio itself.  Or you can use the radio software.  To do so, click on the Linkage menu from the main screen.  From the Linkage menu, click on Sub-trim. 



This is where you can make fine tune trim adjustments to each available channel.  In this case, I am centering the Yaw (Rudder) function on channel 4.



In Betaflight, you can see my Throttle lower bound appropriately set to 1,000 (note that if this is too far from the lower bound, the quad will not arm) and my Yaw (Rudder) centering at 1,500.  



You will want to adjust end- and mid-points for all of your surface control channels.  In particular, your quad will not arm if the throttle low end is too high.  Switches assigned to modes like flight or LEDs do not need to be so precise especially since their active ranges can be easily defined in Betaflight.


Setting Throttle Failsafe

As a precautionary measure, despite the Failsafe settings in Betaflight, it's always a good idea to set failsafe on the radio as well.  

From the main screen, click on the Linkage menu.  From the Linkage menu, click on Fail safe.



Toggle the channel 1 Throttle function to Mode F/S by clicking on the default HOLD value.  Click Yes to confirm the change.




Assigning Arm Switch

The first switch anyone will want to set up is the Arm switch.  Personally, I prefer a pre-arm and hot-arm switch for safety.  With OpenTX, I was able to create a logic switch (credit: Bardwell) that allowed for the momentary switch to pre-arm and the 2-position to hot-arm all through a single channel.  I have not been able to figure out a way to do that with Futaba.  So I am forced to use Betaflight's Pre-Arm and Arm modes requiring two separate channels.

From the main screen, click on the Linkage menu.  From the Linkage menu, click on Function name.  



Here you can change the name of available functions and their assigned AUX (auxiliary) number.  In my case, Prearm and Arm are already named after the proper AUX numbers.  But if you needed to rename them, simply click on Prearm, for example, and rename it.  You can also rename the AUX label if you so choose.



From the main screen, click on the Linkage menu.  From the Linkage menu, click on Function.



Here, we can assign the Prearm and Arm functions.  In this case, I will be assigning them to channels 5 and 6, respectively.  Start by clicking on the channel 5 function which in this case is Gyro.



Here you can select a new function for that channel.  Note that the Prearm channel is on page 2.  Click Prearm to select it.



Now Prearm will be assigned to channel 5.  Click on the "--" under Control to assign a switch to this function on channel5.



Here I have selected switch SH which is the 2-position momentary switch as indicated by the picture.



Hit the Menu/Exit button to go back to the Function screen where you can now see SH is assigned as the control for the Prearm function on channel 5.



Using the same steps above, I've assigned the Arm function to channel 5 and assigned switch SF, the regular 2-position switch, to that function.



In Betaflight, we can check that switches SH and SF are both active for AUX 1 and AUX 2, respectively ( AUX numbers as labeled in Betaflight not in the radio).



In the Modes tab, set ARM to AUX 2 and PREARM to AUX 1 selecting the appropriate range for both.




Assigning Mode Switch

The next switch you might want to assign is a flight mode switch.  In this case, I'm going to tie LEDs to my flight mode switch such that the 3 positions are:  acro, acro + LEDs, and angle + LEDs.

From the main screen, click on Linkage menu.  From the Linkage menu, click on Function name.



In the Function name screen, I renamed AUX4 to Mode/LEDs.



Back at the main screen, click on Linkage menu.  From the Linkage menu, click on Function.



On the second page of the Function screen, change channel 7 by clicking on the associated function which in this case is Gyro3.



On the second page of the Function select screen, select the flight mode function you just renamed in this case Mode/LEDs.



This will take you back to the Function screen where Mode/LEDs will now be assigned to channel 7.  Assign the switch by hitting the corresponding "--" under the Control column.



In the Hardware select screen, I have chosen 3-position switch SG for my Mode/LEDs switch.



Going back to the Function screen by clicking the HOME/EXIT button, you can see the selected switch SG under the corresponding Control column for the Mode/LEDs function.



In Betaflight's Receiver tab, we can confirm that AUX 3 is being controlled by switch SG which will serve as our flight mode switch.



In Betaflight's Mode tab, I have set both ANGLE and LEDLOW to AUX 3 setting the appropriate ranges.  What this does is defaults to acro without LEDs allowing me to switch to acro with LEDs and ultimately angle with LEDs.


I hope these two examples of the primary switches most everyone has activated can serve as a logical framework for creating other switches.  I'm continuing to explore more efficient ways of implementing these switches.  While lacking in the extremely flexible OpenTX logic function, Futaba does have a very robust mixing and conditions capability.  However, it is very much catered to fixed wing with those presets in mind.  However, I'm sure after digging into this much deeper, it can be manipulated to serve most any need.  I'm still just scratching the surface though.

I flashed this whoop I slapped together using a BeeBrain Lite and a Runcam Nano 3 with Futaba FHSS firmware lol.



I was intending to do a writeup binding Futaba but ... well, here it is: Turn radio on. LOL that's literally it. You get the RX or whoop FC bind button flashing then turn on the radio. Done and done baha. So awesome.

I am actually very impressed with the radio link. I was able to fly into other rooms at my place where I would have been loosing Frsky signal. Flight times are ridiculous at 5+ min on the 300mah 1s pictured lol. I don't know if other people make whoop boards with Futaba SPI. But I think I will try swapping out the Crazybee AIO on the Mobula6 HD with a BeeBrain Brushless AIO just waiting on confirmation from NBD that they have Futaba firmware for it. That will save me so much weight not using the Crossfire on it.


[edit] Found it lol. The BeeBrainBL V2 AIO with Futaba SPI and 12A ESCs lollll Oh man this is going to be a sick Mobula6 HD lolllll ... https://newbeedrone.com/collections/all/...9624371283

A quick caveat on switching from a model that uses Crossfire to a different model that uses the native Futaba protocols. When you do this, the Crossfire does no power down. You actually need to power down the radio then turn it back on while the Futaba protocol model has already been selected. Then the Crossfire will remain off until a model that uses it is selected.

(29-Oct-2020, 12:54 AM)the.ronin Wrote: A quick caveat on switching from a model that uses Crossfire to a different model that uses the native Futaba protocols.  When you do this, the Crossfire does no power down.  You actually need to power down the radio then turn it back on while the Futaba protocol model has already been selected.  Then the Crossfire will remain off until a model that uses it is selected.

Yeek, that would have caught me out. I have one quad on Crossfire and all the others on ACCST and I regularly take the Crossfire antenna off when I switch over to FrSky during a session. If the module was still blasting RF with no antenna then I suspect bad things would happen ...

I think I might have found the perfect battery for this radio.  It comes stock with a Futaba branded 5-cell  NiMh 1800mAh battery pack.  While I'd think it's fairly sufficient for the radio alone, it can tend to drain fast with the Crossfire pumping out 500mw.

I ended up with a pair of Lumenier 2100mAh LiFe batteries from getFPV:  https://www.getfpv.com/lumenier-2100mah-...ttery.html

At least on paper, they have a bit more capacity and are far cheaper at $18.99 a pop versus the $49.99 price tag on the Futaba branded NiMh's.  And cheaper still than the comparable $89.99 Futaba branded LiFe batteries with the same 2100mAh capacity.  And although you can't charge LiFe batteries with the included wall charger that plugs directly to the bottom side of the radio, Futaba does sell its own somewhat reasonably priced wall charger for LiFe batteries.  Personally, I never minded charging my TX lipos for my X9D as I would flight packs so I have no problem running these Lumeniers through my regular charger.

Unfortunately, Futaba likes to use their servos for battery connection.  So I decided to splice the Lumenier battery leads with a servo connector as well as an XT30 connector for charging.



I can't emphasize enough ... BE CAREFUL SPLICING BATTERY WIRES. Please don't cut both wires with a pair of shiny metal scissors in one go LOL.  I do them one at a time and in the event I ever have to have to cut both wires, I cut one, electrical tape it off, then cut the other.  I also lengthened the servo lead since as it stands, the longer lead off the Lumenier is taught when connected to the radio.



And when I say it's a snug fit, I mean it's like this LiFe battery was made for this radio lol.



Ok then ... money shot incoming