Tips for using Spektrum telemetry logging

[kevinww]

I've been doing a bit of work analysing spektrum telemetry log files, both my own and other peoples that have been posted online.
Based on what i can see most people are unaware of some of the idosynchrocies of spektrums implementation, which leads to spurious and unwanted data being recorded in the logs, increasing log file sizes and placing unwanted overheads on the radio when writing the data.

So i thought I'd post a few tips to help telemetry users minimise the overheads and manage the telemetry logging more efficiently.

1. Curently data is only written to SPEKTURM.TLM regardless of any file names set in individual models.

2. The log file is cumulative so data for each model and flight is added to the end of the file for every flight, leading to extreamly large files unless the user manually deletes it, so transfer your files from the SD card to another device and delete from the SD card regularly.

3. Most seem to have the telemetry logging set to start logging by default, this means that data starts being logged the moment the telemetry unit is active, logging loads of data prior to the flight actually starting. You can allocate a TX switch to trigger the logging, so you can activate/deactivate it when you wish and avoid logging potentially irrelevent and spurious data while your model is carried to the flight line or on the bench.

4. Most people seem to be leaving the standard options for RX, RPM, Voltage and Temperature active in the telemetry setup in the radio regardless of whether they have the sensor connected or not, This leads to irrelevent data being written to the log, so configure the TX telemetry screen to only contain the sensors that you have physically connected for each model.

Hope this helps

[Bonkievan]

Very informative.
Thank you.

[aerocal]

Ive been using it for close to 3 years now.Most of what your saying is true.Once you have the default file being created you can force it to break off and create a new file if you rename the file on the card.Once it gets renamed on the card the radio ignores it and creates a new file.
I definitely use a switch to activate it.By default it is shut off and it needs to be enabled anyway.
Its evolving and as updates come out things get changed slightly to make it work better for us.My 18 has all the selections in the menu Inh by default so you have to actually select what your using and not worry about Inh the defaults.Stuff like that I think will become common across all AW radios.
Once you use it for awhile it becomes a necessity.Good stuff.
Theres alot of little tricks Ive learned.Ill try to add them on as I remember them and stuff gets tweaked to work more like we want it to.Spektrum does listen to the users and make changes when necessary to adjust to how we are using it.

Dont forget about the log reader.Its coming along pretty good and will end up being really nice IMO.It works good now and gets better all the time.

www.robo-software.com
Im not spamming an ad for the guy or anything but I support him best I can.The 10 bucks is a drop in the bucket for his efforts.I grateful for the option and an alternative to the apple thing.Hes a user like we are and is mostly just doing it for the sake of the community even if he did start it for his personal use.Hes not paid by SPM in any way although he is a HH team pilot.Another noble effort IMO.
Anyway...
Ill try to keep this going and we can add stuff here and there.There is a distinct learning curve to using it all.Thanks for starting it Kevin.

[ronj]

+1 for www.robo-software.com

It was only from loading the trial copy that I could see what I was getting from my tm1000. I then paid the 9.99, well worth it and I receive updates regularly.

Kevinww, thanks for starting this, I saw rpm in the reports, so I must have it turned on. I didn;t realize I could turn it off. I like the idea of assigning the telemetry to a switch. I now have it set to the throttle.

[aerocal]

If you use throttle bear in mind that if you pull it to idle during a flight it may shut the logging off then restart a new session in the file.For some reason there doesnt seem to be a throttle-1time option for the log switching.I think its because it would have to be linked to Clear to reset it and that wouldnt really be right either.I dunno. I prefer a switch.
I use Aux2 since I mostly dont use it for anything else right now.Im in the habit of doing it when I check my rate switch before takeoff.Ive developed my mental checklists for my switches before I turn radio Off or On so it works well.I usually dont forget it.

[Canno]

On my DX7s (airware 1.0.3) there is a "throttle 1-time" option for starting the logging. It works great for my electric sailplane where the throttle is only on briefly at the beginning of the flight.

[aerocal]

Yes.I dont know what I was thinking.On the 7s and 8 Throttle 1-time is available as an option.On the 18 it is not.

[dave21740]

Originally Posted by ronj

+1 for www.robo-software.com

It was only from loading the trial copy that I could see what I was getting from my tm1000. I then paid the 9.99, well worth it and I receive updates regularly.

I like being able to export logs to CSV format using his software. Makes it easy to import into Excel (among others) for more control over the graphing and for comparing how a battery is performing from flight to flight as it ages.

[ragge1]

ok so how does this work ,

[dave21740]

Originally Posted by ragge1

ok so how does this work ,

You mean the telemetry unit itself? The telemetry unit I'm using is Spektrum's TM1000, which is less than $60 US online. It plugs into the receiver for power, and has it's own transmitter and antenna for the telemetry. You have to bind both the receiver and telemetry unit to your Tx. The sensors plug into the TM1000.

Your Spektrum Tx has to support it. I'm not sure which models do, but the manual will tell you. It's been well worth the cost, for me.

[ragge1]

no I mean the logging , how to activate , save , upload to the pc

[aerocal]

Originally Posted by ragge1

no I mean the logging , how to activate , save , upload to the pc

In the telemetry menu at the bottom select and click on Settings and then select and click on File Settings.You will get to the menu to enable logging and select a means to activate it. When you have telemetry up and running in a model and you activate it there will be a little icon on the mainscreen that is SD with a little scrolling thing to show it is logging.
You must have an SD card in the radio.A file will be created on the SD card in the root folder labeled SPEKTRUM.TLM
Then there are various ways to access it,move it,rename it etc.
Depending on what radio you are using the default filename may be the modelname.TLM or you can modify the name of the file that gets created and logged to.On the 8 it is still SPEKTRUM.TLM only and it cant be renamed before getting logged. On the 10t it creates a different file per modelname or you can create a custom name and log to different files for different models.
I kind of expect all the radios will end up with this scheme with future updates.

Once you have the files on your card or copied to your PC you can do one of 2 things with them.
1) Email them to yourself or use a dropbox type thing and then access them with an iDevice and open them with theapple Sti app.
2) Get the robo-software viewer and open them directly from the card or your PC.

[aerocal]

Also once the SPEKTRUM.TLM file is created on the SD it will continue to log each session to that file.
You can however rename the basic filename to something else of your choosing and then it will no longer keep adding to that file.It will create another with the name in the Settings menu if that filename doesnt exist on the card.
If you dont rename or move the default name from the card once in awhile the files will become huge. STi can have trouble reading huge files with lots of sessions in it.
With the robo ware viewer if the files are big it can take alot longer to compile/load them.Smaller files with less than 10 sessions/flights on them are much easier to deal with.

[ragge1]

thanks

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by ronj

+1 for www.robo-software.com

It was only from loading the trial copy that I could see what I was getting from my tm1000. I then paid the 9.99, well worth it and I receive updates regularly.

+2 for robo-software's Spektrum Telemetry Viewer. Thanks Aerocal for tipping me on this useful software. Much better than Spektrum's in-house viewer that works only on the iPhone and is plagued by usability issues.

The key as others have mentioned is to keep the Spektrum.tlm file small in the SD Card by either renaming it after a couple of flight sessions or in my case, deleting it after copying it to my local hard-drive. The Tx will just create a new file from scratch if Spektrum.tlm file is deleted.

[1004ron]

I'm quite happy with this free software from Kevin: https://www.helifreak.com/showthread...=523441&page=2

[spektrex]

So how does this software work (robo-software) and what does it look like?

I ultimately want to handle GPS logging data. I cannot find any type of info other than a PayPal button. I want to know what I pay for and I can't find any info whatsoever. That is just very strange imho.

[kevinww]

The free software here https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=534058 will do what you want, handles GPS data and allows you to export a KML file that you can then pull into Google Earth and see your flight path.