@FRED_GOEDDERT did you get this to work? I don’t know if you are using the 900MHz version or not. But you have to use the R9 Flex firmware and select the self-adapting power level for telemetry support. I am on X9D+ here and it works fine with the R9/R9M for me.
great news Colin!
I’ll do more tuning to improve the scheduler and will come back with a new version to test!
thanks again!
No, just to busy at the moment.
I have installed the R9 Flex firmware when I started with the R9M-tx and R9-rx about 2 month ago.
The R9M module sits in the back of my Horus x10.
Sometimes I have a bit of the CRAFT- disease.
What do you mean with self-adapting power level for telemetry support? Give me a hint, please.
Thanks
With the R9 telemetry is only supported at 25mW power output, or using the adaptive power level. This is with the 900 MHz version. I just learned they have a 868 version for the EU, and I don’t know if that one is the same or not.
@ChrisOlson, @FRED_GOEDDERT
I have the following setup and I can see telemetry messages coming when I power up RX, sometimes not all of them. And sometimes yaapu screen values are updated 5-10 seconds then telemetry is lost and no updates.
- Taranis R9D+ “opentx-x9d±ppmus-noheli-lua-luac-flexr9m-en-2.2.3”,
- R9M (latest firmware - TX_FLEX_20190117) and
- R9Slim+ (latest firmware - RX_FLEX_20190201).
I have tried with almost all available power options with no success. FrSky advised me to try with NON-FLEX firmware, which I couldn’t find time to implement yet.
No solution so far for R9 setup, but X8R works like charm.
Do you experience any problems with R9-rx, as I do with R9Slim+ ?
The only one that seems to drop out for me is the battery updates. And this is intermittent. I’m flying piston helicopters so the battery is not that important and I usually ignore it. But only the volts/cell and total voltage go to zero sometimes, the total consumed mAh and battery percentage continue to work.
The other anomaly I’ve seen on the R9 is that sometimes I’ll get “Bad GPS Health” on the Taranis. But this message is not logged in the dataflash logs or on the tlog if a ground station is connected.
There is more bandwidth available on a given channel at higher frequencies than there is at lower frequencies. So I’ve attributed this to probable saturation of the link’s bandwidth on 900MHz.
Edit: I had to catch up on what FrSky is doing with the R9. It looks like the EU version of it only carries telemetry at 25mW power output? The EU version does not have the adaptive power level that the FCC version has?
Chris, how many chained frsky devices do you have?
At present I have the SP-RPM sensor with two temp sensors on it. I have the SPASS-70 airspeed (pitot tube).
I assume the “Bad GPS Health” message I get sometimes is due to the data not being able to get thru too. So I think optimizing bandwidth for the 900/868 is going to be important. I don’t recall seeing this on the RX8R.
ok so ardupilot + 2 extra, no gas suite?
Technically I think it’s four extra? Each temp sensor on the SP-RPM uses a sensor ID and is detected as such.
Edit: no, no gas suite. I was unhappy with the fuel-flow sensor for the Gas Suite. It works fine on a turbine helicopter that sucks fuel like there’s no end to it. But on the gassers the fuel flow is so low it can’t measure it accurately.
could be, you’d need a trace dump to find out.
With 2 extra the current scheduler drops vel and yaw messages but only while streaming status text messages. (48ms column)
With 4 extra the current scheduler really does a terrible job and drops a lot of packets (72ms column)
BTW, Flex EU firmware does not have adaptive power but has telemetry all the way up to 1000mW
“Bad GPS Data” is generated by the telemetry library by checking the MAV_SYS_STATUS_SENSOR_GPS bit, this message is not a proper status text message that’s the reason you do not find it in the tlogs
OK, that’s different from the FCC version. My R9 only has telemetry at 10mW or on adaptive power level. At the 100, 500mW settings there is no telemetry.
Ah ok. That explains that.
mhmm maybe I’m wrong, I did not recall having adaptive power on Flex EU @1W but looks like I’ll have to check again the options on my radio, the frsky site reports:
R9M Working Frequency Band 915 – 928MHz / 860 – 873MHz
● Optional Power：10mW/100mW/500mW/1W
● Telemetry supported for all power levels
● 16 channels for all power levels
● Adaptive power for 1W only
I don’t know what they’re doing there. Mine does not work on 100 or 500. But on adaptive it’s supposed to adapt from 100-1000mW based on RSSI. Telemetry works on that setting, and that’s the one I’m using. Mine does not even have a 1000mW setting, except for the adaptive part.
This is what I find on their current website
So it says with Flex telemetry is supported at all power levels. Mine definitely does not. Technically it does because on adaptive it goes from 100-1000. But if I set it to 100 or 500 it doesn’t work. Beats me 
2 Likes
@ChrisOlson, @FRED_GOEDDERT , @yaapu
I had extactly the same problem with R9M and R9MM as I did with R9Slim+. The configuration is as the following:
- Taranis R9D+ “opentx-x9d±ppmus-noheli-lua-luac-flexr9m-en-2.2.3”,
- R9M (latest firmware - TX_FLEX_20190117) and
- R9MM (latest firmware - RX_FLEX_20190201).
I have also tried NON-FLEX (FCC) versions of R9M tx and R9MM rx, with exactly the same results.
The only thing I didn’t change is the firmware on Taranis R9D+.
Do you think flashing Taranis R9D+ with without -flexr9m option, would make any difference?
I really have no clues.
Only difference I can think of is I’m using an Horux X10 vs using the Taranis X9D+ and perhaps
I might have a more recent R9 TX (newer HW) than yours?
I tried both with you’re very same R9 firmware version and with the previous one using flex 100mW with s.port telemetry enabled and on the bench I never lost the telemetry link.
As Chris said…beats me 
If you have an external FrSky sensor maybe try to see if you can get telemetry without the ArduPilot converter cable hooked up. Or, if you don’t have an external sensor maybe try setting the serial port to FrSky S.Port and see if you can discover the repurposed sensors.
As far as I know, the only difference between the flex and non-flex is that the flex will show the option in your transmitter (opentx 2.2.3 only) to set the frequency. The non-flex will not show that option in your transmitter. Having the flex in your module (only with OpenTx 2.2.3) should work with non-flex in the receiver if you select the right frequency. I only put the flex in my module and Tx a couple weeks ago when I bought my third R9 receiver. My guess is, if you can’t get regular S.Port to work, you have a mismatch between OpenTx and the module/receiver firmware versions.
Your transmitter must be a X9D+ (you said R9D+). But it all works on my X9D+ here as long as I use the adaptive power setting. Has very good range too - probably double what the X8R had. The only issue I’ve noted is occasional battery voltage dropout, and sometimes “Bad GPS Health” even though the GPS is working fine.
@ChrisOlson, @yaapu as you both said: …beats me too… 
@ChrisOlson I tried your suggestions with no success. Then out of desperation, I started on my silly things list.
I was using Telem2 port on Pixhawk Cube and changed it to Telem1 (also tried with GPS2 port) and it worked 
with both FLEX and NON-FLEX firmwares on R9M, R9MM and R9Slim+ setups.
So the result is everything works well in all combiations for Serial Ports other than Telem2 on Pixhawk Cube, for R9 setups. Also, for X8R Telem2 works too.
I would think that there might be a bug in ArduPlane v3.9.8 firmware for “Serial2 = 10” option, but I cant since X8R is working, so I cannot blame voltage levels or board defects.
Funny thing… 
What? That is very strange. I’m using CUAV V3x on Serial 4. Have never tried any other serial ports. What causes it to work with a X8R but not with a R9 using the identical protocol is a bigger “Beats Me” than whatever it is FrSky is doing with different R9 firmwares 