New user question (Don't all groan at once!)

Can anyone recommend a transmitter/receiver for use with (Still in build) an APM2.8. UK use.
Can anyone also tell me if it can be changed from mode 1 to mode 2 and vice versa? (I know that much)

At the moment I am still a complete novice.
As a suck it and see I bought a pocket drone a Hubsan which for the money, I thought absolutely great.This allowed me to learn some of the absolute basics (crashing)

I know I can’t ask for a complete shopping list, but think that the Ardupilot APM is a good start but what is compatible with it control wise.

There are a zillion APM2.8s for sale on Ebay and reputable suppliers but no mention of compatible receivers.

Currently reading as much as I can find, but as a novice, much of it seems contradictory and much is personal choice.

Anyone with any links to resources I would be happy to follow.
Thanks in adv I’ll will try not to be needy.
Thx, R.

Turnigy TGY https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-tgy-i6-afhds-transmitter-and-6ch-receiver-mode-2.html

FrSky Taranis if you can afford it, much more versatile and would allow you to grow if/when you move to better FC hardware (APMs can only run up to Copter 3.2.1, an old and unsupported version).

Of note, your question is sort of similar to “what first camera should I buy”. Opinions will vary :wink:

Hello,

If you have just a bit of sense, you should wonder why are there so much APM on sale.

Firmware dev for that card ended three years ago. Hardware base is 5 years old. Reputable suppliers are none. They are just sellers.

If you really want to join the ardupilot community and progress with us, you should look at the latest hardware on sale.

Marc

I’m a big fan of the Turnigy 9XR Pro, which at $60 is a great deal on a very capable transmitter. Thanks to the efforts of some community members it has an incredibly flexible firmware that includes excellent telemetry support.

The 9XR Pro is a modular transmitter, so you can pick pretty much whatever receivers you want to use as long as there is a compatible module available. I use the FrSky X8R receiver, which (with the correct cable) is able to transmit telemetry information from your flight controller back to your receiver.

I would suggest looking at something other than the APM boards. As @mlebret says, these were out of date many years ago and are not able to run current Ardupilot firmware. You will find many Pixhawk clones that are reasonably priced and that are able to run current Ardupilot firmware releases.

I do have sense, which is why I am asking, I realise I know nothing at all, but searching the net shows a lot of a lot on sale. Not just APM 2.8. I appreciate the answer that it is old, I was unaware of that until now. So, better informed I can look for something else.

The APM is old and unsupported, but it still works.
They are cheap and plentiful because they are old tech.
If you can find later hardware as cheap, by all means jump on it, but APM might not be a bad choice if you want something you don’t mind crashing or blowing up.

Just remember current help on the forum, although still around, will be thinner on the ground.
Most will just say ‘upgrade’ :frowning:
I still have a couple of APM’s around and they are still working fine.

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My 2nd FC was an APM. Its decent hardware wise, but as others have said its old tech with an 8 bit processor and is well past its development cycle.

Get a Pixhawk. I have 3. Two are 2.4.6s and one is a 2.4.8. They run the latest firmware, telemetry is a snap, ( especially if you use a Taranis radio) and a bundle with all of the bells as whistles is fairly inexpensive.

I know it can be quite frustrating with all the people telling you to get a Pixhawk. I have an old APM laying around myself and still don’t understand why something like Rover won’t work on it (surely it won’t require THAT much computational power for Rover?). Anyway, if you are happy to use older software, your APM board is still ok to use. You can use ANY standard receiver that is on market now, as long as it can output separate channels (the more the better) OR all-in-ane PPM signal. I personally started with 9XR Tx with FRSly receivers but once it got stolen I switched to Taranis X9D Plus. With built-in telemetry support it’s a great reasonably priced TX that would allow you to grow and have many hours of fun.
Get an x8r or x4r receiver if you are not afraid of flashing things and you are good to go.