DragonLink V3 User Manual
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DragonLink V3 User Manual

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Summary of Contents for DragonLink V3

  • Page 1 DRAFT ONLY...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    3.1.6 Presets 3.1.7 External Connections 3.2.8 SD Logging 3.2.9 RSSI 3.2.10 Telemetry Info 3.2.11 Spectrum Analyzer 3.3 DragonLink Transmitter – Using Menu Button 3.3.1 Range Test 3.3.2 Bind Mode 3.3.3 Servo Test 3.3.4 Change Transmitter ID 3.3.5 Exit USB Telemetry Mode...
  • Page 3 3.3.6 Set Failsafe Channel Positions 3.4 DragonLink Receiver (via Transmitter) 3.4.1 RX Failsafe Behaviour 3.4.2 Channel Assignment (RX Outputs) 3.5 DragonLink Receiver 3.5.1 Receiver Outputs 3.5.2 General Settings 3.5.3 Radio Modem 3.5.4 GPS Settings 3.5.5 Log Information 3.5.6 RSSI 3.5.7 Spectrum Analyzer 3.5.8 Stabilization...

  • Page 4: Introduction

    To get started with the best RC control money can buy, just order a complete DragonLink system and choose the correct options for your RC transmitter connection cables and airplane antenna options to suit.

  • Page 5: Package Contents

     1x High Performance FPVPro Receiver Antenna  1x Connection Cable for Transmitter Module (type included according to selection made at time of purchase) This user guide also covers the use of the following optional DragonLink products:  DragonLink Transmitter (non-slim)  DragonLink Advanced (high-power) Receiver ...

  • Page 6: Software Updates

    “Cancel” to proceed. This is a limitation of Mission Planner and not a fault with your DragonLink system.  Elements positioned on the DragonLink OSD within the GUI will not always show the correct location on the FPV video feed. The OSD is still largely under development.

  • Page 7: Warnings And Safety

     Always observe local and national laws regarding the use of radio transmitters and remotely piloted vehicles.  DragonLink and FPVPro will not accept any liability for any loss, fines, or damage that may result from the use of this system.

  • Page 8: Software Installation

    It is strongly advisable to check for firmware and software updates regularly as they may include bug fixes, new features, and performance improvements. Before flying your DragonLink system for the first time, it is necessary to apply the latest firmware and obtain the newest version of the DragonLink GUI software for PC.

  • Page 9: Software Installation

    5. Once the compressed (.zip) has downloaded, extract it by right-clicking the file and selecting Extract All… 2.3 Software Installation 1. The compressed (.zip) file obtained from the DragonLink website contains the following files: NOTE: You will require an internet connection in order to perform the installation as the installer needs to download additional software components.
  • Page 10 3. Please wait for the download to complete. 4. Once the installation is complete, the software can be launched from the DragonLink shortcut on the Start Menu.

  • Page 11: Applying Firmware Updates

    1. First, connect your DragonLink transmitter, receiver, or OSD to your PC using a micro- USB cable. Ensure the device tab appears in the DragonLink GUI software. It may take a moment for drivers to install before the tab appears. If it does not appear, please follow the Driver Installation Troubleshooting guide in section [to be added].
  • Page 12 At the time of writing, no such bugs are known to exist, however please proceed with the appropriate level of care as DragonLink cannot accept any responsibility for any damages or the loss of your model aircraft.

  • Page 13: Configuration - Dragonlink Gui

    Before disconnecting or rebooting your DragonLink device, ensure that any changes to the configuration are not lost by clicking Save Settings at the bottom of the DragonLink GUI window. Some pages have additional save buttons – ensure you click these as necessary.
  • Page 14 Firmware version: This field displays the version of firmware currently applied to the DragonLink transmitter. Input 1: Specifies the protocol used by the controller to talk to the DragonLink transmitter. This must match the protocol used by the controller’s trainer jack or module-bay port.

  • Page 15: Channel Mixing / Assignment

    DragonLink transmitter’s switches or the rotary pot (large transmitter only), to any of the 12 channels on the DragonLink system. In addition, the sliders to the right of each channel show the position of each channel, live, so you can confirm their functionality without needing the receiver or additional hardware connected.

  • Page 16: Power Settings

    The channel will move from minimum to maximum positions based on a voltage range of approximately 5v – 16v. 3.1.3 Power Settings The DragonLink transmitter’s RF output power can be controlled automatically or set to a fixed milli-watt value manually by the user.

  • Page 17: Rf Settings

    3.1.4 RF Settings The RF settings page controls how the DragonLink transmitter talks to the receiver. Changing these settings can affect the control range and telemetry range, as well as the responsiveness of control over the model aircraft. For example, lowering the...

  • Page 18: Alarms And Sounds

    number of channels sent to the receiver will improve the responsiveness, while decreasing the bi-directional bandwidth and lowering the update rate to its minimum setting will greatly increase the range at which telemetry can be received. At the bottom of the page, the approximate update rate (hertz) is displayed, along with the radio modem’s uplink and downlink data rates (bytes per second).
  • Page 19 The DragonLink transmitter is capable of providing a range of audible warnings to the user. Missing PPM: Triggered by a loss of input from the radio controller’s trainer jack or module bay connection. Low TX voltage: User-configurable low input-voltage alarm.

  • Page 20: Presets

    The Presets page can be used to apply a range of configuration templates to your DragonLink transmitter. These won’t alter general settings, such as channel and switch assignments, model ID, or alarms, however it will alter settings to do with bi- directional data, update rate, and bandwidth in order to optimise performance for the use-case determined by the preset.

  • Page 21: External Connections

    DragonLink Mavlink Encodes non-MavLink telemetry from the aircraft into a MavLink-compatible telemetry stream for use with ground stations. Auto-detect RX idle: When enabled, the DragonLink transmitter looks for data (eg. MavLink heartbeats) coming from the device connected by bluetooth. If the...
  • Page 22 In this state, the user should be aware that disconnecting the bluetooth device while the telemetry stream is active will cause the module to crash and require reset of the DragonLink transmitter. NOTE: This issue does not affect newer Slim transmitters with an updated bluetooth module and thus, this setting has no effect.
  • Page 23 WARNING: Changing the USB function setting will prevent the DragonLink GUI from being able to connect to the transmitter for configuration purposes. See section 3.3.5 for instructions on how to change this setting back to the default. Option Function Bi-directional...

  • Page 24: Sd Logging

    3.2.8 SD Logging This page allows you to see diagnostic information regarding the logs that have been saved to the SD card (not included). At the time of writing, support for logging is still in development.

  • Page 25: Rssi

    3.2.9 RSSI On this page, the RSSI (received signal strength indication) is displayed in live graph view, along with the transmitter input voltage. This indication of RSSI represents the strength of the telemetry signal sent from the receiver to the transmitter, and not the strength of the RC signal sent from the transmitter to your model aircraft.

  • Page 26: Telemetry Info

    3.2.10 Telemetry Info When a compatible GPS, voltage sensor, or OSD are connected to the DragonLink receiver and the pin assignments are correctly configured, or when MavLink Decode is used to capture telemetry from a valid MavLink stream, the incoming telemetry...

  • Page 27: Spectrum Analyzer

    RF noise floor (the signal strength of average background noise) of approximately -120dBm across the 433mHz band (427 – 437mHz), which is ideal. It is normal to see a spike on the spectrum analyzer when your DragonLink receiver is powered on and within range.

  • Page 28: Dragonlink Transmitter - Using Menu Button

    To conduct a range test: 1. Hold down the Menu button on the DragonLink transmitter and turn on the power. 2. After the power-on sound is played, the LED(s) will turn green accompanied by 1 beep.

  • Page 29: Bind Mode

    30 feet. 5 metres, or 15 feet, is acceptable for shorter range craft that will operate up to a maximum distance of 5km. 3.3.2 Bind Mode It is possible to bind the transmitter to the receiver without using the DragonLink GUI. To do so, 1. Ensure the receiver is powered off.

  • Page 30: Change Transmitter Id

    5. Power-cycle the transmitter for the change to take effect. 3.3.6 Set Failsafe Channel Positions When the Normal failsafe mode is applied to the DragonLink receiver, it will move all of the channels to a pre-configured position upon loss of signal.

  • Page 31: Dragonlink Receiver (Via Transmitter)

    WARNING: Prior to setting the failsafe channel positions, ensure the position of any mode switches, such as “arm” or “return-to-home” are in the position you wish them to remain should the R/C link be lost. 3.4 DragonLink Receiver (via Transmitter)

  • Page 32: Rx Failsafe Behaviour

    The DragonLink receiver can be configured using the GUI (to a limited extent) while the DragonLink transmitter is connected to the PC and the receiver is powered on. At this time, it is not possible to configure the PPM / SBUS output, the UEXP port, or to select certain other RX pin assignments through this page.

  • Page 33: Dragonlink Receiver

    13) for this function. 3.5 DragonLink Receiver The first time you connect your DragonLink receiver to the DragonLink GUI, you may be prompted to set the receiver type. Ensure that you select this correctly as an incorrect selection may result in unusable channels.

  • Page 34: Receiver Outputs

    Receiver outputs: The Receiver outputs section allows you to assign functions to each of the pin headers on your DragonLink receiver. Pictured below is the configuration page for the Micro receiver, which has 8 multifunction pin headers. In the example below, channel 8 (CH 8) has been assigned to output S-BUS, while the remaining 7 channels output a standard single-channel PWM signal.
  • Page 35 NOTE: Analog RSSI is only selectable on channel 8 (micro RX) or channel 13 (advanced RX).

  • Page 36: General Settings

    12. UEXP con pin3/4: These connectors can also be assigned various functions, including S-BUS, PPM, GPS input, Serial communications and OSD data for the DragonLink OSD. NOTE: Some S-BUS devices require a signal with inverted logic. For these devices, select S-BUS inv.

  • Page 37: Radio Modem

    Firmware version: Displays the version of currently applied firmware. Volt Cal Calue: This value allows calibration of the DragonLink Voltage Sensor (sold separately). If you measure the voltage of your flight battery and discover it to be incorrect, this value, which is a percentage of the sensed voltage, can be adjusted to correct it.

  • Page 38: Gps Settings

    3.5.4 GPS Settings A GPS receiver can be directly connected to the DragonLink Receiver for telemetry purposes. You will need to know the baud rate for the GPS receiver attached receiver, which is set using the drop-down menu and saved by clicking Save GPS Baud rate.

  • Page 39: Log Information

    3.5.5 Log Information The Log Information page is used to store certain flight data regarding channel positions, RF transmit power, GPS and telemetry data, and link state. This can be enabled, disabled, deleted, and retrieved using the controls on this page. 3.5.6 RSSI...

  • Page 40: Spectrum Analyzer

    The RSSI page displays a graph of the current signal strength for the radio control link. This can be used for troubleshooting or testing. In addition, the voltage supplied to the Receiver is super-imposed on the graph in orange. 3.5.7 Spectrum Analyzer This feature is identical to the feature of the same name found in the Transmitter configuration pages.

  • Page 41: Stabilization

    3.5.8 Stabilization [to be added]...

  • Page 42: Installation

    4 Installation Warning: Always observe correct polarity when making electrical connections. Reversed polarity or incorrect wiring may result in damage to your DragonLink or third-party equipment. 4.1 DragonLink Transmitter The DragonLink Slim transmitter includes quality hook-and-loop pads with self-adhesive backing, which can be used to fix your transmitter to the back of your controller, as per the below image.
  • Page 43 RF module Pins. This is generally the simplest method of connection as the RF module pins supply both power and signal to the DragonLink transmitter. If the "RF Module cable" option was selected at the time of purchase, you should have received the cable with one end having a plug matching the picture below.
  • Page 44  PPM input from your RC Transmitter. This is provided using the 3.5mm jack.  - 18 volts. This is provided using the red connector. Futaba Square Trainer Port The Futaba square trainer cable will supply both signal and power to the DragonLink Transmitter, and cannot be connected with incorrect polarity.
  • Page 45 Once connected to your controller, the other end of the cable can be connected to the DragonLink Transmitter if not already done so. This should be connected to Input 1. Note that on the Large DragonLink Transmitter that Input 2 does not supply power to the unit.

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