Particular Capabilities in EdgeTX are one of many highly effective options that many FPV pilots overlook. Whereas Inputs, Mixes, and Outputs tabs deal with your fundamental stick and change mapping, Particular Capabilities allow you to assign particular actions to switches or situations (like logical switches) — you are able to do issues like throttle lower, voice readouts/alerts, quantity management, information logging, and extra. On this tutorial, I’ll clarify what Particular Capabilities are, provide you with an introduction on the best way to set them up, and present you some helpful examples.
What Are Particular Capabilities in EdgeTX?
Particular Capabilities are actions that occur when a change is activated, or a sure situation is met.
- Set off: Normally a bodily change (SA, SB, SC, SH, and so forth.) or a Logical Change.
- Motion: Play a sound, override a channel, change quantity, begin logging, and so forth.
To entry Particular Capabilities:
- Press the MDL button to enter Mannequin Setup.
- Hold urgent the Web page button till you attain the Particular Capabilities tab.
Word that Particular features solely apply to the present mannequin (set inside every mannequin profile).
There’s additionally International Capabilities that work the identical method, however apply to all fashions on the radio. To entry International Capabilities:
- Press the SYS button to enter Radio Settings.
- Press the Web page button a couple of instances to the International Capabilities tab.
I often put issues like quantity management and backlight management in International Capabilities, so that you don’t have to duplicate them in each mannequin. For mannequin particular features I’ll use Particular Capabilities.
The right way to Add a Particular Perform
- Scroll to an empty line and press Enter.
- Choose a change in your radio.
- Select the Perform (what you need it to do).
- Set any extra parameters (worth, repeat, and so forth.).
- Vital: Tick the Allow checkbox on the backside — many individuals overlook this and marvel why nothing occurs.
- Exit and check.
The road will often spotlight or present an icon when the operate is lively (e.g. if you activate the change, or situation is met).
Helpful Particular Capabilities for FPV Drone Pilots
Play Worth
Press a button and your radio speaks the present battery voltage — tremendous helpful for fast checks earlier than flight or throughout lengthy classes.
- Change: SH↓ (Momentary change down)
- Perform: Play Val
- Worth: RxBt
- Repeat: ! (exclamation mark = play as soon as)
- Allow: Checked
I really wrote about this in a separate put up, even goes into element how one can flip this right into a low voltage alarm utilizing logical change, test it out: https://oscarliang.com/edgetx-voltage-callout/
You may as well play different values like:
- telemetry values similar to RSSI, altitude, velocity and so forth
- stick positions
- knob positions
- sensor values
Play Sound Monitor
As a substitute of taking part in worth, you possibly can play a sound monitor – an audio file (in WAV format) you place within the SD card.
It may be a voice announcement that claims “Ship It” if you arm the quad:
- Change: Your arm change (e.g. SD↓ for armed)
- Perform: Play Monitor
- Worth: Select “armed.wav” (or no matter sound file you need to use)
- Repeat: – (sprint = play as soon as when change adjustments)
Or voice prompts for flight modes, like “Angle mode”, “Acro mode”, and “Rescue Mode” and so forth, as you activate them.
For instance, create a Play Monitor operate for every change place:
- SC up → play “Acro mode”
- SC center → play “Angle mode”
- SC down → play “Horizon mode”
Or it may play music!
You possibly can create customized sound tracks following this tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/taranis-play-sound-track-mp3-files/
Quantity Adjustment
I’ve this arrange in all of my radios. It lets me regulate the radio speaker quantity utilizing a knob or slider.
I often assign Quantity to a potentiometer in International Capabilities, so I can flip the radio quantity up or down at any time whatever the mannequin.
For instance:
- Change: ON (all the time on)
- Perform: Quantity
- Supply: S1 (or whichever knob/slider/rotary change you favor)
- Allow: checked
Now, everytime you flip the S1 knob, the radio quantity adjustments.
That is a type of options you don’t understand you want till you will have it.
Backlight Adjustment
This works similar to Quantity, however for display brightness. Most radios have two knobs, so it’s good, one for quantity and the opposite for display brightness.
Once more, I assign Backlight to a knob in International Capabilities. It lets me flip the display brightness up when flying outside, or down indoor.
Instance:
- Set off: ON
- Perform: Backlight
- Supply: S1
- Allow: checked
Begin/Reset Timer
That is helpful if you wish to maintain monitor of how lengthy you’ve been flying. Additionally very useful should you depend on timers for battery administration and resolve when to land.
I usually use my Arm change to set off the timer, and after I disarm, it robotically resets it.
You begin the timer within the Mannequin Setup Web page underneath Timer 1 utilizing your arm change (arm place):
Then in Particular Perform you possibly can reset Timer 1 utilizing the arm change (disarm place).
You may as well set a voice shout out each minute to remind your self how lengthy you’ve been flying.
Override Channel
You possibly can drive a channel to a hard and fast worth utilizing a change, it doesn’t matter what the sticks, inputs, or mixes are doing.
A standard use is Throttle Lower, the place I usually use on my mounted wings that don’t have a flight controller. It acts like a arm change for security, by activating that change, it overrides the throttle channel, so irrespective of how I transfer the throttle stick, throttle worth is locked at zero so long as the arm change stays deactivated.
For instance:
- Set off: change SD down
- Perform: Override
- Channel: CH1 (or whichever channel is throttle)
- Worth: -100 (-100 is 0%, 0 is 50%, 100 is 100%)
- Allow field: checked
I even have a tutorial explaining in additional element: https://oscarliang.com/setup-arm-switch-for-wing-no-fc/
SD Card Knowledge Logging
This allows logging to the SD card, helpful for reviewing flights later.
It might document:
- telemetry values like GPS coordinates and battery voltage
- stick positions
- radio states
- and different helpful information
Logs are saved to the SD card and will be analysed in instruments like Log Viewer.
A standard setup is to make SD logging begin when the quad is armed, instance:
- Change: Your arm change (or ON for all the time logging)
- Perform: SD Logs
- Worth: 1s or 0.5s (logging interval)
- Allow: checked
I’ve a tutorial explaining the best way to set this as much as log and consider GPS information: https://oscarliang.com/log-telemetry/
Screenshot
This takes a screenshot of the radio display and saves it to the SD card.
I make tutorials, so I discover it to be very useful. For abnormal pilots, possibly it’s helpful for sharing your radio configurations on-line, or need to maintain a document of settings.
Professional Suggestions
- Allow checkbox — Double-check this each time. It’s the #1 motive Particular Capabilities don’t work.
- Order issues — Particular Capabilities run from prime to backside. Conflicting features could also be overridden by decrease strains.
- Voice recordsdata — Be sure your sound pack is put in and recordsdata are within the right folder (SOUNDS/en/ or your language).
- Use Logical Switches as set off — This unlocks superior behaviour (e.g., computerized warnings primarily based on timer, telemetry information, or different situations).
Ultimate Ideas
In case you are not utilizing Particular Capabilities in your EdgeTX Radio, you’re lacking out! It turns your EdgeTX radio from a fundamental transmitter into a wise, useful device. Particular Capabilities in EdgeTX just isn’t probably the most complicated a part of the radio, however it’s actually probably the most helpful. When you perceive the essential concept of set off + motion, the entire menu turns into a lot simpler to know and use.
Have you ever arrange any notably helpful Particular Capabilities in your radio? Share them within the feedback under — I all the time take pleasure in seeing inventive setups from the group.
