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Next in order of appearance are several more advanced features that we don’t need for basic airplane setup — Curves, Global Variables, Logical Switches, Special Functions, and Custom Scripts, all of which will make excellent follow up classes for the OpenTX University.  You’ll find more on Logical Switches here:  Logical Switch Functions.   Classes on Lua scriptis start here:  Lua Scripts.  We SP PAGE forward to Telemetry pg 13 of 13 for the built in radio signal strength and receiver voltage.

Once we’re safe from prop bite, let’s turn on the Tx and power up the Rx.  Check for a solid green LED on the Rx to confirm the bind (help with binding is back in the Introduction).   If you’re getting intermittent “signal lost” reports from the Taranis, the Tx and  Rx need to be physically separated further.  We now have both the RSSI signal strength and the voltage that is seen by the Rx available to view on the Taranis screen.  No other actions required (sweet!).  The receiver voltage will appear in three of the four Main Screens, and the RSSI value can be found in the Telemetry Views accessed by LP PAGE from the Main Screens.

If you are a stickler for accuracy and have the equipment and skills, you’re welcome to measure the actual voltage at the receiver and adjust the receiver voltage displayed on the Taranis using the Offset feature for the A1 field in Telemetry.   You probably will find voltage to be pretty accurate as is.  Voltage at the receiver can be useful to avoid launching with a not-fully-charged receiver battery, or can be logged for analysis after the flight if you suspect your ESC may be going bad.

A low warning value of the antennae signal strength at the Rx is pre-set at 45, and a critical warning value at 42.  If you’re an RC pilot who would appreciate an alert when things are getting ‘iffy’, those defaults will alert you to approaching range issues with your model or to interference that could put your model at risk.  Future revisions to the RSSI telemetry value may reflect a more technical version of the signal strength.

We defer more details about Telemetry and logging for another class.  Let’s wrap up.