DIY Pocket Transmitter

by FliteTest | February 10, 2016 | (13) Posted in Projects

DIY Pocket Transmitter

Definitely different looking and feeling, The wood and brass is a nice retro touch. 
The pocket TX is much smaller than the regular Horizon 4Ch TX.

The guts of the spektrum radio

The simple board layout makes intergration into other projects super easy.

The modified TX board and the one right out of the unmodified TX

Don't put the screws in this part of the TX though! The spacing is too close and may bridge contacts.

4X AAA batteries equals 6Volts! 

The other half simply slips over the back cover

You can use the TX for all sorts of projects!

Flies just fine and dosent feel much different than the other transmitter.

FREE PLANS

Pocket Tx Box Plans

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COMMENTS

AERODROME on February 10, 2016
FREE PLANS POCKET TX BOX PLANS LINK DOES NOT WORK FOR ME.
IF PUSH COMES TO SHOVE USE DIGITAL SERVOS THEY CAN BE REVERSED WITH THE SERVO PROGRAMMER AND END POINTS SET TO MATCH.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 10, 2016
The tiny linear servos are almost always analog, but that's fine.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 10, 2016
Peter did a great job of explaining how to reverse the channels on the Tx.
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AERODROME on February 10, 2016
THANKS FOR THE ARTICLE, BINDING AND PROGRAMMING INFO PETER.
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benny on February 10, 2016
Cool
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benny on February 10, 2016
What servos did you guys use for the plane?

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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 10, 2016
The demonstration piece of foam probably used Hextronik 9g servos, and the paper airplane most likely used micro linear servos from a UMX plane.
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SHolman on February 10, 2016
Peter, I have a transmitter from my Duet that was blown away by the wind. :( Could it be used like this? Would you see if it will bind to a Spektrum receiver? Thanks for any help.

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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 10, 2016
No, that transmitter won't bind to a standard Spektrum, unfortunately.
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Majesticness on March 6, 2016
No It is deferent. I have it To.
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albertlane on February 10, 2016
Just way to cool!! How about more info on the powered airplane please. Motor, servos ,power please.
Thanks mucho.
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kwak on February 11, 2016
Yes, please. I tried listening to what Peter calls the plane but could not make it out.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 10, 2016
This is just TOO COOL!

I have one of these, but with a broken antenna :).
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Yogenh on February 10, 2016
Are you going to make a speed build kit for it?? I think that would be great!!!!!!
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jksbusiness on February 10, 2016
Peter, you are so cleaver. Gonna pull apart an old Tx and see what I can discover.
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davereap on February 11, 2016
what about using a full range module .ie a cheap dsmx orange tx module made for jr or futaba sets . to replace the short range board in the tx... possible or not???
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Thorsclaw on February 12, 2016
or maybe just change the antenna?
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Dos4n on February 11, 2016
Bulid video on the plane?
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Mach29 on February 11, 2016
I'm still pretty new to the RC hobby and I don't have much cash. This is so amazing because I do have an extra transmitter. All I need to order online is electronics and now I can start building and flying!!!


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model3113 on February 13, 2016
You mention using .22 casings for the control sticks, but where did you source the other button covers? I mean, being a DIY project I'll probably use something else, but I'm still curious.
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Epitaph on February 14, 2016
You can also do something similar with the WLToys V9xx transmitters as they will bind to the Flysky receivers. The problem is they need to rebind every time you turn them on, so all you have to do is keep the bind plug in the receiver and add a small switch on the wire that joins the signal to the GND pins on the bind plug. Press the switch and turn the receiver on, then turn the transmitter on, and once bound, just release the switch. This also works with the small 3 channel surface receivers if you want something nice and light and just need 3 channels.

They also don't have reversing or anything like that, but you can reverse a servo itself pretty easily by opening it up and swapping the 2 outer wires that go to the pot inside, so you can make a small transmitter system for a specific plane. As for V-tail or Elevons, you can make a small onboard circuit with a tiny 12C508A PIC chip and a couple of disk capacitors that you just fit inside the plane on the channels you want it to mix.

The WLToys V9xx transmitters (the V2x2 ones use a different protocol based off the nRF24L01 chip) use 6 batteries to power them, so you can just use a small 2S LiPo to power it, or as I did, just get 2 old cellphone batteries (same make and model of course) and turn them into a small 2S Li-Ion which gives a lot of power at a very small size.
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danallen82 on April 25, 2016
Epitaph, do you have more information on doing this mod? My goal is get a Tx that is small enough for kids, since normal Tx are made for adults. Are there any smaller Txs that are even smaller, which can bind to other devices?
Would these work together? http://www.banggood.com/DIY-FRSKY-8CH-Receiver-RX-PPM-Output-For-X9DPLUS-XJT-DJT-DFT-DHT-p-987247.html
http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-WLtoys-V911-V912-V913-V949-RC-Helicopter-Transmitter--p-42822.html
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james.ketchem on February 15, 2016
PETER, are you going to have the plans for the paper airplane you was flying?i been thinking of getting 1 but i like to build my own instead,no faa number needed,lol
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flyingsquirrelrc on February 15, 2016
Hi does anyone know if this Tx has elevon mixing? I want elevon mixing but don't want to drop a lot of money on a new expensive Tx. Thanks.
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Majesticness on March 6, 2016
Can you do elevon mixing? If yes can you tell me Please.

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jackweed on April 1, 2016
LOL
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Kick_A_Puppy on July 23, 2016
Peter,
This is awesome. I want to use my old champ or delta ray parts to make a scratch build. Any suggestions on a FT design that would be compatible?
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saturn28 on March 10, 2017
Amazing job!
I built it, and my gosh, how cool simple, and yet so great quality you made the design!

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DIY Pocket Transmitter