Ultimate7e tutorial: Processor upgrade

Um, what's "H8 silverware"?

Maybe it's a typo and you've got some sort of H8 acro firmware (and don't get me wrong, that'd be cool too) but I can't get past what on earth H8 silverware might be... If it's not a typo / autocorrect error I have to know lol.

H8 acro and H101 acro/3d firmware is exactly what it is lol, and it's coder's username is silverxxx hence silverware

you can find the thread that details the firmware here >> www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2512604 and I can thoroughly reccomend it, it turns the h101 into an awesome 3d capable mini quad, and seeing as they are only $14 a piece this can't be beat. plus the boards can be used fir larger builds as well

Another Ultimate 7e !

What kind of anntennae do you use for non-stock rf modules? How's the range with it?

Fernandez wrote: Another Ultimate 7e !

welcome to the brotherhood

welcome to the brotherhood

Hopefully @Fernandez doesn't have to take the vow of silence

Modded another Devo 7e, but have problems with FMOD & HOLD switches. Everything else are working except these 2 switches. Does anyone know which processor pins are responsible for detecting the FMOD & HOLD switches.

PS. The 3x2 switches are working properly, just the FMOD & HOLD didn't work.

Wow, I'm starting to lose count of the number of 256K mods out there. I'm guessing 18.

@phantom8, the pins you want are PC10 (Pin 51) and PC11 (Pin 52).

Anyone else with the 2 3-way switch mod having the same problems? I'll check the code later after work, just in case.

silpstream wrote: @phantom8, the pins you want are PC10 (Pin 51) and PC11 (Pin 52).

Thanks for the info! Somehow the connection for Pin 51 & 52 weren't good. Checked with multimeter. Resolder these 2 pins and everything is good. Your code is good, the 2 3-way switches are working fine.

The antenna's are J-pole type for 2.4ghz. I find they work perectly well.
the plastic stick antenna look big and good, but basically just a monopole antenna and the actually radiating element is very small.

all cellphone have embedded antenna....Also antenna pointing towards model is not ideal. J pole have slightly more gain and have a pretty good wideband VSWR. I bought these at DX.com. There is one better J-pole 2.4ghz design out there, but I couldn's find the them for sale.

they should put this antenna direct on the 4 in 1 module. DN007, I think is good design if mounted horizontally, for TX.
hackaday.com/2014/02/28/pcb-antenna-reference-designs/

I'll consider implementing this for my switch/flash board for 4-in-1 module.

This is my first post and I want to say thank you to everyone who makes this happen. I have been reading this forum for about a year or so now, and I have really learned a lot so thank you to all of you and the list is so great that I can only mention a few like PB who started this, mwm, goebish, hexfet, HappyHarry, slipstream, Deal57, Cereal_Killer, and so many more that I’m sorry if I did not mention you. It doesn’t mean you are forgotten. I have modded several Devo 7e and a couple of Devo 6s all running deviation without issues. This topic intrigued me so I decided to give it a go. I bought the ST32F103RET6 mcu and the programmer for about $5 dollars each with fast shipping.

I read this whole thread several times before attempting the upgrade. I was trying to decide on how I was going to do it. I end up do what I thought would be the simplest way to do this. I decided to just get down and dirty so I went medieval and cut the chip out. Worked fairly well except for I was a little heavy handed in the beginning, and started out the wrong way. At first I was going to use a very fine set of cutter that i had but I ended up damaging the traces for pins 29 and 30. So I switched to a very sharp exacto knife, but if you do this make sure to use a brand new blade. It only takes a few gentle swipes on each side to cut through the pins and free the chip. I had no plans to reuse the old mcu so this was okay for me.

After having removed the mcu I then cleaned up the pads to prepare for the new chip, and at that time I was not sure if I could make the two pads for pins 29 and 30 work with the new chip. Pin 29 went to a via under the mcu so I removed the LCD display to see where came out at in case I needed to solder the pin to a different location. My plan all along was to hand solder in the new mcu on the board and that proved to be a little more time consuming to do than I had anticipated. Once I tacked the chip down I worked on pins 29 and 30, and I was lucky to get them solder to the traces even though they look a little funny. I proceed to solder the rest of the pins on the chip to the board. Another tip I would suggest is check your work with a microscope if you have one, or access to one. When I did I found that many of the pins were not soldered down. I had tested the chip the first time after soldering in the chip with a DMM, and it seem okay at the time, but I think I was apply enough pressure when taking the readings to make contact. It was only when I checked under a microscope that I saw many of the pins were not soldered down. And one side was so far off center that I had to slightly bend each pin over to reach the pads. Finally I fixed the problems and everything tested good. It did not turn out pretty but I was pretty sure it would work, or I least I was praying it would. You can see in the close up pictures of the mcu how badly off the pins are. Sorry if they are not so clear. I took them through one of the eyepieces of the microscope with my iphone.

Next, I soldered on a header so I could hook up the programmer after which I installed it back temporarily to the case to connect the battery for the programming. To my surprise all went well and I was successful at getting the 256K boot loader installed on the chip. Woohoo! I was stoked the next thing to try was installing the deviation firmware. I went with HappyHarry’s version of deviation 5.0. You can tell by the pictures that I was successful. Along the way I did the range mod, LED mod, 3 in 1 module mod, 2x3-way switches mod, and installed an u.fl connector the stock CYRF module. Now for a bunch or pictures! Hope everyone likes them! And thanks again!

Did you make your own J-pole antenna or bought them somewhere?.. I heard some antenna designs are patented, but we all know this never stopped our Chinese friends from making business.

victzh wrote: I'll consider implementing this for my switch/flash board for 4-in-1 module.

I'm very interested in your board.

@ FluxedMatter

It looks not that bad ~~

Bit off topic;
The AN007 antenna design is here; www.ti.com/lit/an/swru120b/swru120b.pdf
I think is good choice for horizontal mount and internal Tx antenna, however I do ot see them anywhere for sale.

The Antenna I used in my Ultimate devo 7e are these;
www.dx.com/p/repair-parts-replacement-in...i-32562#.V1EyjG9f2dI

I expect the are bit less good as the AN007 design as the have no coax feed match..

welcome to the brotherhood FluxedMatter

HappyHarry wrote: welcome to the brotherhood FluxedMatter

I missed that... 19!!!

Thanks guys! Glad to really be here finally after lurking about. Thinking of adding the pots to my radio next.