DIY Spek DSM2 / DSMX JR Module - For my Taranis & Horus by dmyers7

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

I started with using an OrangeRX module to fly my Horizon and DSM2/DSMX equipped RC aircraft. With it not being FCC certified, only operating at 100mW (as opposed to 200mW) and not able to offer full integration into my Taranis radio for features like model match, binding and range test from the radios menus, I wanted more. So I bought a DX4e from Ebay to harvest the true Spek radio module.
After testing tonight, I get quicker resyncing after drop outs (simulated during range testing), greater range than the Orange module (no dropouts even at 50 paces), model match to prevent accidental use of the wrong aircraft profile, and fully integrated bind and range testing from the software menus (no manual button presses). DSM2 and DSMX worked flawless and require no manual mode switching to achieve. (6-29-2014 You can run all aircraft in DSMX mode from the Taranis and the module will automatically drop back to DSM2 for those receivers that require it. This is what I do now).
After test flying today, I found that there was next to no latency since there is no middle step of decoding a PPM stream (as in a traditional plug-in module) just to re-encode to DSM2 or DSMX since the Taranis is talking directly DSM2 or DSMX to the transmitter module; this is a big Plus +++. I'm loving on this mod.
After some time and 20-30 flights later, the latency difference is definitely noticeable, in a good way (i.e. shorter to instant). It is noticeable mainly when performing 3D flight, but definitely noticeable. If you are flying patterns and light aerobatics a straight PPM type module would most likely be just fine, but if throttle punching and full stick precision aerobatic flight is your thing, this mod is for you. (You are not always chasing the movement of your model and stopping the maneuver too late because of the lag in stick to servo). Enjoy :-)