Does the Night Radian LED Controller work with both the BNF and PNP versions of the plane?
The PNP (plug and play) version of the FT Night Radian does not come with a receiver, you have to supply your own. Because of that, this module is completely compatible, as long as the receiver you install has a spare channel that it can plug into.
The most recent version of the BNF (bind and fly) EFlite Night Radian comes with the newer Spektrum AR631 receiver, which is completely unlocked, and only needs a channel assignment on the transmitter.
The original FliteTest BNF (bind and fly) version of the Night Radian came with a Spektrum AS3X 6 channel receiver (AR636), but channels 4 and 6 are not assigned to any channel in the receiver. Channel 5 is used for SAFE and AS3X functions. Channels 4 and/or 6 can be assigned, but that requires a USB cable and the Spektrum app in order to do so. This is not a limitation of my LED controller, this is a limitation of the receiver that was installed in the plane by the factory. If you google "as3x programming cable" you will find links to buy the cable, as well as articles and blogs from people who have done it.
Here are some helpful links:
Here’s the programming cable you need to unlock the Spektrum receiver:
https://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPMA3065
Once you have the cable, the software can be found here:
http://spektrumrc.cachefly.net/apps/spektrum_programmer.html
And yes, there are a number of posts from others that have done this. Here is a link to one:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=44635411&postcount=29
And an entire series of videos from Spektrum that show in depth how to program their receivers. Video 4 in this series is probably where you want to start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnYiKgrL_bU
The Night Radian LED module is powered through the receiver, and it powers all the LEDs from that too. Won’t that draw too much current and cause a brownout in my radio gear?
When designing the Night Radian LED Controller, we wanted to eliminate the need for drawing power from the balance plug of the battery. Because of this, we were very careful along the way, and constantly measured current draw of the system. With a stock Night Radian setup, I could turn on all LEDs to their brightest white setting, stall both servos, and command full deflection of elevator and rudder, and I was consistently only drawing 2.1 to 2.2 amps from the battery to power everything. The airplane comes with a 3 amp BEC, so there was more than enough margin available for all the electronics to be powered through the plane’s onboard BEC.
That being said, if you have modified the radio gear or replaced the servos, I strongly recommend you check your current draw with a watt meter, LEDs on full bright white, stalling both servos commanding full deflection, to make sure you are still under the 3 amp limit of the BEC. If you have replaced the stock ESC, and it has a lower BEC rating, then you will need to power the LED Controller from a separate BEC.
This LED controller does not interface with any telemetry systems for sending data back to your transmitter. It simply changes the LEDs to indicate your relative altitude and rate of ascent/descent. There are a number of “shows” on this controller, and they are selected by turning the rotary know on your transmitter slowly from low to high. The first show, at the knobs lowest setting, is simply, all LEDs off, only NAV lights on, if they are enabled. As you rotate the knob, there are several solid color shows, flashing and/or strobe shows, chase shows, and finally, at the knobs highest setting, you have the altitude show. The altitude show will read the altitude when the unit is first powered up, then, as the altitude increases, it will start lighting up more LEDs on the wings, up to 400 feet AGL, where all the wing LEDs will be lit up. If half the wing is lit up, you are at about 200 feet AGL. If you continue to climb above 400 feet, the LEDs will start turning orange instead of white to indicate that you are above 400 feet. This will continue until you have reached 800 feet. Also in the altitude show, the LEDs on the horizontal stabilizer will start out white, and as you ascend they will turn more green, and as you descend, they will turn more red. The higher your rate of change, the more intense the color will be on the tail.
How do I use the altitude and variometer function on this controller? Do I need a radio system that has telemetry?
Is there a way to update the code running on the LED Controller?
Yes. We have created our own WingnutTech programming app that runs on Windows, Mac, or Linux. You can find full instructions for how to use this on our Code Update page.
We have also released the source code, so if you are a programmer and are interested in customizing the code for your own purposes, you can download it from our GitHub repository and load it to the LED Controller. The LED Controller runs off a standard Arduino Nano, so all you will need to do is install the Arduino IDE software, open our code file, and save it to the LED Controller using a mini USB cable.
Keep in mind that if you modify the code for your own purposes and the unit stops working, we will not be able to offer any support for your custom code. You will be able to load our current code back onto the unit to make it work again.
Why are there 2 RC Inputs?
The second input is used for radios that don’t have a knob, but do have a switch that controls an auxiliary channel. It makes it easier for users that only have a 2 or 3 position switch. Some radios don’t set full travel on their switches, so you don’t end up selecting the shows that you expect when using a switch. Using RC Input 2 changes the way it reads the input signal, so if the switch is in the up position, the controller will cycle through the patterns every few seconds. As soon as you move the switch to the down position, the pattern stops on the current one.