The Maker Boat Basic uses the FrSky X9 Lite RC transmitter, which is a cheaper version of the X9D, and the FrSky X8R RC receiver. Hopefully your FrSky X9 Lite ships with the latest firmware but you can download it here and follow this video, if necessary. The X9 Lite uses rechargeable lithium 18650 batteries and it’s important to get the button top version. Other RC transmitters and receivers may also work.
FrSky X9 Lite Batteries
First, we will bind the transmitter and the receiver. You can also watch this video to see the binding procedure.
- Charge the X9 lite batteries
- Flip the transmitter over and open the battery compartment. You might need to use a small screwdriver to gently lift the tab on the cover
- Check the polarity labels. Some of these units shipped with mislabeled polarity indicators in the battery compartment. Ensure that the positive ‘+’ indicator is on the same side as the red battery wire
- Insert both batteries, close the battery compartment and flip the transmitter back over
Power up
- Press the power button located in between both sticks to turn it on
- If the transmitter does not power on, check the TX battery voltage (make sure they’re fully charged) and double-check polarity. If they are fully charged and the polarity is correct, remove the batteries and check the positive ends. If they are flat (not domed), use a small screwdriver to gently bend the positive ends slightly upwards to ensure a physical connection between both batteries
- After the transmitter is powered on, you may see a switch, throttle, and/or failsafe warning. These can be ignored for now
- If any warnings appear, hit any button to close them and then you should see the main screen with the current model (MODEL 01) indicated, as well as the battery voltage
Bind the X9 Lite with the X8R
- Press the ‘Menu’ button once
- With ‘MODEL01’ selected, press the ‘Page’ button once
- Use the scroll wheel to scroll down to ‘Mode’
- Push down on the scroll wheel to change the mode, and scroll until you have selected ‘ACCST D16’. With ‘ACCST D16’ selected, push down once on the scroll wheel to select this option
- Scroll down to ‘RxNum’ and push down on the scroll wheel once. Leave the RxNum set to 01 and scroll over to ‘Bnd’. Push down on the scroll wheel once
- After you select ‘Bnd’ a window with different channel options will open. Select ‘Ch1-8 Telem OFF’
- The transmitter should start chirping
- Use a small screwdriver to push down on the failsafe button on the X8R receiver while connecting a 4S LiPo to the Power module. This will put the receiver into bind mode
- Once the transmitter and receiver are bound the LED on the X8R will flash red and green
- Press down on the scroll wheel once to take the transmitter out of bind mode (and to end the chirping)
- Disconnect the battery
- Reconnect the battery and the LED on the X8R should now flash solid green to indicate that it is bound to a transmitter
FrSky X9 Lite Switch setup
The X9 Lite has 5 switches and 1 knob dial in addition to the 2 gimbal sticks. The switch names and their positions are shown on the display after the transmitter is turned on. FrSky names the switches ‘S’ followed by a letter A-E and their locations on the transmitter are indicated in the first image in this post. The switches on the FrSky X9 Lite need to be set up so that they are active on the radio and read by QGC and can be used to change vehicle operation modes (manual, loiter, auto), arm/disarm the vehicle, start/stop a camera, move a gimbal, etc.
- Power on your transmitter
- In the main menu on the transmitter hit the ‘Menu’ button once to enter the first page for your model
- Press the ‘Page’ button until you reach the 5th page ‘INPUTS’
- Do not modify the first 4 entries, which should read Thr, Ail, Ele, Rud
- Use the scroll wheel to scroll down to ‘I05’ and press the scroll wheel once
- Scroll down to ‘Source’ and press the scroll wheel once. The highlighted text should start flashing
- Flip switch ‘SA’ up and down. The text should now flash ‘SA’. Press the scroll wheel once to select it as the source for Channel 5
- Scroll up to ‘Name’ and press the scroll wheel once. Use the scroll wheel to spell out ‘mode’
- Press ‘Exit’ until you return to the ‘INPUTS’ page
- Scroll down to ‘I06’ and press the scroll wheel once
- Scroll down to ‘Source’ and press the scroll wheel once. The highlighted text should start flashing
- Flip switch ‘SD’ up and down. The text should now flash ‘SD’. Press the scroll wheel once to select it as the source for Channel 6
- Scroll up to ‘Name’ and press the scroll wheel once. Use the scroll wheel to spell out ‘arm’
- Press ‘Exit’ until you return to the ‘INPUTS’ page
- Press the ‘Page’ button once to reach the 6th page ‘MIXER’. Note that the following steps on the ‘MIXER’ page are very similar to those just executed on the ‘INPUTS’ page
- Do not modify the first 4 entries, which should read Thr, Ail, Ele, Rud
- Scroll down to CH5 and press the scroll wheel once
- In the MIXER page for CH5, scroll down to ‘Source’ and press the scroll wheel once. The highlighted text should start flashing
- Flip switch ‘SA’ up and down. The text should now flash ‘SA’. Press the scroll wheel once to select it as the source for Channel 5
- Scroll up to ‘Name’ and press the scroll wheel once. Use the scroll wheel to spell out ‘mode’
- Press ‘Exit’ when finished
- Scroll down to ‘CH6’ and press the scroll wheel once
- Scroll down to ‘Source’ and press the scroll wheel once. The highlighted text should start flashing
- Flip switch ‘SD’ up and down. The text should now flash ‘SD’. Press the scroll wheel once to select it as the source for Channel 6
- Scroll up to ‘Name’ and press the scroll wheel once. Use the scroll wheel to spell out ‘arm’ and press ‘Exit’ when finished
- Press ‘Exit’ until you return to the main display screen
Two switches, SA and SD, should be setup on the X9 Lite and can be configured in QGroundControl to change the navigation mode and to arm/disarm the vehicle. Now, proceed to radio setup in QGC.