When do we see a Bruce developed DIY 2.4 ghz RC then? ;)

[palton]

So when will be able to see a Bruce DIY developed RC radio (2.4Ghz) system with built in telemetry system?

Would be a real fun project I think.

[RCModelReviews]

I had intended to really invest quite a bit of time on such a project -- until the Chinese began delivering such damned good stuff at kick-ass prices.

Originally I did quite a bit of work with the XBeePro modules (the ones that XPS were using) but found that there are definite issues associated with single-frequency operation (as many XPS users found out for themselves). I had considered going to a hopping solution using these modules but the original module wouldn't support this very easily.

Then, while I was doing this, the Chinese started delivering some very nice systems using the TI chipset which has excellent sensitivity, good hopping capabilities and (thanks to some extra switches and so forth), true antenna diversity.

There's just no way to knock up something as good as (for instance) the FrSky V8 receiver for anything like the small price that these things cost to buy. What's more, now they're about to ship a telemetry-enabled version anyway.

Where I might look a little further is in building a "native 2.4GHz" system that would allow you to avoid using a PPM pulse-train as the intermediate path for the data. I've already built an encoder board that does all the A-D conversion, mixing, etc. I could then use this board to drive the RF section of the one of the Chinese module-based transmitter boards. This would allow for very low latency, telemetry, auto-model-select and a whole bunch of other cool features that can't currently be implemented using PPM-based modules.

Any input anyone might have regarding the direction that such a project could take is welcome to contribute in this thread.