BlueLink for Vbar - Andriod App

[Stuart]

Bought myself the Andriod app for vbar this week and started to search for a Bluetooth adapter for the vbar.

Ironically I was looking for a good cheap gyro so I went on the Spartan site for a reconditioned gyro on the off chance I looked at there 'Blue-Link' and they have a vbar option.

It arrived paired with my phone (had to put in a password - 1234 as explained in the instructions) and opened the vbar app and bingo it works a treat.

We decided to watch a live vibration log on the OS105 the only two spikes we saw was when I picked up the heli to walk to the flight box and then put it down. Other than that no vibration issues at all.....

Spartan :: Spartan :: Blue-Link [Clearance]

[Andy from Sandy]

I got these

2pcs Serial Bluetooth RF Transceiver Module RS232 TTL 4Pin Built in antenna 30ft on eBay!

Not from this seller but the same and they came with cables. I used the two to change the pin.

I just hope no-one puts your v-bar into setup mode while you are flying now they know the pin!

Your unit might be the long range version but for me a 30ft range seems enough.

[coolice]

Hey.

I'm running the same units as Andy and they work very well, range is excellent which makes for some comical flying when you start to wonder just how high you can get the vibration figure in flight ;-)
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[MattHarper]

Hey.

I'm running the same units as Andy and they work very well
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I've just bought a couple of them to try out. Are they pretty straight forward to wire to the unit ?

[coolice]

I've just bought a couple of them to try out. Are they pretty straight forward to wire to the unit ?

Hey buddy.

Yes, very easy. Are you running a full size or mini vbar? I'm running full size blues and connection is straight forward, the only thing which might need more thought is if you are using a servo voltage above 6 volts, as the BT units fry at any voltage over 6v. On the full size V's you can simply take power from the sensor ports, which is regulated to 3.3 volts and this is what I am doing. On a mini you may have to run a step down to bring voltage below 6 volts.
The supplied leads have crimped on pins the same as a stock servo plug, so I pop the two power wires into an empty plug casing and this plugs into a sensor port for power. The supplied 4 pin plug goes to the serial connection point for the tx and rx signals from the vbar.

There is some good connection diagrams over on HF, if I can find them on my phone browser I'll post them.
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[coolice]

Mini V connection points;

Connection To V Bar Via Bluetooth. - Page 2 - HeliFreak
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[MattHarper]

Thanks coolice. I'm running a full size V from a regulator. Is the pin out the same on the V and the mini-V ?

[Andy from Sandy]

The 4 pin connector has the same pin assignments on both flavours of v-bar.

[Connor Sloan]

I'm using the same as coolice and andy, it works perfectly

[MattHarper]

Looking at the pin assignments described in the HeliFreak link for the mini-V they appear to be reversed on the full size V-bar.

Connection To V Bar Via Bluetooth. - Page 2 - HeliFreak





I've probed around with a DMM and this appears to be correct. Can anyone confirm ?

Thanks

[Andy from Sandy]

The order of the pinouts is the same else Mikado's own control panel wouldn't work with both units. They are not really reversed as one has the connector on the top and the other has it on the side.

[MattHarper]

The pin order will be the same but it appears that they seem to be flipped by 180 degrees between the top mounted position (min-V) and side mounted position (Full size V). Do you agree ?

[Andy from Sandy]

I am struggling to see why that is a problem?

[bpgoa]

Thought I'd report that I've put the app on an Archos 8 android tablet. (Maplin for £200) and it works great. With the cheap bt 232 modules.

[Andy from Sandy]

I cannot remember how I did it now but I found instructions on how to change the PIN number. I purchased two BT modules in order that I could do it.