Review FrSKY XSRF3E - F3Evo FC with integrated full telemetry XSR receiver
Intro: Modern trends on quad scene are going into miniaturization and integration of electronically flight elements into combo. First appeared 4in1 ESCs, which I really like because I think they make possible better and cleaner builds. Than PDB+FC+OSD combinations came etc… With appearance of tiny whoop micro style quads I saw combination of FC and receiver and I own QX70 70mm and QX90 90mm micro quad which came as BNF version with F3 brushed FC with integrated D8 FrSky compatible receiver and it works great. Now FrSky joined this style and made this great product XSRF3E - F3Evo FC with integrated full telemetry XSR receiver. I am very excited about this product as it will enable us super light and clean builds of which I am great fan. Especially, XSRF3E in combination with 4in1 ESC (with onboard 5vBEC) build will look super clean.
Specifications XSRF3E (taken from FrSky site): * Dimension: 36×36×6mm (L × W × H) with 30.5mm mounting holes * Hardware: STM32F303 CPU (72Mhz inc FPU), MPU9250 (accelerometer/gyro/compass), and BMP280 barometer for F3E * Weight: 6g * Channels: 16CH (8CH is RSSI) by SBUS to UART2 Rx of F3E, Smart Port of XSR to UART3 Tx of F3E * Operating Voltage Range: 4.0~10V * Operating Current: 200mA@5V * Compatibility: FrSky Taranis X9D/X9D-Plus/X9E/ Horus X12S/XJT in D16 mode * Firmware: Upgradeable
Features: * Built-in F3E and XSR receiver module * Features the latest Accelerometer, Gyro and Compass and Baro sensor technology * XSR receiver is a full duplex telemetry receiver, it will receive the commands of radio and send to F3E by SBUS (8CH is RSSI) to UART2 Rx of F3E, it can also send telemetry information back to radio by smart port * After configuration, you can use the FrSky X9D/X9D-Plus/X9E radio (wireless) to set the PID parameters for XSRF3E * 6 PWM output signal lines for ESCs and Servos. Arranged for easy wiring on standard pin headers Software: * The F3E runs the open-source Cleanflight/ Betaflight flight control (FC) software and firmware upgradeable (SPRACINGF3EVO), the factory firmware is betaflight_3.0.1_XSRF3E * The XSR receiver runs the software which was developed by FrSky and firmware is upgradeable. In the box: * XSRF3E * Manual – or DL from here * Brake-out cables for connecting to ESCs * Few pin header connectors for optional soldering to the XSRF3E
Overview:
Compatibility: * Taranis X9E, X9D and X9D-Plus * Horus X12S * New FrSky Q X7 * XJT external module in D16 mode Buy yours XSRF3E HERE BetaFlight settings and configuration dump:
The factory firmware is BetaFlight/SPRACINGF3EVO 3.0.0 Sep 28 2016 / 14:19:58. These are screenshots of original configuration and LINK to download complete dump of settings. I won’t be using BF3.0.0 as it does not support Dshot protocol, so I will upgrade to latest BF FW, which is now BF3.1.0 Updating to BetaFlight 3.1.0 FW can be updated and to do that SPRACINGF3EVO target should be used. XSRF3E settings:
Upgrading receiver FW: Built-in receiver should have INT and EU FWs. There are SPort pins on the board which you should use to upgrade XSR receiver. NOTICE FW for this receiver that is in combo with F3 FC board might not be the same as the FW for standalone receivers. I will check with FrSky and update here when I have the answer from FrSky. Conclusion: I really can only highly recommend this FC & receiver combo. Its brand (FrSky) provides insurance of quality and future support, and second, it enables us light and clean builds. Pros:
* integrated 16CH SBUS XSR receiver * per-flashed and per-configured to work out of the box - plug `n play * clean and light build * RSSI on CH8 for forwarding to ODS * full duplex telemetry to UART3 port on the F3Evo * PID tuning over transmitter telemetry display - article (is in DE language, use google translate) * detachable antennas for easy maintenance Cons: * no onboard blackbox * not F4 Suggestion for next revision of this Combo: * Flash onboard storage for blackbox * Onboard 5V BEC that will enable FC and XSR to run directly from LiPo battery * F4 processor (MPU9250 gyro supports 32kHz sampling) – this is the must as BF even now already supports 32kHz gyro and PID loop speeds on F4 processors Taken from BetaFlight github: Added experimental 32kHz support for gyros that support it - @martinbudden. Usually F4 board will run fine on 32kHz gyro and 16kHz pid loop. 32/32 is slightly too much for CPU. F7 target is now the only one able to run 32kHz/32kHz flawlessly with even accelerometer enabled. To enable 32kHz mode use CLI setting gyro_use_32khz = ON. (Configurator will not display correct speed until the next configurator update, but you will see the real cycletime). NOTE - only flight controllers with MPU6500, MPU9250, and ICM-series (eg ICM20689) gyro support 32kHz mode. TODO: * Build (waiting for my 4in1 ESC for this build to arrive) * Flight footage to be continued...
