Enabling RSSI or Link Quality in MinimOSD with EzUHF Rx and HKPilot32(or Pixhawk)

This is a quick how-to to get the RSSI or LINK quality on your MinimOSD you need the following:

1)  Download MinimOSD Tools and Firmware. Download the MinimOSD configuration tool (CT Tools) and Minimosd ‘extra’ firmware from: https://code.google.com/p/minimosd-extra/

For my setup I download the following files from: https://code.google.com/p/minimosd-extra/downloads/list

CTTools:   CT Tool for MinimOSD Extra 2.3.2.0 Pre Release r727.zip
Firmware: MinimOSD-Extra_Plane_Pre-release_2.4_r719.hex

2) Setup EzUHF Receiver to send RSSI or LINK quality values.  Since you are using a Pixhawk or HKPilot, the setup should be that all the channels goes through channel 1 which is ‘muxed’.  Connect to your EzUHF receiver using a USB cable and open the ImmersionRC Configuration Tool.  Once connected, just set channel 8 to either RSSI or LINK  (only channel 8 will with MinimOSD for now so its pointless experimenting with other channels).  You can use either RSSI or LINK, but I suggest you use LINK as RSSI is all about the signal strength and not the actual quality of the link.  Upload the settings to the receiver.  Here’s how it looks like:

ezhuf rssi setup
ezhuf rssi setup

4)  Do not edit any parameters in APM or MP.  You do not need to change or update any settings in the AP configuration so leave it as is.

5)  Get the maximum and minimum RSSI or LINK PWM values in MinimOSD.  For this next step, both segments of the MinimOSD must be powered or any updates in the configuration you make with the MinimOSD will not be saved. The OSD output end must be powered with 12v and the other end is plugged to your laptop with an FTDI cable.  Like so:

minimosd config setup
minimosd config setup

Use the configuration tool to set up the RSSI values (in Panel 1). Make sure you write the configuration to MinimOSD.  On the main ‘Config’ panel make sure that you’ve set the ‘RSSI Channel’ to Channel 8… AND make sure the RSSI Enable RAW is checked.

minimosd rssi setup
minimosd rssi setup (the RSSI enable raw must be checked to get raw values)

Save the configuration, remove the MinimOSD, plug it into the Pixhawk cable and Vtx/Camera cables and power up your system.  On the OSD screen where you’ve set the RSSI to be, you should see a number.  Take note of this as this is your ‘maximum’ link quality value.   Unplug your transmitter and take note of the value.  This time you should see a smaller number.  This is the minimum link quality value.  For my setup, the highest was 1793 and the lowest was 1056. I just set it to 1800 and 1050 since the OSD is limited to steps of 10.   Now power down the system, disconnect all cables, connect 12v power source to the MinimOSD and plug back the MinimOSD to your laptop.

6) Update the MinimOSD PWM Min and Max RSSI Values.  Finally,  fire up the MinimOSD CTools again and change the Minimum and Maximum RSSI values to the one you got in step 5.  Also set uncheck the ‘RSSI Enable Raw’ so you can see the values in percentage format. Save the configuration and test.

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