TBS TANGO FPV Remote Revision 2017-01-12

All-in-one Remote Control System for FPV

The TBS TANGO FPV remote control is an all-in-one system made for FPV enthusiasts. It features built-in
video receiver and a slot for JR-compatible radio modules. Input controls are provided by quality quad
ball-bearing gimbals and camera operation is possible using smooth spring-loaded dials and rocker-switch. A
huge display shows the video stream right on the remote, with an option to connect external goggles.

Key features
• All-in-one FPV remote control with R/C radio and video receiver built-in
• JR-compatible slot for any R/C radio module
• Large 4.2-inch display for live video stream
• Quality ball-bearing gimbals for control and spring-loaded dials for smooth camera operation
• High capacity built-in Lithium-ion cells, charges via USB
• External port for goggles
• Channel mixing for flying wings

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Table of content

Attention
Overview
Detailed overview
Powering up
Power up
Factory mode
No-JR Module mode
PitMode
Remote Control Channel Mapping
Configuration menu
Main menu
Drone menu
Advanced menu
Remote menu
Display menu
Setup
Installing R/C radio module
Stick mode
Connecting goggles
Channel mixing and end-points
Flying Wings
Usage
Changing video receiver frequency
UP-button
SCAN-button
DOWN-button
Remote LED status indicator
Battery protection
Alert prompts
Opening up the remote
Changing the flight stick mode
Adjusting throttle ratchet strength
Replacing or upgrading battery
Swapping antenna
Factory mode
Main menu
Calibration
FrSky XJT
Firmware upgrade
Installing TBS Agent
Good practices

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Specifications
Type: All-in-one FPV Remote Control

RC system: JR-compatible expansion module required (not included)

FPV system: 5.8GHz VRX receiver, 40CH

Antenna: R/C: JR-module specific

VTX: 5G8 5dBi patch antenna, optional external SMA port

FPV Channels: Boscam A, B, E, Fatshark, Raceband

Display: LCD 4.2-inch, 640x480p

Models: 15 different models (incl. flying wings/V-tail)

R/C module JR-compatible RF module with CRSF, PPM or PXX (FrSky) stream (absolute
compatibility: max. ratings: -0.3V to 15V), e.g. Crossfire, JR, FrSky and similar radio modules

Battery: Li-Ion 18650 (2x) 3.7V 6000mAh internal battery cells, USB-charging, approx.
3 hours usage time, upgradable

Operating range: Variable depending on output power and radio environment

Ports: RJ45 connector for connecting and powering video goggles, e.g. FatSharks
DSC-jack for trainer connection
Micro-USB for software updates and charging

Controls: 2x Quad ball-bearing gimbals

2x Two-position switches
2x Three-position switches
2x Spring-loaded dials
2x Digital trims
3x Video RX buttons
1x Rocker switch

Working temperature: 0 - 40​°​C

Size: 240 x 170 x 55 mm

Weight: 340 grams, without R/C radio module

Kit contents: 1x TBS Tango Remote Controller

1x TBS Tango Neckstrap
1x RJ45 Audio/Video cable

3
Attention
These Long Range Systems are capable to use radio frequency transmissions and output power that may be
not allowed in your country.

Please always check your local RF legislation to set the frequency and output power according with
the regulation.

A general rule for RC aircrafts is that they must be controlled always under sight of view, check your RC
regulation to keep up to date with regulations.

4
Overview
The following diagrams indicates the essential input controls (green) and features (red) of the radio.

5
Detailed overview

JR-module slot, DSC, micro-USB, TBS-port (for Display and neck-strap connector
goggles), power button and speaker

Left gimbal for throttle and yaw, and digital pad for Right gimbal for aileron and elevator, and digital
trims pad for trims

Three-position (A/L2), two-position (B/L1) switch, Two-position (C/R1) switch, three-position (D/R2)
spring-loaded dial (SW E) and video receiver bay switch and spring-loaded (SW F) dial

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Powering up
Getting set up and ready to fly is a quick and simple task. In most cases plug&play when using TBS
equipment.

Power up
Press and hold the Power-button for half a second to turn on the remote. The TBS TANGO screen will
welcome you and the power button starts to flash green.

Factory mode
Press the Power-button and Down-button for 2 seconds to enter the factory mode (not factory reset), a
confirmation tone will sound. This is where you can calibrate control inputs, change test settings, read ADC
and PPM values, and change LCD display settings.

No-JR Module mode

Press the Power-button and Scan-button for 2 seconds to disable JR module power, a confirmation tone will
sound. This is handy when you want to conserve battery while watching your friends fly using the display.

PitMode
Press the Power-button and Rocker-button for 2 seconds to enter the PitMode, a confirmation tone will
sound. This will set the video receiver to 5584 Mhz, which is the TBS PitMode frequency. For more
information about PitMode, please consult the TBS UNIFY PRO manual.

USB Joystick
Plug-in a micro-USB cable, and press and hold the Scan-button on power up to activate the USB joystick
mode. The video receiver and screen turn off when this mode is activated. This mode will work with the most
common simulators available.

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Remote Control Channel Mapping
The channel arrangement of the PPM output to the RF module is dependant on the kind of flight controller
that is hooked-up on the receiver side.

In the configuration menu, you can change the mapping by changing the model type to match your particular
setup.

Flight control channel mapping type

PPM/
Serial DJI Naza 3DR Tiny Whoop/ Beta-/ OP/Taulabs
Channel BLADE Cleanflight

1 AIL AIL THR AIL AIL

2 ELE ELE AIL ELE ELE

3 THR THR ELE THR THR

4 RUD RUD RUD RUD RUD

5 Tuner L (E) 3-Pos Right (D) 3-Pos Right (D) 3-Pos Right (D) 3-Pos Right (D)

6 Tuner R (F) Tuner R (F) 2-Pos Right (C) 2-Pos Right (C) 2-Pos Right (C)

7 3-Pos Right (D) 2-Pos Right (C) 2-Pos Left (A) 2-Pos Left (A) 2-Pos Left (A)

8 2-Pos Right (C) 2-Pos Left (A) 3-Pos Left (B) 3-Pos Left (B) 3-Pos Left (B)

9 3-Pos Left (B) Tuner L (E) Tuner L (E) Tuner L (E) Tuner L (E)

10 2-Pos Left (A) 3-Pos Left (B) Tuner R (F) Tuner R (F) Tuner R (F)

8
Configuration menu
Changing settings on the TBS TANGO is done using the LCD display and controlled using the rocker-switch
and VRX buttons.

To enter and navigating the configuration menu system:

• Enter configuration menu - long press on the rocker-switch, 3 seconds
• Menu navigation - scroll back and forth using the rocker-switch
• Select/enter change - short press the rocker-switch
• Back/confirm change - long press the rocker-switch

Main menu
Main configuration menu when entering the system

• Exit ​- Leave menu system

• Drone ​- Models and details about the remote
flight system (name, flight control, switch map)
• Remote ​- Everything related to the remote
(stick mode, RF module, idle alarm, default
channel)
• Display ​- Fine tune the visual parameters
• Turn Off Display​ - Save power/less distraction
• Battery indicator​- The battery icon is
permanently shown to indicate how much
battery capacity is left, 0 to 4 bars - see battery

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TBS TANGO Radio - Menu Overview
Jan. 2017 - by ivc.no/tbs

Exit
Δ

Drone
Main Menu

Remote
Display
Turn Off Display

RF Module
Add New

Idle Warn.
Back
Δ
Model

Back Name TBS DISCO2 Back Back Back

Δ

Δ
* 1. TBS VENDETTA RF Module [D16] * PPM 10 Channel Stick Mode [1..4] Time (min.) [05]
Add New Model TBS Crossfire/CRSF Idle Warn [OFF] Alarm [ON]
Drone

Type [CF.]

Remote
DIAL E [ANG] FrySky D8 Home CH [A1]
DIAL F [SPD] FrySky D16 Volume [0..7]
Advanced PPM 8 Channel SW Speed [01..15]
Save Spektrum DM9

Home Ch.
Back

Δ
Back

Type
* Beta-/CleanFlight

Δ
PX4/Pixhawk Band [Race]
Flying Wing Channel [1..8]
Custom
Kiss FC 5769 MHz
Graupner HoTT
DJI Naza
OP/Taulabs
Dial E/F

Back
Δ

* Angle Back

Δ
Speed
Contrast [055]
Brightness [050]

Display
Hue [060]

Module func.
Advanced

Back Back
Δ

Δ
Module function Voltage [10.5]

Turn Off Display

Timer [OFF] Warning [ON]
Mixer

Back
Δ
Timer

Time (min.) [05]

Time (sec.) [15]
Alarm [OFF]

Channel 1
Back
Δ

Back Back

Source
THR +0 +100 -100 N
Δ
Δ

Mixer

AIL/WL +0 +100 -100 N

Edit RUD/WR +0 +100 -100 N Source Throttle
Select model Copy ELE +0 +100 -100 N Mid. Pos +0 Throttle/Aileron/Elevator/Rudder
SD +0 +100 -100 N
SC +0 +100 -100 N Max. Pos +100 Switch A/Switch B/Switch C/Switch D
Dial E/Dial F/Wing L/Wing R
SA
SB
+0 +100 -100 N
+0 +100 -100 N
Min. Pos -100 V-Tail L/V-Tail R
SE +0 +100 -100 N Reverse Normal
SF +0 +100 -100 N
+0 1500
 protection section

Drone menu
Specific profile for the model you are controlling

• Back ​- Return to previous menu

• Name ​- Unique name for the model profile
• RF Module ​[Standard PPM (10Ch), TBS Crossfire
CRSF serial (10Ch), FrSky D8, FrySky D16, PPM 8
Channel, Spektrum DM9]​ ​- Specify the radio
module plugged into the radio, dictates the
communication protocol and/or PPM channel
size
• Type​ [Beta-/CleanFlight, PX4/Pixhawk, Flying
Wing, Custom, Kiss FC, Graupner HoTT, DJI
NAZA, OP/Taulabs] - Flight controller used on
the specific model, allows further switch/dial
mapping and setup on supported FCs
• Dial E​ [ANG, SPD]​ ​- Specify the function mapped
to the SW E dial on the remote, angle (ANG) or
speed (SPD)
• Dial F​ [ANG, SPD]​ ​- Specify the function mapped
to the SW F dial on the remote, angle (ANG) or
speed (SPD)
• Save ​- Finish editing the model

Advanced menu

Advanced settings for the module and mixing (wing)

• Back ​- Return to previous menu

• Module function ​- Set module specific settings,
e.g. low battery warning level
• Timer​ - Adjust the flight timer that starts when
the throttle is above 20%
• Mixer​ - Specify the channel mixing, e.g. min.,
mid., max. position and reverse settings

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Mixer menu

The mixer settings can be used to change the

inputs-to-channel arrangement.

• Back ​- Return to previous menu

• Channel​ [1 to 10] - Select the control channel to
edit, changes depending on the model type you
specified in the model screen

• Source ​- Edit the channel to specific input

source/stick
• Mid. Pos​ [-50 to +50] - Specify source mid-point
• Max. Pos​ [+0 to +100] - Specify source max.
end-point]
• Min. Pos​ - [-0 to -100] - Specify source min.
end-point]
• Reverse​ [Normal/reversed] - Change source
direction

Remote menu

Specifics about the remote itself

• Back ​- Return to previous menu

• Stick Mode​ [1 to 4]​ ​- Stick allocation mode,
maps throttle, yaw, pitch and roll to the gimbals
- Mode 2 is most common
• Idle Warning​ [ON, 5 to 30min, OFF]​ ​- When the
remote is left powered on without any input
after a specific amount of time, sound an alarm
• Home Channel​ [Band, Channel (1 to 8)]​ ​-
Default video channel to tune into after long
pressing the UP-button (VRX controls)
• Volume​ [0 to 7]​ ​- Adjust the beeper volume
• SW Speed​ [1 to 15]​ - Set the speed of SW E and
SW F dial, if SW is set to angle (ANG)

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Display menu

Adjust the video display parameters on the remote

• Back ​- Return to previous menu

• Contrast​ [055, 0 to 99]​ ​- Tune the contrast
• Contrast​ [050, 0 to 99]​ ​- Tune the brightness
• Hue​ [060, 0..99]​ ​- Tune the color hue
• Turn Off Display ​- Shut off the display when
using goggles or just the remote control, not
the video receiver portion. Can be switched
back on by long pressing the UP-button (VRX
controls).

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Setup
Installing R/C radio module
A JR-compatible radio module needs to be installed in the slot of the back of the remote. The CROSSFIRE
transmitter module is recommended, as it utilizes the latest CRSF-protocol, but any transmitter module with
PPM or PXX (FrSky XJT) stream will work as well.

Check the TBS CROSSFIRE transmitter module manual for further details on setting up and configuring it.

Next, to make the radio recognizes the module (it does not auto-detect), you need to enter the configuration
menu (press and hold rocker-switch for 3 sec.) and change the model to the correct RF module type, to either
regular PPM, TBS Crossfire or FrSky XJT.

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Stick mode
When talking about stick modes we are referring to how the remote is configured to control the airplane i.e.
which sticks operate which controls on the aircraft. You can swap the stick gimbals by opening up the remote,
covered later on in the manual.

By default the remote is set up with mode 2, which is the most common type used.

14
Connecting goggles
If you like to use FPV goggles, these can be connected to the remote using a special custom flat CAT5
goggle-cable (provided). The cable carries both video and power to compatible Fatshark-video goggles.

If you like to turn off the LCD display while using the goggles, enter the configuration menu and go to the LCD
Display → Turn Off Display option. You can turn on the display again for spectators by long pressing the
UP-button (VRX controls).

Pin-out of the cable, for repairs or customization:

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Channel mixing and end-points
For detailed channel mixing, rates, and end-point settings, it is recommended to set up these on the flight
controller side (CleanFlight, BetaFlight, RaceFligut, APM, PX4, Pixhawk, etc.), for anything else than flying
wings.

The TBS TANGO is a FPV remote and meant to be simple to set up and easy to use.

Flying Wings
The TBS TANGO supports channel mixing for flying wings (normal and V-tail). The mixing, end-point, and
reverse settings can be configured in the “Advanced” menu, after you have set up your new flying wing
model.

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Usage
Changing video receiver frequency
Use the “SCAN”, “UP”, or “DOWN” buttons on the left-hand side to change the video receiver frequency.

UP-button
• Long press - Reset the video RX channel to the Home-channel (changed in the configuration menu)
• Short press - Jump to the next video RX channel, sequence Band A → Band B → Band E → Airwave
→ Race

SCAN-button
• Long press - Automatically scan the current video RX band for active channels
• Short press - Automatically scan all video RX bands for active channels

DOWN-button
• Long press - Bring up a menu to specifically set a MHz frequency to be on.
• Short press - Jump back to the previous video RX channel, sequence Race → Airwave → Band E →
Band B → Band A
The receiver frequency bands are listed in the following table.

Channel (MHz)
Band
Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7 Ch8

Band A (Bosecam A) 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725

Band B (Bosecam B) 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866

Band E (Lumenier/DJI) 5705 5685 5665 5752 5885 5905 5925 5866

Airwave (FatShark/IMRC) 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880

Race (Raceband) 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917

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Remote LED status indicator
When the remote is powered on, the LED behind the button will flash green. The built-in LiPo battery is
charged every time a 5V power source is connected to the micro-USB connector.

Button LED indicator Status

▀▀▀ ​Green blinking Remote powered on

▀▀▀ ​Red Backup battery is charging

Battery protection
The battery protection in the remote is based on the nominal voltage, as follows:

Battery voltage Condition

3.81V and over Battery level 4, fully charged

3.71V Battery level 3

3.61V Battery level 2

3.41V Battery level 1, beep tone and battery icon flashing

3.38V Power on allowed, critical level, beep tone and battery icon flashing

3.34V Shutdown voltage, 20 seconds countdown prompt, recharge as soon

as possible

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Alert prompts
The remote will raise an alert when one of the following events happen:

• Battery low alert - described in the previous section

• Telemetry data about the low RSSI, for RF module is set to XJT
• Telemetry data about the low battery voltage, for RF module is set to XJT
• Idle warn is activated and the timer is expired

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Opening up the remote
To change the stick mode or changing the throttles tick ratchet, you will need to open up the remote control.
First remove the seven (7) screws on the backside and locate the area shown in the photo below. If you can’t
open up the remote control, you probably forgot the 7th screw, located inside the JR module.

Changing the flight stick mode

Depending on your stick preferences/flight mode, your throttle stick will be non-sprung. Modifying it is a
matter of screwing in a screw on one end, and removing the screw on the other end. The hardness of the
sticks and the ratchet is controlled by the silver metal piece and the two control screws, see the next section.

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Adjusting throttle ratchet strength
Use a screwdriver to adjust the right-most screw; counter-clockwise to decrease the tension and clockwise to
increase the tension. If you rather prefer a smooth sliding stick, increase the tension of the other metal
bracket.

Replacing or upgrading battery

The battery in the radio uses a regular XT30-connector to make it easy to replace or upgrade the stock
battery. It uses two Lithium-Ion ​18650​ battery cells (Samsung ICR18650-30B 3000mAh) in parallel, one on
each side of the remote with two spare compartments. The stock batteries provide 6000mAh for approx. 3
hours of usage.

21
Swapping antenna
The remote comes with a 5G8 5dBi patch antenna, hidden underneath the cover on the top. You can change
the antenna or connect an external SMA connector by un-hooking the IPEX/IPX32/Hirose U.FL antenna
connector and swap to another cable.

If you do not intend to swap the antenna, it is recommended to keep the cover on.

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Factory mode
The factory mode is only needed when fine-tuning or troubleshooting the remote.

Main menu

Main menu for the factory mode

• Back ​- Exit out of the factory mode

• Calibration​ - Calibrate the end-points of the
sticks, dials and switches
• Test Setting ​- Menu display update rate and
discard accelerated rocker-switch behaviour
• ADC Reading ​- Raw values of the input sensors
and PPM output
• LCD Display ​- Change the boot screen and
check the display characters

Calibration

Re-calibrate the end-points for all the physical inputs on

the remote.

Center all the sticks. You usually only need to center the
throttle stick.

• Next ​- To to the next step in the procedure

Move both sticks to their extreme ends until the max.

and min. value turns green for each input. The “TunL”
and “TunR” presents the spring-dials E and F.

• Next ​- To the next step in the procedure

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Flip all the switches to their up-position.

• Next ​- To the next step in the procedure

Now, now all the switches through their range until

each one turns to green. If a few does not register, try
flipping it back to up-position and then move it down
again.

• Next ​- To complete the procedure

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FrSky XJT
Despite being one of the most popular R/C systems, FrSky’s RF modules and even receivers are notorious for
interfering with 5.8GHz receivers, video transmitters or other 2.4GHz R/C systems. When designing the
TANGO we have taken every precaution possible to ensure a interference-free operation also with FrSky’s
devices, but it is all at the limits. This is a problem in the engineering and design of FrSky, and NOT a TBS
problem. We can assure the TANGO can work problem-free with the FrSky XJT module, but a few things will
need to be in place:

1) The internal 5.8GHz patch antenna needs to be as far away from the RF module as possible. From the
factory, the patch antenna will have been installed and secured in the proper location. If you do
experience video issues such as vertical “flashing” lines, please open up the front antenna cover and
ensure that the antenna is installed properly.
2) If despite proper antenna installation you are still seeing issues in the video, you can additionally
cover your FrSky XJT module with copper- or aluminum-tape. Be sure to leave plenty of space around
the pin holes. Grounding the tape is NOT necessary, or recommended! Alternatively you can also
cover the inside of the JR module bay with copper- or aluminum-tape, instead of placing tape on the
XJT module.
3) Should both the mods above fail, please contact our customer support. If possible, please document
the problem with a quick video so that we can assist you faster and better.

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Firmware upgrade
Updates to the remote is applied using our TBS AGENT software. This takes care of all the downloading of the
latest firmware, verification- and upgrade process. Plug in the remote control, start the TBS Agent, and wait
for the latest firmware to download. Then click on “UPDATE” to proceed.

Installing TBS Agent

Download the installer from ​http://www.team-blacksheep.com/corepro/agent​ (Windows7/8/10, 64-bit
required) - no drivers needed to use the application, but an Internet connection is required to download the
latest firmware versions. Press F1 if you like to include beta releases in the available updates.

Turn off the radio, plug in a micro-USB cable on the radio. Power for the update is provided via USB. The
software will automatically detect the device and offer you the option to upgrade the firmware if a newer
version is available.

When the status indicator is green and says “Connected”, you can upgrade or downgrade the firmware.

To upgrade the firmware, select the latest version from the drop-down menu and click Update. Rapid blinking
indicates that the process is working and being updated. The process will take about 1 minute. Check all
settings after the process is finished.

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Good practices
We have compiled a list of all of practices which have been tried and tested in countless environments and
situations by the TBS crew and other experienced FPV pilots.

Follow these simple rules, even if rumors on the internet suggest otherwise, and you will have success in FPV.

● Start with the bare essentials and add equipment one step at a time, after each new equipment was
added to proper range- and stress tests.
● Do not fly with a video system that is capable of outperforming your R/C system in terms of range.
● Do not fly with a R/C frequency higher than the video frequency (e.g. 2.4GHz R/C, 900MHz video).
● Monitor the vitals of your plane (R/C link and battery). Flying with a digital R/C link without RSSI is
dangerous.
● Do not use 2.4GHz R/C unless you fly well within its range limits, in noise-free environments and
always within LOS. Since this is most likely never the case, it is recommended to not use 2.4GHz R/C
systems for longer range FPV.
● Do not fly at the limits of video, if you see noise in your picture, turn around and buy a higher-gain
receiver antenna before going out further.
● Shielded wires or twisted cables only, anything else picks up RF noise and can cause problems.
● When using powerful R/C transmitters, make sure your groundstation equipment is properly
shielded.
● Adding Return-To-Home (RTH) to an unreliable system does not increase the chances of getting your
plane back. Work on making your system reliable without RTH first, then add RTH as an additional
safety measure if you must.
● Avoid powering the VTx directly from battery, step-up or step-down the voltage and provide a
constant level of power to your VTx. Make sure your VTx runs until your battery dies.
● Do not power your camera directly unless it works along the complete voltage range of your battery.
Step-up or step-down the voltage and provide a constant level of power to your camera. Make sure
your camera runs until your battery dies.
● A single battery system is safer than using two dedicated batteries for R/C and FPV. Two batteries in
parallel even further mitigate sources of failure.
● For maximum video range and “law compatibility”, use 2.4GHz video with high-gain antennas.
● When flying with R/C buddies that fly on 2.4GHz, or when flying in cities, it is perfectly possible to use
2.4GHz video provided you stick to the channels that do not lie in their band (CH5 to CH8 for
Lawmate systems, available from TBS).
● Do not use diversity video receivers as a replacement for pointing your antennas, diversity should be
used to mitigate polarization issues.

27
 ● Improving the antenna gain on the receiver end is better than increasing the output power (except in
RF-noisy areas). More tx power causes more issues with RF on your plane. 500mW is plenty of power!
● Try to achieve as much separation of the VTx and R/C receiver as possible to lower the RF noise floor
and EMI interference.
● Do not buy the cheapest equipment unless it is proven to work reliably (e.g. parts falling off,
multitudes of bug fix firmware updates, community hacks and mods are a good indicator of poor
quality and something you do NOT want to buy for a safe system). Do due diligence and some
research before sending your aircraft skyward.

Manual written and designed by ivc.no in cooperation with TBS.

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