After almost 2 years of development, a good week or two of teasing and leaked reveals as well as a tonne of test-flights at the DroneNationals.com without hiccups, TBS officially announced the TBS Crossfire, the next generation of long range R/C system.

Preorders open on July 20th

A NEW ERA OF CONNECTIVITY

The TBS CROSSFIRE is a long range R/C link based on the newest RF technology, capable of self-healing two-way communications and range beyond comprehension. With a sensitivity of -130dB, full RF-side diversity rather than just antenna-diversity, the features already implemented and the future upgrades to come make the TBS CROSSFIRE the only long range control link worthy of our times.

Remote control links, however, are tasked with much more than range. Telemetry, robustness against interference, connectivity with smart devices, ease of use and the overall finish are often overlooked to achieve the last bit of range. The end result is often strange behavior, lack of reliability, or simply things that were never envisioned and thus not possible. Let’s kiss those days goodbye, and move on to a brighter future :)

DEVELOPED BY EXPERTS

Team BlackSheep has been notorious for long range records, close-to-ground proximity flying in the Alps and deep urban operations. During our numerous missions all around the globe we have gathered a list of requirements, and have found that no existing system can cover them all. So we set on a long and painful path to develop a RC link system entirely from scratch, put it through its paces for over a year, and ensure a top-notch reliability and state-of-the-art functionality.

Through the OLED Display on the transmitter, you can monitor the real-time location of your drone (TBS GPS or BlackBox with DJI Naza or APM-based GPS required). The up and down link status provide a feeling of safety, the configuration options through the OLED display do away with any PC-based configuration tools. The pulsing LED relays your link budget and link health in colorized form (green = keep going, orange = turn around). In case of a crash, the location of the drone is visible on the OLED as well. The built in battery on the receiver turns it into a beacon automatically – and it will continue to transmit its last known location until the battery runs out.

IT JUST WORKS

Apart from unparalleled maximum range, a slew of innovative features, the thing that we are most proud about on the TBS CROSSFIRE is that it just works. In the past, our question always was “could our R/C link keep up?”. Many missions were aborted, or lines weren’t flown, due to premature failure of the R/C link. Once we switched to the CROSSFIRE, all of these problems were gone. As long as we had video, we had control. And when the video was gone, we still had control – and telemetry. With the TBS CROSSFIRE comes peace of mind.

TBS Crossfire TX 1 of 10

Preorder starts July 20th 2015

Crossfire TX: $208.95

Link: http://team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:crossfire_tx

Crossfire 8ch Full Range Receiver: $123.95

Link: http://team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:crossfire_8chrx

Crossfire Micro Receiver: $59.95

Link: http://team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:crossfire_mrx

FEATURES:

Two-way long range link (12km on 25mW, more than 150km max range)

FHSS and DSSS

8ch Diversity receiver with true RF-diversity and LiPo battery for locator beacon

Telemetry and built in OLED display

Modulation scheme tuned for robustness against interference

Bluetooth support (basic MAVLink telemetry)

RF-locator beacon to find downed airplanes, even without GPS telemetry

USB software updates, pain- and effortless

Receiver with BST output for on-screen link feedback

Ability to receive below noise floor

Head tracker support

Binding, Fail safe – and PPM output config performed via OLED

8ch support

Coming soon: Micro-receiver for smaller drones. Smaller than you think!

Coming soon: Software updates via RF Link

Coming soon: 12ch support

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Frequency Bands: 868MHz (EU, Russia) / 915MHz (USA, Asia, Australia)

868MHz (EU, Russia) / 915MHz (USA, Asia, Australia) Input Voltage: 3.5 – 13V

3.5 – 13V Power consumption: 1.1W (@10mW) – 3.2W (@2000mW)

1.1W (@10mW) – 3.2W (@2000mW) Dimensions: 55 x 89 x 15 mm

55 x 89 x 15 mm Weight: 76g

PACKAGE INCLUDES:

TBS Crossfire Transmitter

TBS Crossfire JR Adapter

TBS Crossfire Tuned Tx Antenna

Crossfire Futaba cable

Crossfire Graupner cable

Crossfire PWM Pigtail

Crossfire JST to XT30 cable

For more information checkout the TSB website and FPVlabs forums.

Website: http://team-blacksheep.com/

Forum Thread: http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?42097-TBS-CROSSFIRE-Next-Generation-Long-Range-R-C-System