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Mini-HowTo how to modify a Tactic AnyLink2 to use your 9XR's internal battery

synopsys:

the AnyLink2 module has an onboard regulator that converts the voltage from its internal battery to an even 3.0 volts. the 9XR can supply voltage directly from it's own battery (via the futaba trainer port) in either the "always on" or "switched" flavor. the voltage from the 9XR's battery is way higher than the max input voltage of the AnyLink2's on-board regulator, so we'll need to add a second regulator to handle this. the mod basically removes the AnyLink2's battery and replaces it with a hearty 5-volt regulator (LM7805). then, we will modify the included futaba adapter cable to carry the voltage from the 9XR's battery to the LM7805 regulator that gets installed into the AnyLink2 module. the result is that the AnyLink2 module will now conveniently get both its power and the control signal from the 9XR over a single cable, freeing you from the hassle of charging and caring for a second battery. this mod will work regardless of if the 9XR is powered by a LiPo or LiFe battery. 1) take apart the AnyLink2's housing and desolder the battery cable and the pin jack input. also pop the cover off the back of the included futaba adapter cable.







2) modify the futaba adapter cable that came with your AnyLink2 module. you'll find that pins 5 & 6 of the connector come from the factory with a solder bridge. first thing is to remove this. all this does is automatically turn on your radio when you plug the cable in, which will be annoying and drain your battery if you forget to unplug the module. after you've done this, you have the choice of either adding a wire (the new power wire) to the connector and keeping the factory ground and signal wires, or removing the factory wiring from the connector and replacing it with a cable that has three or more conductors (what i did). things will look a lot neater if you go with the latter method. i used an old USB cable because it's shielded and has several conductors (the shielding is a nice improvement, but is unnecessary).



if you want to be overkill and use a shielded cable, the shield of the cable will become your "ground" wire. after you've stripped the jacket off the cable, twist the strands of the shield together and solder the tips so that it becomes a single conductor.



if you use a USB cable like i did, you can remove the extra conductors from the cable to simplify things. after modification, my cable only has a red "power" conductor, a green "signal" conductor, and the shield (which becomes the "ground" conductor). depending on the crappiness of your USB cable, it might be a pain in the butt to remove the extra conductors. refer to the photos below to figure out which pin/conductor does what.









the 9XR has two power pins on the futaba connector (i assume the same goes for any futaba radio with the same connector) - one goes straight to the battery, and the other is routed through the power switch on your radio. you want to use pin 5, which is the one that goes to through the switch. that way, you can leave the AnyLink2 connected to your radio and still switch everything off. if you use pin 6 instead (or forget to remove the solder bridge between pins 5 & 6), the AnyLink2 will continuously draw power from your transmitter even after you switch it off.



finally, make sure you insulate the wires and pins of the connector before you reclose the connector housing. i didnt show it in the photo, but i moved the wires so that they weren't touching, and then completely encapsulated them with hot glue. i did this for two reasons: 1) i forgot to put heat shrink on them 2) the pins are kind of loose in the connector body, and the glue helps stabilize them. speaking of the loose pins, it might help if you plug the unpopulated connector into the port on your radio before you start soldering onto it. this will keep the pins in place as the heat from your iron causes the plastic to soften - JUST REMOVE THE BATTERY FROM YOUR RADIO FIRST SO THAT YOU DONT ACCIDENTALLY SHORT OUT THE LIPO IN THE 9XR!!



3) install the "common" pin of the LM7805 regulator into the hole that used to be occupied by the negative battery wire, and the "output" pin from the regulator into the hole that used to be occupied by the positive battery wire. bend the regulator over so that if will fit in the housing later. the "input" pin of the regulator is where you want to connect the wire that leads to pin 5 (switched battery positive) of the futaba connector. it might be confusing in my photo, but this pin on the regulator is just sticking out into space - i trimmed it, and soldered the red wire directly to it. if you want to be through, you can put some shrink wrap on the protruding regulator "input" pin after you solder the wire that leads to pin 5 on to it.



all of this so far has been happening on the "back" side of the module's PCB. we're going to flip it over in the next step.







4) solder the "signal" wire (pin 1) onto the pad that used to belong to the "signal" conductor of the barrel connector that you previously removed. also solder the ground wire (pin 2) onto any one of the pads that is labeled "GND" in my first photo, or just copy what i did in the photo below.







5) you'll need to trim some plastic out of the AnyLink2's housing to fit the new regulator. a heated xacto knife should do the trick. or, if you are lazy, you can probably just rip the extra plastic out with some pliers like i did:







6) you're basically done - now just close up the housing. use some hot glue to provide







that's it! now when you have the module plugged into your radio, and you switch it on, you should hear a beep from the AnyLink2 module. this means everything is working right. also, you should be using the "JR" setting on the module, despite the fact that you are hooking it up all through the futaba port. if you smell smoke or dont hear the beep, well, you probably just ruined something - unplug everything and kill power to your radio before your battery explodes (not my fault!). i have a few tactic models now, and i sprung for an AnyLink2 module so that i can use my wonderful Turnigy 9XR with them. the only thing i hate (HATE) about the module is that it requires a second battery to operate. well, the 9XR's futaba trainer port is equipped with a pin that supplies power directly from the transmitter's battery. here's how i modified the AnyLink2 module to take advantage of that:1) take apart the AnyLink2's housing and desolder the battery cable and the pin jack input. also pop the cover off the back of the included futaba adapter cable.2) modify the futaba adapter cable that came with your AnyLink2 module. you'll find that pins 5 & 6 of the connector come from the factory with a solder bridge. first thing is to remove this. all this does is automatically turn on your radio when you plug the cable in, which will be annoying and drain your battery if you forget to unplug the module. after you've done this, you have the choice of either adding a wire (the new power wire) to the connector and keeping the factory ground and signal wires, or removing the factory wiring from the connector and replacing it with a cable that has three or more conductors (what i did). things will look a lot neater if you go with the latter method. i used an old USB cable because it's shielded and has several conductors (the shielding is a nice improvement, but is unnecessary).if you want to be overkill and use a shielded cable, the shield of the cable will become your "ground" wire. after you've stripped the jacket off the cable, twist the strands of the shield together and solder the tips so that it becomes a single conductor.if you use a USB cable like i did, you can remove the extra conductors from the cable to simplify things. after modification, my cable only has a red "power" conductor, a green "signal" conductor, and the shield (which becomes the "ground" conductor). depending on the crappiness of your USB cable, it might be a pain in the butt to remove the extra conductors. refer to the photos below to figure out which pin/conductor does what.the 9XR has two power pins on the futaba connector (i assume the same goes for any futaba radio with the same connector) - one goes straight to the battery, and the other is routed through the power switch on your radio. you want to use pin 5, which is the one that goes to through the switch. that way, you can leave the AnyLink2 connected to your radio and still switch everything off. if you use pin 6 instead (or forget to remove the solder bridge between pins 5 & 6), the AnyLink2 will continuously draw power from your transmitter even after you switch it off.finally, make sure you insulate the wires and pins of the connector before you reclose the connector housing. i didnt show it in the photo, but i moved the wires so that they weren't touching, and then completely encapsulated them with hot glue. i did this for two reasons: 1) i forgot to put heat shrink on them 2) the pins are kind of loose in the connector body, and the glue helps stabilize them. speaking of the loose pins, it might help if you plug the unpopulated connector into the port on your radio before you start soldering onto it. this will keep the pins in place as the heat from your iron causes the plastic to soften -3) install the "common" pin of the LM7805 regulator into the hole that used to be occupied by the negative battery wire, and the "output" pin from the regulator into the hole that used to be occupied by the positive battery wire. bend the regulator over so that if will fit in the housing later. the "input" pin of the regulator is where you want to connect the wire that leads to pin 5 (switched battery positive) of the futaba connector. it might be confusing in my photo, but this pin on the regulator is just sticking out into space - i trimmed it, and soldered the red wire directly to it. if you want to be through, you can put some shrink wrap on the protruding regulator "input" pin after you solder the wire that leads to pin 5 on to it.all of this so far has been happening on the "back" side of the module's PCB. we're going to flip it over in the next step.4) solder the "signal" wire (pin 1) onto the pad that used to belong to the "signal" conductor of the barrel connector that you previously removed. also solder the ground wire (pin 2) onto any one of the pads that is labeled "GND" in my first photo, or just copy what i did in the photo below.5) you'll need to trim some plastic out of the AnyLink2's housing to fit the new regulator. a heated xacto knife should do the trick. or, if you are lazy, you can probably just rip the extra plastic out with some pliers like i did:6) you're basically done - now just close up the housing. use some hot glue to provide strain relief for the cable where it exits the housing of the module. also make sure that the connector end of the cable has plenty of strain relief.that's it! now when you have the module plugged into your radio, and you switch it on, you should hear a beep from the AnyLink2 module. this means everything is working right. also, you should be using the "JR" setting on the module, despite the fact that you are hooking it up all through the futaba port. if you smell smoke or dont hear the beep, well, you probably just ruined something - unplug everything and kill power to your radio before your battery explodes (not my fault!).