Transmitter (Version 2)
Your transmitter finds the latest release itself: Transmitter → Transmitter updates.
Help and updates
Keep your transmitter and receiver up to date. Find answers to common problems. Read every help page from the transmitter.
On the front screen, Transmitter opens Transmitter setup and Model opens Model setup. So Transmitter → WiFi means: press Transmitter, then WiFi.
The latest versions
These are read live from messiter.com: the same place your transmitter and receiver look for updates.
Receiver and dongle (Version 2)
Your receiver finds the latest release itself: from the transmitter, or from the phone app.
Earlier receiver releases (technical notes)
Phone app
iPhone and iPad: from the App Store. It updates like any other app.
Android: from messiter.com. The app offers each new version itself.
The app is free, with no adverts and no account.
Update the transmitter
The Version 2 transmitter updates itself over WiFi. One button brings it all up to date: the screen, the main board (the Teensy) and the help texts.
Nothing happens by itself. You choose when.
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Join WiFi (once)
Press Transmitter → WiFi.
Touch your network. Type its password on the screen's keyboard. The transmitter remembers up to eight networks.
At the field, your phone's hotspot will do.
The WiFi page. The joined network is shown at the top right. Check: the WiFi page says Joined at the top right.
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Switch the model off
Updates never run while a model is connected. Switch the model off and wait a minute.
Put the safety on. (With no safety switch: switch the motor off.)
Check: press Transmitter. The Transmitter updates button is not grey.
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Press Transmitter updates
Press Transmitter → Transmitter updates. The transmitter asks messiter.com for the latest version.
It shows the version you have now, the new one, and what changed.
Already up to date? Then there is nothing to do. Press OK.
An update is available (example version numbers). Nothing is installed until you press Install now. -
Press Install now
A few minutes
First everything is fetched and checked. Until then, Cancel changes nothing.
Then your models, settings and logs are copied to the screen's memory card. If they cannot be copied, nothing is installed.
Then the screen says Do not switch off. Leave it alone. The main board is updated first, then the screen's files, then the screen's own firmware. The screen restarts at the end.
While it installs. The screen may flicker. -
Read the result
Green, Update complete: it shows both versions and how many of your files were copied first. It also says that the new firmware reads your models' settings exactly as the old one did.
Red, Update failed: it says where it stopped, why, and what state things are in.
Update complete (example version numbers). Check: the panel is green. Press OK.
How updates keep you safe
- Never by itself. Nothing is offered or installed until you press a button.
- Never in flight. No update starts while a model is connected or the safety is off. If you arm part way through, it stops.
- Fetch first. A failed download changes nothing.
- Your files first. Models, settings and logs are copied before the main board is changed. No update ever writes or deletes them.
- On trial. New firmware must prove that it runs. If it does not, the previous firmware comes back by itself.
- Same settings, or no update. After an update the transmitter checks that the new firmware reads every model's control settings exactly as the old one did. If not, the old firmware comes back, and the screen says why.
- The result is kept. Switched off before you pressed OK? You see the result at the next switch-on.
Safety: DO NOT FLY
If the update panel ever says DO NOT FLY, do not fly. It means the old firmware could not be put back. Write to Malcolm with a photo of the screen.
Go back to an earlier version
On the update panel, press Earlier versions. You see the latest release and up to three before it. The one you have is marked.
Touch one to see what would change. Install now puts it back in the same careful way: your files are copied first, and the firmware goes on trial.
Afterwards, Transmitter → Transmitter updates offers the latest version again.
A new screen fills itself
A brand-new screen needs its firmware put on once, by USB cable. Put a blank microSD card in it first. Build one shows how.
Then give it WiFi. It downloads its pages, pictures and sounds by itself: about 43 MB, in about seven minutes.
Tip: from Version 1 to Version 2
A Version 1 transmitter can become a Version 2.
Keep the main board, sticks, switches and your models. Print the Version 2 case front for the new screen, fit the screen, and update the firmware. Build one shows how.
Update the receiver
Version 2 receivers and dongles update over the air. Your settings, binding, flight records and backups are kept.
There are three ways. Choose the one that suits you.
1. From the transmitter No phone needed
You need:
- a Version 2 transmitter and a Version 2 receiver;
- the model switched on and connected, with the safety on (with no safety switch: the motor off);
- WiFi on the transmitter (for the check), and a WiFi network the receiver knows (for the download).
Then:
- Press Model → Receiver updates.
- It shows the receiver's version now and the new one. Press Install now.
- The transmitter goes quiet for about a minute while the receiver updates. Keep the model switched on until the result shows, in green or red. Keep the safety on.
No password ever travels over the air. The receiver uses the WiFi it already knows.
Tip: WiFi for the receiver
Give the receiver a WiFi network once, in the phone app: Setup → WiFi settings. At the field, your phone's hotspot will do.
2. With the phone app
- Open the app and connect to the model. If an update is waiting, the receiver's front page says so.
- Press Setup → Update or roll back firmware. Press Check now.
- Each version is marked Newer, Current or Older. Its button says what it will do: Install, Reinstall or Roll back.
- Choose how to install:
- Receiver WiFi: the receiver fetches it itself. Fast, 30 to 90 seconds, but it needs a good signal.
- Bluetooth: your phone fetches it and passes it on. Slower, but it works anywhere. Best at the field.
- Leave the receiver powered until it comes back. A slow install is not a failed one.
A failed install leaves the old firmware in place. There is nothing to undo. A dongle updates the same way.
3. In a browser New or confused boards
Use this for a brand-new board, or to start a board again from nothing. It needs Chrome, Edge or Opera on a computer. Phones and tablets cannot do it.
Warning
The browser way erases the board first. Its settings, binding and records are lost. For a board that works, use the transmitter or the phone app instead.
Which version do I have?
- Transmitter: press Transmitter → Transmitter updates. It shows the version you have now. Model → Telemetry shows the transmitter's firmware too. (A Version 2 receiver shows 2.5.6R there. Its real version is on Receiver updates, or in the app.)
- Receiver: with the model connected, Model → Receiver updates shows it. So does the phone app: Setup → Update or roll back firmware.
- Phone app: your phone's app settings, or the App Store, show it.
Compare them with the latest versions at the top of this page.
Common questions
Touch a question to see its answer.
Updates
It says the safety is off.
Put the safety on, then press Transmitter → Transmitter updates again.
WiFi and Bluetooth switch themselves off whenever the model could be flying. With the safety off, they are off.
The screen went dark and restarted during an update.
That is normal. The screen restarts to start its new firmware.
Wait for the green or red panel. If the new firmware does not start properly, the previous one comes back by itself.
It says the old firmware came back.
The new firmware would have read one of your models' settings differently, so it was not kept. Your transmitter is as it was before.
Please tell Malcolm what the screen said.
It says Update not finished.
The transmitter was switched off part way through. Press Transmitter → Transmitter updates again.
Your files were copied before anything was changed.
What happens to my models during an update?
Nothing. No update writes or deletes your models, settings or logs.
A copy goes to the screen's memory card first, just in case. The newest twelve copies are kept. There is no button on the screen to put a copy back yet: if you ever need one, write to Malcolm.
Can I go back to the version I had before?
Yes. On the update panel, press Earlier versions. How to go back.
WiFi and Bluetooth
The transmitter will not join my WiFi.
- It uses 2.4 GHz WiFi only.
- Hidden networks and work networks (WPA-Enterprise) do not work.
- A wrong password is said in words. Touch the network and type the password again.
- An iPhone hotspot: turn on Maximise Compatibility. Keep the Personal Hotspot page open on the phone until the transmitter says Joined.
WiFi and Bluetooth switched themselves off.
That is on purpose. They switch off whenever the model could be flying: while the safety is off. (With no safety switch: while the motor is on.)
Put the safety on, and they come back.
The Rotorflight pages say "Bluetooth: not joined", or keep connecting.
Close the phone app on every phone and tablet. A receiver takes one Bluetooth connection at a time.
The receiver must be a Version 2 (firmware 0.9.874 or later), switched on and within reach.
What is the workshop door?
It lets workshop tools on a computer reach the screen over WiFi. You never need it to fly or to update.
Shut, the screen answers nothing but its status. So it is safe on a club's WiFi.
To open or shut it: Transmitter → Workshop door. It opens on the network you are joined to, and only that one.
The receiver and the phone app
The app cannot find my receiver.
Check that the receiver has power, and stand within a few metres. Make sure Bluetooth is on in your phone's settings.
The app tells you when the signal is too weak to connect reliably.
My model is in the app's list, but it will not open.
Another phone or tablet probably holds it. A receiver serves one at a time. Close the app on the other device, then try again.
Readings show as dashes, or a page will not load.
The flight controller may be asleep, or its lead unplugged. Switch the model off and on. Check the lead into the flight controller.
Receiver updates says the receiver did not say its version.
The receiver's firmware is too old to be updated from the transmitter. Update it once with the phone app. After that, the transmitter can do it.
A receiver update failed.
- The receiver may know no WiFi network. Give it one in the phone app: Setup → WiFi settings.
- The WiFi signal may be weak. Update over Bluetooth with the phone app instead.
- It will not update while the model is armed.
A failed install leaves the old firmware in place.
The receiver did not come back after an update.
Wait five minutes: a slow install is not a failed one.
Still nothing? Its WiFi password is probably wrong. From a computer, join the receiver's own network (named after your model) and open 192.168.4.1 in a browser to put it right.
Some Rotorflight pages say they need the USB cable.
In-flight adjustments, the command line, Diff to card and Execute diff need a USB-C data cable from the receiver to the flight controller, as well as the usual lead.
Can I set up Rotorflight from the transmitter with a Version 1 receiver?
No. The Rotorflight pages on the Version 2 transmitter need a Version 2 receiver: they use its Bluetooth.
Flying and set-up
A model will not connect.
With automatic model selection (AMS) on, the transmitter asks whether to store the model's ID. Cancel stores nothing, and the model does not connect.
Store each model's ID: Model → Model IDs. Help for Model IDs.
The screen says "Motor switch is still ON!" or "The motor switch is ON."
V2 B92 and older say "Motor switch is still ON!". Later updates say "The motor switch is ON."
The motor switch was on when you switched on, or when the link was lost. Nothing is sent to the model until you switch the motor off and press OK.
The transmitter will not switch off.
With a model connected, hold the power button down while the countdown runs. This guards against a knock in flight.
The help on my transmitter looks different from this website.
This website has the newest help texts. They are written for the transmitter update after V2 B92.
On V2 B92 or older, some help pages have older words, and a few buttons have older names.
Once that update is out, press Transmitter → Transmitter updates. It brings these words to your transmitter.
The transmitter's help pages
Every page on the Version 2 transmitter has a Help button. Its text explains that page in plain words.
Here are those texts in their newest words, to read on a phone or a computer. You can search them all.
They are written for the transmitter update after V2 B92. A transmitter on B92 or older shows older words.
Get help
Write to Malcolm: mmessiter@gmail.com. He reads everything and answers.
It helps a lot if you say:
- your transmitter's and receiver's versions (see which version do I have?);
- your model and its flight controller;
- what the screen or the app showed (a photo is best);
- what you expected instead.
Tip: send debug data
In the phone app, the receiver's Event log has a button: Send debug data to Malcolm. It makes one text file: the board's version, how its last update went, and what it has been doing. It holds no passwords. Press it straight after something goes wrong.