RC Light Systems Glow Driver with Telemetry

1 Introduction
The RCLightSystems GlowDriver with Telemetry is designed to provide control of your glow plug
from your transmitter using an battery in the model.

The system provides Jeti ExBus or Spektrum telemetry. This choice is made at order time, it is not
possible for the user to change the unit between the two telemetry types.

The unit takes the glow drive level from a dedicated channel. It is intended that the user sets up the
channel to give the correct values to drive the glow at the correct levels. The channel can be
connected to a ‘rotary’ control or to a switch (2 or 3 position as required).

The unit features a LED providing the user with feedback on operation. From a safety perspective
you should treat the model as if a ‘glow clip’ were connected any time the LED is lit.

The LED indicates the following:

LED colour / state

Solid green Unit powered on and receiving signal from the RX.
Flashing red Unit powered on but not seeing any signal from the RX
Solid red Probable blown plug (the unit is being asked to drive the plug, but no
current is being drawn).
The Spektrum version takes a standard ‘servo’ drive from the receiver. Note you will not be able to
y-lead this to the throttle as ‘full throttle’ on the channel will certainly be too much current for the
plug. You will need a separate channel with end points set appropriately for maximum drive value.
You will also need an ‘X-Bus’ lead to connect the glow driver to the X-Bus socket on the RX or
TM1000 (dependent upon the RX you have).

The Jeti version requires an ExBus signal (you can usually configure one of the RX outputs as ExBus
using the device manager capability on the radio). Both drive level from the nominated channel and
telemetry data are sent via this one ExBus connection.

The unit is wired as follows:

Glow Spektrum X Bus

battery
1/2s Lipo
TM1000
(if needed)

Servo lead
Glow Driver RX

Glow Plug
LED

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1.1 Electrical Specifications

GlowDriver voltage (sensor operation) 4-8.4V (taken from RX power)

GlowDriver current (sensor operation) 20maH
Glow plug voltage 4 – 8.4v (1s or 2s lipo intended)
Glow plug current Max 8A
Minimum drive pulse width 1150uS (-100%)
Maximum drive pulse width 1850uS (+100%)
Supported telemetry protocols Jeti EX Bus, Spektrum X Bus (not user selectable)

2 Spektrum Version
The Spektrum version has a Spektrum X-Bus port on the rear of the board. This needs to be
connected to the X-Bus port on the RX/TM1000 unit. Note, if your RX has a bind/data port but no X-
Bus connector you will need to plug a TM1000 unit into the bind/data port and then connect the
Glow Driver to the X-Bus port on the TM1000. Please see the Spektrum manuals for information on
how to bind with a TM1000.

You will need to set up a channel to drive the glow plug. This can be implemented using either a
rotary control or a switch. Using a 3 position switch is recommended.

Assuming Switch B (3 position, top left) as an example:

 In the function list scroll down to ‘Digital Switch Setup’

 Select Switch B
 Set each of the values to -100% (Pos. 0, Pos. 1 and Pos. 2). This will ensure no drive to the
glow plug during setup.

Set the Channel for Switch B to be a free port on your RX (assuming Aux 1 in this example). Plug the
glow driver into that channel on the RX.

Remove the plug from the engine and connect it temporarily to the glow driver (note it will get hot
during setup so holding with your fingers is at your own risk).

 Move switch B to position 1 (centred)

 Edit Pos. 1 value in the digital switch setup screen, increase from -100 until the glow plug has
a warm glow.
 Move the switch to position 2.
 Edit Pos. 2 value to give a bright glow.

The switch will now control the glow plug.

2.1 Telemetry configuration

Spektrum has limited options for passing telemetry value to the TX so the GlowDriver telemetry
values are displayed inside the ESC telemetry data.

 With the system powered up Go to the ‘Telemetry’ function in the function list
 Select Auto Config.

Once complete you will see ESC has appeared in the list.

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Return to the main screen

You can view the battery voltage and plug current in the RSC telemetry data screen (this will vary by
transmitter type).

You can configure the display of individual values as allowed by your transmitter (please see your
transmitter manual for guidance).

3 Jeti Version
The Jeti version uses ExBus to communicate with the RX for both drive value telemetry values. To
use the GlowDriver you need to carry out a few steps:

 Configure an EX Bus output on your receiver

 Create a Glow drive function and map it to a servo channel
 Set up telemetry value display
 Adjust the drive levels to be correct for your plug.

Note that you should NOT try to power the glow plug itself until you have set the drive levels.

3.1 Configuring an EX Bus output

Jeti version of the GlowDriver requires ExBus to operate (both for control and to send telemetry
values). You will need to plug the board into an ExBus output on your receiver. You will probably
need to change the receiver configuration to have a pin set to ExBus mode.

For example, assuming an REX6:

 In the menu, go to Model => Device Explorer

 Select REX6
 Select “Alternative Pin Config”
 Select the desired pin and change the Function to “EX Bus”.

3.2 Create a Glow function in the transmitter

Now you have to set up a ‘Glow’ function in the transmitter:

 Model => Functions assignment

 Create a new function called Glow, assign to a control (ideally 3 pos switch)
 Go to servo assignment and assign Glow to channel 16 (this is the default channel for the
Glow Driver board)
 Plug the board into the receiver using the pin you set as EX Bus.

The LED should show solid green (indicating good signal from the RX).

3.3 Configure the telemetry values

To see the telemetry values you need to make sure the transmitter is receiving them, and add them
to the main display.

 In the menu select Timers/Sensors => Sensors/Logging Setup.

 Press F1 (Auto), and press F5 to ‘Reset telemetry settings’
 Wait whilst the transmitter detects the telemetry values. You should have 3 new values
appear, Voltage, Current and Drive.
 Press OK.
 Scroll (in the Timer/Sensors menu) to Displayed Telemetry.

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  Press ‘Add’, select Telemetry… and pick ePlug: Voltage, chose double size as desired. Repeat
for ‘Current’ and ‘Drive’
 Press F5 (OK) and return to the main display.

As you move your switch the drive value should change from 0 to 50% to 100% (for a 3 position
switch).

Note that 50% could be too greater drive for you plug, 100% almost certainly is, so do not connect
the glow battery yet.

3.4 Adjusting the drive values

The simplest way to adjust the glow drive value is to set a 3 step function curve on the Glow
function.

 In the menu select Fine Tuning => Function Curves

 Scroll to your Glow function and press F4 to edit the curve.
 Set the curve type to 3-point
 Set the curve values to -100%, -90%, -80%

Now return to the main screen, as you move the switch the drive value should change from 0 to 5%
to 10%.

You can now connect the glow battery and glow plug.

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With the glow plug visible, you can now adjust the function curve values to give the correct glow
drive for the 3 positions.

3.5 Adjusting Glow Driver Parameters

The Glow Driver board supports Jetibox over EX Bus for configuration of internal parameters. This
section assumes you have some familiarity with Jetibox operation.

Using the Jetibox interface you can:

 Adjust default settings (channel, drive limit, threshold, ramp rate)

 See measured values (voltage, current, drive)
 Adjust factory values (voltage and current calibration)

3.5.1 Entering the Jetibox menu

The board only supports Jetibox over EX Bus (not direct Jetibox attachment).

To enter the board Jetibox menu structure:

 Select Menu => Applications => Jetibox

 Press F2 ( Right Arrow) to get to Mx
 Press Down arrow to enter GlowDriver menu (F3)

The menu structure is as follows:

ePlug

Settings Settings...

Measurements Measure... Drive channel

Factory Factory... Current Maximum drive

V. Correction Voltage Drive threshold

A. Correction Drive Ramp

Store Store

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3.5.2 Settings… Menu
The entries in the settings menu are as follows:

Setting Description Range Default

Drive Channel The channel the is used for the glow drive 1 - 16 16
Maximum drive Maximum percentage drive allowed. Glow drive level will 1-100% 100%
be limited to this regardless of channel value.
Drive threshold The drive percentage over which, if the current is <0.2A 1-100 20
the plug will show as blown.
Ramp The speed at which the glow heats up. 1-10 5
Store Stores the changes permanently in the board n/a n/a

Note that changes made will only apply for as long as the board is powered unless they are stored.
To store changes press F1 and F2 at the same time whilst on the Store item.

3.5.3 Measure… Menu

This menu displays the measured values.

3.5.4 Factory… Menu

This menu allows the voltage and current readings to be calibrated. The calibration is applied as a
scaling factor to the measured reading. The calibration defaults to 1000 and can be adjusted from
800 to 1200.

As per the Settings menu, these changes must be stored to survive a power off.

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