Taranis Pistola Instructions by eficker Disclaimer: The electronics inside the Taranis X7 are delicate and can break. SMD soldering is required for this project (don’t be afraid, you can learn). If your printer does not print accurately, the result will be a frustrating assembly but I did include excessive fasteners in an attempt to compensate. I did my best with these instructions, but they may be missing steps or be completely wrong. Comment on the make with feedback. Required parts: • Taranis X7 x1 • Various plastic style screws (I used mostly leftover X7 and Tamiya screws) • A UFL to SMA (or RP-SMA) x1 • UFL surface mount plug. You can probably find a cheaper one elsewhere. • Battery x1 (Length 101.00, Width: 23.00, Height: 29.00)

o I used this one because its cheap. It fits into the hole designed. • Antenna SMA or RP-SMA • Sacrificial Traxxas surface transmitter (for trigger / wheel cluster) • Probably some other stuff I’m forgetting, bits of wire, battery connector, etc. 1. Remove guts from X7, save screws. Note where the large plugs go to, make a mark or take a photo to help remember (you can always look it up on google after the fact as well). 2. Disassemble the left gimbal and remove the pots, desolder the wires from the pots, or the easy way (but not the OCD way) would just be to snip the wires from the pots without disassembling the gimbal. Note which wires go to the throttle (vertical) pot.

3. Remove the trigger / wheel cluster from the Traxxas controller. De-solder or snip the wires at the PCB. Wire these to the wires from the connector from the left gimbal. Attach the trigger to the vertical pot wires and the wheel to the left-right pot wires. Wire as show in the photo below.

4. The antenna is soldered directly to the antenna board. I de-soldered this and added a UFL surface mount plug. The solder pads on the board were clearly designed for this type of plug. Its possible to salvage the antenna from the Taranis enclosure, however, my enclosure is not designed for this.

5. Print the four pieces of the new remote enclosure. 6. On the back cover install the speaker / antenna board with screws from the X7, speaker, UFL-SMA connector, one of the rocker switches with hot glue. Attached the shorter of the two wide cables to the board.

7. Install components to the top cover. The screen will fit with the ribbon cable towards the top, hot glue in place. Recycle screws from the X7 to install the power board, insert two of the black plastic rockers from the X7 prior to putting in the board. I de-soldered the pin header for extra transmitter modules from this board. It will not fit without doing this. Careful as the solder pads on the board are not the highest quality and will come loose. Install two switches of your choice to the top panel.

8. Install the Traxxas cluster to the back of the front panel. You will need to clearance the trigger position lever on the bottom as shown in the photo. Ensure that this lever is seated correctly in its relief. That will keep it in place.

9. Install the pots (there is only one option for position for the pots) and two more switches of your choice. I used the 3 position short switches here.

10. Install the main PCB and secure with recycled small screws from the X7. Some of the plugs may or may not need to be bent down. You will need to clip part of the plug to be able to bend them. You need to take care though, I broke one and had to wire it into the extra rocker switch directly to the board. Either way, my design requires the red and black from the broken plug below (if your plug is intact you can re-purpose the existing plug and associated pigtail) to the other pigtail, spliced in. This allows you to get to the USB menu by pressing the two buttons on the back panel while powering on. As far as I could tell the method of entering this menu is not configurable and since I’m omitting two of the trim rockers, this is the work-around. Install the switch of your choice in the forward (in front of the trigger) switch location.

11. Install the wide cable from the power PCB attached to the top panel to the wide socket on the main PCB. This may be the most annoying part of the build. You need to connect the ribbon cable from the display to the main PCB. It is a flimsy cable and the socket is slightly annoying. Patience is key here. The socket unlocks by pushing up the black part of the connector. Then the ribbon must slide under it until it stops and then the black part down to lock it into place. The cable is taught, but once the top is secured, it has just the right amount of slack. Take your time.

12. Install 3mm plastic screws into the front panel in order to attach the grip as shown.

13. Install the back switch of your choice in the front panel behind the grip, also make sure that the vibrating motor is installed in its relief hole and add some hot glue to keep it in place. Ensure that the spinning weight is free from contact of the front panel, it should rotate freely.

14. Install the wire that goes to the rocker PCB installed in the back panel to the main PCB. Install the wide connector from the antenna board (also installed in the back panel) to the main PCB.

15. Install screws to secure the back panel to the front panel and the top panel. Note: not all screws may be required. Use only the amount of screws required to get your enclosure secure. This will vary based on print quality. Also, tightening the screws to max torque may not be required. Use judgement based on your casing quality and fit.

16. Create a power extension wire with the white plug harvested from the X7. I used a deans on the other end for convenience. Fish this up through the handle and connect it to the main PCB. Make sure the wire is long enough to allow some room at the bottom for working with the battery.

17. Install screws to secure the top, front and back panels. Again, not all screws may be required.

18. Install battery and connect power. Use a Velcro strap to secure the battery in place.

19. Install the pot knobs. 20. Calibration: a. Turn on radio, long press the menu button (the three horizontal lines), then long press the Page button (labeled “P” on the case). Follow the directions to calibrate the throttle trigger (should move the left stick up and down), the steering wheel (should move the left stick left and right) and both pots. Once you successfully complete calibration the wheel and trigger should move to the edge of the display as expected. 21. Upload or manually configure a model. I will upload an example config with the make as a starting off point. You basically have to re-map the “aileron” and “elevator” inputs if you want to use those channels (I think they are 3 and 4). Not a big deal. I just moved them to switches. OpenTX is pretty awesome that way.