Copyright © Parallax Inc.
ELEV-8 Flight Controller (#80204)
v1.2 1/4/2017 Page 4 of 10
RF Module Socket
This socket simplifies the use of an RF module to provide a means of communication with the pilot on the
ground. It has 2 mm pin spacing and is compatible with XBee modules. A pair of XBee-PRO 900HP SB3
DigiMesh Modules (XBP9B-DMST-002) (#32411) and Digi 900 MHz RPSMA Antenna, Female (A09-HASM-
675) are recommended. The XBee USB Adapter (#32400) may be used to connect one XBee module to
a computer running the Ground Station software, to provide live sensor telemetry data. See the tutorial
“ELEV-8 v3 Wireless Telemetry via XBee” at
http://learn.parallax.com/elev-8
configuring and connecting the XBee modules.
WARNING! Do NOT attempt to use 2.4 GHz RF modules with the
ELEV-8 Flight Controller, including XBee 802.15.4 or XBee-PRO ZB
series modules! This can cause interference on the 2.4 GHz range
used by 2.4 GHz transmitters and receivers, resulting in unpredictable
motor behavior.
RF Indicator LEDs
There are 3 LEDs associated with the RF Module Socket. The ASC LED will blink when an installed RF
module connects to a remote module and is ready to exchange data. The DO and DI LEDs will blink
rapidly as data is being transmitted or received with the remote module.
Serial Expansion Header
The Serial Expansion Header (marked XP) has 0.1” pin spacing, oriented vertically. It provides a duplex
serial port for customer expansion.
The RX pin has a 10 k-ohm pull-down resistor installed on the Flight Controller. The TX pin has no pull-
down resistor; the customer’s external hardware is expected to include one. This arrangement means
that the Flight Controller can be programmed to detect the presence of an external device by checking
the state of the TX pin at startup.
RGB LED Expansion Header
RGB LED Expansion Header (marked RGB) has 0.1” pin spacing, oriented vertically. The pinout for the
RGB header is the same as the neighboring ESC headers: GND nearest the outside edge of the PCB, +5V
at the middle pin, and SIGNAL on the remaining (inside) pin.
This header will support up to 20 additional WS2812B RGB LEDs. These can be used to add additional
lighting effects to your quadcopter. Some simple firmware editing may be required to set the number of
external RGB modules.
WARNING! Do NOT connect more than 20 external RGB LED
modules to the Flight Controller 5 V supply! Do NOT exceed the 5 V
supply’s 1.5 A limit; carefully calculate peak current draw of all devices
when adding accessories to your Flight Controller! If you wish to add
more than the recommended maximum number of RGB LED modules,
you must NOT source power for them from the Flight Controller.
