Chinowing VM21 User manual
VM21 Mesh Radio
User Manual V.202305
Manufacturer: Chinowing Technology Co., Ltd
Address: Room 1106, Building B4, Yunzhi Park, No.138, Xingxin Road, Guangming
Street, Guangming District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China, 518107
Thank you for choosing our products. Please read these user manual carefully before
use.
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PREFACE
Disclaimer
Thank you for purchasing the VM21 Mesh Radio Link. Please use it in accordance with the
local radio control regulations and read this statement carefully before using it. Once used, it
shall be deemed to endorse and accept all contents of this statement. Please strictly follow
this instruction to install and use the product. The supplier will not bear any legal liability for
any result or loss caused by improper use, installation, final assembly or modification of the
product.
Product Precautions
1. VM21 airborne unit and ground unit need external power supply input DC7.4-24V
(lithium battery 2s-6s), please follow the specification to power the radio.
2. Be sure to install the antenna before powering up to avoid damaging the circuit.
3. Ensure that the antennas are free from obstruction and bending, and keep it as far away
from large metal objects as possible to avoid blocking communication for the above reasons.
4. Please do not disassemble or modify the VM21. If you encounter any problems that
cannot be solved during installation or use, please contact Chinowing Technology Co., Ltd.
5. Make installation with proper distance between electronic devices to minimize
electromagnetic interference.
6. Before use, make sure that all wiring is securely fastened and that all components are
working properly.
7. Please check the surrounding environment to ensure that there is no interference from
other devices in the same frequency band before use, otherwise the data transmission of
VM21 may be seriously affected
8. If you encounter any problem during the installation or use , please contact us or visit our
website at www.chinowing.com for technical support.
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目录
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Catalog
目录
Chinowing Technology Co., Ltd .................................................................................................. 1
Product Precautions ...................................................................................................................2
VM21 may be seriously affected .................................................................................................2
Catalog ........................................................................................................................................ 3
1. Product Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Product Introduction and Parameters ............................................................................... 4
1.2 Antenna mounting intent .....................................................................................................5
1.3 Indicators And Interfaces Instruction .................................................................................6
2. Item List ................................................................................................................................. 8
2.1 Main Module .........................................................................................................................8
2.2 Accessories .......................................................................................................................... 8
3. Product Use ...........................................................................................................................9
3.1 Preparation ...........................................................................................................................9
3.2 Serial Port Operation ...........................................................................................................9
3.3VM21 status LED description ......................................................................................... 10
3.4 S-BUS Operation ...............................................................................................................11
3.5 LAN Operation ................................................................................................................... 11
3.6 USB Operation ...................................................................................................................13
3.7 Mesh Operation ................................................................................................................. 14
3. 8 Module Configuration ........................................................................................................ 15
4. Remote Control Fail Safe Protection .................................................................................19
4. 1 Write fail safe protection data ........................................................................................... 19
4.2 Trigger Fail Safe Value ..................................................................................................... 19
4.3 Turn off Fail Safe Value .................................................................................................... 20
4.4 Reset fail-safe data ............................................................................................................20
5. Firmware ..............................................................................................................................20
5.1 Firmware Version View ..................................................................................................... 20
5. 2 Firmware Upgrading .......................................................................................................... 21
6. Common Questions ............................................................................................................ 22
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1. Product Introduction
1.1 Product Introduction and Parameters
VM21 is mesh radio developed based on LTE, OFDM, MIMO. With dual 10/100 Ethernet
and serial gateway functions, it provides reliable wireless Ethernet bridge functions and
gateway services for most devices. VM21 combines smooth integration with 3-in-1(video,
telemetry, RC) link for a faster, more cost-effective path to system fielding. There are 3
frequencies for choice, 800MHz, 1.4GHz and 2.4GHz. Parameters are as below: It features
compact size, high integration, high sensitivity, which provides great convenience for the
user.
Item
Parameters
Description
Frequency
800MHz
1.4GHz
2.4GHz
806~826MHz
1427.9~ 1467.9MHz
2401.5~2481.5MHz
RF power
-40 – 25dBm
Adjustable
Transmission range
10KM
LOS
S-BUS port
2 S-BUS
NA
Serial port
1 channel
Simplex, baud rate
adjustable
Latency
200-300ms
Power supply voltage
7.4 – 24V
NA
Bandwidth
1.4M – 20M
1.4M\3M\5M\10M\20M
Video input/output
LAN
Connecting IPC or PC
Range of bands and frequency pointsfor each frequency band of the module.
Frequency band
Frequency range
Frequency point range
2.4GHz
2401.5-2481.5MHz
24015-24815
800MHz
806~826MHz
8060-8260
1.4GHz
1427.9-1467.9MHz
14279- 146790
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1.2 Antenna mounting intent
1.Keep the antenna tightly with the SMA interface;
2.Keep the antenna on the AIR side uncovered, and straight up, or straight down;
3.Keep the antenna on the GND side uncovered, and parallel with the one on the AIR side;
4.Keep metal objects away from the antenna to avoid the communication loss;
5.Use the antenna with high quality;
6.May adjust the antenna’s angle to improve the signal strength;
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1.3 Indicators And Interfaces Instruction
①Data receiving indicator: light will flicker in the condition of data receiving.
②Data transmitting indicator: light will flicker in the condition of data transmitting.
③RF link connection indicator: When this node is added to the network, the indicator is
steady on.
④Frequency indicator light: showing the current frequency. Green light indicates 800MHz;
red light indicates 1.4GHz and yellow light indicates 2.4GHz.
⑤Power supply indicator: indicating power supply status. Steady ON in the normal power
supply status.
⑥SET button: used for firmware upgrading, serial port baud rate setting, fail-safe settings
Side
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①TTL port: serial port
②S-BUS1port: SBUS input(ground unit);SBUS output(airborne unit)
③S-BUS2 port: SBUS input(ground unit);SBUS output(airborne unit)
④Power supply port: 7.4-24V
⑤TTL signal indicator: light will flicker when there is data input
⑥SBUS1 indicator:
Ground unit: SBUS1 indicator will flicker when there is data input of SBUS1.
Airborne unit: SBUS1 indicator will flicker when there is data output of SBUS1.
⑦SBUS2 indicator:
Ground unit: SBUS2 indicator will flicker when there is data input of SBUS2.
Airborne unit: SBUS2 indicator will flicker when there is data output of SBUS2.
LAN port: for video input or output
USB port: debugging interface. After the driver is installed, a virtual NIC can be used
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2. Item List
2.1 Main Module
Ground unit
Airborne unit
2.2 Accessories
Power supply cable*2
（XT30）
LAN-to-4Pin cable*2
GH signal wire
4pin*2
GH signal wire
3pin*4
SMA antenna
(male connector)*4
Fiber-glass epoxy*2
Sucker*2
Package box
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3. Product Use
3.1 Preparation
Power on the airborne unit and ground unit. After the successful connection of the two
modules(signal indicator is steady, this process takes about 1 minute), the device can work
normally, and all parameters have been configured well. If you want to modify the baud rate
of the serial port and the IP address of the network port, please refer to the corresponding
steps.
Note! The products are factory configured and ready for use. Default configuration
parameters.
User name: admin123
Password: admin123
LAN port IP: 192.168.168.12 (airborne unit); 192.168.168. 11(ground unit)
Secret key: 1000
Wireless parameters: frequency: 1.4G; frequency hopping mode: start; bandwidth: 10M;
power: 25dbm
Serial port parameters: baud rate: 115200; 8 data bits; 1 stop bit; no parity;
3.2 Serial Port Operation
The default baud rate of the serial port is 115200. Pls follow the below methods to connect the
flight control and ground station software.
1. Connect flight control to the airborne unit. Pls kindly be noted the line sequence and the
baud rate of the flight control port must be the same as the baud rate of the serial port.
2. Connect the ground station software to the ground unit. Pls kindly be noted that the line
sequence and the baud rate of the port selected by the ground station software must be the
same as the baud rate of the serial port.
Serial port baud rate change
After power-on, long press the SET key (about 2 seconds). When TX and RX light up at the
same time and release it, it indicates the module entering baud rate change state. Short press
the SET key (<1 second) to switch the corresponding baud rate. The corresponding LED
isteady on represents the corresponding baud rate
Demo video, pls refer to：www.chinowing.com
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Indicator status
Baud rate
Rx continuously ON
9600bps
Tx continuously ON
19200bps
LINK continuously ON
38400bps
BAND continuously ON
57600bps
POWER continuously ON
115200bps
After finishing the setting, long press the SET key (about 2 seconds). When TX and RX light
up at the same time, pls release the key. After releasing, the indicator will return to the normal
working state. After the modification is completed, the baud rate needs to be re-powered to
take effect.
Note: when changing the baud rate, it needs to be the same in airborne unit, ground unit,
flight control, or other devices for normal communication.
3.3VM21 status LED description
Light
state
meaning
TXD
flashing
The module has data sending
Lights
No data is sent by the module
RXD
flashing
The module has data sending
Lights
No data is sent by the module
TTL/RS232
flashing
The serial port has data input
Lights
There is no data input in the serial
port
Blue light
Indicates the TTL level version
green light
Indicates the RS232 level version
S-BUS 1
flashing
S-BUS1 has a signal transmission
Lights
S-BUS1 does not transmit signals
S-BUS 2
flashing
S-BUS2 has a signal transmission
Lights
S-BUS2 does not transmit signals
LAN
flashing
Indicates that the LAN port is connected
LINK
LINK,BAND,POWER
The green light is fully on
High frequency module has strong signal
BAND
green light
Indicates the 800MHz band
red light
Indicates the 1.4GHz band
Yellow light
Indicates the 2.4GHz frequency band
POWER
The lights are always on
Indicates that the power supply to the
module is normal
Lights
Indicates that the power supply to the
module is abnormal
Safe protection data
LINK,BAND,POWER
The green light flashes
Out-of-control protection data is being
exported
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3.4 S-BUS Operation
1. Connect the SBUS port of VM21 ground unit with the SBUS signal source of RC receiver.
The SBUS indicator will flash quickly when there is data input.
2. Connect the SBUS port of VM21 airborne unit to the device you need to control.
3. VM21 can control aircraft, gimbal and other equipment as long as the link is connected.
3.5 LAN Operation
The LAN interface is used to obtain pull-stream videos
Take Windows as example
1. Default IP address
Airborne unit：192.168.168.12；Ground unit: 192.168.168.11
2. Connect LAN port of the airborne unit to IPC devices.
3. Connect your computer to the LAN port of the ground unit, and make sure that the IP
address of your computer's local connection is on the same network segment as the camera.
①Open Computer network sharing center, click Network and Internet setting
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②Open the Change Adapter option
③Select the local connection to the ground unit and right-click on it to view the properties.
Select Internet IPV4 protocol, set the fixed IP, and set the IP to the same network segment as
the camera, e.g.: the camera IP is 192.168.167.10, set the local IP to 192.168.167.xxx (0~255)
except 10. When the modification is finished, click "OK".
④Video data can be captured and played using pull streaming software such as VLC media
player.
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Pls ignore the IP address of VM21 when setting the IP address in getting video by pull
stream. Just change the local IP address of the computer to the same network segment as
the LAN camera. .
For more tutorials, please refer to our website www.chinowing.com.
3.6 USB Operation
The USB port incorporates a virtual network card function that can be used for video and data
output. Before using the USB port, the user must install the appropriate driver. The steps as
follows:
1. Install VM21 CODEDRIVER driver
2. The installation process may be intercepted by the security guard, please close the security
guard or trust this operation. After the successful installation, connect the USB port to the PC,
open Computer->Management, you can see 5 ports will appear in the port management
interface(not open for use yet). < Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device> will appear in
the interface of the network adapter, indicating that the USB port connection is successful.
Note: Please do not use the USB port until the device is successfully connected. Otherwise,
the signal strength indicator may appear abnormal.
3.Open the Network Sharing Center and set the local connection to get static IP.
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3.7 Mesh Operation
The VM21 radio supports mesh topology with one master device supporting up to 16 slave
devices.
The ground unit can be set as the master device and the airborne unit as the slave device. The
ground unit can communicate with up to 16 airborne units. The ground unit can broadcast
data to 16 airborne units via the TTL interface. The airborne units can communicate with each
other through the LAN port. Specific steps:
1. Set the ground unit as the master node.
2. Set the airborne unit as the primary node.
3. The IP addresses of the ground unit and other airborne units must be in the same network
segment and cannot have the same IP address to avoid IP conflicts and inaccessibility.
For example, the IP address of the ground unit is 192.168.168.11, and the IP addresses of the
other airborne units are 192.168.168.12, 192.168.168.13...
4. Input data from the TTL interface of the ground unit, each TTL interface of the airborne
unit can receive the data of the ground end.
5. The airborne unit accesses the devices connected to other airborne unit via the network port
IPs, (e.g. webcams, etc) eg,
a. The IP of the webcam connected to the network port on airborne unit is
192.168.167.20;
b. Connect the airborne unit to the PC side via the LAN port and set the local connection
to obtain an IP statically, with the IP in the same network segment as the webcam, e.g.
192.168.167.30;
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c. Use pull stream software to play the video.
3.8 Module Configuration
Take <airborne unit LAN port IP: 192.168.168.12; Ground unit LAN port IP:
192.168.168.11> for example:
①Power on the modules. Wait for the module to start about 1 minute, connect the PC to
the LAN port of the ground unit through the network cable to access the airborne unit
directly from the ground unit, or connect the airborne unit to the computer separately.
②Set the local IP to static IP in the computer network sharing center , IP should be the in
the same network segment with airborne unit IP, for example.192.168.168.100.
③Open a browser and enter IP in the address bar: 192.168.168.12
④Pop up the login interface and click on the administrator login, user name:
admin123, password: admin123.
If the login doesn't work or writes "This browser does not support ActiveObject,
download another browser (e.g. Sogou or Microsoft Edge) or update your browser
version and try again.
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⑤After successful login, the module configuration interface will appear..
<Key Settings Management> allows the user to set the secret key, which must
be the same between the airborne unit and the ground unit for communication.
It is not recommended to modify the <Master-Slave Settings> of the <Wireless
Settings> to avoid the possibility of poor communication quality due to
improper settings.
<Wireless Setting> can modify the frequency band, bandwidth, power and
frequency hopping. When modifying the frequency band and bandwidth, please
make sure the frequency band and bandwidth of the airborne unit and ground
unit should be the same, the antenna model used is consistent with the frequency
band. The modification of power can be made in <Building Chain
Management>. For example, changing "-10dbm" to " 10dbm" in the power
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range of <-40db ~ 25dbm>.
<IPAddress Change Management> can modify IP addresses. It is not
recommended to change the IP address randomly. If the user wants to change it,
please make sure that the ground unit and the airborne terminal are on the same
network segment.
The <Debug Interface> should be modified at the developer's guidance. If the
user needs a fixed-frequency point output, use the AT command: AT^DRPS.
The first parameter is the frequency point range, please set it according to the frequency
point range of different frequency bands.
The second parameter is the bandwidth, 1 is 3M; 2 is 5M; 3 is 10M; 5 is 20M;
The third parameter is the power, which ranges from <40db ~ 25dbm>.
As show below:
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⑥<Equipment Information> shows the current module version number. Please make
sure that the version number of the airborne unit and ground unit is the same.
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4. Remote Control Fail Safe Protection
Setting
If the RC fail safe protection is needed to be set, pls follow the below steps:
4.1 Write fail safe protection data
After the successful connection of the airborne unit and ground unit, long press the SET
button about 5S when there is SBUS data transmission.
When RX, TX, S1, S2, S3 all lights ON, it means entering Failsafe data setting mode,
then release the SET button.
Press SET button briefly to switch to writefailsafe data or turn offail-safe, when RX
and TX flash, it means the setting is successful.
Long press SET button until RX, TX, S1, S2, S3 all lights ON, it means Failsafe data has
been saved and exit setting mode.
After finishing the setting, the current RC value can be stored in the airborne unit as
failsafe value, and will not be lost after power failure. S1, S2 and S3 will flash when failsafe
data is output. Please test whether the Failsafe data is written successfully by the flight control,
GCS or servo.
SET operation
（proceed in the below order）
LED status
Mode
Long press＞5s
All lights ON
Enter fail safe setting
Short press＜1s
RX, TX flashing
Write fail safe data
Short press＜1s
All lights OFF
Turn off fail safe data
Long press＞5s
All lights ON
Exit fail safe setting mode
4.2 Trigger Fail Safe Value
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If the airborne unit does not receive SBUS data from the ground unit for 3 seconds, the
airborne unit will keep outputting the Fail safe value written before, and the S1, S2, and S3
signal lights will flash until it receives SBUS data from the ground.
4.3 Turn off Fail Safe Value
Long press the SET key (about 5S) after powering on the airborne unit. When all lights ON, it
means the Failsafe data setting mode has been entered, then release the SET key. Press SET
button briefly to switch to <write fail-safe data> or <turn off fail-safe>. When RX, TX, S1,
S2 and S3 are off, it means turning off fail safe function. Press and hold SET button until RX,
TX, S1, S2 and S3 are ON, it means fail-safe data is off.
4.4 Reset fail-safe data
If the user needs to reset the SBUS fail safe data,
it enters fail safe setting mode when there is RC SBUS data transmission. First, short press
the SET button to cancel the fail safe data set before, then short press the SET button briefly.
When the RX and TX lights flash, it means the successful setting.
By default, there is no fail safe data output from the radio, it will continue to output the
last received SBUS data after the data link is disconnected.
Only the S-BUS channel that has input at that time will be triggered and deactivated fail
safe function. For example, if S-BUS1 channel has data transmission and S-BUS2
channel has no data transmission, pressing the key will only trigger and deactivate
S-BUS1 fail safe data.
To set up fail safe for both S-BUS1 and S-BUS2 at the same time, both S-BUS1 and
S-BUS2 are required to have remote SBUS data transmission.
5. Firmware
5.1 Firmware Version View
In order to serve our customers better, our R&D team never stops the work. We are upgrading
the firmware and software, so please check the firmware version when you use it and refer to
our website for the latest version of software and firmware.
The version of the parameters setting software can be seen directly on the PC when you
configure the parameters, and the firmware version can be viewed through the following steps
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