I can’t believe they didn’t put a back-light on this transmitter.  Pretty much any LCD display today will have a back-light, argh!.  I saw some kits online for about $60 + shipping costs and thought it was just too much.  I can almost buy another DX6i for that price.  Or save up for a Spektrum DX8 hehe.

Here’s some pics of my DX6i LED backlight mod. The DX6i’s input voltage is about 5.5v-6v so you have to get the right resistors to limit current without blowing the LEDs.  If you plan to mod other transmitters then you need to know the input voltage and use this LED/resistor calculator to figure out what you’ll need.  I’m not gonna go into details about how to wire them up but if you search you can find others who have done almost the same.  You will most definitely kiss your warranty goodbye and I will not be responsible for any damage done to you or the DX6i.

You’ll need about $5 worth of parts:

4x 3mm blue LED (3.3v, 20mA)
4x 120 ohm resistors (for other transmitters that use higher voltage, you’ll need a different resistor!)
Soldering skills
Bravery to take apart electronics

Here’s the wiring diagram for the LED’s.  If this is foreign to you then stop right here and don’t go any further 😉

Remove the LCD panel

Drill 2 holes for the LED’s into the plastic mounting brackets

Solder up your LED array for one side

Hot glue it in place

Solder the 2 LED arrays together

Test everything out before you install everything back in

I powered the LED arrays by tapping into these points (ON and BAT) on the transmitter PCB.  You can probably use other points but this is what I found that would deliver the 5.5v and also shut off with the power switch.

With it turned on

This mod turned out pretty good.  There is some flashlight effect at the corners but overall I’m pleased with it. Now I can see the LCD screen in dimly lit areas and also I know that it’s on!  So many times I forgot to turn of the transmitter.  Obviously with 4 LED’s you’re gonna be using up more battery but it’s very minimal, only 80mA.  You probably won’t notice it.  By getting some 2500mah Sanyo Eneloop NiMH batteries, it won’t be a problem since it’s 1000mah more than the stock 1500mah batteries.

I’ll mod the FlySky FS-TH9x next so maybe I’ll do another post on that.

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