Skyzone SKY03O Firmware Upgrade

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In this article I want to briefly discuss how you can upgrade the firmware on your SKY03O goggles. I always like to make sure to have the latest and greatest firmware on all my devices from the get go.

This procedure also works the same way for the SKY03 and SKY03S goggles - just make sure to download the appropriate firmware for your model.

Caution: Before attempting a firmware upgrade, make sure that your goggle battery is fully charged. When power is disconnected during firmware upgrades, bad things might happen.

Check Current Version

First thing you should do is check which version of the firmware the goggles are currently running and if a firmware upgrade is at all necessary. Power up the goggles, long press the Track button to enter the system menu, and then navigate to the last tab by short pressing the Track button. Press the CH button to navigate to System Version and press the REC to open the info box. This info box will show different firmware versions: FW1, FW2, FW3. Further, HW version and the serial number of your goggles.

The version numbers we are interested in are, FW1, FW2 and FW3. HW version will always stay the same, and the serial number too.

Take note of the values FW1, FW2 and FW3. in my case FW1 is V1.1.0, FW2 is V1.1.2 and FW3 is V01.02.00.04.

Acquire the new Firmware

Navigate to the download section on the skyzone website and download the Zip file matching your goggle model. Double check that you acquire the right firmware file for your goggles.

Extract this Zip file, you will find 3 different bin files:

  • FIRMWARE_F.bin - this is the firmware for the DVR
  • SKY03m_ST32_APP_Vx.y.z.bin
  • SKY03m_TW_APP_Vx.y.z.bin

m being your exact goggle model and x,y and z the version number. In the later two cases if the first version matches your FW1 version and the second one matches the FW2 version there is nothing to do for you, otherwise read on.

In my case the version of the first bin file is 1.3.0 and the second is 1.3.4. Those versions are quite ahead of what I have currently flashed on the goggles.

You will also find Release Note.txt file, describing the changes that were made in the different versions.

Upgrading the DVR

Upgrading the DVR is pretty straight forward:

  1. Get a FAT32 formatted SD card
  2. Copy the FIRMWARE_F.bin file to the root of the SD card
  3. Plug the SD card into your goggles
  4. Power up your goggles
  5. Enter the main menu by long pressing the TRACK button
  6. Navigate to the DVR tab (the one in the center) by short pressing the TRACK button
  7. Navigate to the DVR FW UPGRADE entry by short pressing the CH button
  8. Initialize the firmware upgrade by pressing the REC button and confirm by pressing the REC button again

You should now see the message “FW upgrade please wait…” - do not turn off your goggles while the firmware upgrade is in progress, this will take a bit and after it is done you will see “Upgrade complete”.

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Upgrading the Goggles

Unfortunately I was not able to do this from Linux - it would always complain about the filesystem being broken - I had to resort to a windows setup to get this flashed. Should you manage to get this done from Linux, please let me know how.

This is not as intuitive as upgrading the DVR. First of all, remove the strap from the left side of your goggles. If you look closely into the slit you can see a small button there. After locating this button do the following:

  1. Plug in the power to your goggles, but do not power them on yet
  2. Plug in the goggles to your computer using a micro USB cable
  3. Press the small button that you located previously with a screwdriver and power on the goggles (the button gives nice tactile feedback when being pressed).
  4. A new removable drive should now pop up in your file manager
  5. Copy the files SKY03m_ST32_APP_Vx.y.z.bin and SKY03m_TW_APP_Vx.y.z.bin to this removable drive
  6. After the files are copied eject the drive and power cycle the goggles

That’s it - you can now verify that the FW versions matched the versions of the files you flashed by repeating the Check current version step.

Hidden Debug Mode

While I was playing around with the goggles I found a hidden debug mode: when pressing REC and MODE while powering up you enter a mode where you can see the RSSI voltage of the receiver modules on the top left of the screen.

Chris is a Vienna based software developer. In his spare time he enjoys reviewing tech gear, ripping quads of all sizes and making stuff.

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