Joe
Sounds like a Plan, will take a break and try it again,
1 question which programmer listed under tools, should I be using in Ardino 1.01
for this board. Thanks Cliff

Originally Posted by fpv-tor

hi guys. just built a quad with this grat FC.
Im useing rctimer 30A escs flashed with SimonK FW.
only problem now is in the Multiwii config tool i see that the rear right esc is about 400 lower than the left. i have tried calibrating with no success.

Im new to multiwii and only know Mikrokopter.

Any tips on how to fix this?
Im able to take off but its yawing like crazy.

Cheers

Set all your transmitter travel back to !00% set all trims and sub trims to zero, redo radio calibration.

Calibrate Auto level and I think with MWii make sure the frame is level when you connect Lipo.

If that doesn't fix it recalibrate each ESC individually using the receiver Throttle PWM directly connected to each ESC.

Originally Posted by Clavin01

Joe
Sounds like a Plan, will take a break and try it again,
1 question which programmer listed under tools, should I be using in Ardino 1.01
for this board. Thanks Cliff

I was thinking, all the gauges etc are graphics, is it a graphics card or graphics driver issue ? can you try on another PC.

Tools - Board, should be Arduino Mega 2560 or Mega ADK

Tools Programmer, default is AVRISP mkII BUT that has no effect when programming using USB.

Originally Posted by jabram

Set all your transmitter travel back to !00% set all trims and sub trims to zero, redo radio calibration.

Calibrate Auto level and I think with MWii make sure the frame is level when you connect Lipo.

If that doesn't fix it recalibrate each ESC individually using the receiver Throttle PWM directly connected to each ESC.

Thanks. will do. by travel you mean endpoints right?
i had to set the to 125 to be able to arm the board.
what do you mean by radio calibration? New to this

Nice to see such quick response

Originally Posted by fpv-tor

Thanks. will do. by travel you mean endpoints right?
i had to set the to 125 to be able to arm the board.
what do you mean by radio calibration? New to this

Nice to see such quick response

Sorry my mistake, I haven't used MWii for a while, all the issues come back to me now, in MP NG there is Radio Calibration in MWii you have to do all this manually and much easier to get it really wrong

You should adjust your endpoints to the range of 1000 to 2000 in the GUI

If you then find you cant start the motors adjust MINCOMMAND in the Arduino software

See this page
http://www.multiwii.com/faq#The_motors_do_not_start

The motors still do not start, what about the minimum throttle signal send to the ESC’s

In some cases the ESC’s do not start with the supplied standard minimum throttle value.
It’s possible to lower this value in order to start the ESC’s.
One can try to lower the MINCOMMAND value with steps of 50 to 950 or 900.

If you fiddle with the throttle endpoints instead off using MINCOMMAND then if you use the Throttle from the receiver to program the ESC you can get yourslef and the ESCs all confused. All this is much easier in MP NG.

You need to have all the ESC calibrated correctly and Endpoints set correctly
You need to have ACC/Gyro calibrated so it knows what level is.

With frame level and armed advancing the throttle [NO LIPO CONNECTED just watching GUI] all the PWM should be almost equal, if they are not do it again as it is not right

If all output PWM are reasonable equal on the GUI and the frame tilts as you apply power with Lipo connected ready to fly then it is one of the ESC not calibrated correctly or a really sick motor.

[QUOTE=jabram;23482244]Sorry my mistake, I haven't used MWii for a while, all the issues come back to me now, in MP NG there is Radio Calibration in MWii you have to do all this manually and much easier to get it really wrong

You should adjust your endpoints to the range of 1000 to 2000 in the GUI

If you then find you cant start the motors adjust MINCOMMAND in the Arduino software

See this page
http://www.multiwii.com/faq#The_motors_do_not_start

Thank you. ill see where it gets me
if i do a reset in the mwii tool, will that reset all to the point of istallation? or maby the best thing to do is reflash the fc and start from scratch?

did all on the list now. it seems to hover very nicely. but its yawing clockwise like crazy. i need to hold the yawstick allmoast all the way to the left to hold it in position.
any final advise for this matter?

Thanks

Check prop and motor directions?

Originally Posted by TheFernMan

Check prop and motor directions?

yes its all good. if i fight back with the yaw stick its rock solid. can it be the yaw PID? All escs are re calibrated and all motors starts at the same time with the same rpm.

I am not totally sure what I am doing with the megapriates firmware yet, but I am really liking it and the arducopter GCS so far. I have my PIDs tuned ok, but they need more work.

It wasn't clear to me how to capture a log or calibrate my mag from a log and I don't have telemetry or a USB cable long enough to do the dance. So, I calibrated my mag by setting the parameter "COMPASS_LEARN" to 1, then flew around a while, then set it back to 0. This seems to work. Maybe someone could verify that this is a good approach. Before I did it, it seemed to have to learn the compass at the start of each flight, which is a little scary.

Is it possible to capture logs on this board? If so, how is it done? Maybe it is a matter of setting one of these parameters to enable logging:

http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/...C2_Datalogging

I didn't see any of them in the advanced parameter list in the GCS and when I went to the terminal tab, I didn't see any logs. Maybe, it is just a matter of turning it on in the CLI. Dunno, didn't try it.

The Alt Hold works pretty well, even with this baro. Much better than what I was getting in multiwii, but it could have been user error.

I switched on GPS hold for a second and it went up fast, so I switched it back off. I probably need to read up on that more and get to a bigger flying area before trying it for real.

Does the GPS need to be in any particular orientation?

Originally Posted by fpv-tor

yes its all good. if i fight back with the yaw stick its rock solid. can it be the yaw PID? All escs are re calibrated and all motors starts at the same time with the same rpm.

I hope I can explain this.

On my quad if I remove the food container that I use for a cover I can turn my quad upside down and rest it on the prop spinners. Do this on a flat surface like a table. Rotate each prop and see if the blades remain parallel to the flat surface. Try to adjust as needed to assure that all props are directing their thrust in a pure downward direction. If one if the motors is tilted to the left or right it will induce yaw in the machine. I have two Turnigy Talon frames and the motors become misaligned even after just a hard landing. I must keep a close eye on this and have found this to be a problem with those frames.

Sudsy

OK, First, Joe I'm a fan, you do quality research and documentation.

Second, I'm a dealer for RCTimer. So I figured I probably should have a good knowledge of the products. I'm not a total noob, thankfully. I have over 30 years in RC and actually started in RC with Nitro Heli's......Really! I am a total noob on Arduino.... I fly primarily OpenPilot as a member of the Flight Test Team and gage all other FC's on these controllers...So,

I'm building all parts from RCTimer

RM550 v2 Hexa frame
HP2218-800 kV motors
30A SimonK flashed ESC's
8 x 4.5 CF props
APM 2.5 Flight Controller
CN06 GPS
MB1230 EX-MaxSonar-EZL0 Sonar
RCT 433 Mhz 3DR Radio


I read everything on this forum and the RCTimer APM2.5 forum as well...time to make some sparks...

I tried first to connect via USB after installing the most recent Mission Planner....USB shows "Arduino Mega 2560 (COM3) " but will not connect. I also noticed in the Device Manager (WinXP SP3) that I have no ability to change port settings. Hmmmm.
I read that RCTimer shipped configured and decided to connect the GS 3DR to my PC and the AR to the Board...I also connected the GPS and Sonar too...what the heck...lets see if it is recognized...will talk and if i can set up the Sonar....

Results:

ArduFlyer 2.5 (0 min 10 sec)

after a few minutes:



Great!....but now I'm stuck...how do I get MegaPirate NG installed from here?

I was also able to "select" the Sonar but no way to test using the CLI. USB not working.

I do have a USBasp programmer and I can make a FTDI cable....If I need too

Originally Posted by fpv-tor

yes its all good. if i fight back with the yaw stick its rock solid. can it be the yaw PID? All escs are re calibrated and all motors starts at the same time with the same rpm.

The yaw, is that during lift off or all the time ?

Originally Posted by RYBAT

Great!....but now I'm stuck...how do I get MegaPirate NG installed from here?

I was also able to "select" the Sonar but no way to test using the CLI. USB not working.

I do have a USBasp programmer and I can make a FTDI cable....If I need too

You DO NOT want to NOR need to install Megapirates.

You have the REAL APM 2.5, a great FC IMHO. Good choice.

Megapirates was originally designed to run ArduCopter code modified to run on cheaper Mega boards, that was attractive when APM 2.5 was only available from one source and it was RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. That has all changed now that Rctimer sell the Arduflyer [still a bit more expensive than what it costs to build] much cheaper that 3DR inflated prices.

ArduCopter firmware for all intents and purposes is the same as Megapirates.

Your work is done, you have a great flight controller, a great GPS, go out and start enjoying it.

Yes it is a pain not being able to run CLI with 3Dradio, don't know how you can test sonar that way.

Once you get it tuned, I am interested to hear your evaluation of APM 2.5 with ArduCopter firmware compared to OP, I am the guy who made 1 adverse comment about OP GPS V8 which instantly resulted in all my Kickstarter orders cancelled and told to P*** off from OP forum by Dankers, so I never got to try CC3D..

I do have a USBasp programmer and I can make a FTDI cable....If I need too[/QUOTE]


Oh I probably shouldn't do this (subaru4wd) but....

What is this RCTimer? Is it like AMWAY? I sure see a lot of "Dealers"!


Sudsy