Originally Posted by OlliW

hey Martin

you've got a PM

just try the 1N4148... you can't damage anything... no idea if its will work or not (and the DIY adapter reportedly worked very dependent on the particular computer, so its hard to make any predictions anyhow)

Hi again, Olli.

You've also got a PM!

Thanks. I'll try it with the 1N4148 diodes this afternoon, as soon as I get the 2.7kOhm resistor from a friend.


\ Martin

try to get a range of resistors to play with... this also can depend on your particular computer
good luck

Originally Posted by OlliW

try to get a range of resistors to play with... this also can depend on your particular computer
good luck

Anyone else built this DIY adapter? If so, what resistors did you end up using?

Thanks.


\Martin

I've tried to build the DIY adapter using 1N4148 diodes - it didn't work.
But there are many computer dependent variables, it may be worth a try.

For me at least 2.7 kOhm resistor and BAT85 diodes worked satisfying.

But I also noticed some trouble on certain computers, even using this specific type of DIY adapter.
I strongly recommend an FTDI adapter

hey mick, thanks for these info

I successfully transferred the firmware last night, using a DIY adapter with "standard" 1N4148 diodes, and I was able to configure the GA-250 without problems.

Today, when I connect to the GA-250 to try some different settings, it just disconnects before I can complete "Read Setup". Also, sometimes when I connect to the GA-250 now, it says that the connected device is INCOMPATIBLE with the selected device?

I'm hoping that these issues are due to the wrong diodes in the DIY adapter, and hopefully my Shottky-diodes will arrive today. I'll change them as soon as I get them, and try again.


I'm wondering, can someone give a detailed description on how to set up the GA-250? What to do, in what order to do it, and what to check for, when you adjust something? I'm not very experienced when regarding these things, so they kinda scare the cr@p out of me..

All help will be greatly appreciated.


\Martin

Originally Posted by netmav

I'm hoping that these issues are due to the wrong diodes in the DIY adapter, and hopefully my Shottky-diodes will arrive today. I'll change them as soon as I get them, and try again.

My own experiences with DIY adapter are very unsteady.
I've tried up to 15 different computers with serial port. Some worked flawlessly, on some connection was established succesfully, but broke down within seconds. On others connection was established only to 3.3 volts version of gyro, but not 3.0 volts version. And finally a few computers did not connect to any type of gyro...

Originally Posted by netmav

I'm wondering, can someone give a detailed description on how to set up the GA-250?

Just take a look into Olli's manual:
http://www.olliw.eu/uploads/Instruct...16-v120607.pdf

as regards the DIY adapter, Mick has described the situation masterly... I am actually kind of surprised that the 1n4148 did work for you (that's good!)

with the Shottky's it might work better, but it might also not work better... you will see...

in cases such as those you describe screenshots often has proven to be very helpful (we don't see anything of the problems, we just see what you display here )

as regards the error message "connected device is INCOMPATIBLE", this usually means that you run AvrConfig with a Device which is not compatible with the device you have connected. E.g., if you have firmware v0.15 installed and connect to AvrConfig with the device set to v0.16 (and vice versa) it would give this error message. Is it possible that in the Device field you have e.g. GA250-Cp-Gyro-v015, instead of GA250-Cp-Gyro-v016? This might have happend because you installed first the v0.15 package, but just have copied the firmware hex-files for v0.16 but not all other files, or you have installed the firmwares in two different folders, and have tried now to access the GA250 with the AvrConfig of the "wrong" folder... if you continue to have problems here, unzip the v0.16 firmware package again into one folder, and just use the files of this folder. Alternatively, it could of course also be a read error because of the instable connection, but I think you should see this then in the message field.

the DIY adapter is great... if it works... but unfortunately often it just sucks... hence our recommendation of the FTDI adapter (and thanks to HK the FTDI has really become so much cheaper than it was a year ago, so that it shouldn't be a brainer anymore)

Originally Posted by OlliW

as regards the DIY adapter, Mick has described the situation masterly... I am actually kind of surprised that the 1n4148 did work for you (that's good!)

with the Shottky's it might work better, but it might also not work better... you will see...

in cases such as those you describe screenshots often has proven to be very helpful (we don't see anything of the problems, we just see what you display here )

as regards the error message "connected device is INCOMPATIBLE", this usually means that you run AvrConfig with a Device which is not compatible with the device you have connected. E.g., if you have firmware v0.15 installed and connect to AvrConfig with the device set to v0.16 (and vice versa) it would give this error message. Is it possible that in the Device field you have e.g. GA250-Cp-Gyro-v015, instead of GA250-Cp-Gyro-v016? This might have happend because you installed first the v0.15 package, but just have copied the firmware hex-files for v0.16 but not all other files, or you have installed the firmwares in two different folders, and have tried now to access the GA250 with the AvrConfig of the "wrong" folder... if you continue to have problems here, unzip the v0.16 firmware package again into one folder, and just use the files of this folder. Alternatively, it could of course also be a read error because of the instable connection, but I think you should see this then in the message field.

the DIY adapter is great... if it works... but unfortunately often it just sucks... hence our recommendation of the FTDI adapter (and thanks to HK the FTDI has really become so much cheaper than it was a year ago, so that it shouldn't be a brainer anymore)

Thanks guys.
I've swapped 1N4148 diodes for the BAT85 ones now, and it connected and stayed connected.. Hopefully it will last, so I can keep making adjustments to the gyro..

Thanks for the link, Mick. I'll go get my self a beer and read through the manual!

Have a good weekend all of you, and thanks for helping me out.


\Martin

hi, today I tried to flash bootloader on my GA250 gyros using the following USB ISP:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI...E:L:OC:US:3160

It didn't work, my gyro board was overheating after I connected it to the ISP so I had a bad feeling that something is terribly wrong. I have checked all soldering points and cables, there was no short circuit, everything seemed to be fine.

Then I found the reason of these problems: the 10 wire cable from the ISP was mirrored! So if you are using this interface from ebay, please make sure that you have the correct cable, otherwise you may burn something on the board.

In my case, I had to swap upper and lower rows of pins and then I also had to "mirror" the pinout (pins on the left became pins on the right and vice versa).
Then it started to work and I could upgrade the bootloader without problems.

to OlliW: hi, I tried to download the latest firmware from your page, but that requires some registration... I tried to register, but it didn't work, I got no password from your server... Is there any other way how I could download the firmware? Thanks!

Hey Stanleyy,

good to hear that you could sort out your issue, and that it indeed was "just" incorrect wiring because of the confusing pin layout.

As regards the registering, there is since about 2 weeks somehow a big problem with my website which I can't figure out (it doesn't send out emails anymore). I researched a lot and even asked already support (which I would usually never do and indicates my desperation), but so far anyone seems to be as clueless as me what's going on. I'll send you a PM.

Looking forward to hear about how flying goes

Have fun, Olli

Originally Posted by OlliW

Looking forward to hear about how flying goes

Have fun, Olli

I want to use it to stabilize camera gimbal on my quadcopter, I will post results here

Hey Folks,

good news for those interested in using a programming box for in-field setting the parameters of the modded GA250.

I've just released the firmwares (and bootloaders) for also using the Turnigy DLux Programming Box (thanks Tomve for suggesting it ) and an Arduino Uno + LCD Shield. The new firm- and software package is called v20121125, please download here: http://www.olliw.eu/2011/ga250-gyro-firmware/#firmware
(the other firmwares/softwares were not changed, only new firmwares for the programming boxes)

Secondly, for those who wanted to use a Robbe Box but were outside Europe and couldn't find a supplier, I have identified some rebranded versions which, I guess, are also available in the US. Info I have compiled here: http://www.olliw.eu/2011/robbe-box-schaltung/#sources

A comment on the Turnigy DLux Box: apparently different versions with different internal hardware exist; I could identify boxes with the version number printed on the main board ending with -000 and -002. Unfortunately I could not yet decipher the scheme of boards with -002 completely, I'd appreciate much if anyone with additonal info or good photos of the board would share it with me. THX.

Cheers, Olli

Originally Posted by OlliW

Hey ablack,

thanks for your biref feedback, much appreciated.

What setting are you using for the Controller Structure? Fixed Wing?

It's correct, my implementation works slightly different in some aspects than the commercial (heli) gyros (I don't have any knowledge for fw gyros). And one difference is that in default, as you observed, the HH "memory" is much longer than in commercial gyros. But you can adjust this via the I Limit and Gyro Limit parameters in the experts menu. I have not played around with them myself, but I would expect that e.g. reducing I Limit should reduce the angle memory (I don't know but you might have to lower it to something like 150 for a 45° memory).

For helis I can't see any problem with that (at least I never experienced any), since the maximum rate the tail can be turned is not very dependent on the flight condition. However, I understand what you're saying, that for a plane the max rotation rate depends strongly also on the speed of the plane.

Try plaing with the above limits (don't go higher than the default, but you can lower them).

Cheers, Olli

Hi Olli,
Ive just tried to lower these values, but unfortunatly it didnt work. Partly it influences behavior of agle memory, but in strange way. Still the memory is more that 360°, when I rotate gyro about 180° the servo goes full up, when I rotate gyro back about 45° servo goes back one half a way. When I rotate gyro fully back to initial position, servo goes back to mid point.
So it looks like the parameters lowering influences only part of "angle memory".
And more, when I rotate gyro one way, servo moves full throw, then a little back, full, little back and so. It doesnt happen with high gyro limits.
Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for advise.