RC India

Hi  :hatsoff:
i new into quad , after spending almost 4 months learning here invested into 2nd hand quad from rcindia itself
the following is already done
450 frame
hobby king 30amp esc. 
turnigy D2836 motors
10 x 5 props
2200mah 11.1 lipo

amp 2.5 (hextronix)
gps

avionics 7x
off course the covering in plastic to protect the apm ( not shown in picture)

on fitting the above and connecting
the following is observed
apm red and green light flickers

what should be done?

awaiting your help in taking off
thank you in advance.
john

Did you miss the acc/mag calibration,select configuration,prop orientation in between?
And what about firmware update?
And green light on the gps is flickering or APM?

hi
never knew you'd get help so quickly thanks for replying back
green on apm lights on gps only red light
other think i need total help new to it.
jj

Calibration is very important aspect when it comes with APM. First try to calibrate compass, gps and then radio

http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/table-of-contents/ (http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/table-of-contents/)

JJ, spoon feeding wont benefit you much so please follow that link and start reading. If you get stuck somewhere then ask here, we will try and help you out .You got a lot to understand since you chose APM which is complicated in terms of setup from a beginners point of view.

There are members from Goa. lets see if someone can lend you a hand.

Thanks sidewinder and satyam going through. The guy i bought it from full sey except the tx said it was fully calibrated...
Have download mission planner made a study and going through your link.

Very true but once its tune and setup its awesome and damn stable controller to fly.

Indeed Satya, its all about tuning. The functionality offered by APM is superb, its only the complicated setup and options to pretty much program everything which brings it a bad name.

JJ, if TX has been changed and you received the quad assembled and tuned then, you will most probably need to re-calibrate it. There would be couple more settings related to Tx which would need to be tuned such as mid throttle setting,rates/expo and flight modes switch etc. Magnetic declination would change too if quad wasnt bought locally, so you will need a compass calibration too. You need to check all the fail-safe settings and set them as per your requirements.

Please remember everything has to connected correctly and softly, dont just connect them as you wish. APM is polarity sensitive and esc's too, so be careful. Take your time and read the online manual whenever you get stuck, because everything is documented there.

hi sidewinder
i downloaded mission planner
in mandatory hardware
radio calibration
everything calibrated well except roll and throttle mixed together. whenever the throttle was used roll also shifted while calibrating.
any solution?
thanks

check your wiring (between your apm and rx) Which radio are you using?

check your tx whether it is set in acro mode.

Thanks satya
I am using avionics 7x
The rx to fb seems ok i removed it and redone it only roll and throtle give same result?
Any solution?
Thanks

Hi
Its not in acro mode as per mission planner it said to put it in plane mode
Thanks

is the motor layout correct as per mission planner?

Its in  x mode if thats what you mean ...

yes, for x mode check the motor numbering in mission planner..what modes are there in your tx other than plane?

Tx has acro heli and plane mode

change the mode to acro in your tx and redo the calibration and check

If you are moving 1 stick and in mission planner you see 2 movements means something is not right. You have to first isolate the cause of the problem.

If you have a servo then connect it on that channel and check the movements of the servo.

If that remote is programmable and allows you to create new model then create a new model and try with that

thanks satya
i did use servos , there is a hum in the servos on using the tx there is no moment
jj

hi satya
there is a problem with the tx
since i connected the motor direct to the throttle the servo worked at roll both worked when throttle was used
need to make a new model...
trying
jj

exactly...

hi
corrected the tx
and recalibrated using mission planner
all worked well
 loaded the arducopter v3.15
disconnected
now connected lipo
red blue and green light indicated
no response when using tx.
thanks
jj

problem solved?

what? are you unable to arm the copter or any other problem?

After loading the firmware you need to calibrate magnetometer and accelerometer in mission planner. Did you do that?

APM has a pre-arm safety check which wont allow your copter to arm if it fails. You can see the error in mission planner HUD.You can read more about that @ http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/prearm_safety_check/ (http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/prearm_safety_check/)

Also check for reversed channels on radio.
Blinking red led means unarmed, while solid means armed.
Similarly, blinking blue means no gps lock and solid blue means gps lock.
green i.e the alive led stays solid since booting APM.

Thanks guys
had gone through the sidewinder pre arm safety check
it shows geo fencing breach. double clicking it open where i disconnected gpshdop
the HUD wind still shows geo fence disarmed ??
moreover on opening new window the gpshdop still show tick mark even if it removed
please hep
jj

hi guys
the red light remaind steady after arming o also the blue light
but still the Hud window shows disarmed??
thanks

Post some screenshots of MP. In which flight mode are you arming the copter?

esc calibration done?
acclerometer calibration done?
compass calibration done?
these 3 steps are essential, unless you do these correctly you cant arm the quad.

esc calibration does any one have a link of

hobbywing 30a ubec
thanks

nb searched on net by the way i dont have esc programming card

use this link for calibrating
but the long beep did not sound
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/initial-setup/esc-motor/ (http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/initial-setup/esc-motor/)

arming again did not help.

ESC calibration didn't happen properly. There are number of videos on youtube which shows how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up16RuNFQOg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up16RuNFQOg)

If you do it correctly the motors will spin when you raise the throttle stick right after the calibration procedure.

i think i fried the fapm
in the bargain of calibrating i did a small mistake i connected the lipo when the when it was still connected to the pc
ried it again after removing he lipo and usb now only green lights up?
any solution please

GUYs
the apm is ok , i had reset the board,
had to load everything again,
did the esc calibration
the following problem exists:
1) hud window shows geofence disarmed : doubled clicked the lower left values opening window disengage the gpshdop
    that must be giving the red indicator to flicker.
2) the usb calibration on 100% throttle gives the necessary blip but on powering down does not give beep and pushing the trottle motors don't work as per video guide.

I am awaiting for solution or scarp this project.
 

what are the min & max pwm values on the throttle channel? you can see this in mission planner radio calibration screen.

also check if throttle cut is enabled in your tx (i have no idea about avionic tx menu, pls refer the manual)

check the channel assignment in your tx and verify in MP...i guess this problem is something to do with your tx settings...

thanks panivyas
tried the method and i feel although the Hud window does give geofence disarmed
the main problem is with the tx ....i tried with trial and error the sub trims ( H/L from 1 to 5)and the the travel adjust from 100%+/- 20 ( H to L).... the esc were dismantled and i individually tried to arm using just throttle input in Rx (ch 3), on full throttle the beeps went on but on lowering the throttle no beeps.... so its the tx all them while,  i presume? ......
Any solution????