First Build Sorrows

[Taylor]

Hello everyone, I am currently building my first mini quad. My specs are:
Frame: ZMR250 5" frame
Motors: Racerstar 2205 2300kv
ESCs: TBS Bulletproof 30A
PDB: Matek XT60
FC: Naze32 rev6
Battery: R-Line 14.8V 1550mah lipo
TX: Spektrum DXe
RX: Spektrum ar610
-(ESCs and RX are PWM from what I've found via user manuals, etc. I know it's an outdated system, but figured I'd start somewhere)

I believe that covers everything. Well to get started, I am using Cleanflight as that was recommended and seems to be relatively user-friendly (except for one issue), from my understanding the type of comfigurator I can use depends on the FC, correct? My biggest issue with cleanflight is that whenever I flash the newest firmware (2.4.0 I believe?) It automatically "bricks" my FC... I have two Naze32's and it has done this to both. I'm not the most computer savvy so when I get into downloading the proper drivers and whatnot, I get completely lost... What is so frustrating is that every youtube video I watch seems to be simply a few clicks and magically everything works. Not the case for me... All of that to ask, is my problem in the Naze32 FC and Cleanflight? Along with my lack of computer knowledge Should I cut my losses and purchase a higher quality FC to use with Betaflight or even KISS?

Thank you in advance!
Taylor

 

[mozquito1]

Move to betaflight ,its a lot better for quads. Just fir the osd alone is worth it.

 

[RENOV8R]

Yes, certainly sounds like a driver issue. Try running the ImpulseRC Driver Fixer
https://impulserc.blob.core.windows.net/utilities/ImpulseRC_Driver_Fixer.exe

 

[Taylor]

I will give both of those a shot tonight! I've read a lot about Betaflight, but out of assumption used only Cleanflight... I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks!

 

[Taylor]

Well, still no luck. I tried the ImpulseRC Driver Fixer and with the FC connected, it continuously searches for the FC. I did some research and from what I can tell, that means I have an issue with my CP210x driver. I have followed the steps to unistall the CP210x driver from my computer as well as downloaded the STM drivers, and tried using Zadig (all of these steps are listed on Betaflight/Cleanflight for a "bricked" FC), but when I try to load the firmware locally (as opposed to online), the firmware I downloaded doesn't appear where I saved it originally. The other thing I'm struggling with in this process is jumping the bootloader pads and getting into DFU mode? How can I tell if the FC is actually in DFU mode? From my understanding, with the correct settings, I should be able to jump the bootloader pads and it automatically goes into DFU mode. Sorry for all of the newb questions... From all of the research I'm doing on this topic it seems that there are numerous ways to achieve the same goal, but none seem to be working so far and I'm sure it's some minute detail that I'm missing...

 

[dragger201]

Just my dollar and two cents worth(inflation you know). When I first started with my 250 with a Naze I kept running into the same problem with Windows drivers until I downloaded and installed this............"CP210x_Windows_Drivers_with_Serial_Enumeration"............not just the Windows drivers.

DFU/Bootloader mode..............basically you need 3 hands. Make sure Betaflight is up and running on your PC. Then while you have the bootloader pins jumped plug your FC into your PC. Be aware that it is very easy to think you got the pins jumped but you actually don't.

Once you get it into Bootloader mode and connected..........in the upper right of your Betaflight window it will list the Connection as "DFU" instead of a "Com" port.

 

[Taylor]

Thank you for the information, it is extremely helpful! I'll have to give the serial enumeration a shot tonight... if that fixes it you'll be my hero hahaha I've been building this thing for the past 3 weeks (partly due to slow shipping) and can't wait to get it airborne! I really appreciate all of the helpful feedback I've been getting. Thanks everyone!

 

[Taylor]

Well, I'm happy to report that I'm at least making some progress! Originally when trying to connect to Betaflight, I would get the "Failure to open serial port" error message at the top. I finally have it so that it now says "Serial port successfully opened with ID:#". I have the bootloader pins jumped/soldered (at least I believe I do), but when I try to flash the new firmware I still get a "No response from the bootloader, programming: FAILED" in the programming bar at the bottom. Could this simply be that I don't have the bootloader jumped properly? Or is this still a driver issue?

 

[wafflejock]

Sounds like it could be one of two things now either boot loader pins not well connected or can try doing the flash on boot and full chip erase options then try reconnecting the board and see if it flashes on boot. Honestly not sure why this is required sometimes but has worked for me in the past when regular flashing doesn't.

 

[Taylor]

Looks like it was the bootloader pins as I finally got it flashed! Now struggling with Betaflight... I know this is a very common issue as I see it all over the internet and I've tried everything I've read/seen with no luck. I know the reciever and esc's are pwm so I have that set up properly in Betaflight, but still not getting power to the rx (spektrum ar610). I know the rx is wired properly, but guessing it's just a setting in Betaflight?

My other question (only because I can't find the information anywhere) is that my rx and escs are pwm, do my motors have to be pwm capable as well? I only assume that they are, or that honestly it didn't really matter whether they are or not.

 

[wafflejock]

Well some good some bad there. The receiver should be able to get power regardless of any settings in betaflight so I'd check out your connections there to make sure you have GND and power to the receiver working okay before moving on. Depending on the receiver you'll either need to put a bind loop onto it when booting it up to put it in binding mode, or maybe need to hold a bind button or it has 'auto-bind' where it goes into binding mode automatically if no bound transmitter is turned on, then get your transmitter in binding mode so they make a solid connection. Betaflight really just gets the signal data from the receiver into the FC and uses all the data on that line for throttle, ailerons, rudder, and elevator (throttle, roll, yaw, pitch). Once you have the receiver working and bound to the transmitter then in betaflight you'll need to have serial rx toggled on for the correct UART (whichever one the receiver goes into usually the FC instructions will tell you or can figure out from trial/error). Once you have the serial rx turned on you'll also need the right protocol for what data comes on that signal line from the receiver to the FC (in the configuration tab drop down for spektrum etc. etc.) . Once those parts are all set then you should be seeing stick input on the receiver tab (might need to remap but get to this point first).

Regarding the protocol for the ESCs basically this is just picking how the FC will tell the ESC how fast to go at any given moment. I believe Dshot1200 is the 'best' option right now it sends 1200 updates a second to the ESC so it's always getting the latest info on what the FC wants it to do even if it can't make 1200 adjustments a second. PWM is generally a safe bet in terms of having support on the ESCs but if they support multi-shot or dshot600 or 1200 would go with those. For the motors they are none the wiser how the ESCs are getting the signal and BLDC (brushless dc) motors all work roughly the same way so you won't need to do anything special there.

 

[Taylor]

Thank you for the wealth of information! Unfortunately neither of my local hobby stores know anything at all about drones so I am on my own besides these forums and youtube. I tried something a little daring since I was starting to think that my rx may be fried from everything I've been trying. I decided to switch the polarity of the plug from the FC to the rx. It clearly stated the order for the signal, +5v, and ground, but sure enough... it was the complete opposite... So I'm at least getting power to the rx! I made sure the rx and tx are bound, but am still getting no tx response through Betaflight. I have been going under the assumption that my rx is not a serial rx. Maybe I'll give that a shot when I get home. Would it help if I took screenshots of all the settings and posted them? Maybe I'm missing some minute detail.

And that's good to know about the motors, I didn't think it mattered, but I wanted to knock out any obvious things that aren't related to Betaflight per say.

 

[wafflejock]

Cool yah I believe you always need to have serial rx turned on for at least one of the UARTs (basically a serial input/output) for the receiver I could easily be wrong though since I'm not an expert on the software and all the devices out there. From what I've seen myself though having serial rx on for the right port and then having the correct option selected under the configuration tab (either spektrum1024 or spektrum2048 are probably right in this case) then after saving each tab I'm able to see input on the receiver tab in most cases. Usually at that point I have to also swap around some of the TAER labels for what is throttle vs pitch etc. and to get it to use the full range from 1000-2000 you may need to get into the terminal and use the rx_range page here explains in more detail than I can:

https://www.droningon.co/2017/03/23...eanflight-endpoint-midpoint-mismatch-rxrange/

 

[wafflejock]

Also no worries on asking around here even with 'noob' things no one here really judges we've all been through it . If you post screenshots of your config that may help as well in case someone notices something out of place there or I forgot to mention something that needs to be done.

 

[Taylor]

I just tried every combination of serial rx and receiver type with no luck. I also tried switching around the signal wires from the FC into the receiver seeing as how ch1 on the receiver was reversed, but nothing. I took screenshots of almost all of the pages and will try to upload them. I haven't touched the Power & Battery, PID Tuning, Modes, Motors, Blackbox, or CLI tabs yet. From the videos I've watched I shouldn't need to until I get a good communication between my transmitter and Betaflight, correct?

 

[wafflejock]

Yup you are correct in not needing to mess with anything in those tabs to get the receiver data coming through, sorry I'm still noobish to the forum too so not sure why the images didn't come through. I'll do a bit more searching on your particular FC and receiver to see if I can work out what the settings should be on the receiver tab and all just bouncing between work and the forum.

Edit ah they showed up now.

 

[wafflejock]

Alright so just did some reading and I see where the mix up is here sort of, I didn't gather that the ar610 is basically setup to directly control the servos for driving elevators, throttle, etc. the ones I've used so far always have one signal line that all those bits of data are transferred along:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter/comments/315bkz/help_with_spektrum_ar610_and_dragonfly32_fc/

^^ some people here say you can choose 'spektrum 2048' and then 'RX_PARALLEL_PWM' somewhere and apparently then can have multiple data lines from the receiver into the FC. I've used a couple of these with spektrum dx6i transmitter and has been pretty painless at least with regard to configuring the receiver, maybe worth grabbing if you can't get the ar610 working.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ABV7K5A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[RENOV8R]

Alright so just did some reading and I see where the mix up is here sort of, I didn't gather that the ar610 is basically setup to directly control the servos for driving elevators, throttle, etc. the ones I've used so far always have one signal line that all those bits of data are transferred along:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter/comments/315bkz/help_with_spektrum_ar610_and_dragonfly32_fc/

^^ some people here say you can choose 'spektrum 2048' and then 'RX_PARALLEL_PWM' somewhere and apparently then can have multiple data lines from the receiver into the FC. I've used a couple of these with spektrum dx6i transmitter and has been pretty painless at least with regard to configuring the receiver, maybe worth grabbing if you can't get the ar610 working.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ABV7K5A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yes, it's in the Configuration tab. For receiver mode select RX Parallel PWM. For provider select Spektrum 2048. In the receiver tab, the only thing should have to do other than set up the end points is make sure the channel mapping is correct. Default for Spektrum is TAER1234

 

[Taylor]

I will try it again to see if I can get something to work with my ar610. I was headed up to my local hobby store today anyways for a Losi truggy issue and decided to pick up the dsmx reciever since they had one there. Can't wait to try it out! I'm going to research as much as I can about that reciever before I start soldering anything. I plan on having a back-up quad in the future so if I can get the ar610 to work I will slap it on that. I'll try everything out tonight and let you guys know how it goes.

And that reddit post is actually very helpful!

 

[Jake Jhonson]

By the way, is this completely built now?