Im using the apm 2.8, watched dozens of videos, been trying for days to get it set up, seemed to work at first, but couldnt get the motors to arm, noticed on radio calibration the throttle seemed to be backwards, push stick up, green bar went down, push stick down green bar goes up, ive removed the software from my computer and reinstalled several times, even reset the board, now it wont even upload the firmware, wen selecting the comport it doesnt identify as arduino it just says "serial device", im running windows 10, I can post photos if necessary, i feel like a quadrotard, please help
APM 2.8 set up issues
- Thread starter skeeter
- Start date
woo hoo! I got the esc's calibrated, did it manually, one by one and actually got to see and hear the motors, but it still wont arm the motors wen its all hooked thru the FC, amber light by GPS port is solid, blue light by PM port is solid, blue light on external compass/GPS stays solid, but both the red lights (external compass/GPS unit and on the FC by PM port) blink, the one on the GPS is a steady one second blink while the one by the PM port does a sort of a 0ne two blink 5 times then sort 0f does a double quick blink and starts the pattern over, I'm going to try to get a short video of it uploaded, I'm going to start cruising forums and YouTube for help but any advice is welcomed in the mean time
T.C.
Active Member
Congrats!
I recalibrated ESC's, I'm using a 4s Lipo, should hear 4 beeps and a long beep, signifying the 4s battery and successful calibration, Right? well I only hear 2 beeps and the long one, throttle reaction in normal mode, idles and the slightest throttle stick up it revs high and no throttle control until stick brought down to nothing where it idles, this is with telemetry connected but not to mavlink, also when I use right hand stick and push right of course motors adjust but no upward motion, when I bank it left it comes off ground a little bit but the wrong side lifts, also, I switched it to Attitude mode on tx, it came off ground and tipped or flipped on its side, hope this is enuff info for someone more experienced than me to help me out
i opened my apm 2.8 (version 2.8.8 as the board reads) after watching a couple videos about cutting a trace between two pads, having some electronics assembly experience i felt confident that i could at least visually inspect the board, well, neither the I2C jumper is installed nor the mag jumper, and the layout was a little different than what I'd seen on YouTube, there are no pads in the position described on the Tube, and with the previously mentioned jumpers not installed i figured i hit another brick wall in trying to set this fc up, left a little more confused my curiosity had me checking out the board as i would have in my past work experience, my flashlight as a spotlight and a good magnifying glass were used but not necessary to see the fleck of solder crossing several vias on the back side near the analog pin's solder points, obviously overlooked during manufacturers inspection (if there even was an in spection done, it couldn't be missed) so with the fleck removed and a gentle wipedown with a cue tip and electronics cleaner im going to reset the board, uninstall apm planner2, reinstall mission planner, and start the process from scratch, i hope the board isnt fried internally somewhere and things go smoothly,
the set up in mission planner went different, firmware uploaded same, set up of mandatory hardware acted different, seemed to go smoother at first, then during compass calibration mavlink kept disconnecting and the same comport was listed 3 times in the selection menu (could have been due to storms at the time which may have caused poor internet) getting a Compass 1 error but seemed to calibrate anyways (it saved some offsets and allowed me to continue) radio calibration was a pain having to reconnect repeatedly until i switched physical usb ports, then calibrated esc's individually, smooth progressive throttle wen checked individually after each was calibrated, then wen flight modes and failsafe were set i plugged motors in to output strip, and just as before, they arm and spin at idle, as soon as throttle is raised they blast up to a high speed, found a YouTube video of a fella having same issue, of course no solution in video just problem, here is link
Any ideas?
I'll try to do screen shots of actual board data if i dont get it worked out,
Thanks to all with their advice thus far, im not going to give up, its frustrating and a challenge, im up for it even if i have to get another board to compare,
Someone out there knows how to fix this, please help
the set up in mission planner went different, firmware uploaded same, set up of mandatory hardware acted different, seemed to go smoother at first, then during compass calibration mavlink kept disconnecting and the same comport was listed 3 times in the selection menu (could have been due to storms at the time which may have caused poor internet) getting a Compass 1 error but seemed to calibrate anyways (it saved some offsets and allowed me to continue) radio calibration was a pain having to reconnect repeatedly until i switched physical usb ports, then calibrated esc's individually, smooth progressive throttle wen checked individually after each was calibrated, then wen flight modes and failsafe were set i plugged motors in to output strip, and just as before, they arm and spin at idle, as soon as throttle is raised they blast up to a high speed, found a YouTube video of a fella having same issue, of course no solution in video just problem, here is link
Any ideas?
I'll try to do screen shots of actual board data if i dont get it worked out,
Thanks to all with their advice thus far, im not going to give up, its frustrating and a challenge, im up for it even if i have to get another board to compare,
Someone out there knows how to fix this, please help
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
I can't speak about APM 2.8, but I know that the business of severing a trace to disable the internal compass was only on APM 2.5 and earlier versions. With 2.6, you don't have to do that, and I suspect that this is also true with APM 2.8. When I first put an APM on my Parallax Elelv-8, I bought an APM 2.5 clone and opened it up to sever the trace and discover that it didn't quite match the layout as depicted on the YouTube video. I located what I thought was the bridge and tried to sever it, but lost confidence it it and threw it away and bought a 2.6 clone. I have had no problems since then and I have two Elev-8 quads and a Tarot FY680 Pro hex, all using APM 2.6 clones.
BTW, when I first built my Tarot hexcopter, I bought my APM from 3D Robotics. When I had it put together, I had problems during power up - one of the motors would sputter erratically prior to arming. After a long and tedious troubleshooting session, I came to the conclusion that the problem was the APM. 3DR would not replace it because I ordered all my parts at the same time and the 90 day warranty period expired by the time I got to the point where I was ready to test it. So I scrapped it and bought a $40 clone - it has flown flawlessly since.
BTW, when I first built my Tarot hexcopter, I bought my APM from 3D Robotics. When I had it put together, I had problems during power up - one of the motors would sputter erratically prior to arming. After a long and tedious troubleshooting session, I came to the conclusion that the problem was the APM. 3DR would not replace it because I ordered all my parts at the same time and the 90 day warranty period expired by the time I got to the point where I was ready to test it. So I scrapped it and bought a $40 clone - it has flown flawlessly since.
Im at the point of ordering a new board, probably an APM 2.6, I think the 2.8 is toi new, i dont think all the glitches have been worked out, im going to try messing around with tuning and the like today
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
I can't speak for DJI stuff, and I'm sure RENOV8R's response was tongue in cheek (though I suspect serious anyway), but I've read some posts where APM and Naza F.C.'s were compared and from what I've seen they are pretty comparable. I've had good luck using APMs. Cost is probably about the same, though APM might be just a tad cheaper - the F.C. by itself can be had on Amazon for around $40 but you'll need a GPS antenna, mast, and if you want telemetry, you need to buy a pair of telemetry transceivers. Oh, and the APM power module. If you've already sprung for most/all of that stuff, I'd just get an APM 2.6 for another $40.
If I build another aircraft, I'll probably move up to the Pixhawk - I've pretty much become a 3DR bigot...
If I build another aircraft, I'll probably move up to the Pixhawk - I've pretty much become a 3DR bigot...
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
you are right - much less work to do with the Naza! APM gives you control of a ton of parameters which is nice if you want control of every aspect of operation. But you have to go through a lot of calibrations! Just recently, I discovered that I also have to calibrate the voltage that the power module monitors - it was reading a lower battery voltage and triggered the voltage failsafe sooner than necessary. After I got it to agree with my multimeter reading, I've gotten much better results.
So, I suppose a lot depends on what you want to do - if you want to get in the air quickly for sport flying, fpv, etc, and don't want to get bogged down in details then Naza is the way to go. But if you're a geek like me, then APM/Pixhawk is the way to go!
So, I suppose a lot depends on what you want to do - if you want to get in the air quickly for sport flying, fpv, etc, and don't want to get bogged down in details then Naza is the way to go. But if you're a geek like me, then APM/Pixhawk is the way to go!
So if I get the 2.6 will I be able to use the OSD, telemetry system, external GPS/compass, and power module that came with the 2.8? Also, will I have to remove jumpers or cut traces??
Oh, your funny, I'm not that funny but everyone I know says I'm a bunch of mushrooms (a fungi), lol, just sum humor for ya, I do have a 350 tilt rotor frame, maybe I'll try Naza for that one, My goal is 90mph with it, I've been watching Dutch RC on YouTube for that, here's question, I saw fps russia on YouTube using an amazing quad (turns out its fake, CGI or something) was wondering if u have seen it or care to check it out, each rotor acts independently kinda like the tail rotor of a tricopter, wondering if it is actually possible or what your thoughts are on it
Many thanks to all for the advice, i found a member in another discussion forum with same throttle issue and a suggested fix, it worked!, have already crashed (due to showing off) and wrecked my gps module, but no worries, another on way, thought i was grounded but found out i can fly without it, so ill be sharpening my flying skills in the mean time, ill post thrills and spills as they happen, lol, hope every one fly's high and fast and enjoys this awesome hobby! Ill be back with questions about my fpv/osd set up, prepared to take razzing from RENOV8R , lol, Thanks again
GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
Some suggestions for flying:
When you get your GPS working again, program the following flight modes into your transmitter: Stabilize, Loiter, RTL. Take off in Stabilize mode, then switch to Loiter - the aircraft will hover in place (needs GPS for this). You can move the aircraft around, but as soon as you take your fingers off the sticks it will hover where it is.
If you fly around in Stabilize mode and you get into trouble, such as get too high/far and lose orientation or it just gets away from you, switch to Loiter mode - it will stop and hover in place and give you time to figure out what to do.
RTL is your "if all else fails" option - just let it come back and as it starts descending to land, you can let it land or switch back to Stabilize and resume flying.
When you get your GPS working again, program the following flight modes into your transmitter: Stabilize, Loiter, RTL. Take off in Stabilize mode, then switch to Loiter - the aircraft will hover in place (needs GPS for this). You can move the aircraft around, but as soon as you take your fingers off the sticks it will hover where it is.
If you fly around in Stabilize mode and you get into trouble, such as get too high/far and lose orientation or it just gets away from you, switch to Loiter mode - it will stop and hover in place and give you time to figure out what to do.
RTL is your "if all else fails" option - just let it come back and as it starts descending to land, you can let it land or switch back to Stabilize and resume flying.
Thanks, I believe I did that already, but being a noob with the custom builds i just choked, I've got a few of the syma rtf quads, i can fly pretty good but i crash them once in awhile, they take a beating, had an x5 under water for a half hour, dried it out and im still flying it today, lol, got a couple x8's, had one drop from at least 100 feet, broke landing legs, cracked body, bent shafts, flew it at about 15 ft and walked it home, kinda stayed in the mode of "oh well, ill just fix it when i get home" with the custom, costly mistake i wont make again, thanks again, ill post mor thrills and spills soon im sure
Hi Skeeter,
Help me please....
I have the same problem for you.
I'm trying the Esc calibration by APM 2.8 for the first time with radio controller Turnigy 9x, but isnt worked... the PM port Led stay only intermittend red and nothing happens, there is no beep sound.
Can you to post a step by step for the setup? my quad is a DJI F450
Help me please....
I have the same problem for you.
I'm trying the Esc calibration by APM 2.8 for the first time with radio controller Turnigy 9x, but isnt worked... the PM port Led stay only intermittend red and nothing happens, there is no beep sound.
Can you to post a step by step for the setup? my quad is a DJI F450