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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 6, 2012 at 8:47am

You should not see "Ardupilotmega" in the drop drown box. APM is the hardware platform. ArduPlane and ArduCopter are the software--the Mission Planner just wants to know which software you have loaded. 

Are the rest of your RC inputs showing up as normal when you go through the calibration process? 

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Permalink Reply by Dave J on April 6, 2012 at 9:18am

Thanks for the quick reply Chris.  I have a quad so I loaded the software for Arducopter2.  Yes, the calibration worked fine for the 5 inputs: Roll, Pitch, Yaw, Throttle and 3 position switch (connected to input 8 on the APM2).  But when I go to the "Modes" tab and operate the 3 position switch, nothing happens.

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 6, 2012 at 9:22am

Have you selected ArduCopter in the drop down menu?

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Permalink Reply by Dave J on April 7, 2012 at 12:10am

Yes, I've got Arducopter2 in the drop down menu.

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Permalink Reply by Dave on April 7, 2012 at 7:19pm

I thought the default channel for mode selection was 5.  Can that be changed somehow?

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 7, 2012 at 7:37pm

The default input channel for mode selection on ArduCopter is 5. On ArduPlane it's 8.

Dave J: Please follow the instructions in the manual, which show that Mode Input is Ch 5.

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Permalink Reply by Dave J on April 8, 2012 at 9:01am

Thanks Chris - I've connected the Mode Input to Ch 5 and now the modes do change on the "Modes" tab.  Hurrah!!!

Unfortunately - try as I might - I cannot now get the motors to turn!  I have calibrated the ESC's and tried to arm them by yaw fully right with throttle down.  Selected "stabilize" mode.  Tried adjusting the lower end point of the throttle to -10.  (No trim).   Am I missing something?

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Permalink Reply by Helldesk on April 8, 2012 at 9:23am

What are the yaw channel values when you apply full yaw on either direction?

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Permalink Reply by Dave J on April 8, 2012 at 10:40am

Yaw channel values are 1101 and 1904.

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on April 8, 2012 at 10:53am

Maybe your rudder channel or throttle channel is reversed? Try the opposite directions: left rudder and full throttle and their combinations. 

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Permalink Reply by Dave J on April 9, 2012 at 11:48am

Really stuck now  :-(

I've tried changing the channels using various endpoints for the throttle and tried just about every combination of reversing etc.  Because I have the APM2 fitted to an old Gaui 330X, I tried powering up the APM2 and RX with a separate BEC and then powering the ESC's afterwards when everything had booted up but to no avail.  I even tried replacing a Gaui ESC with an RCTimer one but that didn't work either.  The ESCs are all calibrated using the manual method.  I've been all the way through the troubleshooting guide.

If I disconnect an ESC from the APM2 and power up, the disconnected ESC beeps continuously (as you would expect) but when they are connected I just get the music tone and one beep at startup and that's it.

Any straws would be gratefully grasped...

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Permalink Reply by Dave on April 11, 2012 at 5:58am

Did you work it out?

Arming is a function of the APM - it's nothing to do with the ESCs.

Set your radio back to standard settings and calibrate it again in APMSetup (the screen shown above).  Then, when you hold the throttle stick down and right, in that screen, you should see Throttle at minimum and Yaw at maximum.  If you keep it there for 5+ seconds, the red light on the APM board should stop flashing and remain on.  The APM should now be armed.  If you raise the throttle, the motors should start to spin.  Sometimes on mine (APM1), I have to push the stick up twice to get the motors running - I think it takes a few secs after solid Red for the actual Arm to occur.

If you don't see Yaw go to max, try the other sticks until you find the one corresponding to Yaw.  When you hold it at max with Throttle min, it should arm.  Then you need to work out if your sticks need swapping!

Hope that helps.

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