Discussions

3dr telemetry: can't talk to ground station

Posted by Spencer Willis on October 3, 2013 at 12:44am

Hi all. Sorry to post another telemetry module troubleshoot but this is really puzzling me.

I am running a 3DR Y6. I recently bought a 3dr 433MHz telemetry set from a local supplier uavrobotics.com.au. The two modules seem identical so I assume it doesn't matter which is used for ground or air. The hardware version written on the PCBs is 1.3. When using the supplied FTDI usb cable with the ground module, the drivers seem to install correctly on Windows 7 so I have a new USB Serial Port (COM3). I connect the ground module and the green LED blinks as expected.

When I connect the air module to APM 2.6 and power it up with LiPo, the green LED on both modules is solid green. So far so good - they seem to be aware of each other.

I launch the 3DRRadio Config tool (also tried MP of course), set COM3 and 57k baud, click Load Settings and I get "Failed to enter command mode". I try all different baud rates - same result.

The wiki suggests updating the firmware. I click on Upload Firmware (Local) and I get the error "Failed to identify Radio".

Finally the wiki suggests I may need to force the radio into bootloader mode in order to upload a new firmware. I short out the CTS and ground pins before plugging it in to the FTDI usb cable and the red LED lights solid as expected. I try to Upload Firmware again and it fails with the same error message.

I have tried the above with both modules with the same results. Am I doing something wrong here? Surely both modules can't be dead? Perhaps this old stock and I need updated hardware?

Thanks for any suggestions.

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Spencer Willis October 5, 2013 at 3:22am

    I got my new serial cable today and now everything works like magic. Yay!

    Thanks again Marcin for your suggestions - I really appreciate it.

  • Spencer Willis October 3, 2013 at 9:36am
    Thanks again. Of course I had already tried most of those suggestions so as not to waste anyone's time. Different pcs, different os's (win7, 8 and 8.1 virtual and otherwise), updating ftdi drivers, swapping modules. What I haven't tried is a different USB to serial converter. I would say that's my best bet right now. I'll get one tomorrow.
  • Marcin Krawczyk October 3, 2013 at 1:32am

    I would try:

    - swap ground/air modules (and also swap Rx/Tx on ground side),

    - different FTDI,

    - different FTDI drivers,

    - different PC

  • Spencer Willis October 3, 2013 at 1:22am

    Thanks Marcin. Actually I did read that somewhere but thought it strange if it "just works" for everyone else. I swapped the Tx and Rx pins on my FDTI usb cable. There was no change - still getting the same problem.

  • Marcin Krawczyk October 3, 2013 at 12:46am

    Try to swap Rx and Tx lines on ground modem/FTDI.

This reply was deleted.

Activity