I have an Arducopter APM 2.5 Flight Controller that is giving me compass trouble and I ordered two APM units to replace it. Neither of them worked and were sent back to the vendors.
The first replacement unit that I received (which was advertised as an APM 2.6) had the same GPS connector socket types as did my 2.5 unit (i.e., a 5-pin male socket on the top of the controller and a 6-pin male socket on the side of the controller). Everything hooked up okay and powered up properly, but even after all the calibrations were done in Mission Planner I could never get all the motors to arm. I sent that controller back.
The second APM I received was advertised as an APM 2.8 (yet the description block of the advertisement said it was physically identical to the APM 2.5 - only the firmware was different. LOL). When I went to hook it up I found that the GPS connection socket on the top was a 4-pin male socket, and the one on the side was a 5-pin male socket!
Supposedly the main difference between an APM 2.5 and an APM 2.6 (AND an APM 2.8) is that the 2.5 has an onboard compass while the others do not. The GPS that I have been using uses the 6-pin socket on the side of the old controller so it cannot fit either the 2.6 or the 2.8. (Incidentally, Mission Planner shows a compass readout in the HUD when I have the old F.C. on the 'copter. It works fine - except it gets East and West reversed! That's why I'm replacing it.)
My question is this: Do all GPS units WITHOUT a compass use a 6-pin connector plug, and all GPS units WITH a compass on board use a 5-pin connector plug?
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