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APM Wont lift off (first flight)

Posted by david hitchcock on January 19, 2014 at 10:06am

Hi all,

I have just finished setting up my quad with APM 2.6.  I went to calibrate my ESC's, but when I went through the all at once method, my ESC's didn't beep.  I had them (Afro 30A) set up before on a KK2 board, and they worked fine. Anyway, no beeping during the calibration, and after, the quad powers up fine, motors spinning correct direction, props on correctly.  My question is;  did I miss something in the ESC calibration, or can they be used with their previous calibration?  Also, When I go to arm my quad, I have to hold the stick to the left.  Im thinking maybe that the stick is needing to be reversed?  

Any help is appreciated, as Im still new to this and this is my first experience with APM!

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Tags: 26, apm, esc, arducopter, calibration, configuration, hardware, setup
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Replies

  • david hitchcock May 24, 2014 at 11:40pm
    Motors spinning right directions?
    • david hitchcock > david hitchcock May 25, 2014 at 1:03pm
      I'm building a flip pro fpv....
    • david hitchcock > david hitchcock May 25, 2014 at 11:47am
      I'm currently building my 7th quad, and I still sometimes get the motor order wrong first time out.....
    • david hitchcock > david hitchcock May 25, 2014 at 11:46am
      Look up stick calibration. It's pretty common. It's doing each ESC separately without the APM. Do that, and see if it makes a difference. That's what did it for me. Also, with the "flip" check, and double check to make sure you have the correct motor order both at ESC/motors AND at the RX. Man, first quad I built I swore I had it right, and after days of troubleshooting, I had the motor wires backwards.
    • david hitchcock > david hitchcock May 25, 2014 at 8:58am
      A couple things you mentioned. The ESC's could be the issue, as I had the same problem. Manually calibrating each one, and then after each one was calibrated, an auto calibrate through the APM is what did the trick for me. Also checking the throttle in MP radio calibration to make sure it's somewhere around 1100-1900 (I think).
      I'm pretty much a beginner but remember this issue well. Check those things. Also u mentioned no term tab? In what version of MP? Have you seen it before (or used it) as connecting to it is a bit tricky first time
      • Guerrilla Drone > david hitchcock May 25, 2014 at 9:20am
        How do u do a manual calibration tho? I don't think I've tried a manual calibration just an auto.

        What trips me out the most is that when I flip the throttle sideways it generates enough power to want to flip the quad, I checked this morning and all the servos are correctly connected to its spot.

        I need to see what's the throttle max in MP tho..
    • Guerrilla Drone > david hitchcock May 25, 2014 at 7:00am
      Hi David!

      Yes motors spin right direction, check this video out...

      capturedvideo.MOV

      https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702493943?profile=original
  • Guerrilla Drone May 24, 2014 at 9:56pm

    Hey Guys!

    I'm completely new to quadcopters and I decided to built my own quad about a month ago, I chose to go with APM 2.6 because it seem just awesome what the possibilities are with it.

    To this point I'm ready to start flying but I haven't been able to accomplish take off at all, I', completely lost and don't know what else to do, I've gone throughout the set up as recommended, but when doing a ESC calibration I don't get the beeps like the videos in youtube show but I do get the motors spending and responding to throttle on the last step of the calibration.

    I'm able to arm and disarm but when trying to take off in stabilized mode it seems like the throttle won't generate enough juice to make the quad elevate, when I push the throttle stick side way (ROLL) it looks like all the juice is there and even wants to flip the quad.

    here's a straight link to the video just in case it doesn't show embedded: my video

    This is a video I uploaded to youtube of what the problem is:

    I'm using:

    DX8 transmitter 

    F30A Fire Red Series SimonK-(RapidESC)

    SunnySky X3108S KV900 brushless motors

    HQ Props 9x5 Carbon Composite Props

    APM 2.6 with GPS/Compass and Telemetry

    AR6210 DSMX® 6-channel receiver

    Flip FPV Pro G Frame

    Another thing I notice is that "terminal" tab is not on my mission planner latest update.

    PLEASE HELP! I've had this issue for a few weeks now and almost ready to give up!! I would really appreciate any help!

    Thanks!

    Javier

  • R. D. Starwalt January 21, 2014 at 6:32pm

    Outstanding and happy to hear you got it sorted out.

    I actually have a prepared list of the possible things that can be incorrect from the builder's side. Any one, or combinations of them, will cause a problem. All of them have been reported here in the forum so many times I started the list. I am glad we didn't have to get it out.

    Congratulations and happy flying! Be safe!

    -=Doug

  • david hitchcock January 21, 2014 at 1:37pm
    Flew great! Thanks again!
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