Discussions

I have just started quad use and have to mention some disappointments. My interest was aroused when my neighbor bought a dji with a naza controller. The stability was astounding and after scouring the internet I decided to buy the apm2.5 since it was about $100 cheaper and had open source code and add on systems. I assumed that the controller would be very stable and have the same capabilities as the naza. I have the quad flying and am very happy with the stability etc. in stable mode. My disappointment comes with the altitude hold function which has proven to be very unstable and of no use for loiter, position hold or way point assignment. I have added all mods that I have found on the forums and worked with all pids with the same results. The quad will start at an altitude when the alt hold is activated and every few seconds will descend a couple of feet then rise but to a level below where it started. As you can envision it gets lower and lower until ground contact is made. This happens after 10 seconds of hovering to establish throttle positions for hover and at altitudes varying from 3 meters to 20 meters. This makes all other functions useless since it will end up on the ground in any mode. I have searched the forums for similar experiences with no luck. The answer is always work the pids, cover the barometer etc. I have done all with no improvement in performance. It would appear that since none of the functions will be of any use without alt hld operating I have an expensive controller with the same capabilities as a $40 KK controller. I will keep working on the controller to see if I can find an answer or improved performance. Maybe I was expecting too much! I am using the latest quad software 2.8.1 and MP.