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Problem connecting Pixhawk and Futaba receiver

Hi

Two of my customers have trouble setting up the Pixhawk - I myself have a Pixhawk, but don't use a Futaba receiver, thereby I can't replicate the problem (I would like to find out if the problem is connected to the receiver they use, or something else).

Both use a Futaba R7008SB receiver.
Both managed to upload the Firmware to their Pixhawks - but they are not able to do the radio calibration (the Pixhawk doesn't "see" the receivers, the bars in the calibration are all grey).

They have nothing else connected to the Pixhawk, except receiver (connected to the right port / RC), buzzer, safety switch and USB cable.

The Pixhawk signals via the big LED "pre-arm check failed" (which makes sense ;)

They power the Pixhawk via USB and at the same time with a LiPo (via the Power Module).

The receiver is "found" by the remote, the LEDs are on, the setting of receiver and remote (regarding the use of the SBUS) seems to be right. They use the right port of the receiver to connect to the Pixhawk.

I am happy about any suggestions ...

Thanks a lot in advance

Felix

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          • Moderator
            Sorry to say but my nightmare continues.... My machine is completely unstable, it won't fly at all- even in stabilise mode. I have triple checked everything and followed all the troubleshooting guides. I am getting messages saying unable to decode message 152, 162 and 2 on apm planner. For some reason my mac will not let me connect to the cli, I just get scrolling characters. I am at a loss, everything is calibrated and connected properly. I do have issues with the throttle, on occasions only one motor will turn and other times they react inappropriately Any ideas? My next step is to try ppm encoder and stable version to see if that helps. I can't use qcontrol as everytime I try to flash firmware it says binary corrupted!
            • Since I'm still planning and acquiring parts, I wouldn't be much help.  I don't think you meant to reply to me, but it appears that way in the thread.  I'm finding it really hard to locate a new Futaba 14SGH at this time.  Most sites are out of stock.

              • Moderator
                Hi troy, yes sorry mate- I didn't mean to reply to you directly. All I will say though is I would avoid the pixhawk and futaba s-bus combination with your life. This has caused me nothing but trouble and despair. I don't know of anyone who has this working (if anyone has then please feel free to confirm). I know both xian and myself have got the throttle responding in calibration but mine is unflyable for some reason and Xian has indicated that he is having the same issues. If I find a solution I will let you know but if you want a pixhawk, I really recommend a different tx
                Best of luck mate
                • Well, it has been a while and lots has happened since my last post.  I completed the build and flew it on July 19th.  I ended up getting the Futaba 14 SG(H) and R7008SB from an Amazon re-seller after getting into a back order loop with another vendor.  This prevented me from getting the Tx/Rx until July 10th.  I'm using the PPM Encoder with the R7008SB and Arducopter FW 3.2RC3, then RC4.  Everything has been quite stable when using the PPM Encoder. I've logged a fair amount of flight time and have been happy with stability.  I have yet to fly with the SBUS2 connection.  On the ground, everything with it looks OK.  When I do make the jump to SBUS2, I'll have plenty of data to show a before and after performance should an instability occur.  I'll wait until 3.2 FW is in production before trying the SBUS2 (unless a dev really wants to see the logs before then).  Regards

                • Hi Martin, I've seen a great number of posts in various forums regarding this issue.  For open source, autonomous flight, the APM/Pixhawk is the only thing out there.  There are many advantages to the Pixhawk in the long term.  Everything I've read on transmitters indicate that Futaba has a stellar reputation as transmitters.  With release candidate version(s) of the Pixhawk firmware showing signs of support, I'm optimistic that there will be a solution to this issue.  I've found numerous suggestions for getting it working besides what's here, but there's no way I can vouch for them myself.  I find conflicting information between the arducopter wiki and the pixhawk wiki as to the level of support.  The first says some are supported and the later says all are supported.  I don't particularly like the Spektrum route as it pertains to connecting to the Pixhawk (satellite) and the Spektrums don't have such a great reputation from what I'm reading.  I understand it has been a bear between the Tx and FC combo.  Xian replied to me that he wasn't continuing with the Pixhawk.  I won't speak further for him as to the reasons.  The 8FG Super is discontinued.  The 10CG is too limited.  The 14SG appears to be the best value for the money.  I'm glad I have an idea for what I'm getting myself into should I continue this route.  I don't have the Tx quite yet, so I appreciate the information.  Best regards

              • Tower Hobbies will be getting a big shipment in a couple of weeks. Just backorder one and yours will be one of the first to ship.

                http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCVRA&P=ML

                 

                .

                • My local hobby shop doesn't carry Futabas, but said they could get it at the same time as Tower Hobbies and beat their price.  I won't know until tomorrow as to when they can assure me I could get one.  I'm all for supporting a local shop, but I don't know they will get them any sooner than Great Plains or Tower Hobbies.  I am already on the list at A Main, but they moved their ETA back.  Thank you for the heads up.

  • This morning I have uploaded v3.2-rc-1 using the beta firmware option in mission planner. I can confirm that my R7008SB worked straight away.

    My set up:

    T14SG Tx

    R7008SB Receiver

    I have a cable connected to channel 8 on the receiver and mode B is selected using the futaba instructions (Enables CH8 as SBUS) The other end of the cable is connected to RCIN on the Pixhawk.

    I kept all software settings on the T14SG the same as I had them when using the APM.

    I hope this is the start of many days happy flying! Thanks for all your help

    • I just installed 3.2-rc-1 and my SBus R7008SB is also working

      Robert Lorenzo you should be fine with the Beta software.  I haven't flown yet, but I am just able to arm using SBus.  More than I could do with the previous firmware

      You will need to open Mission Planner, go to Config/Tuning menu option and then select Beta Updates check box on the bottom of the screen.  Then you can go back to Initial Setup and you should be able to see the text "Beta firmwares" on the bottom right.  Click that to upload the Beta firmware

      Make sure you connect your GPS as in the one photo I took

      • Thank you for your replies. Do you know of a place to go to program the multiple flight modes using two switches in the 14sg? Thank you.

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