Discussions

Hi all,

 I've been flying a Skyfun with Arduplane on for about 18 months now and have enjoyed it immensely. Around this time last year I pre-ordered the ArduCopter kit. The kit duly came from the supplier (Fah-Pah as it was back then) and I simply didn't have the time to build it, so it sat on a shelf.

The past couple of days I decided to build the quad and it's now good to go - Except it isn't.

At first, I had some real problems getting the ESCs calibrated, it wasn't helped by the appalling bullet connectors. With these removed and the motors hard wired to the ESCs it's better, but I am clearly doing something wrong.

The APM works a charm with my PC and accepted firmware and configuration without a hitch. Data is fed back and I can see that the sensors and GPS are online and working. The problem comes with the motor control.

I managed to calibrate the motors and they respond fine to the throttle, but two bizarre things happen.

 - There is seemingly no stabilization. I can pitch and roll the airframe and the motor speed does not fluctuate. I have confimed my Tx switches are calibrated and functioning and the flight mode is set to stabilize (in fact both switch positions are stabilize).

 - If I disconnect the LiPo and reconnect, although the APM comes up as normal, moving the sticks has no effect at all on the motors. They simply do not spin up. It's as if the ESCs have lost their calibration, but I doubt it's this and more likely something in the APM setup I haven't done right.

I'm using the same Sanwa/Airtronics RDS8000 Tx/Rx combo as with my ArduPlane so it's "known good" but I'm at a loss what to try next. I have checked all connections, re-installed the firmware, re-calibrated the radio and such to no avail. I have my APM slider away from the radio I/O headers.

Any ideas appreciated.

Rup