Newbie Y6 Questions

Hello Y6 Group,

I received a new Y6 with OSD, GoPro, 3DR ground radio and FLYSKY controller and took it out for my first flight today. I was very impressed and excited to get my hands on one. I have some questions and would appreciate any assistance. I basically went through the ten page intro to flying the Y6 (in Loiter mode) and safely got it up and back. 

1) Is there a good resource or tutorial on the FLYSKY controller - for example, is it possible to adjust the sensitivity of the joysticks? 

2) I've noticed that when the Y6 is armed not all the props start rotating - is this OK? Once I gave it some throttle - It seemed fine. Also both times I was flying, my feeling was the Y6 was not hovering very well. It would hold its altitude but kind of circle or create donuts ( which isn't a whole lot of fun for a new pilot)- the wind was pretty low.  

3) Can someone tell me the next steps in becoming a decent Y6 pilot - I've read about tuning, ESC calibrating the Y6 - should I be doing all these things before my next flight? 

Thanks for any help,

Tim

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  • If im running Y6 A is uploading the Y6 B frame type all I need to do if im switching to B rite.
    • Old post, but why not...

      To convert a Y6A to Y6B configuration, I think this is what you need to do:

      Select the right frame type and Mission Planner should direct you to upload the right firmware.

      Put the correct props on the correct motors.  For Y6B, all of the normal props go on the bottom and the pusher props go on the top.

      Rewire the rear motors:  The rotation direction on the rear pair of motors needs to be reversed.  To do so, you need to rewire each of the motors.  Each motor has three wires running to it from the ESC.  Unplug any two wires going to a motor and reconnect them to the ESC in reverse.  That is, plug wire A in where wire B used to attach to the ESC's wires, and vice versa.  

      There are some good videos out there on changing brushless motor direction.  Here is a pic of the proper rotation direction

      1.2.1.1-09-APM_2_5_MOTORS_Y6A_Y6B.jpg

      https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702518649?profile=original
  • Hi

    I'm sure you will enjoy flying your y6.

    1) Tuning the sensitivity of the stocks will be best done by setting exponential on the transmitter.

    2) If your y6 is not level then not all the motors will spin up at the same time. It could also be that the escs need to be calibrated. Calibration wouldn't hurt.

    The turning round in doughnut circles is also a calibration and tubing thing. You need to calibrate the compass and tuning the loiter parameters.

    3) Next steps should be calibrations of esc compass and tuning of loiter. Then lots of practice.
    If you do the love calibration compass dance and turn on auto declination then your compass will fine tune itself the more you fly.

    Good luck!

    And have fun.
    • Thank you all for your advice. I've had an interesting few days playing around with the Y6. To be honest, very little of it was done flying. I installed Mission planner on the laptop. I calibrated the ESC, which Im pretty sure is correct. When the throttle is applied - all motors have a nice response. Also I double checked the Prop positions. I actually did the whole setup wizard and went through all the calibrations - radio, compass and all of that but when i try to fly it now - i can get it to climb 3-4 feet but then it nose-dives in some direction. The loiter is definitely not working well. 

      I'm after putting a small video together of some of my progress if you would call it that.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fltyy6nkbmI

      It reminds me of my first 286 computer which continuously broke down and was a completely pain to use but I did learn a hell of a lot. If you get a chance - have a look a the video and maybe Im missing something obvious.

      Thanks Tim 

      YouTube
    • Just wanted to tell you all - that I finally got it working tonight. I needed to replace the GPS mount and recalibrated everything. I tested out RTL aswell. I was very impressed. I flew for about 4 minutes. Thanks for the help.

      Tim

  • Welcome.  I'm pretty new here, too.  Calibrating the ESC's takes about 1 minute, so go ahead and do that just to make sure it is done.  Make sure you understand battery voltages and have set the battery alarm up properly.  Mine was disabled when I got the craft and set for too low a voltage (set for a 3s, not 4s), too.  Also turn on voice warnings in Mission Planner and crank the laptop volume all the way up.  That's one more measure of safety.  

    Something like a Blade Nano QX would be good for practice if you plan to use modes other than Auto and Loiter much. It is cheap, tiny, and will use your FLYSKY, if you get the Bind And Fly (BNF) version.  You should check to make sure it is compatible with FLYSKY, specifically.  Otherwise just get the RTF version.  Even loiter deserves some practice.  If you don't plan to fly much yourself, like Mr. Willis, you should probably set things up to use Super Simple mode when you do pilot it.  That keeps the rear of the craft pointed back to home all the time, making it ostensibly easier for you to control it without worrying about control reversals, assuming you are standing at "home".  It is worth reading up on all the modes available, at least.  I'm looking forward to trying drift mode at some point.

    Prefetch for mission planner is also worth noting.

    I use a DX7, which isn't necessarily ideal (DX7s or DX8 work better), so I don't know much about the FLYSKY.  

    For missions, one thing I didn't consider the first time I programmed a mission was that if it starts on the ground and heads directly to Waypoint1, it will end up skimming along the ground pretty low for some distance.  You should always program it to "Takeoff" first, to a height you specify, then to travel to WP1.  You  can do the same on the way back, using RTL to Return to Launch lattitude and longitude, but maintaining a couple of meters of height, then use "Land" as the final step.  

    It is worth considering whether you want it to RTL or continue its mission when it loses receiver signal.  Mine is set to complete its mission upon losing my signal, but RTL when the battery failsafe gets triggered.  

    I tried using an EasyCap to put my FPV video in the Mission Planner HUD.  Two problems are that you can't see the MinimOSD OSD while the Mission Planner OSD is on top of it, and that my EasyCap disconnects at random, which crashes Misison Planner and requires the computer be restarted.  Not cool.  So, I use a laptop running Mission Planner and a separate video screen for the FPV view.  With those totally independent, I feel safer.  A quality video capture device (better than EasyCap might be in order.  

    I am running the video receiver and the video screen off the same 900mAh battery they sent to run the video RX.  It will run well over an hour.  My video screen is a 7" slave screen that is half of a headrest mounted setup made by Panasonic.  

    Now that I've got OSD programming, Tarot gimbal programming, and most settings in Mission Planner understood, I'm down to learning to fly it better.  I work on things like standing in one spot and flying in a square around me.  Do that first in Loiter, then in Alt Hold, then in Stabilize.  I'm also starting to work on flying strictly with reference to the FPV. That is hard.  I'm considering a wider angle lens (Sony with a 12x.5 thread lens is apparently what we need, but in a wider angle).  Anyway, I put a little orange flag in the yard and try to keep the camera on it while I fly in a circle around it.  Pretty tough at first.  Use a spotter, if you can, and keep an eye on battery voltages and radio signal strength (RSSI).  

    Other mods we are considering include a 3-way video switch with a cable to get video out of the GoPro, Improved antennae, a diversity board (Spektrum specific, so you won't do that), adding more channels using a microprocessor, improved legs that resist tipping better, and blade guards.  

  • Hi Tim. Best of luck with your new Y6!
    Not all props spinning when armed: My guess is this will be fixed once you calibrate your ESCs.
    Circling around in loiter: Make sure you allow some time after powering up for the gps to get satellite fix before you arm. You may need to recalibrate accelerometer and compass. I would also check magnetic interference by doing a compassmot test.
    For becoming a decent pilot, you need practice! I am still woeful but I am mostly interested in full auto mode so I am doubtful I will ever be able to fly well. You might like to buy a cheap <$100 quad to practice using the joysticks. These quads usually cope well with minor crashes - much cheaper than crashing your Y6.
  • Hi Tim welcome to the fun. I am glad to hear you made a successful flight. Your loiter problem and doing the circles is commonly called "toilet bowling" around here. Do a search for that an you will find all kinds of pointers on how to fix. It't typically noise from the electronics interfering with the gps/mag.

    Greg

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