Hi everyone,

I'm new to all of this ,I mean complete Noob. :(, but i'm working on a project to explore the potential largescale benefits of these drones. I have a good amount of experience with software design and am not shy of electronics. But have very limited equipment available. Just the ones my sponsor provided. I don't even have a multimeter or a soldering iron, so you get the idea....

I received the hardware from a sponsor. It was already assembled.

But when i received it, nothing worked.I assumed it was gonna be "ready to fly", but never  have i been so wrong (insert the over used meme). I have been scouring the forums and the wiki for a few weeks now, trying to figure it out myself. But, there are just too many variables.

I know that it doesn't work, and i'v been involved in extensive trial and errors, to try and figure out why , but the more i learn, the more ways i see how it could go wrong.

Equipment: 3dr Hexacopter, Spektrum DX8 Tx, AR8000 Rx, 3dr radio, CCD camera,Video Tx MinimOSD, APM2.5 with latest firmware, JP1 connected., all powered by a 3dr power board. powering APM only on output pins

If anyone has the same equipment i'd greatly appreciate help in setting up.

Issues:

1. When i power up the APM, i hear the musical note, followed by 3 beeps, a pause then a long beep. (hope that's normal). and i see the orange light flickering inside the APM, no red/blue lights.

2.According to the manual, the receiver should show a blinking light when it is powered on. I don't see any lights on the AR8000. The connections on it look fishy though. I have a 6 pin connector on the APM input side,connected on the signal pins of first 6 channels, and a 2 pin combo, on the 7th channel, on signal pin and + pin. this 2 pin combo is connected to the gear channel on the Rx, on + pin and signal pin. fishy: nothing connected on throttle channel. Can't figure out why the Rx isn't getting power.

I tried changing this so that on channel 7 i connected to the + and - pins, and on the other end, connected this to the + and - pins on the throttle channel. When i connected the battery, it started beeping continuously. not sure if it was the APM or the ESCs beeping. but it sounded like the drone was in pain so i disconnected :\

3.Tx issue. When i switch on the RX8 it just vibrates continuously and LCD is blank. I tried starting it up with different configurations, with the throttle joystick on minimum , set on different flight modes etc. but it has no effect. Any1 using an RX8, Plz Help..

4. The camera connector cable was frayed (attached photo1), I'm pressed for time and can't wait to order a replacement. Basically, the 3- point female jack which connects to the camera has torn off from the rest of the cable, with little bits of the plastic still inside it.There are no bits of the wire sticking out of the jack. Is there a way to repair it, even if only temporarily? I found out that inside the jack there is a metallic tube which is clamping onto the cable. If this sheath connects with the pins inserted into the jack, i can stick the wires in so they make contact with the sheath.  I need it urgently for testing purposes so any way to just get the camera to connect would be great.

5. I have ordered an Ezcap from their official site, Ezcap.tv . I'm planning on streaming the video feed i receive from the drone directly to an online server. Has anyone done something like this? or used Ezcap generally, i'v heard all sorts of reviews about it, but its a quick and dirty kinda solution. Works for me.

6. I also want to try bypassing the minimosd and directly transmitt the feed from the camera (granted that issue #4 is resolved) i'd appreciate any wiring diagrams which can show what connections are to be made(including the power source). Since, the camera has a 3 pin connector and the Video Tx, has a 5 pin combo and a 2 pin combo, so it's not just a matter of finding the right hole and shoving my connector in ^^.

Thanks for reading everyone. (tell your friends to read too, tell them this post has a cookie in it.)

Even if you only answer one of the questions, heck, even if you just sympathize with my plight, you can have my cookie.!!

oh, and here's the cookie.

(:)

DSC_0077.jpg