Adding 3DR radio telemetry to the Quanum Nova APM-powered copter

I just got a Quanum Nova, which is a fantastic APM-powered copter that in many way outperforms the DJI Phantom for less than $300. Although it's capable of full autonomy, just like any other ArduCopter, the one thing it's missing for easy field mission planning and DroidPlanner compatibility is telemetry.

In this great tutorial, Jean-Louis Naudin shows how to add that:

Here an explanation for connecting the real time telemetry to the CX-20 or to the Quanum Nova

The telemetry port is located on the I/O board of the APM (the second board at the bottom and pluged to the main CPU board) where all the I/O plug are connected. The telemetry port is fully compatible with all the telemetry transmitter (3DR and all the compatible boards) and also with the Bluetooth boards commonly used with the APM boards.

Below the pinout which shows the telemetry port I/O (back to the I/O board).

Note from the comments: depending on which radio you're using, you may have to reverse the TX and RX lines. Dmitry in the comments reports: "You must connect RX from the radio to TX on the APM! And vice versa for Radio TX. So I've changed green and yellow wires and it works!"

sold 4 cables on the telemetry ports then protect the connections with hot glue

Check the functioning

The 4 pins telemetry plug is installed on the back of the fuselage

Check the connection (at 57600 baud) with the mission planner or the Droid Planner 2

Then, you may enjoy to use the telemetry...

NEXT CHAPTER: Full autonomous mission with the Cheerson CX 20

ok thanks for confirming .....thats kind of what i have seen, but everywhere it is sold it says a flashing first warning, and then will go into RTH, i thought i messed up that rth with a firmware update, and broke that funktion

here is what it says in one place "Low Voltage Protection
Auto-Pathfinder also has two levels of low voltage protection, a function of the MX autopilot system. It prevents your multi-rotor from crashing or other harmful consequences caused by low battery voltage. In the first level of protection, the LED indicator blinks and makes a sound of “Bi-Bi-Bi” to warn you. In the second level protection the system will trigger the Auto-Pathfinder to land automatically."

i was looking at the powerboard and it just looks like it incorporates a low voltage alarm on that board

then i got another question, i overtightened a prop, and it snapped in flight, resulting in a crash from 15 feet up onto pavement, upside down, the crash made a couple resistors fall off the powerboard, which have been swapped for a new one....however my ALT_hold and all the other modes that depend on althold (loiter, RTH etc..) is messed up, it can not hold a steady altitude, but will move up and down randomly , get squirrely and sounds angry....do barometers go bad ?

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Comments

Vinnie Tsoi November 20, 2015 at 9:49am

Hi Gabriel,

I am assuming you have updated firmware with Mission Planner. This is where you will have problem. The Quanum Nova is a rebranded Cheerson CX-20 which has a customized version of APM 2.5 flight controller. Since this was customized, standard firmware you download from Mission Planner will cause problems. Basically the way the USB port circuit did not have a multiplexer maybe to reduce cost as this quadcopter was never marketed to allow radio telemetry use. Neither Hobby King or Cheerson had ever released the original customized firmware. If you go to Hobby King's RCGroups.com forum and search, you will see I had posted several versions for use.
Gabriel November 20, 2015 at 3:46am

Hello Chris,

Thanks por the help. I have one and I update it frome Mission Planner and know is beeping continuosly. Do you know where can i find a original params to restore the quad?

I connected the telemetry but know is "Time Out" and I received this message "no heartbeat packets received".

I exchange Tx and Rx, update both radios and can not connect.

Thanks a lot for the help
James May 24, 2015 at 7:31am

How do i add the bluetooth module to qunaum nova mode 2? i really need to try and get something done with it the mission planner through usb doesnt seem to work properly
Lasse Lundberg May 4, 2015 at 8:16am

you need ground, tx and rx....but not red (v+)
Richard Walker May 4, 2015 at 6:59am

Hi all,

I am trying to hook up the GPS data from the flight controller on my Quanum Nova to the Fatshark 250mw transmitter and camera that I have attached so I can have the GPS data as On Screen Display (OSD). My APM F/C has the micro JST socket already on the board, so no soldering required. I have opened a hole in the side of the box and re-arranged the pins on the cable to match the images here.

My question is, given that I am powering the Fatshark transmitter off the external ports, and the 250mw has the micro-JST socket on the back, can I / should I just run the TX/RX wires (the yellow and green) and disregard the black and red? Or do I need 3 or all 4 of the wires? I don't want to fry anything :)

thanks, Richard
Giorgio Conte March 31, 2015 at 6:31am

Hi everybody,

I'm quite new to RC but I'm trying to do my best.

I got my Quanum Nova in late december, don't know what fw version. The first time I connected to MP I upgraded the fw (to be honest I didn't mean to do it). Anyway the Nova in flight was very stable and responsive.

Then, in order to have telemetry (via minimOSD) working, I started changing fw several times and finally found the 3.2.1 custom (ArduCopter3.2.1-quad-apm2-custom.hex).

Telemetry was OK (no more "Waiting for mavlink hearbeats...") but the Nova was not more fine: veeery long time to get GPS lock... Loiter mode unaffordable... Throttle less responsive... and in general very "strange" flight behaviour... sometimes leading me near to panic. Another user experienced exactly the same after upgrading fw.

Here I read that the stock fw 3.1.2 was OK for telemetry. Is it correct?

How can I CORRECTLY revert to original stock fw? Is it enough if I upload the stock fw and the stock param file? or is there something else I have to do to have a CLEAN stock 3.1.2 APM?

Thank you in advance
Lasse Lundberg February 27, 2015 at 7:45am

ok thanks for confirming .....thats kind of what i have seen, but everywhere it is sold it says a flashing first warning, and then will go into RTH, i thought i messed up that rth with a firmware update, and broke that funktion

here is what it says in one place "Low Voltage Protection
Auto-Pathfinder also has two levels of low voltage protection, a function of the MX autopilot system. It prevents your multi-rotor from crashing or other harmful consequences caused by low battery voltage. In the first level of protection, the LED indicator blinks and makes a sound of “Bi-Bi-Bi” to warn you. In the second level protection the system will trigger the Auto-Pathfinder to land automatically."

i was looking at the powerboard and it just looks like it incorporates a low voltage alarm on that board

then i got another question, i overtightened a prop, and it snapped in flight, resulting in a crash from 15 feet up onto pavement, upside down, the crash made a couple resistors fall off the powerboard, which have been swapped for a new one....however my ALT_hold and all the other modes that depend on althold (loiter, RTH etc..) is messed up, it can not hold a steady altitude, but will move up and down randomly , get squirrely and sounds angry....do barometers go bad ?
Vinnie Tsoi February 26, 2015 at 6:32pm

The CX-20/Nova do not use the APM for low voltage failsafe. The standard APM Power Module inputs its voltage and current sensor readings into analog input pins ADC12 and ADC13 (pins 85 and 84 of the ATMEGA2560). Unfortunately, these pins are not connected to any traces, pads, or connectors on the board. In order to have use the automatic RTH on low voltage, you must do some soldering modifications. If you read the manual you will see there is no automatic RTH mode. Refer to the manual under section 5.

5 Low Voltage Protection for the quadcopter

（1）

Low voltage protection is a protection system designed to avoid the quadcopter to

crash in low battery voltage. When the battery voltage is between 10.2V to 10.4V,

the quadcopter will activate the low voltage alarm and give out the “beep, beep...”

sound, and the front and rear indicator LED lights will blink at the same time.

（2）

There is 1-2 minutes to fly safely after turning into low voltage protection, therefore

the pilots need to adjust the flying distance and to prepare to return safely.
Lasse Lundberg February 26, 2015 at 5:34pm

jus flashed mine, and it flies, mine does not start the rth when voltage gets low....which pins should i be assigning the voltage alarm to ?
Vinnie Tsoi February 20, 2015 at 10:14pm

Great work! Thanks. I will share this with the rest of the CX-20/Nova flyers on rcgroup

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