NAZA Startup LED Meanings - Explained

kompuntu

Member
Thanks for the response, bucker! I hear some folks not even using Naza's voltage monitor alarms because they say its not very reliable. They use dedicated lipoly alarms with buzzers or telemetry-based solutions (which I have: FrSky Taranis Plus). I'm nowhere near having the guts to fly farther than line of sight just yet. So we're talking a couple of hundred feet at most. I do want to maximize flight time though. So I'm wondering if I should judge battery status by NOT using Naza. And also what should be the "cut-off" voltage? 3.5V lowest cell? Is that ok? One more question: when I switched to FailSafe mode - the LED changed. Do you have that info on hand? I'm creating a small pocket cheat-sheet for myself with the meanings of all the LED sequences...
 

bucker

Member
A dedicated LiPo alarm/sensor will always be more accurate than the on-board sensor, but having said that I don't think it really needs to be that accurate. As long as it alerts you in plenty of time to get back that's all that matters, and if you're not really flying too far away or over-water (which I have reluctantly promised myself never to do) then you should be fine. 3.5v p/cell sounds about right as a lower limit, definitely on the low side, but should be alright. A lot of people think that LiPos drain at a constant rate when in fact once the voltage drops lower than ~3.3v p/cell it actually avalanches very quickly and drops off within seconds. This is something I hope nobody has to experience mid-flight.

People that push their batteries to the limits are usually the ones you see on youtube losing the quad half way up a mountain or over the sea.

When you put the craft into failsafe the LEDs change to continuous flashing orange, this is normal. To exit failsafe you may have to switch your flight mode to Attitude to regain control. Don't be afraid to use failsafe on a regular basis, in fact get used to flicking that switch every so often, just make sure you see those 20 green flashing lights before take-off.

One more thing, as this is something that caught me (and many others) out: Either turn it off or set your geo-fence limits to a ridiculous distance, say 9000m. When I first started flying a bit further afield I noticed that the quad just got "stuck", literally in mid air and wouldn't respond to any input until I flicked the failsafe switch. This is apparently a bug to do with the quad getting confused when on a boundary of the geofence (mine was initially set to 200m), some people have it, others don't. Just don't risk it.
 

kompuntu

Member
Wonderful! I was thinking about those Limits settings, but decided to leave them alone since I have no FPV gear (yet) and can only fly line of sight. Here's one for you: what do you think may be responsible for weird response to my sticks inputs? Like when it was flying erratically I remember putting the throttle all the way to zero and the craft didn't seem to care. Is this normal? Like an idiot-proof feature in GPS mode to prevent me from crashing? Also, my AUW with a 5000 mAh 3S Lipo was 1638g. And i'm using F550 with E300 stuff. Those ESCs are 15A optos. Is that enough for an F550? What would the max (ballpark) AUW be for this system? I'm just wondering of I should invest in something beefier to carry a gimbal with a GoPro or something. What about those Tattu LiPo packs I've been seeing? Are they worth the premium? Sorry for being all over the place. n00b syndrome....
 

bucker

Member
Right...
Regarding the stick inputs: You will see in the NAZA software there is a setting where if activated will not allow the props to stop, on the condition that all other sticks are not in the central position. If all other sticks are in central position and not moved and you then pull throttle to zero for a few seconds then the props will literally stop (I believe, I've never done it, but just from trying to translate the chinglish on the NAZA software I think that's what it is trying to say).

The E300 stuff is fine for the F550, it's what comes as standard now in the F550 kits and what came with mine. Yes the ESCs are probably smaller rated than what people use on other quads, but the difference is in the quality of the Mosfets, and DJI are using top-class ones that can run a marathon and a sprint and will probably outlast most others you've ever used. Another thing to bear in mind is that with 6 props there's a 33% load reduction on the ESCs compared to a quad.
 

kompuntu

Member
Chinglish :) Good one! Ok, I get it now. It seems consistent with the behavior I was seeing (sort of, it was dark). Note to self: flashlight doesn't help when flying a...well...anything. What do I do about the gains? I left the X1 channel for remote gains adjustment but haven't tried it yet. I'm wondering if you have any guidance on the defaults and also which gains to allow to be remotely adjusted? I think I only have Basic Gains: Pitch and Roll. Everything else is set to INH. And the defaults were like 120 120 130 120. Something like that. What should I be seeing when I turn that pot? How do I test/validate a change in gains? Thanks a bunch in advance!
 

bucker

Member
I'm afraid gains are strictly craft-specific. But honestly, don't be afraid to change them dramatically. Start of by changing the value by 20 or 30, so if it was 120 try 140. If that's too sloppy or skittish then go the other way. Once you start getting towards what feels right increase or decrease again, but by 10 and just keep going.



I'm afraid this is the only way with setting up gains, otherwise you're just guessing.
 

kompuntu

Member
Understood. Thanks! Ok, a battery question: so far the biggest one I have is Nano-Tech 5000 mAh 3S 25-50C lipo pack. Should I be looking into 4S? 6000 mAh? What do you make of these new Tattu packs that seem to be twice the price of Nano-Techs? Are they really worth it? They do appear to be lighter weight than similar capacity packs made by others...I guess i'm trying to see how much time I can get in the air with this setup and to try and account for a future camera gimbal (Stella?).
 

bucker

Member
Well I've got an F550 myself, I started off with nanotech 3S 6400mah lipos which were giving me just under 9 minutes flight times, I've just bought two nanotech 3S 8400mah which aren't much bigger than my smaller ones. They give me just under 12 minutes before I get a battery warning.

Yea you can 4S if you want, they're more efficient with the higher voltage, but they're FAT. Much fatter than a 3S.

There's always a compromise.

Oh and don't bother spending more money on the "A spec" lipos just to shave a few grams off your weight. Not worth it.
 


bucker

Member
AUW just over 2.2kg.
F550 with stock E300 kit, NASA v2 with GPS, zenmuse H32D, gopro 3+ black, fatshark 250mw video tx, iOSD mini, front facing fpv camera, down facing fpv camera, 3 channel video splitter and a 6400lipo.
 

kompuntu

Member
Wowsers! Question: is it possible to use, say, GoPro as both recording and FPV camera? I could've sworn that I saw this functionality in the XAircraft Stella gimbal. Am I off base? Are there any solutions like that around? Or is it really just not worth doing this? I think FPV will be the next project of mine, once I get this flying situation under control :)
 

bucker

Member
Yes of course you can!!! At the moment I have my main forward facing FPV at the front, the gopro on the gimbal (obviously) but also a third camera on the underneath looking down.
I've got a 3-way switch on my transmitter that allows me to view any one of these using a 3-way video switch.
 

kompuntu

Member
I see.
Well, i thought of just using a single camera: GoPro for HD recording and, if need be, for FPV. At the same time. Or is this not practical? Like if i needed to look down for a landing spot i'd just point the gimbal down, right? And then edit that out in post.
 

5000pops

New Member
Hi,
Long time reader of the forums. Gained heaps of information. Thought I would upload this naza reference card for you guys to print off.
attachment.php
 

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RSMAN29

Member
Applies to Naza V2 only, other boards may vary.

A lot of people have been confused by the dozens of LED combinations which appear when you start-up your Naza. Some of these are very vaguely explained in the manual, if at all.
That's why I'm making this thread - to help people understand what they all mean.

First things first, I will refer to the colors as follows: Red = "R", Green = "G", Yellow = "Y".

Right, on connecting power to the quad you should see R G Y R G Y R G Y G G G G. This is the standard pre flight check, basically just checking there aren't any wild values in the IMU, Compass and Power sensors etc.

After this, if all is well and depending on what flight mode you're in, you will continuously get two flashes of the corresponding flight mode followed by the GPS signal status.
Flight Modes:
ATTitude = Y Y
GPS = G G
Manual = No LED Flash, but who uses this mode, right?
GPS signal status:
Bad/No signal = R R R
Medium signal = R R
Good-ish signal = R
Good/excellent signal = No LED Flash

So, for example, if you're like me and leave the Naza in GPS mode 99% of the time then you'll no doubt be used to the G G R R R flash it gives you repeatedly, with the red flashes gradually getting less and less signalling more satellites are being acquired.

Now, this is the part a lot of people ignore or don't even know about, but it's very important and you should always wait for these signals:

Once the Naza has a decent GPS signal (usually after 10-20 seconds) you will see a multiple row of green flashes: G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G. This signals that the Naza has recorded it's "Home Position" (for failsafe and RTH). If you want one word of advise: don't ever fly your quad until you see this long row of green flashes as your failsafe WILL NOT WORK unless it has recorded the home position.

Then, only if you have IOC enabled, then you will get another set of green flashes about 5 seconds after the first set: G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G, this is to tell you the Naza has recorded it's "Forward Position", in other words it's recorded which way it's facing via the compass. The Naza only needs to record this information if you have enabled IOC in the Naza assistant software and use "Home Lock" or "Course Lock" modes. If you do not use or have not enabled IOC via the Naza assistant software then you WILL NOT GET THIS SECOND LOT OF GREEN FLASHES, EVER.

After you've seen either one or two rows of green flashes then you're all set to fly and the LED will revert to displaying Flight mode/GPS signal.
For example my start-up procedure is as follows:
Connect power
R G Y R G Y R G Y G G G G (Self check OK!)
G G R R R (GPS Mode, Bad Signal)
G G R R R (GPS Mode, Bad Signal)
G G R R (GPS Mode, Medium Signal)
G G R (GPS Mode, Good-ish Signal)
G G(GPS Mode, Good Signal)
G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G (Home position recorded for Failsafe)
G G(GPS Mode, Good Signal)
G G(GPS Mode, Good Signal)
G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G (Forward position recorded for IOC)
G G(GPS Mode, Good Signal)
By this point I'm 20 feet in the air.

Hope this helps people.
I lost my mini quad thinking it would come home. I've built me a new one and am getting ready to try it out. I would probably still have my old one if I would have know about the green lights. Glad I read your post. I will wait for the green lights from now on!! Thank you.
 
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Ian

New Pilot
quick question re nasa v2 , when flying in att mode indoors with gps fitted will it still flash no GPS signal on the led's ?
 



McSterls

Member
Great posting, thanks. Question though, my Hex takes a long time, 75 seconds approx, from power being applied to be able to unlock the motors, it goes through what I would say is all the correct flash sequences - based on your post. Is this an unusually long time?
 

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