Probably Shouldn't have bought this...

I

IDKhowtocopter

Member
hey everyone,
i'm completely new here and to the whole drone/rc/plane game. my girlfriend got me this awesome thing for my birthday in July and i never got it to work.
i would like to fly it before winter but it just doesn't seem to wanna work. i'm pretty good at soldering since i work on my car quite a bit and solder quite a few things so it can't be my soldering, and i watched a DJI video on how to set up one of their drones which mine is really similar to besides the ESCs having nice plugs on theirs and the flight controller being a NAZA or something.

i'm not sure where to start really. i plug the battery in, the board lights up with a green light and the ESCs beep a tune, and they never beep again. they used to beep constantly after you plug it in but not anymore for some reason, and i'm not sure when they stopped beeping. i got a new receiver and a new battery (old battery shorted a little when i was unplugging it somehow and it stopped working entirely) so far but that doesn't work. so now i have a new battery and 2 receivers and neither of the receivers blink either, so i'm not sure if they're even binding or anything.

any and all help is appreciated and i'll do my best to answer any of your questions, really looking forward to trying to get this thing to work. i'm in the chicagoland area by the way and i haven't found any good stores around me that know anything about quadcopters.
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
what awesome drone is it? What radio is in it? What flight controller?

the beeping stopping was actually a step in the right direction.... flashing lights on an rx is bad usually, your more looking for solid green if it's futaba. they all have directions, usually online. This is one of those hobbies that unless you come to this with a back ground and even when you do, your in instructions for any little thing because there is so many different systems out there no two are the same. Take a breath, look it up and get it flying
 

coreyperez

coreyperez

Member
IDKnow,

I followed your link: http://www.dx.com/p/f450-multicopte...-w-landing-gear-black-red-313508#.VDkni_mSySp

I seen that this MR is using a Multi Wii controller. To be fair, I've got a fleet of aircraft (5 "full size" and x3 micro) and for the life of me, I cannot get my multi-wii to work for crap. Don't fret about that.

I understand that you appear to be getting power to the flight controller, I'd recommend following these steps (only because you shorted it out once).

Use a Multi-meter and check continuity between the battery lead and every other lead for the ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers). If that is good, ensure you are doing both positive and negative. You mentioned that the FC (Flight Controller is lighting up, that is a start, but doesn't mean it will work at this point). If you have good power, and you say that the ESCs emit a tone, that is typical, if they keep beeping, mine do that when something isn't configured correctly. Most recently, my Naza. My trim's (end stops actually) on the remote were WAY out of spec and I had to go in and do a bunch of radio tuning.

Your MR is using Multi-Wii, since I don't know TOO much about it, I'd have to ask, did it come with links/software for configuration? On mine, I had to download a user interface and that was the only way I was able to determine that all my control's were working properly. I'd look into those forums and see what software you are going to need to make sure that everything is "connected" properly and working.

Even simple things like having the ESCs upside down (negative where signal is supposed to be) will cause all kinds of issues. Come to think of it, I had to extend my wires and somehow mixed a black/white and couldn't figure out why my Naza wouldn't arm. I finally was able to run down the faulty wiring and just plugged the connector in upside down thus putting ground and signal where they were supposed to be.

I know I didn't really ANSWER the question, just gave you a couple places to look. These things really aren't just plug and play. I've spent hours upon hours, upon hours running down simple issues. I even went with Naza on my current build because of the good luck I had and I figured "It will be Easy! I already know how to do it". That was over 40hrs ago (Wiring and programming inc).

Let me know how it goes with your troubleshooting. Reply back here and I'll help as best as I can. If need be, PM me (or email).

Corey
 




I

IDKhowtocopter

Member
yea sorry about the confusion, the link is in the hyperlink on the word "this"

last night i tested all the ESCs and motors by plugging them in individually into the receiver and they all worked.

my guess is something in the board is fried. i don't have a multimeter right now, lost it...
i'll look into getting another board after i find a way to test this one. thanks for all the advice guys. and no it didn't come with any links or anything for calibration or anything.
 

coreyperez

coreyperez

Member
Good trouble shooting! If you don't see any obvious damage, most likely I'd the flight controller that is damaged, that PCB should be able to handle some severe amperage...

Corey
 

I

IDKhowtocopter

Member
Thanks! I'm starting to understand how this stuff comes together and works. Idk how to even begin checking the board though. Would i check for continuity through one of the motor connections all the way to the receiving end of the board? So from where the ESCs plug in, to where the receiver plugs in?

I've been looking at the hobbyking kk2 i think? Comes with an LCD monitor and built in usb plug. Anyone ever use that?
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
if you want cheap and quality i'd look at naze 32 or open pilot cc3d. but, every one of those and what all your expalining having takes a bunch of tinkering. if you want plug and play your more up into naza lite type controller....
 






C

cootertwo

Member
My opinion, if you are just starting, get a Naza Lite for $69. Read all about it, hook it up, and go fly. I've messed around with Multiwii's, Naze is pretty close to fly out of the box, but twitchy for a beginner. Naza Lite if you just want to fly around and have a good time. Naza Lite w/GPS is $169. They have been around a long time, mainly because they are simple, and work. But you still need to setup on a computer with the assistant software, to check your settings, and calibrate the gyro's etc. Right now I have 9 Naza Lite's flying in different rigs from a hex 550, 2 Phantoms, 3 250's, 1 450, 1 Guai 350. A Naze in a 250 for giggles, no camera etc. very light and fast, and a big clumsy T580+ with whatever MC it came with. Just got 2 more Naza Lite's in the mail yesterday, for a couple DJI 330 clones I'll put together someday. Also have 3 or 4 Naze units waiting to be used in something or other. Like Bruce from RC model reviews said, Naza is if you want easy setup, and just "fluff" around flying, having a good time. Naze out of the box is also, if not easier to setup, and a whole lot more exciting. To each his own. I'm an old 65 year old fart, and enjoy buzzing around FPV, all my trees, bushes, vines, etc. on my one acre, while sitting in my chase lounger in my screened in patio, sipping a cool one. I also enjoy taking the little 250 with the Naze out and ripping up and down the street, and whenever I get to an open field, I'll try flips and rolls, etc. etc.:tennis:
 


I

IDKhowtocopter

Member
ok so i got the Naza M lite, set it up, motors everything arms and it starts to hover but right away i notice it starts to spin. i don't have a GPS module, it's just the naza alone with no GPS so it can't be the compass being out of wack so wat do i do? there's no other adjustments i can make except the gains but that wouldn't do anything since i'm not even putting any inputs in through the TX besides the throttle. any help and DJI knowledge appreciated.

EDIT: also, i manually calibrated all the ESCs, did the regular stick down wait for beeps calibration and also stick up, wait for beeps, stick down, throttle calibration.
 
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coreyperez

coreyperez

Member
I know this sounds silly, especially at this point, but recheck all your motor directions and propellers.

I've done this twice now, on two different builds.

Corey
 

I

IDKhowtocopter

Member
if the propellers were on wrong, wouldn't they be blowing the wrong direction and blowing air upwards? (which they're not) are you saying the motor positions? like plugging the wrong motors into the wrong ports? i'm pretty sure they're right. it's pretty simple on DJI they form an X pattern. i'll check them again and report back tomorrow, got a lot of homework to do.
 

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