XAircraft Proper esc configuration using Xaircraft FC

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
I made a custom hex. A few of you told me to NOT use all 6 esc's with BEC or odd nasty things will happen. I know Open Pilot wants you to cut all the power cables but 1. This makes sense. But then I talked to Jeff at Xaircraft and he says whatever you do DO NOT cut the power lead from the esc or it wont function right. He says it is ok to use all the BECS at the same time. I bought a separate BEC from castle creations but I dont know how to connect it if i cant cut the BEC out of the ESC. I am using the Maytech 30amp esc's from MontoRC and trying out the Xaircraft FC if that helps at all.


HELP!!!!
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
Which FC are you using? If you have an XAircraft then I would say to follow Jeff's recommendation. Otherwise, you only need one. If you wanted to go with just your external, tap into the power source directly off of the battery line and then put a servo lead on the other end of the BEC (if it doesn't already have one). That servo lead will go into the battery outlet on your receiver.
 


Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
You can pull the pin out of the plug if you don't want to cut the cable. This will keep it ready and available if you need to convert it back later.
 


DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
I am desperate here. i cant believe no one on here can help me out with this. 2 things i need to know are

1) do I need to calibrate each ESC individually? Or can I connect them all to the FC and do them together? the manual says I need to calibrate each esc once.

2) As my original post asked, what is the proper way to attach 6 BEC equipped ESC's to a flight controller? Specifically the Xaircraft? Uggg!
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Yuri,
If you're waiting for Obi Wan to appear in the desert sky and walk you through this, it ain't gonna happen. Putting six power sources to a FC power bus isn't a big deal, the standard XA configuration with their ESC boards do just this. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe all you're doing is putting six parallel power sources into the FC which gives you better amps and redundancy. Volts don't factor into things in this case.
as for configuring the ESC's you probably do need to configure each one separately. the ESC should have come with directions for how to do it. you should have also bought an ESC programmer to set the ESC parameters correctly. I believe the configuration process senses the stick movements and makes the ESC respond accordingly.
stop stalling and get that thing flying!!!! that's an order!!!!
 

X

Xaircraft USA

Member
Bartman said:
Yuri,
If you're waiting for Obi Wan to appear in the desert sky and walk you through this, it ain't gonna happen. Putting six power sources to a FC power bus isn't a big deal, the standard XA configuration with their ESC boards do just this. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe all you're doing is putting six parallel power sources into the FC which gives you better amps and redundancy. Volts don't factor into things in this case.
as for configuring the ESC's you probably do need to configure each one separately. the ESC should have come with directions for how to do it. you should have also bought an ESC programmer to set the ESC parameters correctly. I believe the configuration process senses the stick movements and makes the ESC respond accordingly.
stop stalling and get that thing flying!!!! that's an order!!!!
Click to expand...

Agrees with the BARTMAN !!! LOL Obi << Anyway ... Yes there is a NO issue, Issue ... There is ONLY one power source ... so all power leads run into a power distribution portion of the FC. You can hook 1 or 8 your getting the same power. Hope this HELPS I know your concerned YURI !! GOOD Luck My friend !!! Cheers
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
thanks. thats what i wanted to hear-again. It's just hard when you do research on the net and all the responses say varying things. But none are specific to XA. One mikrokopter site where a guy uses the I2C says ONLY one ESC power should be used! The arducopter says the same thing and another KK board site said it doesnt matter as long is isnt a UBEC, meaning that the conventional resistor step down form of voltage reduction does not seem to have issues with multiple voltages. Just checking, I have too much time and money like most of us to make a stupid mistake.

You guys ARE my Obi Wans..... thanks for enlightening me with your presence.
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
I just got an email from Jim at Monto saying he recommends calibrating the esc's when they are all plugged in at once. The only reason it makes more sense to me to do it individually is that you are giving the full Tx range to the esc. where if you were to calibrate based off the output of the FC then you are probably not getting 100% range. but what do i know. it's done, time to try it!

I found this:

http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_ESC
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
I dont know why i bother asking these questions on here. But....does anyone have an idea of why my computer would tell me I have overloaded the usb port? Before connecting the ESC's it seemed to work.
 

T

Tye

New Member
Your computer's usb port can supply only so much power....it's complaining that you're working it to hard LOL
 


T

Tye

New Member
Each time you add another device to the usb chain it uses some of the total available power from that particular usb port.....some usb devices use more power than others... if you use a powered usb hub you should generally be able to handle just about any common load :)
 

S

Scott Drysdale

Mixmaster
I just finished configuring and testing a friends SuperX. I pulled out the red wires from each ESC servo plug because they were BEC not OPT type and that is the right thing to do if you have a dedicated power supply coming in to the FC from an external source, e.g., your main batteries.... (the FC has a built-in PMU so it can handle a wide range of input voltages and regulate it down for all attached devices.

All ESCs need also to be calibrated (not just programmed). I used the Turnigy Plush and programmed them with the appropriate Turnigy programming card.
The ESC calibration provides a frame of reference as a go by for the throttle % input. That had to be done by connecting the ESCs directly to the RC receiver.
Note: DJI FCs manage this all internally but not the Xaircraft SuperX.
The fastest method for 6 ESCs is to use a six wire servo harness..... The common servo plug was then stuck into channel 3 of the RC Receiver. Then just follow the ESC manaufacturer's instructions.

Everything now works 100%. Prior to calibrating the ESCs for the throttle stick, the ground testing revealed inconsistent throttle control by means of RC Transmitter throttle input (too dangerous to fly) so it was back to the bench to learn about ESC calibration.... something that many seasoned electric RC flyers already now..... but those that jumped in late like me did not know.....

IrisAerial said:
I am desperate here. i cant believe no one on here can help me out with this. 2 things i need to know are

1) do I need to calibrate each ESC individually? Or can I connect them all to the FC and do them together? the manual says I need to calibrate each esc once.

2) As my original post asked, what is the proper way to attach 6 BEC equipped ESC's to a flight controller? Specifically the Xaircraft? Uggg!
Click to expand...
 


S

skquad

Member
Scott Drysdale said:
I just finished configuring and testing a friends SuperX. I pulled out the red wires from each ESC servo plug because they were BEC not OPT type and that is the right thing to do if you have a dedicated power supply coming in to the FC from an external source, e.g., your main batteries.... (the FC has a built-in PMU so it can handle a wide range of input voltages and regulate it down for all attached devices.

All ESCs need also to be calibrated (not just programmed). I used the Turnigy Plush and programmed them with the appropriate Turnigy programming card.
The ESC calibration provides a frame of reference as a go by for the throttle % input. That had to be done by connecting the ESCs directly to the RC receiver.
Note: DJI FCs manage this all internally but not the Xaircraft SuperX.
The fastest method for 6 ESCs is to use a six wire servo harness..... The common servo plug was then stuck into channel 3 of the RC Receiver. Then just follow the ESC manaufacturer's instructions.

Everything now works 100%. Prior to calibrating the ESCs for the throttle stick, the ground testing revealed inconsistent throttle control by means of RC Transmitter throttle input (too dangerous to fly) so it was back to the bench to learn about ESC calibration.... something that many seasoned electric RC flyers already now..... but those that jumped in late like me did not know.....
Click to expand...

It is not necessary to remove the red wire from the esc's fir superx as the positive pins on the motor outputs do not go anywhere internally except m7 and m8 which double as gimbal servo control.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 


Old Man

Old Man

Active Member
Calibrating a fist full of ESC's one at a time is too much work and takes too long. Garb a handful of 18"-24" servo extensions and make up a gang cable for 4, 6, or 8 ESC outputs. Plan for tomorrow and just make it for 8. Plug all the ESC's in at the same time and plug the single end into the receiver to calibrate. You get all the of ESC's calibrated in one action. If you build more that one aircraft that gang cable tool achieves greater value with each one you build.
 

Aerovideo

Aerovideo

Member
Awww at first I saw this thread and thought "Hey, IrisAerial finally got a SuperX" then I noticed the dates on the posts, doah! :)
 

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