tell me what i want

[coreyperez]

I have yet to find clear, understandable (to me) instructions or better yet a concise short video of the soldering procedure of which wire to solder where on the KK board in order to make that KK board voltage sensor work.

I don't think the video is getting embedded.

This is the information I was relating to, I don't know if it was what you were trying to do.

http://youtu.be/_jmjiIpQWTA

Corey

Yeah, this forum software still doesn't like my Windows 7.... errrrrrrr

 

[jbrumberg]

Corey- Thank you. I have never seen that video before. Or I had seen it and I was too dazed from sensory overload at the time to have "registered" it in my poor brain. Again thanks. But right now thanks to information sharing I am awaiting a balance lead low voltage alarm that can read individual cell voltages directly off the battery. It is a battery add-on and available through our friends at HK. It is available at the USA warehouse for ~$4. I ordered mine the other day and it is already in the mail. I would rather try this option (first). I like the idea of being able to do an immediate battery voltage read of individual cells at the end of a flight.

 

[Motopreserve]

That video definitely explains it well. Unfortunately JST connectors don't have one side red, one side black on them.

The he smoke makes me a little concerned for the functionality of the board. 7808, is there anything that physically looks fried???

i think the low voltage alarm I told jay about is all you need, and you run the risk of only damaging the $4 add-on as opposed to the whole board.

 

[coreyperez]

No worries. Sorry for your ??loss??

You should see my "Favorites" on my computer... Its absolutely NUTS with sorted links from the past month...

Corey

 

[jbrumberg]

As to identifying the solder points yes it is helpful. From what I have read there is another way as well to connect this thing up. I am no electrician. I am happy that I can safely wire my trailer for my sailboat. It would appear to me with my limited knowledge of this stuff that the way it was wired in this video voltage goes directly from the battery to and powers the KK board and then is diverted to and powers the components. I might be wrong. And I agree with Scott if that was a JST connector- their wires are a little small for 3S and 4S batteries and one has to mark the JST plastic terminals themselves if they want that red/black color coding. JST male and female connectors really only fit one way. I am going the the balance lead low voltage alarm route.

Magic smoke is really bad. I hope that board works as expected.

 

[Motopreserve]

Jay, You are right - the video describes the connection at the board - but not really how to tie into the battery.

Let's agree to all play it safe and just use an external battery low voltage alarm

 

[jbrumberg]

I'm in.... I have seen these "coupler" thingies that allow a connection with JST terminal connectors. I know that I could add lights to my X1's with those connectors, and run the lights and the X1 off the same battery. They probably make them for other styles too. Then one gets into is it a parallel or series circuit(?) and then I want to "bail". Intuitively, I think it would be a parallel circuit running a line to the board and the battery and a series running it directly through the board, but I do not know. If I do not know for certain I am not going to do it.

 

[Motopreserve]

Better safe than sorry.

For or the record: if you are running two things at the same time (FC and lights) from the same source, that would be parallel. If it's running through something (like a chain) from a single source, that's serial. No need to mess around with the electrical things you're not comfortable with, and that may offer more possibilities for failure.

Although I got a bunch of add-Ons for my multiwii board when I first bought it, I quickly realized I should just take on the basics first. Get the craft functioning and stable first, then add options as needed, not just because it CAN accept them. The board might be capable, my brain may not...

 

[jbrumberg]

"The board might be capable, my brain may not..." - Scott

I resemble that remark. Thanks for the information. I kind of understand the very basics; just enough to be extremely dangerous. I am aware of this, and generally try to act accordingly... I still screw up occasionally:black_eyed:

 

[7808]

not sure what you guys keep talking about soldering to the kk board, there is a two pin input on the top left of the board for battery voltage monitoring, i purchased a breakout cable like this http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...ullet_Multistar_ESC_Power_Breakout_Cable.html

i cut off the xt60 end and soldered a new one on with 2 extra smaller gauge wires with a 2 pin female connector on the other end. it worked perfectly until i re-routed the cable then accidently reconnected it to the kk board flipped around. then there was smoke right by the connector looks like a resistor or somthing not sure because its small surface mount.


how to i calibrate the ESCs? i watched a video where the guy held buttons 1 & 4 while powering on the board (connecting main batt) then it made some beeps then he could operate his motors i tried this and it said "throttle pass through" on the screen and made beeps but nothing changed.

 

[jbrumberg]

7808- It's a timing thing. It took me a couple of tries and I had to figure out what the beeps meant first. Also you need three hands, a helper, or two clothespins.

 

[7808]

i can tell you guys when im home forsure which is + and - for the battery input, i know now lol i know polarity matters usually, was excited and rushing. board didnt seem to be marked for polarity so i made smoke.

im going to have to look up ESC calibration and the arming procedure if there is one. good idea with the clothes pins, not that i have any. if these are nessisary steps, the kk board manual (downloaded from HK site) is lacking some important steps.

i had a friend helping me, it went through all kind of beeps and seemed to cycle and start over, nothing seemed to change. what is throttle pass through?

also on the reciever test in the kk menu, when my throttle is all the way up it shows 73, shouldnt it show 100 or 99 maybe?

edit: just read through oddcopter site again, when he powers on his board holding buttons 1 & 4 his board shows calibrating ESCs, mine says throttle pass through.. i have kk2.1 firmware v1.5 i think he had a kk2.0

also, i did not know you had to hold the left stick down and to the right to "arm" the board. not sure if you do this when u turn on the fc board or what

 

[jbrumberg]

ESC calibration is very important. If the Rx and Tx are bound, and the appropriate channels are reversed. Arming Throttle back full right. The KK board will start beeping to let you know it's armed. Disarming: Throttle back full left. One Beep. To calibrate: Unplug the power to the KK/quad. The throttle must be at full Throttle 100% (The KK board needs to see 100% throttle). Turn the Tx on. Put it at 100% full throttle. Put those clothespins on button #1 and #4. Plug in the battery and power up the KK/quad. The motors will be running and all that beeping will start. Then throttle back until the end of calibration beep stuff. Unclip the clothes pins. Power down everything. There are a couple ESC calibration videos. I believe that there is one here at MRF. It's in the KK board sticky. good luck. It took me a few tries.

 

[Motopreserve]

I'm glad you got to this first Jay. The calibration is very different on the multiwii.

Does the KK2 require hooking up the ESC directly to the throttle output from the RX????

 

[jbrumberg]

It appears so. There is no other way to calibrate ESC's that I am aware, and as I checked different postings the board needs to see throttle at 100% at calibration.

 

[Motopreserve]

That's what I thought. I was lucky enough to have grabbed a 1-4 cable that allowed doing them all at once. Otherwise you need to do them one at a time.

 

[7808]

should the motors be able to spin during this calibaration? how about before they are calibrated? i never armed my board, i also never have had the motors come on while hooked up to the board yet, only when i did straight rx to esc.

i guess another trick if you dont have friends or clothespins, unplug the 1st esc from the board thats how it gets power, then you can plug that in easier while holding 1&4, easier then plugging a battery in

do people normally not have a power switch on there copter? they just connect/disconnect a battery?

 

[Motopreserve]

They just connect the battery - a system that has always seemed bizarre to me! But EVERYONE does it this way. I think there must be a fear (justified) of accidentally leaving the battery plugged in. A Lipo drastically depleted could cause serious headache. But the strain on even well soldered connection leads must hold just as much room for disaster.

I dont recall call the motors spinning during the calibration. THIS VIDEO is pretty simple steps. Lots of beeping if I recall correctly.

 

[jbrumberg]

I think that they were spinning during the whole process, but am really not positively sure, but the props were off. I was so busy with the beeping business I was not paying much attention to the motors and yes your method of using ESC #1 plug to power the board works too. I am too clumsy to do it that way. The way to test the calibration after it is complete and everything is off is to turn your Tx back on and leave the throttle on its lowest throttle setting. Then power up the KK board/quad. It should go into safe mode. Now arm the KK board by moving the throttle far right while it is at its lowest setting. The KK board should go into armed mode and start its low throttle beeping warning sound. To test: Throttle up. If the motors rpms increase with throttle changes the odds are pretty good the ESC's are calibrated. Of course the props are off for this procedure. I hope this helps.

PS: Remember to disarm the KK by moving the throttle to the left while it is in the lowest throttle setting before unplugging the battery cables. Just a good safety practice to get in the habit of doing.

 

[7808]

i was able to arm my copter a couple times, and when i gave it throttle the motors spun - very satisfiying lol then i couldnt get it to arm again even though i tried about 10 times.. any ideas? i need to reverse my whatever because left is right on my rudder? whatever the left stick is side to side

also, is it normal to have to flip the top left toggle switch on to activate my throttle?