Flite Test Electrohub build problem - please help!

nguoiquaduong

Junior Member
Hi, I am very new to R/C plane/multi-rotors. I am building my first quad with the Electrohub kit from the Flitetest store. I also got the electronic package from ReadyToFlyQuad.com as recommended in the build video from Josh and Alex. Here is the link to the eletrohub kit and here is the link to the electronic package. The problem I am having now is the motors are not responding when I have everything hooked up. Briefly, I got everything assembled with all cables soldered in correctly (triple checked!!!) I am using a Spektrum DX5e Tx and the Lemon Rx from the electronic package above. I was able to bind the Rx and it seems to talk to the Tx just fine. When I test each single motor with the ESC connected straight to the throttle plug on the Rx, all four motors work fine. This tells me that I have made the connection/solder correctly and that the Tx and Rx are talking to each other. However, when I connected everything to the Flip 1.5 - MultiWii board, nothing is happening. I have a red light and a flashing blue flight on the Flip 1.5 board, and my Rx lights up whenever I turn the Tx on. But nothing happens when I move the sticks. I have armed the motors by moving the throttle stick to the lower right corner, waiting for beeps, but no beeps whatsoever... I don't know what is going on. Do I need to bind to the Flip board, too, somehow? If so, how can I do that? Or am I missing something very simple here? Or could it be that I got a bad Flip board? I'd really appreciate anyone who can help asap! I am excited to my maiden flight. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help!!
 

joshuabardwell

Senior Member
Mentor
When you plug in your battery, do the ESC's beep and then go silent? Or do the ESC's keep beeping one beep slowly (this would indicate they are not seeing signal from the FC).

When you plug in your battery, you should see a red and a blue LED close to each other. The blue LED will flash as the board initializes, then it will go out. The red LED should stay solid.

If the blue LED continues to flash, it may indicate that the board thinks that it is not level. Depending on your config, the Flip may refuse to arm if it is not level (can't remember if this is the default or not). Have you downloaded the MultiwiiConf program? If not, download it and get it working. Here is the URL: https://code.google.com/p/multiwii/downloads/detail?name=MultiWii_2_3.zip&can=2&q=

Once you have it working and talking to your FC, check the following.

1. The ACC in the lower-right should read close to zero (within the range of about -10 to 10) for PITCH and ROLL, and about 256 or 512 in the Z axis when the copter is level and flat. If you have the copter level and flat, and the ACC isn't reporting these values, and the blue LED is flashing all the time, then you need to run ACC calibration.

2. Check that stick inputs from the transmitter are showing up in the upper-right part of the MWConf window, where it says, "THROT ROLL PITCH YAW" etc... In other words, it should be at 1500 when the stick is centered, and then move up and down when you move the sticks. Check that all inputs match up correctly--in other words, when you move the throttle stick, the THROT input moves in MWConf.

2.5. Make sure that the endpoints for your transmitter channels are set so that the channel values in MWConf max out at close to 2000 and have a minimum close to 1000. If the minimum and maximum values are not set wide enough, you won't be able to arm the board.

3. In the section where it says "AUX1 AUX2 AUX3 AUX4", you should see a row with a label to the left that says "ARM". ARM should have a red background. When you hold the left stick down and to the right to arm the board, does the background of ARM turn green? If not, the board is not armed.

3.5. When you arm the FC, the blue LED that was flashing during initialization will come back on. If you think you are arming the board, but the blue LED is not coming on, then you're not actually arming the board.
 

Tjhogg

Member
Make sure your wires from RX to Flip are correct and not backwards/twisted. I had a similar issue with mine but only motor 1 wouldn't work other 3 worked with the flip. Hook kk board up and all worked. PAUL has had my flip for over a month trying to figure it out
 

nguoiquaduong

Junior Member
Thanks for your details response. To answer your questions:

When I plugged in the battery, the ESC beeps and then go silent.

Yes, upon battery plug in, there is a red and a blue LED. The blue LED flashes for a few moments then goes out. The red remains solid, as you described.

When I tilted the Flip, the blue LED flashes. I made sure that the Flip sitting level on a flat surface and that the blue LED is not flashing/on. It still would not do anything when I try to arm the motors. I downloaded and installed the program as you suggested on both Mac and PC. Connected the Flip to either computer with a USB cable (there is a green LED on the Flip when connected), but the program would not do anything no matter what sticks I move on the Tx. I checked all the indicators you mentioned, but nothing is moving, as if it did not detect any movement from the Tx.
Just a note, I also plugged in the battery to get power to the Rx, otherwise the LED on the Rx does not light up.

Did I miss something? Or did I just have a dead Flip board? Please let me know. Thanks again for your help! I appreciate it!


When you plug in your battery, do the ESC's beep and then go silent? Or do the ESC's keep beeping one beep slowly (this would indicate they are not seeing signal from the FC).

When you plug in your battery, you should see a red and a blue LED close to each other. The blue LED will flash as the board initializes, then it will go out. The red LED should stay solid.

If the blue LED continues to flash, it may indicate that the board thinks that it is not level. Depending on your config, the Flip may refuse to arm if it is not level (can't remember if this is the default or not). Have you downloaded the MultiwiiConf program? If not, download it and get it working. Here is the URL: https://code.google.com/p/multiwii/downloads/detail?name=MultiWii_2_3.zip&can=2&q=

Once you have it working and talking to your FC, check the following.

1. The ACC in the lower-right should read close to zero (within the range of about -10 to 10) for PITCH and ROLL, and about 256 or 512 in the Z axis when the copter is level and flat. If you have the copter level and flat, and the ACC isn't reporting these values, and the blue LED is flashing all the time, then you need to run ACC calibration.

2. Check that stick inputs from the transmitter are showing up in the upper-right part of the MWConf window, where it says, "THROT ROLL PITCH YAW" etc... In other words, it should be at 1500 when the stick is centered, and then move up and down when you move the sticks. Check that all inputs match up correctly--in other words, when you move the throttle stick, the THROT input moves in MWConf.

2.5. Make sure that the endpoints for your transmitter channels are set so that the channel values in MWConf max out at close to 2000 and have a minimum close to 1000. If the minimum and maximum values are not set wide enough, you won't be able to arm the board.

3. In the section where it says "AUX1 AUX2 AUX3 AUX4", you should see a row with a label to the left that says "ARM". ARM should have a red background. When you hold the left stick down and to the right to arm the board, does the background of ARM turn green? If not, the board is not armed.

3.5. When you arm the FC, the blue LED that was flashing during initialization will come back on. If you think you are arming the board, but the blue LED is not coming on, then you're not actually arming the board.
 

nguoiquaduong

Junior Member
Yes, my wires are connected properly. + to +, - to -, signal to signal on all channels. I checked it many times. Non of my motors are running at all when connected with the Flip. As I said in my original post, each motor works when I connect it individually to the Rx (bypassing the Flip). I presume you mean Paul Baxter (the seller at ReadyToFlyQuads), what the best way to contact him? Is there a phone number to call and talk to him? Please let me know. Thanks a lot!

Make sure your wires from RX to Flip are correct and not backwards/twisted. I had a similar issue with mine but only motor 1 wouldn't work other 3 worked with the flip. Hook kk board up and all worked. PAUL has had my flip for over a month trying to figure it out
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
In the config program did you pick the right com port and hit the start button?

You should be seeing the graphs, 3D quad and artificial horizon responding even if the board isn't setup armed or anything. If you're not seeing those then the board and the config program aren't actually communicating yet.

The blue light flashing means the board is detecting movement - so your board is running and is reading it's sensors at a minimum. So it sounds like the problems are probably getting the config program talking and getting your TX configured correctly.

Also make sure you're using the right version of the config program. I believe paul/witespy/rtfq is still using 2.2 pre-loaded on his boards and provides a copy of the 2.2 config program to go with them. Using the newer 2.3 config with the older 2.2 firmware can cause issues.

I'm betting the big issue is your endpoints on your TX aren't setup correctly yet so you're not getting enough stick range for the stick commands to register. You may have to modify the mincommand setting in config.h and then reflash the board from arduino if you can't get enough range out of your TX. But you'll have to get the board talking to the config program first so you can see what the RX values the board is seeing are.
 

joshuabardwell

Senior Member
Mentor
In the config program did you pick the right com port and hit the start button?

This. Also, you must have the correct driver installed. I believe that installing the Arduino software installs the driver too.

Using the newer 2.3 config with the older 2.2 firmware can cause issues.

The product page for the Flip 1.5 shows MW 2.3 in its options, so I think it is 2.3.

I agree about the endpoints being the most likely culprit.
 
Last edited:

CrashRecovery

I'm a care bear...Really?
Mentor
The other thing I would check is if your trims on your radio are centered. I have seen people on here have that issue. If they are too far out of trim the board may not arm because it does not see the full signal