Newbie Tri-Copter won't fly. Help!

NickVolcom

Junior Member
I just got in to Tri-Copters and built my first one. I went with Fortis Airframes Titan. I put everything together, paired the Tx and Rx, and nothing is happening. I've watched a lot of youtube videos, and read all kinds of forums. any help would be awesome.

heres a list of the gear.

KK2 board V1.6
Turnigy 9x Tx and Rx
SunnySky X2212-9s
HobbyKing 30A ECUs
8in props

If theres any more info needed let me know
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
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What size battery are you using. Also, "won't fly" isn't enough information. Can you either elaborate on what you mean, or provide video of an attempt?

Did you tune your KK2 board, calibrate your ESCs, calibrate the gyros? Do the motors turn when you apply throttle?

Yeah, a video will help a lot.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
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Nothing is happening is a broad statement.

What are you doing when you expect something to happen?

Have you connected the ESCs to the KK2? When you plug in the battery, does the KK2 power up? Do the ESCs beep at you?

Have you done all this and simply need to arm the board?
 

Craftydan

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Nick,

Don't take this the wrong way, but theyre's a lot of brands of "nothing".

Where are you getting held up in the process?

From what I read form your post I'm assuming:

- you've wired the receiver and ESCs to the KK2 board, you've got power and lights on the board and receiver.

- you've run the receiver test and everything on your receiver is 0 when neutral and moves the right directions, the same amount, and near 100 when you move the stick.

- you've selected/double checked the motor layouts

- you've followed *carefully* the KK2 ESC Calibration procedure:

* plug in all 4 motors, and REMOVE the props
* turn on your TX, move throttle to max
* hold button 1 and 4 -- continue holding untill the procedure is finished
* plug in the power (could just disconnect M1, plug in power then while your holding the buttons, plug in M1)
* wait for the ESC's for two sets of beeps (first is bootup, second is starte ESC calibration)
* move throttle down to the bottom, and wait for ESCs to beep again -- you're finally done, you can let go now.

- you've armed the motors w/o props and slowly spun them up to check for operation and turn direction (swap two of the three leads to reverse it)



Now if yo've done *all* that it might not fly well (or at all), but it won't do nothing. If you don't see anything missing yet, few more details can help.
 

NickVolcom

Junior Member
Batt size -3S 2200 mAh, KK2 board set to Tricopter, not sure how to calibrate ECUs (there Simon K flashed HobbyKing 30A), Gyros have been Calibrated, The motors do not turn when throttle is applied.

sorry for the lack of info, I wasn't sure what info was needed.
 

Craftydan

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Batt size -3S 2200 mAh, KK2 board set to Tricopter, not sure how to calibrate ECUs (there Simon K flashed HobbyKing 30A), Gyros have been Calibrated, The motors do not turn when throttle is applied.

sorry for the lack of info, I wasn't sure what info was needed.

yup. the ESC cal is likely your problem. See my post above for the procedure.

BTW, you do know how to arm/disarm the motors, right?
 

NickVolcom

Junior Member
ECUs are connected to board, board turns on and lets me cycle the settings when batt is plugged in.

How do I arm the Board?
 

Craftydan

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*first* calibrate your ESCs.

once that's done, you arm by holding the throttle stick briefly to the bottom right corner. you disarm by moving it briefly to the bottom left.
 

NickVolcom

Junior Member
I've calibrated the Tx but when im in Receiver test I get

Aileron -52
Elevator -51
Throttle 0
Rudder -7

and thats without sub trim
 

NickVolcom

Junior Member
I've calibrated the Tx but when im in Receiver test I get

Aileron -52
Elevator -51
Throttle 0
Rudder -7

and thats without sub trim
 

Craftydan

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I've calibrated the Tx but when im in Receiver test I get

Aileron -52
Elevator -51
Throttle 0
Rudder -7

and thats without sub trim

ok, you're getting somewhere!

you've actually *only* calibrated the ESCs, which you really needed to do.

you need to now go one channel at a time, move the stick and make the numbers in the receiver test go the right way for the stick movment (left/right, up/down). reverse the servo's first in the radio to make it match.

next adjust your subtrim on each channel to get it to 0 when the sticks (except throttle) are centered.

next move each channel, one at a time to the stops, and adjust the servo travel on the radio unitll it reads 100 on the kk2, or as close as it can get. do this for both directions.

Idealy, now if you move the sticks, the receiver test will always go to 0 when neutral, and 100 in the matching direction when the stick is moved to the ends.
 

NickVolcom

Junior Member
Thank you all for the help! I got the ECUs calibrated and the motors spin. Now I just have to get the receiver test to read 0s.
 

Craftydan

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Thank you all for the help! I got the ECUs calibrated and the motors spin. Now I just have to get the receiver test to read 0s.

Fantastic!

Good luck with the maiden! Make sure you have *plenty* of room and take it slow until you get used to it. Let us know if you have any more troubles.

oh, and BTW, Welcome to the forum!
 

NickVolcom

Junior Member
Thanks for the vidoe link.

Now the something flipped my TX. on the receiver test my throttel is flipped (up is idel and down is max) and im still having a hell of a time getting the numbers to zero out on idel.

should I just get a new TX? I've put so much money and hope into this hobby to bail.
 

Craftydan

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Thanks for the vidoe link.

Now the something flipped my TX. on the receiver test my throttel is flipped (up is idel and down is max) and im still having a hell of a time getting the numbers to zero out on idel.

should I just get a new TX? I've put so much money and hope into this hobby to bail.

Replacing your TX is up to you, but the hardware in the Turnigy 9x isn't bad -- have you updated the firmware on it yet? I've heard the stock firmware described as the worst firmware ever written, though I think it's been updated to be merely bad. I know the programmer you use for the kk2 is the same you'd use to re-flash the 9x, but I don't own one myself.

Perhaps one of the other guys in this forum who've had good success can lend a hand with the details, but don't give up yet! you can get this equipment to work for you!
 

Craftydan

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hmmm. . . the problem is the 9x is a good transmitter once the firmware is straightened out. Again, I don't own one but from the reviews I've read, it's on my list of highly recommended for a starter transmitter . . . so long as it's reflashed.

If you *want* to buy a new transmitter the top few I'd recommend:

* the Turnigy 9xr with a suitable transmitter module (stock is already flashed to the better open source firmware)
* The Orange T-SIX - nice DSM2 clone transmitter of the Spektum DX6i
* Spektrum DX6i - a good basic programmable DSMX transmitter -- a lot of new pilots do well with it.
* Spektrum DX7s - a step up from the DX6i, one more channel, many more mixes, SD card for model files and updates, built in telemetry (need extra parts on the receive end)
* FrSky Taranis - an excelnt open source radio with *all* the new features. Rave reviews all around, but very *HARD* to find in stock.


The reflash tool (USBasp with the 6-pin adaptir) you'll need to bring up the 9x on the open source rom will set you back ~$10

The choice, of course, is yours.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
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I updated my 9x as soon as I got it and never used it with the stock firmware, so I can not tell you exactly how to use the stock menus or submenus. If you know where to find the subtrims in your menus, those are what you need to set the receiver test values to zeros. You should also have a setting for reversing the channels, which will fix the throttle being on full when it should be on idle. I'll try to find some programming tips for the stock 9X for you.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
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Ok, I might have found what you need. When you hit your menu button, you'll see the radio and a wrench icon. Hit the down button on the left side to highlight function settings. First item in the function settings menu is reverse. select that and reverse your throttle. Exit out one level and back into function settings. Third item will be your subtrims. Use that to adjust the numbers to zero on the receiver test on your KK2.

Let us know if you are still having trouble setting these up.