Please help about to give up gr-18

[flukethoughts]

Hello,

When I first purchase my gr-18 and mx-20 controller I was so happy and flew around for about 2 weeks non stop. After a Month I replaced my frame and then continued to fly it around. Only recently since I flew the quad into a wreck it couldn't recover did I decide to get back into flying again. I jumped on a train again and purchase a new frame motors and esc's.
Well frame came in I was happy.
Drove a good ways to a hobby shop to buy a set of motors and ESC's.

Now I have everything installed and nothing works.
First step called graupnerusa went through trouble shooting.
I was told it was my esc's causing the issue that Simonk isn't supported correctly and I might have to downgrade the esc. But I have no idea how to.
Second bought new flight controller from graupner in hopes it would solve the issue.

So now I'm stuck unable to fly this weekend even though I rushed on shipping from grapuner usa nothing is working.

These are the ESC I bought
Lumenier Mini 20A ESC W/ SimonK AutoShot, 5V/1A BEC (2-4s

Please if anyone can help I would love it.

 

[PsyBorg]

Ok time to take a deep breath. Been there before. Frustration level is so high you can't think and end up staring right at the problem but not seeing it.

Give us the flight controller model, the motor model to add to the list of simonk esc's as well as the pdb . then a few clear pictures preferably not from a cell phone if possible so we can see how it is wired.

Then when you post tell us exactly what happens when you try and power the quad. What lights are on or not, what sounds it makes, did the motors twitch. is there a consistent beep code after you power it up? The detail that nothing works leaves us with far to little information to help without being with you.

 

[flukethoughts]

Note:
Graupner usa told me to follow the guide on their website for the mz-12 but im stuck on page 4 now because I don't have the same options.

Note: Motors make sound showing esc is powered on but when given throttle nothing happens.


Roger will post all info below
Transmitter: Mx-20
Receiver/flight controller: GR-18 s1019
Frame: Skyhero anikin club racer
Motors: Multistar elite 2204 kv2300
ESC: Lumenier Mini 20A ESC w/ SimonK AutoShot and 5V/1A BEC (2-4s)
PDB: Realacc / Matek HUBOSD
Camera: Foxeer XAT600M
VTX: FT48X 5.8G 48CH 0.25/25/200/600mW

Pics in this imgur
http://imgur.com/a/7ho4p

Note what support has said in e-mails and phone calls:
Graupnerusa
"Oh the gr-18 works with everything but sometimes Simonk becomes an issue."
I will say he has been very helpful but their is only one support guy ever working which means he has alot to do all the time and they are closed on weekends.

getfpv
"We've never heard of these not working with any flight controller that outputs PWM or OneShot125. If this flight controller works with either then theses ESC's will auto-detect this. We do not carry this flight controller though - if this issue cannot be resolved via the manual we recommend contacting Graupner or the store you purchased this from."
Some how I guess they thought I bought it from them when I purchased it from a hobbyshop an hour away.

Places I have posted:
Multiple Fpv facebook groups
Graupner hot facebook group

Places I have searched:
Youtube.com Mostly non english videos
google.com Mostly non english but googl translate helps
here couldn't find anything
Graupner USA I don't know why I even tried.

 

[PsyBorg]

Ok pics seem Ok upon first glance.

Try watching this video. Its a build for another type copoter but uses graupner receiver and tx. The process should be the same. Pay attention to the connections to the receiver and then go step by step thru the radio programming part. Right now I am leaning on this being just an arming issue which the setup will help with as I think they set that up on a switch and not stick movements to arm which is safer and easier.

Go thru that and see where that gets you. If that doesn't help come back here and yell at me and we can try something else.

 

[flukethoughts]

I have watched this video around 30 times now nothing arms. And when I called graupner about it well everything they said is in the post above. I'm using a mx-20 radio to get things working and it seems unless I find someone else with a mx-20 radio I'm not going to be airborn for another year.

 

[PsyBorg]

Did the original esc's in that quad die? Maybe you could trade them out or at least one of them to see if that is in fact the issue? Other then that I think it will be a matter of re-flashing the esc's to a different firmware maybe.

 

[flukethoughts]

I know nothing about flashing esc

could you give me the details on what I would need to flash them.

 

[PsyBorg]

This goes beyond my knowledge mate. When I switched over to using Kiss gear all the flashing is done thru the FC and is sort of automatic.

I remember with my Versa copter wanting to update my esc's just before getting the Alien build going and never did. Painess360 and Joshua Bardwell both have many vids on flashing esc's. Another person you might check on is Oscar Liang.

People here who know more then I do on stuff like this are Cranialrectosis, CraftyDan, FlyingMonkey as well as others more then likely. You can research this yourself with the youtubers I suggested or hang out here a bit more and see if one of the top dawgs respond.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I don't know Graupner which is why I haven't had a reply on this thread yet.

I am seeing that this thread is moving quickly and OP seems to be getting pretty frustrated with the setup.

My recommendations are these:
1. Be cool, stay cool, take a timeout and have a Snickers when you feel like chucking the whole thing out the window of a moving train. We have all been there, and it's easier said than done :black_eyed:. Take a break when you need to because to beat this you have to have the thinking part of your brain working. Have a Snickers.

2. Stop cross posting. Posting the same questions and asking the same questions in 20 different places does not work. You aren't going to spread a net that yields the simple answer you are looking for. This is not a simple hobby. It has a steep learning curve. Cross posting will only return 20 different, conflicting answers. IMO this FliteTest thread is your best bet.

3. The truth here is that you are running odd hardware few others if any others are running. It's not that it won't work, it's that we still need to learn how to make it work. This requires experimentation and only you have the hardware to run the experiments. The key to experimentation is the scientific method. Move one thing at a time and test it. Do not make huge sweeping changes, make one at a time and document the process in one place. You need consistency here so we may all progress as a community.

The way I see it is this. You have the hardware to build a copter but are having trouble getting the flight controller to work with the rest of the copter. Normally I would recommend a simpler flight controller but I think you are stuck with the Graupner because of your radio. If I were you, I would reset the flight controller/receiver to it's defaults, start at step one and see if you can bind and get the FC talking to the radio and progress from there. It may be a bit of a grind and you may see many failures to any successes so have a stack of Snickers on hand to help.

If you want more realtime help, you might try the IRC:
https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.freenode.net/?#flitetest

 

[PsyBorg]

See.. I knew tieing that steak around my neck would draw out one of the big dawgs.

 

[flukethoughts]

I have taken the time I bit off more then I could chew. I jumped on the Graupner train when I was watching Flitetest videos and I have to say honestly this was a horrible choice. In my area no one ever uses Graupner. On top of this no hobby shops where able to help. This has been a costly experience.
Price breakdown
Mx-20 - $428.99
Gr-18 - 99.00
While these two work they are very limited No where is their information stating Graupner has issues with Simonk I find this the most aggravating issue that drove me crazy.

Solution I ended up doing was buying ESC's that use Beheli and now everything works but has the wobbles so I need to tune it more.

Future purchases will just be for a Graupner receiver not a AIO solution.
As of now I can honestly say using the GR-18 is a horrible idea compared to using other flight controllers.

 

[PsyBorg]

I feel that pain mate. I am really sorry you had this experience. I am even more sorry I could not help. But the good thing is you gained knowledge AND you found a work around for the problem when a solution for what you started with was not exposing itself to you.

I commend you for sticking it out and wish you much better luck in the future. Hopefully you can tune it up quick and get a few happy moments for all the effort.