Stuck figuring out my first quad build...

outthayr

Active member
Only thought I have for the dead motor is that I realized I attached wire 1->3, 2->2, 3->1 ... Will change that later today and see if it works.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
If you are talking about esc to motor side all swapping the wires will do is reverse the motor form the direction it currently spins. It is more likely that one of your solder joints is bad or the esc is not getting the proper signal.
 

outthayr

Active member
No, scratch that. It's the ESC in the #2 location which will not power the motor attached to it. Does that mean I need a new ESC? Or is it just a tweak of ESC settings in BetaFlight?
 
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outthayr

Active member
IMG_3631.JPG

Only picking up 3 escs?

Just noticed the end points are off for #4 ...
 
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outthayr

Active member
Representative from FlexRC just pointed out I have a signal wire routed to the wrong place. Attached to M5 instead of M2! IMG_3641.PNG

Rookie mistake, eh?
 

outthayr

Active member
First flight!

My first flight was not quite as magical as I thought it would be.

I'm still stuck with overlapping Arm and Flight Mode channels.

OSD says Stable Mode but the motors react as though it's Acro Mode.

Maybe I have a motor spinning the wrong way? Maybe the ESC settings are wrong?

 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
I THINK I see only one motor spinning the correct way when slowing down the video to watch the start up. The right rear looks correct the rest are questionable. Also looks like they do not start at the same time either so after checking and fixing rotation make sure you do an esc calibration.
 

outthayr

Active member
Okay. I assume I can change motor direction using BLheli App?

Stinks my Mac is too old to run the newer driver, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to Calibrate ESCs and see if I can get the motors spinning correctly on my friend's computer.

Thanks to you all for the help.
 
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JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
Okay. I assume I can change motor direction using BLheli App?

Stinks my Mac is too old to run the newer driver, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to Calibrate ESCs and see if I can get the motors spinning correctly on my friend's computer.

Thanks to you all for the help.
I don't install drivers. To do these I have installed Chrome and the applicable apps that will work from Chrome on my Mac. Clean Flight, Beta Flight, and BL HeliSuite all work on my ~2007 iMac.
 

outthayr

Active member
I don't install drivers. To do these I have installed Chrome and the applicable apps that will work from Chrome on my Mac. Clean Flight, Beta Flight, and BL HeliSuite all work on my ~2007 iMac.

Well then I wonder what's keeping my quads from being recognized by my MacBook OS 10.6.8 ? Both the Owl and Vortex will not open in CleanFlight nor BetaFlight.
 

outthayr

Active member
So, I've watched videos, read instructions, watched more videos... and I'm still having overlapping Flight Modes with the Arm switch. If I disable Arm switch the sticks don't start the motors. If I keep the Arm switch if I change Flight Modes it will disarm...
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
So, I've watched videos, read instructions, watched more videos... and I'm still having overlapping Flight Modes with the Arm switch. If I disable Arm switch the sticks don't start the motors. If I keep the Arm switch if I change Flight Modes it will disarm...

Can you post a screenshot of the tab with your flight modes configured? Sounds like you have them all on the same AUX channel rather than individual switches. Might also have to do with the config of your TX. On the receivers tab, do the switches control only one channel, and do both switches control independent channels?

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Are you sure the board orientation is set Right? Full size 30x30 FC should be at a 45 degree angle of some sort on the owl frame and you have yaw set at 180. Is the arrow on the FC on the top or bottom when the frame is level, and which corner does it point to? I always align it so the arrow is on top and pointing to the right front corner. Yaw is set to 45 on all my owls. Values for the other corners are Right rear =135, left rear =225, and left front=315.

Cheers!
LitterBug
 
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
I think I see your over lap with the things you are trying to do with switches. Try setting them this way.

modes small.jpg

I set my arm switch up for high on a three position switch. that gives me a buffer in case I bump the switch it is less likely to arm. That and its easier and faster to flick a finger off my pitch stick to push up and dis arm then to go over the switch and come back down. I don't use angle mode at all. It teaches lazy habits and you out grow it in like five minutes anyways.

I will set my mode switch up for horizon to be low and nothing on mid and high as that is default for acro. THEN I will on the same aux channel set air mode to high. This way I have Horizon mode for indoor FPV or emergencies like lost video signal or orientation in los as well as learning to land and take off in FPV. Then I have just acro for take offs and landings how I fly so I don't get bounced or launched in the air again with air mode if I land a tad harder then I wanted. Finally I have acro with air mode enabled for free style.

I normally close the slider bars tighter on my switches so they do not over lap but forgot with this picture as I was having issues with the quad at the time. You only need one or two ticks above and below where the switch is actually active for these. This prevents two modes being active at the same time in the middle of the transition.
 

outthayr

Active member
Are you sure the board orientation is set Right?

Cheers!
LitterBug

Arrow is on top facing forward. I reversed the YAW because when I would pitch forward the 3D model in BetaFlight showed the quad tilting backwards.

The quad is responding to the controller correctly, it's just everything wobbles - almost to a point of little control.

I changed ESC configuration from DSHOT150 to DSHOT300 and that killed a lot of the wobble, but it's still doing it.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Do you have a picture of the frame that clearly shows the FC? Looking at the end of the video I see the screws in the 30x30 FC mount holes which would mean it needs to be at a 45 degree angle. The 20x20 holes point forward and are at 0, 90,180, and 270


LB

Edit: Also check to see if the motors are getting hot. Default Betaflight D is usually way to high and causes oscillations on the owl frames. If they are hot, cut D in half for a starting point.
 
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