XAircraft SuperX - Taranis - X8R

[Motopreserve]

All three wires currently connected. Since the ESC's are getting power from the PDB I could easily cut the +/- on one, leaving only signal, and see if that helps.

Couldn't hurt to try it.

For clarification: the ESCs will always get power from the PDB. The red and black wires running in the servo lead provide power to the FC (if needed), which in this case is unnecessary since the superx is powered directly from the PDB.

This is still seems like the throttle signal is not traveling through channel output 1&9 to me. I could be wrong - but it sounds like everything is set up correctly, so I'm not sure what else would be going on.

 

[fltundra]

This is what your looking for

You don't have to remove the positive wire when calibrating with the receiver. The esc will power the receiver if it has built in bec's, if not you will need to power the receiver with an external source.

 

[SoCal Blur]

Well my inability to perform esc throttle calibration seems independent of the SuperX anyway, since it is done without the SuperX in the loop.

Hold on a sec. Again, apologies for not reading this thread for begining to end so this may already have been tried... So if I read this last repsonse correctly, you're trying to perform a throttle calibration with the ESC plugged directly into the receiver. I don't think that you can do that in SBUS mode. The channels where you would plug your ESC into directly on the receiver are not 1-8 but actually 9-16 when in SBUS D16, 1-16. You need to be in the standard 8 channel, non SBUS mode to do ESC/Throttle calibration. Rebind your RX into the standard mode (no jumpers, D16, 1-8). then plug your ESCs into the throttle channel - calibrate your ESCs. Then once that's done, rebind back to SBUS mode, D16, 1-16.

Again, sorry if I didn't understand the issue correctly. If that's the case, then disregard.

 

[Motopreserve]

Hold on a sec. Again, apologies for not reading this thread for begining to end so this may already have been tried... So if I read this last repsonse correctly, you're trying to perform a throttle calibration with the ESC plugged directly into the receiver. I don't think that you can do that in SBUS mode. The channels where you would plug your ESC into directly on the receiver are not 1-8 but actually 9-16 when in SBUS D16, 1-16. You need to be in the standard 8 channel, non SBUS mode to do ESC/Throttle calibration. Rebind your RX into the standard mode (no jumpers, D16, 1-8). then plug your ESCs into the throttle channel - calibrate your ESCs. Then once that's done, rebind back to SBUS mode, D16, 1-16.

Again, sorry if I didn't understand the issue correctly. If that's the case, then disregard.

I had him do what I did which was to copy the throttle channel over to Channel 9 so that it works in sbus mode. Then I removed it after the calibration. That should work - it word OK for me.

 

[fltundra]

Rebind your RX into the standard mode (no jumpers, D16, 1-8). then plug your ESCs into the throttle channel - calibrate your ESCs. Then once that's done, rebind back to SBUS mode, D16, 1-16.

I think your right! was just thinking the same thing

 

[SoCal Blur]

I had him do what I did which was to copy the throttle channel over to Channel 9 so that it works in sbus mode. Then I removed it after the calibration. That should work - it word OK for me.

That's what happens when I walk into a movie halfway through. I better keep quiet

 

[mediaguru]

This is what your looking for

You don't have to remove the positive wire when calibrating with the receiver. The esc will power the receiver if it has built in bec's, if not you will need to power the receiver with an external source.

Yes exactly. Both CH1 and CH9 show throttle movements.

 

[Motopreserve]

I think your right! was just thinking the same thing

Copying the throttle channel should work.

 

[Motopreserve]

That's what happens when I walk into a movie halfway through. I better keep quiet

No, the more eyes on this thing the better. I am 99.9% positive that copying the channel over worked - but now you have me second guessing

 

[mediaguru]

I had him do what I did which was to copy the throttle channel over to Channel 9 so that it works in sbus mode. Then I removed it after the calibration. That should work - it word OK for me.

So just to be clear, SBUS D16 1-16 means that channels 1-8 are on the sbus and 9-16 are the physical 1-8 on the 8XR. I've copied channel 1 to 9.

A good suggestion I received on email was to go buy a cheap servo and connect it to the RX and see if it responds to throttle. I will hope to try that after work tonight.

I really THANK everyone who is contributing to this. I can't help thinking it is some dumb thing I'm missing in the RX/TX. Something so obvious that I'll look like a bonehead when I finally get it working.

 

[SoCal Blur]

No, the more eyes on this thing the better. I am 99.9% positive that copying the channel over worked - but now you have me second guessing

I like to keep things simple. For me, reverting to default, calibrating the ESCs and then binding to SBUS mode where the control channels are on 1-4 seems the most expeditious to me. It takes out all of the guess work. Medi, since you're stuck anyway, you might want to give it a shot.

 

[Motopreserve]

I like to keep things simple. For me, reverting to default, calibrating the ESCs and then binding to SBUS mode where the control channels are on 1-4 seems the most expeditious to me. It takes out all of the guess work. Medi, since you're stuck anyway, you might want to give it a shot.

yep. Might as well step back to the beginning and simplify. I tend to think it's something internal with taranis that is getting inputs/outputs mixed up. That is something unique to the opentx - so maybe somehow throttle is assigned to the correct stick - but not the correct output?

you could also check by running the servo lead from the other RX outputs to make sure you don't get anything on those either - just to confirm throttle is not being sent out the wrong channel somehow.

 

[SoCal Blur]

yep. Might as well step back to the beginning and simplify. I tend to think it's something internal with taranis that is getting inputs/outputs mixed up. That is something unique to the opentx - so maybe somehow throttle is assigned to the correct stick - but not the correct output?

you could also check by running the servo lead from the other RX outputs to make sure you don't get anything on those either - just to confirm throttle is not being sent out the wrong channel somehow.

I tend to think it may have more to do with the frame rate of the Taranis which is higher than most. It required a updated sketch for Multiwii to resolve issues. Prior to that, sbus would eventually cause buffer overrun errors. Maybe SuperX has similar issues with the frame rate?

 

[mediaguru]

I tend to think it may have more to do with the frame rate of the Taranis which is higher than most. It required a updated sketch for Multiwii to resolve issues. Prior to that, sbus would eventually cause buffer overrun errors. Maybe SuperX has similar issues with the frame rate?

I'm not even having the superx connected when trying to calibrate my ESC throttle ranges...

Here's the current plan:

1. Get my hands on a cheap servo for testing the outputs of the 8XR.

2. Try disconnecting all but signal wires on the ESC.

3. Try to reset 8XR to default settings and attach esc to default throttle channel

 

[Motopreserve]

That's right. If the superx is going to cause headaches, that will be next . For now, you're only looking for the taranis to talk directly to the RX - which should be shooting a throttle signal thru the servo to the ESC/motor.

i would also also try swapping outputs right down the line before changing anything - to confirm that throttle is not being sent to the wrong physical (1-8) output.

 

[mediaguru]

Ok good news. I picked up a $7 servo at the local hobby shop and connected it to channel 1/9 of the 8XR. Bingo. Throttle moves the servo. So now we can rule out the TX/RX setup, and the RX output questions.

Later tonight (after some vino and dinner) I'll get to the next steps of the plan, running the ESC cables with only the signal wire.

 

[SoCal Blur]

Good news. Thanks for the update.

 

[mediaguru]

This is completely embarrassing and should provide a great laugh for all of you...

After all of these attempts at esc throttle calibration I was narrowing it down to the possibility that the numbers were wrong on my esc wires. I put numbers on all of them when I ran the wires. So my thought was that I would wire up a different esc/motor than #1 and see if I was able to get the proper calibration beeps.

I also put stickers on the top of the arms as a reminder, though I do know that motor #1 on a hex is the front right, then they proceed counter clockwise.

I saw the #1 on the front LEFT arm, not the front right. It was at that point that I realized I may be the biggest bonehead in the universe. I was trying to throttle calibrate the front right motor, yes, but the f&*!ing bird was upside down! That meant that the front right arm was #2, not #1!!!

What a bonehead!

Go ahead, let me have it. I deserve all the grief you want to dish out.

I proceeded to throttle cal 5 of the 6 motors. Motor #3 does not respond. It does the constant beeping to indicate no throttle connection. It appears that ESC #3 has a bad wiring job or perhaps a short. I'll be getting the multi-meter out to test all the leads first. If I have a short or the wiring is bad, I'll have to pull the ESC wires through the arm, fix them, and re fish it. That's a total PITA. The good news is though, that arm #3 is the stationary arm and has an open end. Fishing it may be slightly easier than the folding arms of the T960.

Humbly yours...

 

[mediaguru]

It just dawned on me that if I need to fish another esc wire through, I'll just tie it to the old one. Then when I pull the old one out it will pull the new one through.

 

[X650Mouse]

It just dawned on me that if I need to fish another esc wire through, I'll just tie it to the old one. Then when I pull the old one out it will pull the new one through.

Isn't this well off topic by now? you can always start another thread and save some poor member wading through all this when looking for help with SuperX/Taranis/X8R


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