Binding issue/problem

[BerndM]

So I was flying my F450 DJI NAZA quad today.
Still getting the hang of it all after flying power and gliders for 40+ years. Quite an adjustment.
I'm using an original version Spektrum DX7 TX. The binding was successfully done and I have had about 50 flights with the quad since getting it.
Today, though, something very odd and terrifying happened. I had the quad up about 30 feet and it started to act a bit twitchy.
I thought it was just the wind, but then I noticed the VU LED was blinking orange quite rapidly, so I landed ASAP.
The orange LED was still blinking very fast so I disconnected the battery and then reconnected it. Still a fast orange blinking, and the motors would not re-arm.
THEN I noticed the red led on the Spektrum RX was blinking also. Now I was worried. It should be on solid.
So I did a complete rebinding of the TX /RX and all seems OK for now.
WTF is going on here. Do these 2.4ghz radios lose their bind for no apparent reason. This could be catastrophic in a major way!
Any comment or suggestions would be much appreciated.
BTW, the 2200 3S battery was fully charged and I had only been up about 3 minutes when this all started.
Thanks!

 

[Zlin]

I'm not posting this to bash on Spectrum radios but, if you do a web search for Spectrum DX7 signal loss, you may be surprised by what you find.

Very Respectfully,

Zlin

 

[BerndM]

Thanks Zlin, I will look into this.
However I have been using this radio with several different aircraft for a few years at times exceeding 1000 feet in altitude and 1/4 mile distances with zero issues, ever.
That's why this is confusing to me.

 

[Zlin]

Well, I hope you find the issue. That must have been pretty scary.

Best wishes.

Zlin

 

[kloner]

Did it just failsafe land or did you still have control of it? My thoughts would be maybe your in a populated enough an area that enough systems were on and in dsm2, can cause problems. rebinding would have reset your unit id's and the like to where maybe it got you off the same id another radio randomly had. i'd guess it didn't loose the bind but you got a fresh bind and that made it work again. if is the case, is why they created there dsmX. I've seen some weird stuff with my 11x on dsm2 at the local ama field

did you bind it so the failsafe is properly set? put the bind plug in, power up the rx, then remove the bind plug then bind?

3s 2200 pack isn't much especially if it ever got any damage. your sure it wasn't a red flashing light? is your voltage protection thing on in assistant?

 

[BerndM]

Thanks for all your comments guys! I appreciate the input!
First, the batteries I was using, and I tried this with 2 separate 2200 3S Lipos, were both fully charged with voltages around 11.5V at the time of the incident. As I said, I got less than about 3 minutes of flight before the odd flashing appeared.
When I put these batteries on the charger, both took less than 500mah to refill, so they had plenty of life in them at the "event" time.
The Spektrum TX I have the the ORIGINAL DX7, not the i or the S. The RX on the quad is a Spektrum AR6100e.
I still had control but the quad was definitely want to come down, in a wobbly sort of way. once it landed and I throttled down, the motors stopped and would not re-arm. It acted a lot like when I first got the quad and it wouldn't arm until I set the gains on the GEAR channel doen to around 80 or so.
But the fact that the red LED on the RX was flashing indicates a loss of binding (to me).
After I did the bind procedure again, the RX LED was now on solid, like it should be. All connections were great on the ESCs the NAZA the VU and the RX.
I found that there apparently was a "recall" of sorts on my RX for a re-programming service by Spektrum. I will look into this next week.

 

[kloner]

just because a battery is what it says and took less than 500, had 11.5 volts landed doesn't mean it's not damaged. if it ever took more than 1800 mah in it's lifetime to recharge, it's got some sort of damage, if it ever got stored wrong, even more, if it ever got hot, even more. it's like heavy metal in us, just accumulates and accumulates, never repairs itself. it is measured in internal resistance. cell checkers and high end chargers have the data. it changes as a pack dies. Not saying this is your problem, just saying your thinking what you got might not be whats there

red flashing is either an error, usually the naza never getting a signal when you boot up or if while flying, is the craft in low voltage protection shut down. if is the case, disable it and let the packs decide when it augers in. looks like this

had 2 packs go out on me that weekend, there both in there. damage enough to kick it into low voltage shutdown can happen easily cause it comes programmed way too sensitive. Your voltage on the ground versus what it is flying are two different things. that's the other thing high internal resistance shows as a symptom. I'd dissable it till your get it figured out

if i'm not mistaken 6110e doesn't have failsafe so........ you might consider upgrading to one with it, is a lifesaver with these MR's. think it starts at ar7000, but the ar6200 might have it too.

A blinking light on an rx means one of two things, you booted the thing wrong when it was fired up like plugged in, it didn't slide in then slides in and connects a second time. usually follows a short beep then a normal beep sequeence or in fact the rx browned out or lost signal. the parkfler rx's are tough to dignose, these things got alot of dirty electronics like 4 esc's, 4 motors, spagetti of wires in a tiny spot.


If in fact you did flat out loose a bind and the thing was on it's own is a super bad thing. when a model acts like that around here all the props come off till i'm convinced it's not gonna happen again with range checks both limited power and full power

 

[BerndM]

I did some more testing with a different new 3S 4000mah Lipo and had the same sort of wobbles and the yellow LED on the VU flashing quite quickly, not the normal 2 flash, pause, 2 flash etc, and an accompanying slow down of power to the motors. The red LED on the Spektrum RX stayed on solid as it should. AT NO POINT during ANY of these flights did the VU EVER flash Red, indicating a low voltage condition.
I do have a failsafe set so that if I shut off the TX, simulating a total loss of signal, the throttles drop to about half which is a definite landing mode. If I turn the TX on again, it reaquires the connection and throttles back up.
I wonder if letting Spektrum reprogram the RX 6100e will solve this odd issue?

 

[kloner]

that's not failsafe, failsafe has the throttle above 10% and with the manual/atti switch in failsafe. The vu light flashes orange fast when in failsafe. if you are seeing it, i'd put money on you don't have the manual/atti switch endpoints centered very well.

manual says

AR6110/AR6110e Failsafe
• Prevents unintentional electric motor response on start-up.
• Establishes low-throttle failsafe if the RF signal is lost.
• The AR6110(e) removes servo output pulses to all channels except the throttle channel during failsafe.
• The AR6110(e) throttle failsafe position is stored via the throttle stick position on the transmitter during binding.

that's not what you need, you need a 2+ failsafe channel rx like ar7000 or bigger. it has to change throttle and the gear switch

I've never read a manula on 6110, but have alot
http://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/AR6110UserGuide.pdf
according to that

Red LED Hold Indicator
The AR6110/AR6110e features a red LED that indicates the number of holds that have occurred since the receiver was last powered on. The LED will flash the number of holds then pause (e.g., flash, flash, flash, pause, flash, flash, flash, pause indicates three holds occurred since the receiver was last turned on). Note that holds are reset to zero when the receiver is turned off. During the first flights of a new airplane, it’s recommended to check the red LED hold indicator. If it’s flashing, it’s important to optimize the installation (move or reposition antennas) until no hold occurs. On later flights, the LED Hold Indicator can be used to confirm RF link performance.