CarbonCore Cortex....Owners' Thread

[Droider]

Please dont also forget what I said regarding the failsafe.
I flicked the switch "by accident" and it shot up.
However next day I changed the failsafe to just "hover" instead of going up 20m and come home, I tested the failsafe today, and it did not hover, it shot up 20m and came home, so there seems to be a major bug in the latest A2 firmware.

And you deffo wrote that change to the FC? Its a fine line here. If the copter has not shut down before the 5 secs is up and FS is hit I dont see how it can know NOT to go to failsafe. Take off and Landing are when the operator must be on guard for every eventuality. I always land and shut down the motors not waiting for the intelligent shut down.

As for thr over thing being a fault of the A2 I cant comment as I never have it set to do that. May be one of the DJI support can check that out.

Dave

 

[Quinton]

And you deffo wrote that change to the FC? Its a fine line here. If the copter has not shut down before the 5 secs is up and FS is hit I dont see how it can know NOT to go to failsafe. Take off and Landing are when the operator must be on guard for every eventuality. I always land and shut down the motors not waiting for the intelligent shut down.

As for thr over thing being a fault of the A2 I cant comment as I never have it set to do that. May be one of the DJI support can check that out.

Dave

Once I get up and running again, I will double check, but I had it hooked up to the PC earlier, and it def showed to hover when FS switch activated.
It did not do this, it went up 20m and started to come home.
The only reason why I enabled it, is because its a requirement now in the BNUC-S flight exam to have a switch, they do not really want you simply turning the transmitter off.
Normally I would never use it, just needed to make sure it worked (which it would have done quite well, if I had it set to that.)

 

[Droider]

The only reason why I enabled it, is because its a requirement now in the BNUC-S flight exam to have a switch, they do not really want you simply turning the transmitter off.

SO when was that announced? typical.

You dont need to turn your transmitter off and never have done to prove failsafe.

Dave

 

[sk8brd]

Quinton looks stable. not sure what the deal was with the motors not turning on unless your batt was under the voltage settings for 2nd protection?

i will say this though when i got my first naza years ago i landed the ship and due to flying a lot of micro ships and with no naza's i turned off the transmitter before the motor's stop spinning cause i'm was impatient at the time and the craft shot up to the sky- scared the bee-jesus out of me. it can be a problem- i would like if the flight controller knew it was on the ground and disabled that as it could cause some issues if your new to that feature. to disengage that after it does that on a naza when fs that is not programmed to a switch or you have no manual mode like how the 1st phantom's were shipped out of the box you have to turn back on the radio put the throttle to 50% and flick in to atti mode then it will disengage the return home on naza's at least. if your not use to the feature and were standing over it....well i think you could predict what would happen. definitely rtfm if your new to dji

 

[sk8brd]

theufogadget- i wouldn't say everyone considers dji as a professional product yet maybe the a2 will change it. As all the high end guys in the U.S are on other fc's like mk being the most. the community is small at that level.if the a2 if good will change that i imagine but as of today dji is least like to be used commercially at this point- imho. side note- i have seen your product review video's if your the same people and there great keep up the good work!

 

[SoCal Blur]

I have no experience with an x4(8) before this, so I am not sure how well they perform.
When you send it off, it is smooth as butter, if you went on a fast forward then stopped, it would swing like a pendulum, same if you try and descend straight down (This is without weight underneath).
With my Skyjib 6 Super I can descend straight down no bother and very little wobble.
Just looking at your sig, can I ask what props and FC you use, as the motors are very similar to the CC ones

I'm using the Multiwii Pro EZ3.0 and, right now, APC Slowfly props 14X4.7

 

[SoCal Blur]

.... I would argue that a Professional Grade flight controller comes plug and play along with its own software and functions. NAZA is customizable and tunable to make it to your liking. There is a reason that when people want a PROFESSIONAL rig, they go to DJI, Hoverfly, Cinestar etc for all their gear

OR - Professionals and non-Professionals alike that don't have the aptitude or the inclination to do any building from the ground up, choose them because it is Plug-N-Play (i.e., EASIER). What you're suggesting is like saying that a Production Motorcycle is professional and AMA/MotoGP bikes, which are custom, are a hobbyist's motorcycle. Even professional golfers have clubs built to their specs (or build their own). They would rarely purchase a "plug-n-play" set of clubs to use in their profession. I'm not saying that FC's like Hoverfly aren't professional - indeed they are. But just because a FC is open source, doesn't necessarily put it in the hobby category. :tennis:

 

[sk8brd]

quinton- did you ever figure out how to set your endpoints for you servo on retracts just curious as to how it works on futaba. if the motors won't arm with good battery i suppose compass calibration needed or esc's issue. it's odd though that you were able to fly it then have it not work immediately after landing. i don't think the no load would do anything other then maybe cause a little instability. did you change anything in the throttle channel like keep it higher then 10% as i would imagine you have to do if you have failsafe on a switch. if you left the switch engaged on the failsafe then tried to re arm it may cause the fc to not start because it thinks your not at 0 throttle. just speculating here as i never set up failsafe to a switch yet.

 

[Quinton]

No it was def not the battery, as I had spares with me and tried them, also I brought it home and tried firing it up and nothing.
There are no warning lights or anything, and when I plug it into the assistant all is well, so just need to get the top off later today hopefully so I can have a good look.
Even motor test in the assistant did not work.
I ordered a spare motor/ESC a couple of days ago, and it arrived yesterday so I am going to throw that onto a watt/thrust meter to see what its pulling.
This was my biggest worry before I bought he machine, as the motors have very low limits compared to others I would of had on it, but I was assured that all the testing was done beforehand and I had no need to worry.
As for the end points I dont think that was the problem, but there is something strange on the A2 with landing gear, F1 for some reason, and it was not possible to reverse it.
It works fine when its moved to another channel. (Maybe a DJI retract thing)
Good retracts really should cut the power to the servos after ends are reached, and have a failsafe built in to not arm immediately on power.

 

[bunnygirl80]

Very nice. Is that your own custom build or the artf kit?

That is my own build.

 

[sk8brd]

gotcha.. thats very strange even in the software the motor want arm at all. if the a2 has power and turns on that means the ship is getting power even if a esc cable came off the pdb the other motors would spin obviously. i doubt every esc power cable came off..no way. if your seeing the channels move fine on the computer then there is a connection between the radio and the a2 so not that. if your sure failsafe is deactivated and there is nothing going on with the the throttle not being low enough this is a mystery. do all the channels lock on where they need to be like ioc, gps, atti, manual. did any endpoints get changed from last time you flew it by accident. the esc's have no red wire right? i assume there opto's so you shouldn't see a red wire from esc as the pmu will handle the 6s power situation to the fc. did you try arming with manual mode on the radio. perform a compass calibration for the fun of it and see if anything changes it. did you look for any errors on the a2. if nothing was changed at all from when you brought it down till when you wanted to start it again maybe there was a short that hit the esc's.

 

[bunnygirl80]

OMG she is doomed
Now that is very interesting regarding the retracts servo arm, as it is not the one that comes from CC
Theres not a lot of room in there, is there.
Also what I don't understand is they are def the CC (CarbonCore) ESCs, and they look like the motors too, which is not the same ones as posted on that site?

Hi Quinton, all these components were supplied by CarbonCore, so I suspect that they're going through a stage of testing and improving. I guess that can only be a good thing! As you can see in the piccies, the motors have the CC logo engraved, they are 4014/9 400kv. I've spoken to Cameron at CC a few times during the build and he's very knowledgeable and definitely knows his stuff. He did tell me that the website was in need of updating, but they are struggling finding the skills to update as well as fitting everything else in! I think interest in the cortex has exploded beyond their expectations.

xx

 

[Mrtarango32]

That is my own build.

What esc motor and prop combo?

 

[bunnygirl80]

What esc motor and prop combo?

They are TMotor 4014/9 400kv with TMotor 15x5 props on the top and 16x5 props on the bottom.

 

[Quinton]

they are 4014/9 400kv. I've spoken to Cameron at CC a few times during the build and he's very knowledgeable and definitely knows his stuff. He did tell me that the website was in need of updating, but they are struggling finding the skills to update as well as fitting everything else in! I think interest in the cortex has exploded beyond their expectations.

xx

That is interesting, as the stock CC motors are 4010-14 (370kv)
Cameron is very knowledgeable but the problem is the lack of information that surrounds his product, and once you start to ask too many questions then its shut up shop time.
I was very worried using 16" props on this motor, but I was assured that all the tests were done and it would be fine, not sure why you got those motors, or that new looking servo thing.

 

[bunnygirl80]

That is interesting, as the stock CC motors are 4010-14 (370kv)
Cameron is very knowledgeable but the problem is the lack of information that surrounds his product, and once you start to ask too many questions then its shut up shop time.
I was very worried using 16" props on this motor, but I was assured that all the tests were done and it would be fine, not sure why you got those motors, or that new looking servo thing.

When did you order yours? I'm wondering if it's a time thing. It would be nice if there was a mailing list or a release bulletin on the website telling us what had changed and if any new improved bits have come out. It wouldn't be difficult to say "Retracts V2" or something like that!

 

[sk8brd]

quinton- i remember you saying you put the build into ecalc and there were issues. what warnings did you see motor temps, esc's. i can't find 16 inch performance figures on that motor with 6s. the flight time you mentioned in earlier post was very good so i know that was not loaded with extra weight but the amp draw was nice and low for that flight time. what size are the ecs do you know i know there re shrinked as i doubt he designs his own. what throttle was hover at in the last test something crazy like under 30% or something. trying to sort out for you if they could of got crazy hot

 

[Quinton]

When did you order yours? I'm wondering if it's a time thing. It would be nice if there was a mailing list or a release bulletin on the website telling us what had changed and if any new improved bits have come out. It wouldn't be difficult to say "Retracts V2" or something like that!

A couple of weeks ago.
The motor I have is only rated for 20A and 450W, this is why I was worried, as there is no data on this motor even for 16" props, so I had to accept what he was saying to me as tried and tested.
You mentioned in your other post that you had to replace 2 ESCs what was that about, and how did it come to that conclusion if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Quinton]

quinton- i remember you saying you put the build into ecalc and there were issues. what warnings did you see motor temps, esc's. i can't find 16 inch performance figures on that motor with 6s. the flight time you mentioned in earlier post was very good so i know that was not loaded with extra weight but the amp draw was nice and low for that flight time. what size are the ecs do you know i know there re shrinked as i doubt he designs his own. what throttle was hover at in the last test something crazy like under 30% or something. trying to sort out for you if they could of got crazy hot

Well I do not want to speculate that there is a problem with the motors or ESCs at this time, as for all I know it could be a problem with the A2
I do log a lot of information every flight I take, and the motors/ESCs were cold after each flight.
I will say that I was "surprised" at the hover % with and without weight, I will give more information on that and flight times later, once the kids get off to school and I can get a look at it properly.
I just wish I had amp draw when flying which I don't but that will surely be on the books in the very near future, so I can tell wether something works or doesn't.
There is only so much you can do with bench tests.

 

[sk8brd]

personally- if u can't find the data from the manufacturer i would skip what he recommends period. he could just be selling you what he has but those motors should handle the light weight of the craft. if there goners go with u5's on 40amp turnigy plush esc's. proven setup- then enjoy your craft. i hope they were not simon k flashed esc's as well. try to re calibrate them first or test them but if you don't know what they are just swap em out for peace of mind.

you can calculate your amp draw easy.. convert you mah used to amp hours then multiply by 60 and divide by flight time...ex 7000 mah used in 15minutes... 7.0 X60=420/15=28amps then divide by amount of motors you case 8...so that would be avg of 3.5amps during that flight or avg 28amp draw during flight... incase you didn't know how..