DJI A2 and Ground Station

K

kaptankaos

Member
For the life of me I cannot get the ground station and ipad to hook up on the A2 controller. I have all the latest firmware and the connections are as follows, the ground station (air portion) is plugged into the iSOD can bus port. The iSOD is plugged into the port connected to the GPS. These are plugged into the Can Bus 1.

I tried bypassing the iSOD and plug directly into the port of the GPS.

GPS Pro version 2.1
GPS Module version 20.1
IMU version. 2.1
Main Controller vers 2.1
Receiver ver 1.1
lED ver 2.0

BTU ver 1.0.1.2
Ground end ver 1.0.1.5
Air end ver 1.0.1.1


It will not connect with either iPad or Laptop.

If I move the air portion to my 450 with a Naza M V2, plug into the PMU, it connects right away.

What am I doing wrong?

DJI USA did not have answers, and I am getting nowhere trying to sort this out.
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
FWIW I have had a little play with the GS and the Wookong, and for the GS to work it seems it has to be plugged into the GPS Can Bus directly, anything I plug into the IOSD does not work.
I found that the BT on the A2 has trouble connecting , compared to the Wookong.
DJI do not really give a crap with their stuff, they just release it and expect the users to check it out, (never mind how much a failure would cost to its users) at least that is how I have seen it lately.
 

T

Tahoe Ed

Active Member
The A2 is very particular on the connections. If you do not connect according to the manual it will not work. The GS needs to be connected to Can1. There is no other option. if you do not have an available port then you need a can hub. I replied to Robert at DJI NA and this is the same response that I gave him 3 hours ago.
 

K

kaptankaos

Member
Tahoe Ed said:
The A2 is very particular on the connections. If you do not connect according to the manual it will not work. The GS needs to be connected to Can1. There is no other option. if you do not have an available port then you need a can hub. I replied to Robert at DJI NA and this is the same response that I gave him 3 hours ago.
Click to expand...

The GS is plugged into Can 1. Like I said, all firmware is up to date and it is hooked up correctely. What else can I be missing?

Interesting enough, on the DJI website, it says that on the A2 it should be hooked up to Can Bus 2 but there is no way to do it...
Other places, it says Can 1 is fine or either should work.

http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/2.4G_BT_Datalink_&_iPad_Ground_Station


http://download.dji-innovations.com...k&iPAD_Ground_Station_User_Guide_v1.08_en.pdf
 
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gottabebrett

gottabebrett

Member
Kaptankaos you are right that the A2 manual says to connect to a CAN BUS 2. I am trying to get this thing working too, I tried connecting to that spare port on the A2's PMU that looks different than the other ports -- the one that doesn't have room for a locking tab (I had cord laying around from a previous S800 build). I am getting a connection via the iPad now, but when I hit "go" in the flight simulator I start getting a million pop ups about landing, going home, etc and the software basically never starts and I just exit out. I too am scrambling to figure this out. Have you had any luck yet? I'll let you know if I make any progress.
 


gottabebrett

gottabebrett

Member
Kaptankaos: I have been reading inside other forums that the iPad GS software has a lot of bugs in it ever since Apple upgraded their iPad software to iOS7. Today, I am going to try connecting straight to the ground station using my laptop and a USB cable. I'll let you know the results.
 


K

kaptankaos

Member
My A2 and ground station are on their way back to DJI. They have the tools to figure out whats going on with this unit. So no 800 flying for a few weeks until this gets turned around.
 

D

deluge2

Member
Well this may be a moot point now that you've sent the hardware back to DJI. But if I'm understanding the way you had things hooked up, the connections don't seem to match those from the current version (v 1.14 11-FEB-2014) of the A2 User Manual. Specifically see page 38 which illustrates DJI's recommended hookup for iOSD and 2.4 GHz Data Link. (The hookups are the same as they were in the prior User Manual version from late 2013.)

In that diagram, the iOSD is connected to CAN-Bus 1 port but the Data Link (air-end) module is connected to the CAN-Bus 2 port. From your description, you had both the iOSD and the Data Link modules on the CAN-Bus 1 port CAN-Bus. By any chance, did you try the recommended connections?

Steve

[Couldn't tell from other msgs on this point whether the illustrated connection also failed...]


kaptankaos said:
My A2 and ground station are on their way back to DJI. They have the tools to figure out whats going on with this unit. So no 800 flying for a few weeks until this gets turned around.
Click to expand...
 
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K

kaptankaos

Member
There is no way to connect the ground station to can bus 2 with the cables supplied. The only open connection is the PMU and that has a different configuration. I would require a hub.
 

gottabebrett

gottabebrett

Member
kaptanakoas: today on my S1000, i hooked the air end right up to the PMU on the A2 and it worked fine on with my iPad mini -- with the exception of flight simulator mode, as I had been warned (running iOS7). I also tried it on the WKM with my S800 EVO (on the WKM i hooked into the gps port) and it worked fine too. If those don't work for you, maybe something else is going on and the manufacturer will be able to help you.
 


gottabebrett

gottabebrett

Member
kaptankaos said:
How did you connect to the PMU? What cable did you use?
Click to expand...

Hi Kaptankaos,
I made the following diagram to show you exactly how my 2.4 ghz datalink is hooked up to my A2 (and verified working during yesterday's test flight). I took snapshots of a couple portions of DJI literature and highlighted in pink exactly where I plugged in and with what type of cord. It appears that DJI has at least two different types of "CAN-Bus" cables. They might have the same wiring or "pin" layout internally, but it is certain that the connectors are different. I have tried to search for the actual terminology of these connectors in order to differentiate between the two styles intelligently, but I have come up empty handed -- so in the meantime I will call them by what differentiates them simply visually: by whether or not the connector has one of those locking clip tabs. Therefore, until I come across the proper nomenclature, I will call the two CAN-Bus cable connector types: tabbed and "tab-less". You will need one of the tabless cords to connect to this part of the A2's PMU, because as you can see the receptacle does not take a tabbed connector. Now here is the part where I feel bad: I have NO IDEA where I got this cable from. I have lots of DJI products and just happened to have one of these tabless connectors laying around in my toolbox. I will continue to try to find out where you I got this cable from or where you can buy it from. I hope this helps, I can feel your frustration because I have been there before. You just want the dang thing to work so you can have fun. Since these forums have been so much help for me, I really want to return the favor and help you figure this out! I couldn't figure out how to make the picture larger on this site so I uploaded it to my work site, view the larger picture at this link http://www.lyonmfg.com/djicanstyles.jpg
 

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K

kaptankaos

Member
Brett

Thank you. Your post made me think this through a little deeper. I figured there is no place to plug in the air station to can bus two with everything hooked up. I thought why not take the chance and just unplug the BTU from the PMU and use the port as a test, worst case I may get an alarm. Go Figure...It hooked up right away and the simulator also works. So now I need either a can bus hub or a cable like yours.

I do not understand why the DJI folks would think it can be hooked up to any can bus. It only works on Can Bus 2 as in the original set of prints. The newer version prints and information directly from DJI support are wrong!!!!!!!!

IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yippee!!!!!!
 

gottabebrett

gottabebrett

Member
Great to hear, and good thinking. If I were you, I would definitely not sacrifice the BTU, primarily because you would be cutting off the main method of the system communicating with you and/or warning you (the LED). The hub will add weight, but might be easier to find than the cord. I buy everything from IntelligentUAS (1-855-YES-1UAS). Give them a call, ask for Doug, and tell him Brett Lyon sent you. I have spent approximately $20,000 from them and have called them so many times I feel like they are a part of my family by now.
 




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