DJI F550 DX6i wont' bind

[UgashikBob]

Tugboat:
First of all my battery is 12.21. After charging it was 12.60 so I will charge it later to insure that is not an issue. It appears my bind may be holding after I pull the plug. Here is the sequence of events.
Tx power off
Receivers powered off and jumper installed.
Battery connect to both receivers and the bind light on both flashes along with the slow red/orange main LED
Power up TX while holding training switch up and bind occurs with both receivers LED turning solid.
Remove jumper
Power down by removing battery to both receivers and leave TX powered up
Power up receivers by reconnecting battery and both bind lights only flash and do not go solid which made me believe it was not bound. I then tried the magic hand shake with both sticks in the lower left hand position and the motors run. Very strange. Would really like to see this on the assistant as I still haven't heard from the builder yet but assumed it had been configured and tested. Haven't heard from NAZA yet regarding the registration thing. Thanks for the leg work on the return thing but I have plenty of time till breakup and our first mail in or out.

 

[tugboat]

Hi Bob,
So it sounds like she is holding the bind...thats great!
After you power down the Rx from binding and power them back up you said they start flashing again... is it a slower flash than when you go to do the bind ? (very noticable differance)
If so this indicates a loss of transmission, or a failsafe in naza lingo.. but you don't have gps so I am wondering if who built it added that into the programing and what ever switch he put it on that switch is now on... ether way hopefully soon you'll hear from DJI and can get the assistant up and running and that will tell you what is going on.... Sure sounds good thou, I think she wants to fly!
Keep up the good work!!

 

[UgashikBob]

Tugboat:
At first power up the receiver bind LED's flash very quickly until the bind occurs then they go solid. Then you remove the bind plug and power down. On the second power up the bind LED's on both receivers flash very slowly. Noticeably different. Are you saying this is a possible firmware failsafe configuration that requires a switch to complete the bind so the leds go solid? As a 1 up attempt I installed the props and was able to get it to hover after doing the exact routine I just described above. It appears basic function works even if the bind LED's are not solid. I'm not going to proceed any further till I can get the assistant to work. Thanks again as we are making progress.

 

[Langdale]

Not sure if this helps but my understanding is that once you bind it and remove power from Rx, still with Tx switched on, and then re-connect power to Rx, the red flashing lights on the Rx's are to tell you that at some time the Rx's lost power.
This happened on my DX6 and DX8 but the machine will still start up.

 

[tugboat]

Good point Langdale, when you unplug the multirotor then turn off the Tx (normal procedure) you are cutting power to the Rx, so your saying that if a person leaves the Tx on and powers down the multirotor and then powers on the multirotor the Rx will read this as a loss of transmission or a loss of power?? I'm going to try this on mine and see what happens....

Bob, I looked again at the pics of your Tx and it appears all switches are where they should be, I was going to suggest what you just did but was not sure how your Hexa would react...
So I guess to quote Mr. Frankenstein... "Its Alive".... Congratulations!!!!!!
The red yellow flashes from the led indicate attitude mode so I would stick with that for now you can try manual later on...
The failsafe I spoke of is a function in the naza and can be triggered two ways... 1.by loss of Tx. 2. A Return to home switch that is manually switched on by the pilot on their Tx. You won't be able to use or do ether of these as you need gps (in order for it to come back home and land), I think on yours she will only auto land if a failsafe occurs.
But you were able to hover even with the slow flashing from the Rx so I don't think this is whats happening here, the Rx is just telling you that it lost power or thinks it did at some point...
No switch is needed to complete the bind so the Rx leds stay on steady they just THINK there was a loss of power and I'm not sure why..... yet..but we'll get to it later on.
I will experiment with my quad after work and see what I have to do to get the Rx to think it lost power....
All in all your doing great!!!

 

[UgashikBob]

Langdale/tugboat:
I think after a great group effort here we have arrived at the fact that my unit may be functioning at least close to normal. Since I do not have GPS does the attitude mode mean the gyroscope will attempt to keep it level whereas manual is strictly a pilot input? It appears to me from initial testing that loss of power from the TX for any reason at all will require the RX to power down and install the bind plug in order to bind again.
I just received a note from the DJI support with the following link for registration: Pls try register again here
http://login.dji-innovations.com/member/register/en_US

When I use the above link the process seems to work. It takes my info and says an activation link was sent to my email address which arrives and I respond to it and receive a successful registration message. I also fill out all additional info they ask for. Now I first plug in my MAZA-m/F550 via USB and receive the green LED and start MAZA assistant 1.8. on my Win7/64 desktop system. If I do not not turn off Windows Firewall and Avast it just hangs like before when I attempted to login. If I turn off Windows Firewall and Avast I get the same bogus abnormal network nastygram. I sent another note to DJI with all the gory details and included my ID and PW to see if they could access it from there end. Whatever the resolution to this goatrope is DJI needs to propagate it in a place of prominence so the next slug like me doesn't spend hours chasing his tail. Thanks again for all the great help as I'm starting to see some light in the end of the tunnel.

 

[tugboat]

You are correct about attitude and manual modes...
It is very strange you have to keep on re-binding, I thought you said it was staying bond but the Rx was giving a slow flash?
You could try moving one or both of the Rx's, they are supposed to be turned 90 deg. to each other and as far apart as you can get them, take a look at the wire harness that links them together to be sure the plug is in solidly in both.
On mine the only time I get the slow flash is when I do the loss of Tx test, I turn off my Tx and she comes home (gps) but then I power off the quad and power it back up and all is good...no flash.
I wonder if win7 is not getting along with the assistant (mine is win xp) do you happen to have an old computer you could try? or a neighbors?
Sorry to hear your havin so much trouble with the assistant getting it to work...

 

[UgashikBob]

tugboat:
Sorry for the confusion. It appears I keep the bind when I power off the receivers and then power them back up.(slow flash on receiver bind led's) I always loose the bind when I power off the TX. Both bind led's go off and it will only rebind if I install the bind plug. I checked the receiver wire harness at both plug points and they appear to be seated ok. Also they mounted at 90 degree angles. I have one desktop with Win7/64 and one laptop with Win7/64 and another laptop with Win8. Unfortunately our nearest neighbors are 30 miles downstream. Hoping to hear back from DJI.

 

[tugboat]

Hi Bob,
Ok I got it now, so based on what you've said it sounds like you have a Rx issue...
The Rx still recognizes the Tx when you you power down the hexa and repower, but when the Tx is turned off also then it goes blind (the Rx) and no longer is bound...
I'll put in a call to Horizon support today and see what they say but I think I already know the answer (send it in).... crap...
As for the assistant I do remember reading somewhere about win7 but do not recall what the issue was or how it was resolved, you could try searching on RC Groups..
There is also a guy on here and RC Groups (tahoe ed) who is very sharp see if you can pm him and see what he says about the assistant issues....
I'll let you know later today what Horizon says...

 

[UgashikBob]

Win 7 Registratrion problem using Phantom assistant as bypass

This just keeps getting better. DJI responded to my 2nd email about the registration goatrope. They told me to download the Phantom firmware assistant and gave me a special test ID and password. To me that says they are aware there is a problem in either there assistant software and Win7/64 or something in there end. My money is on there end. Just making that note here for the next poor soul that doesn't want to invest a lot of time with this. They sent a three page tutorial on how to use the special ID and that worked but they did not mention if I also needed to upgrade the drivers. I downloaded the drivers with the phantom package but did not install yet as the module was the same size as the older 1.8 assistant drivers. Just something to remember if things get stranger again down the road.
Part of the registration bypass procedure involved upgrading the mc to firmware 3.0 which must be the latest version of M firmware for the Phantom. Probably not to many other non Phantom platforms running at this level. No biggie yet but something to note at this point. I'm attaching a couple screen captures taken after I did the registration bypass and logged in with my own id that had evidently been previously registered but not recognized under the 1.8 level of assistant. View attachment 11016View attachment 11017 I'm going to download the Phantom manuals and configuration and see if I can make any sense out what I need to use for a F550. The green light is still on and according to the screens shown it recognizes my battery correctly and its voltage level and attitude mode. Will try to understand what gain and channel mode is all about. At some point I would think you need to bind with the tx. Again I think I see a dim glow at the end of the tunnel thanks to all the excellent assistance here..

Update: The dim glow just got dimmer. After viewing all the parms with the Phantom assistant software I shut it down and removed the usb connection. Now the unit will still bind like before but the motors will not respond to the secret handshake with both sticks in lower left position. Once I get the phantom doc downloaded I will see if the secret handshake is different using Phantom firmware. The only thing that has changed since the motors did work was the Phantom firmware update.

 

[tugboat]

Hi Bob,
Take a look at the manual there are a few versions of "the secret handshake" page 16 try them, if you do them too quickly she won't start...
Nice screen shots!!!!
The shot of the gains is that where shes at now?
Waitin to hear from horizon hobby I'll post more in a bit...

 

[tugboat]

Hi Bob,
Here is what horizon hobby said: The slow flash in the Rx after powering down the hexa only not the Tx , IS NORMAL... it is the Rx saying who turned out the lights, but it is still binded.
So Langdale is correct, it is just the Rx saying where is my old signal???? (how h.h. put it)
The loss of the bind is not normal and could be related to ether Tx or Rx....
And I hate to ask you this but just to be sure... after binding you remove the bind plug, then power down the hexa, then power down the Tx, then the reverse on power up..Tx first then hexa = bind gone..??

 

[UgashikBob]

Tugboat:
I slowly tried all four secret handshake shown in both manuals and no response. The first two screen shots and the two I am attaching now reflect current state of the union. The answer to the last question is yes with two changes since the loading of the Phantom firmware. The main led out on the arm now flashes a orange then red then greed led after what appears to be completion of the bind indicated by the leds in both receivers going solid red. Before the Phantom firmware load the main LED was a slow flashing orange/red. The other significant difference is no response by the motors to any of the four secret handshakes. As another extra bonus there is also a "other error 26" msg in the lower right hand corner of the assistant screen. View attachment 11019View attachment 11020

 

[tugboat]

This is going from bad to worse.....
IMU screen don't worry about that yet and you may not ever have to.
The Tx screen is a war zone right now unfortunately... the last shot shows full throttle and sticks hard over... not good!
If you did not try to make any adjustments with the phantom software ether time you did shots of the Tx screen they should have been the same, the first shot of the Tx screen looked more normal with the exception of the thro. being wide open (easley changed).
In the second shot of the Tx screen this may be a view if there was no communication between the naza and the assistant and it sounds as thou there was none because you had no solid green light in the VU (main led).
If you can get back to where you were in the first screen there may be a chance, you may have to reload the original firmware and just use the phantom assistant to look and see what is going on inside the naza fc, I'm not sure if in the first screen shot that was how it was set up....
Any time a change is made in the assistant you have to click write in order for it to send the info to the naza fc (programming it)

 

[tugboat]

I will take a look at the phantom manual tomorrow, this may be as simple as a fresh reload to get things up and running... and I think it is.
Try one thing ether tonight or tomorrow morning, see if you can get the Tx to bind to the Rx.. not start the motors and ignore any colored lights from the naza VU... just bind.
If that works leave everything on and hook up the hexa to the assistant and see if the VU goes to solid green, if so your half way home!!

 

[UgashikBob]

Update

Tugboat:
Followed your suggestion in the following sequence:
Installed bind plug and powered up RX. Powered up TX and did bind resulting in both receiver bind led's solid red. Started NAZA assistant 2.0.2. Plugged in USB. VU Solid Green. Since the first real access of anything in the assistant software I have not modified or written anything. Attaching two screen captures. In Capture five View attachment 11025View attachment 11026all of the channel monitor vales are constantly fluctuating except X1. A,E,T, and R follow the stick positions. In the advanced section only the Motor and Voltage section are meaningful as the rest require a GPS or Gimbal.

 

[tugboat]

This is good...this is very good!
So you say that the monitor values are fluctuating? if you mean the sticks monitor they may quiver a bit but thats ok... as long as they move in the right direction when you move the sticks and it sounds like they do. If your talking about the IMU portion thats ok, the values there will fluctuate...
If you look at the Tx screen you will see the values by each stick command except thro. are not zero, this is ok and may be due to where the trims are set on your Tx... if the trims are not centered you can bump them over to center on your Tx and the stick commands in the assistant will move as well and should go to center or "zero"... if they don't center up on the assist. screen when you have centered them on your Tx its ok we can fix that.
In the assist. find the screen that shows the bar at the bottom that reads GPS,Failsafe,A,Failsafe,M and then flip the green colored switch on your Tx, the indicator on that bar should move from attitude to manual.... you can leave it in attitude once you see that it moves properly.
While in that same screen try flipping the other switches on your Tx (except the bind switch) and see what the screen shows, if nothing moves when you try the other switches thats good!!
Your just looking to see what may be configured in your Tx and how it is programed....
Your voltage protection looks good, the failsafe is set for go home..but since you don't have gps it can't and won't so we will change that later, the motor cut off is set for intelligent and that will work but we may change it to Immediate.
Also take a look at your naza controller in the hexa, if there is not black electrical tape on both sides of the box your going to have to put some on... the naza likes to live like a mushroom and when the sun is low in the sky and gets a good shot at the naza you will see what can be a very rapid and dramatic ascending and descending movement (scares the shiza out of ya).
The basic and attitude gains that are set look a bit low but it depends on your hexa, how did it respond when you got it into a hover??
I have to head in to work now but let me know what you find, you are very close to chasing the moose out of your yard with your hexa!!
One other thing... in the sticks screen try moving the sticks one direction at a time slowly and watch the assistant to see if there is any funky jump in movement.. this will show if there is some funny mix that may be programmed into your Tx and it is affecting the control of your hexa..
I will check back with you in about 10 hours....
T boat.

 

[UgashikBob]

OK found the screen bottom bar showing control mode switch position and the forward position of my green switch is attitude mode and rear position is manual. Changes on the screen when flip it and I marked the settings on my TX. Installed the mushroom fix. Regarding the stick movement I went to Basic/RC and under R/C TX & RX Settings I did the actual setup sequence that calibrated the sticks and they look ok. What are the X1 and X2 values under sticks monitor? When I tested it earlier with the props on I was in a very small room and just barely got it in a hover about a foot off the floor and set it right back down again so really did nothing but determine very basic function. I still have a while before the ground thaws outside and the snow is no longer deep enough to be a good cushion so I will wait for better conditions. No moose in our yard any more as the bears ate them.

 

[tugboat]

Home early due to late winter storm.... Too bad for the moose's...
It sounds like she's ready for flight, glad to hear the Tx cali went well if you like you can change the cut off type to immediately then click write to send it to the naza (this is what I use) but read up on it in page 16 of manual (secret handshake section).
Also for failsafe method change that to landing (also page 16) then click write, If the gains are too low your hexa will be very sluggish/lazy to stick commands and hard to control but since you were able to get it to hover inside you can leave them alone for now until you get it outside and see how it reacts (watch out for bears moose decoys gone)...
If you look on page 40 of the original naza manual there are some recommended gain settings for a starting point just a FYI..
The x1 and x2 are used when you have gps,RTH, remote gain adjustment from a knob on the Tx, and intelligent orientation control (course lock and home lock) or a camera gimble any combination of these....oh yeah also bomb drops....
So you should be good to go now other than that naggin bind thing, the props should be balanced at some point soon but you'll have to wait for the mail to start moving again.. there are some great videos on how to do this and it is very easy.
Unbalanced props will induce vibration and can (but not always) affect the naza fc, the ones your using do have a history of breaking in mid flight and can be very unbalanced right out of the package also good idea to have extras on hand... I'll send you some links tonight on balancing.
If when you fly the hexa it may seem very quick to respond to the smallest stick commands this can be tamed down a whole bunch through positive expo programed into your Tx and is also easy to do (I have mine at 50%) and for my little blade Mqx its at 70%...
Happy flying keep me posted...

 

[UgashikBob]

It all looks good except one notable exception. The motors don't respond to any of the four secret handshakes. This occurred the first time I used the test ID to bypass the registration bug. Part of the process DJI sent me was installing the level 3.0 firmware in the controller. There was no way I could complete the login without doing that. Ever since then everything looks good except no motor response. I sent DJI a note about that but have not received a response.