Herkules II

[andrebandre]

In order not to hijack Boris's big okto thread i thought i might try to get some help by posting here my struggle to get the damn thing working.
So far i had suspected faulty programming but while waiting for Digitech Electronics B.V. to eventually send me a programming cable i thought i might check a few things.
I started with the ribbon cable that connects between Herkules and the FC motor outputs.
I checked for continuity withinin the cable and also i checked for any voltage when the Herkules is powered.Continuity is fine.
But there is no voltage of any kind between the negative and any other PPM (1,2,3,4) when i measure with the ESC powered.
To me this doesn't make sense as i think once the ESC board is powered there should be some voltage reaching to the servo connectors.Or am i way off in my thinking.
If i am correct in my presumtion than there is a break in continuity between the board and the ribbon cable plug and if so that explains why the PPM signal doesn't reach the board (ESC's).

 

[BorisS]

Hi Andre,

to tell the truth in don't think you will be measuring any voltage coming from the Herkules board on the PPM connection. If than you would be measuring an output from the MC, RX or Servo tester connected to the Herkules board. But can you measure something on the third pin from the red ribbon. It should give you a 9v5 out put I think, from the Herkules board.

Lets got through it again step by step.

When you hook the Herkules up to the power supply the blues LEDS are on ? Or do they turn on when you have a receiver or servos tester connected to the pin 4 to 7. Second should be the case ?

Boris

 

[BorisS]

Did you get the programming cable already ?

 

[andrebandre]

Leds come on when i apply power to the Herkules. It is hard to make out the lights but they are there with nothing connected.
I don't think i'm going to ever see the cable from Sandor. I don't know he refuses to send me one.I can paste here all my email exchangse with him since the very first time i contacted him and you can be the judge


email chain deleted...if there's information that you'd like to post then do so without the attached business information please.
thanks,
bart

 

[andrebandre]

I think some exchanges got lost so here is what's missing:


Here are my most recent emails to you dated November 16 and 13 asking for an invoice for the cable so i can pay and it can be shipped to me.

On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 6:49 AM, Victor Carayorgopol <carayorgopol@gmail.com> wrote:

I have the order for the cable just like last time, in the shopping basket.Will you tell me if you can give me a break in the shipping or do i have to pay the full 50 euros.
Please let me know so i can paypal you the ammount.
This hanging in limbo is killing me.
I'll either make it break it but i have to try something.
Waiting in the dark is not my thing.

On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 2:52 AM, Sandor wrote:

well if the blue leds go on it means there is software inside them.
the aknowledge beep is there to show that it is ok , but you must hear also a welcome series of beeps that
aknowledge the presence of ppm signal.
and that is not the casein your case.
so we must sort in what is wrong.
i will try to program another today , and put on a servo signal generator to see if i get the same issue as you have
wil keep you informed
we will sort it out dont worry


Thank you and met vriendelijke groet, kind regards, mit freundlichen Grüßen, distinti saluti, salutations distinguées, med venlig hilsen, cordiales saludos, pozdrawiam, الاحترام , xie xie nin, zaijian

Sandôr Kruise

---

Van: Victor Carayorgopol [carayorgopol@gmail.com]
Verzonden: zondag 13 november 2011 4:46
Aan: Sandor
Onderwerp: Re: Contact from Digitech Electronics: Sales: Herkules II



What else can it be.Maybe something went wrong in the programming.
You might've done it right but who knows. If i connect it to a PC and verify that everything is in good order as far as programming goes then i can eliminate that avenue.
I am going to consult Andreas Baier also, he might see something you or i don't.
I have the cable in the cart but my internet connection is too slow at this time of the day and i couldn't complete the transaction i kept being timed out by Paypal.
It was fr the better if you can give me break with the shipping price.
For the Herkules i had to pay another 30bucks the UPS guy, some brokerage fee of sorts.
Anway Snador, please don't think that i am trying to blame you in any way fro the ESC not working.(For the time being i hope)
You did the best you could and sometimes **** just doesn't work as planned.
If it will never work, **** it. It was not meant to be that i should use a Herkules in my quad.
If you get the chance, please send me a Paypal invoice or whatever you did last time for the cable and shipping.
If you can send it via normal mail for a little less it is ok, but if it takes 6 months to get here i would rather pay the 50 euros and whatever they might charge me here for the UPS shipping.I have had the WK-M since the end of August i think, or whenever they became available and i still haven't been able to get it in the air.
A zillion setbacks prevented me from making progress.


Peace


On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 9:34 PM, Sandor <]> wrote:

I can ship you the cable with normal airmail if you want
I cant however get why it would be programmed wrongly

Best regards Sandor Kruise

Digitech


Send from my iphone


Op 13 nov. 2011 om 03:14 heeft "Victor Carayorgopol" <carayorgopol@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

I'm going to ask Boris for some help.He has spent some time with Andreas Baier and got his okto running.
I will probably end up trying to reprogram it as i can only think there is something to do with it.
So i will have to get the interface cable and that kind of sucks as i have to cough up another 50 euros for shipping.
I'll let you know if i get anywehere.

On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 3:15 AM, Sandor wrote:

Well i looked at the first picture yo send me from the schematic the guy sended you.


All grounds must be connected , receiver , herkules , controller.
It looks i soldered all ok , and no more changes need to be done.
Did you ask the guy who is doing the same if he has any problems?


Thank you and met vriendelijke groet, kind regards, mit freundlichen Grüßen, distinti saluti, salutations distinguées, med venlig hilsen, cordiales saludos, pozdrawiam, דרישת שלום, ד"ש, ברכות , تفضلوبقبولفائقالاحترام , xie xie nin, zaijian

SandôrKruise

Van: Victor Carayorgopol <carayorgopol@gmail.com>
Datum: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:45:29 +0100
Aan: sandor kruise
Onderwerp: Re: Contact from Digitech Electronics: Sales: Herkules II
​

My ****ing internet is playing games.Here is the second pic with the throttle output connected directly to a Rx.
I swapped every one of the 4 outputs in turn.

On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 9:31 AM, Sandor wrote:

Mmm weird the bleu leds go on right?
Normally when the have a esc connected they should play a melody you have. Common groun connected

Best regards Sandor Kruise

Digitech


Send from my iphone


Op 11 nov. 2011 om 12:55 heeft "Victor Carayorgopol" <carayorgopol@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

Sandor,

I'm sorry to bother you again, i am assuming i'm doing something wrong because all i get from the motors is 4 beeps, i assume it is the arming, but nothing more.
I am going to try different motors, but i just wonder if there is something obvious that i'm missing.
I tried connecting the ESC directly to a receiver with the same result.No throttle response.
Please help me out if you can think of anything that i might need to be doing in order to make it happen.






​

​

edit, removed sandor's information from email exchange
thanks,
bart



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[andrebandre]

And the cable in my cart since Nov 13

y Account Information

Overview (show all orders) Previous Orders 11/13/2011 #3097 Victor Carayorgopol, United States Paypal Pending €75.86 View 11/03/2011 #3082 Victor Carayorgopol, United States Send out with UPS €560.00 View

 

[BorisS]

Well the point is not if they are programmed wrong or not that will show once you can connect to them. The point is that you need a programming cable this way or that way. What are you supposed to do if the firmware gets update (send them back ?) or I don't think that in any way it makes sense that the timing is already selected and you cant change it What is if you want to use the Herkules with smaller motors were FW should be turned off etc etc.

I cant really figure now why you are not getting the cable is it a issue who pays for it ? shipment ? or are you pissed of because he never send it !

 

[BorisS]

why was the board 560 from beginning on ? because its RTF or because you ordered some other stuff with it ?

 

[BorisS]

ah sorry just put it to the practical test. Blue leds go on no matter if PPM connected or not, if the firmware is installed i guess. The music/signal is only played if ppm is conencted and motors obviously.

 

[andrebandre]

Boris, short of begging i asked several times for the invoice for the cable so i can pay.
Sandor offered at some point to send via regular mail which would've saved me some money but after that he never mentioned anything about the cable.
I need him to send me an invoice in order to be able to pay.
The order is placed just waiting for him.It is order 3097 for 76 euros or whatever.
I don't know why the page didn't load with all the details

rder #3097 (Paypal Pending) Order Date: Sunday 13 November, 2011 Order Total: €75.86

Delivery Address Victor Carayorgopol 2920 Mabry Dr Clovis, New Mexico 88101 United States Shipping Method (Shipping to United States - Track your UPS Shipment - [ Track & Trace ]) Products Item price Total Price 1 x Herkules usb programmer cable HEADING_OPTIONS €24.37 €24.37

Billing Information

Billing Address Victor Carayorgopol 2920 Mabry Dr Clovis, New Mexico 88101 United States Payment Method PayPal Sub-Total: €24.37 (Shipping to United States - Track your UPS Shipment - [ Track & Trace ]): €50.00 Paypal Fee (2%): €1.49 Total: €75.86

 

[andrebandre]

Order #3082 (Send out with UPS) Order Date: Thursday 03 November, 2011 Order Total: €560.00 Delivery Address Victor Carayorgopol 2920 Mabry Dr Clovis, 88101 New Mexico, United States Shipping Method Shipping Products Item price Total Price 1 x Herkules Power board PROFI NEW!!! HEADING_OPTIONS €419.33 €419.33 12 x Gold connectors male female set 3,5 mm HEADING_OPTIONS €1.68 €20.16 Billing Information Billing Address Victor Carayorgopol 2920 Mabry Dr Clovis, 88101 New Mexico, United States Payment Method Payment on Local Pickup. We acce Sub-Total: €439.61 soldering& programming €50.00 Customer Discount: €0.00 Tax: €0.00 Shipping: €70.39 Total: €560.00

 

[andrebandre]

I had the connectors the board and the programming cable in cart. I didn't look back anymore, just paid assuming everything that was in the shopping cart is taken into account.
After i received the parcel and noticing the cable is not there i looked up my order and there was no cable.
I mentioned that to him afterwards it is in one of the emails but he made no reference to the fact.

 

[andrebandre]

No music so far for me, with everything connected or not.

 

[BorisS]

I think all you need is this http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBTTLSerial.htm last product in the table and solder up a ribbon cable with a micromatch plug. Do you still have a spare micromatch ?

Japp thats the one. Pull back the cable order make it youself. Or if you are completely fed up send back the herkules and get it from Matjaz kopterworx.com

 

[andrebandre]

No Boris i don't have any fancy connectors.And i am not that savvy soldering small parts.
My only hope as i see it is to get a cable from Kopterworks. I wanted to get it from Sandor out of loyalty since i purchased the board from him.
Or return the damn thing and be done with it.
Thank you very much for trying and taking the trouble to help.

 

[andrebandre]

Ecce

 

[BorisS]

View attachment 1519View attachment 1520

jesus !!! what the .... i would have send this board back right away !!!!

This is the what the soldering of the gold connectors should look like. Anything could of gone wrong with that amount of solder !!!

 

[BorisS]

And it would acutally be better to solder on cables with bullets right after. The bullets are a nice idea, but you constantly have to check them that they didn't loosen because of the vibrations. I still have to do that but to lazy at the moment

 

[andrebandre]

Hi Andre,

But can you measure something on the third pin from the red ribbon. It should give you a 9v5 out put I think, from the Herkules board.

Boris

Just an afterthought, it is the PPM1/V+ (BEC) that i actually measured in the picture of my first post and as you can see there is no 8.5 or 9.5 or whatever the BEC outputs.
That has worked to my advantage when i had everything connected to the Rx as i'm using Dragon Link which can only take 5V so i would've smoked it.

 

[andrebandre]

And it would acutally be better to solder on cables with bullets right after. The bullets are a nice idea, but you constantly have to check them that they didn't loosen because of the vibrations. I still have to do that but to lazy at the moment

I quite agree with having wires soldered to the pads and connectors further out.
I had that with my MK ESCs.
This board being new to me and seeing some photos on Andreas's site i thought that is the way to go.