So you finally ordered a NAZA, now what???

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
If you're anything like me, you study/read/obsess and then place an order. To open up your schedule for when things start to arrive you might try to do a couple of jobs around the house, clean your shop, whatever. To make things go a little more smoothly for when your NAZA and airframe kit arrive I've put together a few things worth doing while you're waiting. Do these things while you're waiting and you won't be scrambling later and slowing down your build. Be prepared to have to update your Adobe .pdf reader and your flash player as the DJI folks apparently are using the latest versions.

Use this link to go to the DJI downloads page for your NAZA
http://www.dji-innovations.com/download/naza-m-downloads/

Go to the DJI downloads page and download the NAZA Assistant Software .exe file, the NAZA User Manual, and the NAZA Release Notes. Also look to the bottom of the downloads page and also download the DJI Driver Installer file. It would be a good idea to make a new folder on your desktop, call it DJI NAZA and pt everything in there. Keep it organized, make a folder inside the folder and call it Old DJI Stuff, put old files, zipped download files, etc. into the old stuff folder so you don't end up with a lot of clutter from all the downloads you'll be doing now that you're flying multi-rotor helicopters.

The NAZA Assistant will be your interface with the NAZA flight control system. It will be the tool you use to configure the NAZA, update firmware, troubleshoot, etc. If you're not flying the NAZA but you're working on it, chances are you'll be using the NAZA Assistant.

The NAZA User manual has a lot of good information and it should be on your computer and you should be reading it while you're waiting. The DJI Wiki probably has some good info somewhere but I couldn't find very much of it. Read the manual to get started but don't get stressed out if it doesn't make a lot of sense. Go through it, see where the different sections are, familiarize yourself with what's in there and just trust me that it will begin to make sense as you go.

The NAZA Release Notes show bug fixes, new features, etc. done with the latest firmware revision.

Speaking of firmware, you have to understand the difference between the NAZA firmware and the NAZA Assistant software. The firmware is software but the software isn't firmware. Understand? The NAZA firmware is software that runs in the NAZA flight controller and it is what allows your helicopter to do what it does. DJI will update the firmware from time to time and as I'm writing this the latest version is 2.02.

The Assistant software is the program that you run on your computer so that you can connect the NAZA to it and troubleshoot/configure/update/etc. it. The current version of the NAZA Assistant is v1.8.

Why do you need to know what the latest versions are of this stuff? There are different places to download these things and if you have an old version of the NAZA Assistant installed but the newest version of the NAZA Firmware then they won't work together. Plus, when you're getting everything set up it's good to know what these things are and that you have the latest versions.

BEWARE, sometimes the latest versions can have problems so it's also good to know what you have in case you want to change your NAZA Firmware version to an older, more stable (stable in the software sense, not the flying sense although that might apply too, it's tough to talk about this stuff without sounding like you're crazy but you'll soon begin to understand why. :) ) version.

So anyway, in getting started you should know where to find the software updates, they should be installed and organized in a folder on your desktop, you should know what the latest version numbers are, and you should know where in the NAZA Assistant you can look to see what the latest version numbers are and what you've got on your NAZA and computer. For your first homework assignment, look in the NAZA Manual and find where yo look in the NAZA Assistant for the firmware/software updates info.

Welcome to the insanity!

Bartman
 
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Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Maybe you're building your first multi-rotor helicopter with the NAZA you've ordered and if that's the case it would probably be helpful to know what other things you'll need to keep the build going. Buying a NAZA with or without GPS and a Flamewheel ARF kit will get you a lot of what you'll need but there are a few more things worth buying (or "borrowing" from a flying buddy) ahead of time to make the build go more smoothly.

First off you'll need a 2mm allen wrench. Pretty easy so far, you're doing great.

You'll also need a soldering iron (stay calm). DJI has made most of the assembly pretty easy but there's a little bit of soldering to do. Each motor has its own digital controller (ESC) and each ESC gets power from the batteries by having its two power wires soldered to the lower frame plate (The lower frame plate has a basic power distribution circuit built into it). The wire attach points are large making the task of soldering wires to them pretty easy. There are a lot of soldering tutorials on youtube, grab a beverage and go surf a few soldering videos.

It would be helpful to have some heat shrink tubing on hand although this isn't absolutely necessary. So long as you know not to let any wires rest on sharp edges you can live without heat shrink tubing for now. You can also use a couple of layers of electrical tape on any sharp edges to protect the wires.

Flight batteries and battery connectors. You can only do so much with your new stuff without at least one flight battery. A basic problem is that the battery will come maybe without a connector already attached, maybe with a connector. You may or may not want to actually use the connector that is attached. If not you'll need to cut it off so you can attach the style of connector you intend to use. TO do this you'll need to have a battery, a battery charger, a set of battery connectors, and the soldering iron we've already mentioned. When you're just starting out you can get away with having a couple of batteries. If you only want to attach the NAZA to your computer and see what it looks like in the NAZA Assistant with power attached, you'll need a flight battery.
 
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Danub

Member
Thanks for the links guys. . . . Naza just got here. . . .been RTFM for a couple of days. . . . . The gouge seems to have some nice info "plainly" stated.
Off I go to start with the install :)
 



S

smrceo

Member
Subscribing...hopefully those reserved sections get filled in soon. Im starting to receive my parts and almost ready to build.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII with Tapatalk...spelling will be bad:)
 

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rexbirk

Member
Great info Bartman. I must say that without this info and much more on this site I would not have been able to build, setup and fly my Flame wheel 450 with absolutely no damage. It worked perfectly from the start. Without this site I'm afraid it would have been a very frustrating experience. As much as I like DJI their owners manual translations leave much to be desired! Many times if I would have done what I thought they meant I would have been very wrong.

Thanks again!
 


Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Glad you guys found it helpful. Unfortunately I haven't built another NAZA/Flamewhel since the first one so I didn't get back around to continuing with the write up. Anyone need a NAZA/Flamewheel built for them? :)
 

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RobertsUp

Member
Bartman said:
Glad you guys found it helpful. Unfortunately I haven't built another NAZA/Flamewhel since the first one so I didn't get back around to continuing with the write up. Anyone need a NAZA/Flamewheel built for them? :)
Click to expand...
My current observations suggest that people who build those craft and then sell them RTF know something that other hobbyists don't. i'm still trying to build my 450 without help. I can manage. Thx
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
RobertsUp said:
My current observations suggest that people who build those craft and then sell them RTF know something that other hobbyists don't. i'm still trying to build my 450 without help. I can manage. Thx
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean about knowing other stuff but I was actually kidding more than anything. I've got a flying friend nearby with a flamewheel and we've been trying to get together for a while now to work out the kinks. I'm getting back to the heli stuff full time in the next few days so I'll try to add to the thread when we're working on his F450.

Bart
 

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RobertsUp

Member
I guess I was just pointing out the obvious. (slapping forehead) :02.47-tranquillity: The RTF's seem to fly okay because they're built and programmed by people who know what they're doing. On the other hand, we newbies who build them ourselves seem to be the people who experience whacky accidents like flipovers and flyaways. Because we don't really know what we're doing and aren't being careful enough to learn everything we need to know.
 

C

Crasher

Member
RobertsUp said:
...On the other hand, we newbies who build them ourselves seem to be the people who experience whacky accidents like flipovers and flyaways. Because we don't really know what we're doing and aren't being careful enough to learn everything we need to know.
Click to expand...

Ain't that the painful truth!

I lost two FPV Phantoms and one GoPro Hero 3 in my local Bermuda Triangle due to my personal idiocy. Those losses haven't cured me cause I just crashed my replacement 550 because, when I put aftermarket aluminum arms on it, I forgot to pay attention to motor directions.

I was amazed at the fact that it would still fly with many motors spinning the wrong directions. "Fly" is probably not the most accurate term I could have used because what it did at take-off was scream like a banshee while spinning like a top up to 30' or so when all the motors cut out and it fell like a rock.

BTW, my FPV, EzOSD and new Hero equipment are still uninstalled. I stay very, very close to home. I don't fly over the Bermuda Triangle area. Maybe when I can make it through a week without crashing I can think about taking the next step.
 


B

balbert

New Member
Hi!

I'm ready with the configuration of the Naza M Lite. I built it in my copter, and started first. It works, but all motors are turning in the same dirrection. Can someone tel me, what is wrong? Thank you.
 

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