christopher small Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I was trying to set up my Quanum Nova the other day when it tipped over only a couple of inches off the ground,seems as though it has blown the ESC ,how easy is it to get another ESC ,and are they easy to fit, and does it need calibrating. I have got a small soldering iron. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Banggood supply the ESC (select the colour required) at $14.99 delivered, although it takes a couple of weeks to arrive. HK have the red one listed, although it's only in the International Warehouse, costs a little more and there's postage to add. Easy enough with a small iron, the only soldering on the board is for the three motor wires. It might not need calibrating - check first if all motors start at the same time. If not, there is an APM calibration procedure which is quite straightforward. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 Thanks Pete,I shall have a look at Banggood,are they in China?Soldering looks ok,Calibration looks a bit confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Yes they are in China but they also have a Europe depot, although it rarely stocks much of interest to us. I've found they take up to a week to dispatch a purchase, so patience is a virtue. I'm not aware of any other supplier - others may be able to help. This page may help re calibration, if necessary. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hi Pete,thanks for your help,have just bought one on ebay from Wolverhampton,might have it by the weekend,will look up your calibration link next in case I need it. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 There is also a HUGE thread on rc groups about the cx-20 which is the same as the Nova. .. I learnt a lot from it and now have so many mods on mine it amazes me that it still flies! There is custom firmware to to keep it up to date without loosing the telemetry from the apm controller Great expandable bit of kit ... mine now has 3dr wireless telemetry, retracts, brushless gimbal, 2 cameras with video switcher (one on the gimbal and one fixed for FPV, battery monitoring, full telemetry to a Taranis with the LUA scripts for display via a teensy on board, HUD via a minim osd, 8 flight modes via the Taranis. .. i love it - LOL! I am modellermark on there if you want to search my posts and modellermark2 on YouTube to see a few of my early flights. .. do set your anglemax to 35 ....It makes a world of difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 Hi Mark,I am new to all this with Quadcopters,Have flown the Nova briefly back in October before the rains came,not calibrated anything yet. When I fit the new ESC will I need to calibrate it,I have the white Tx that came with it. Yours sounds very impressive,I would be very pleased just to get mine working. I will certainly check your posts out on rc groups and you tube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 She is fine as she comes stock apart from the maximum angle that was set as 20 degrees by default. That 20 degrees meant any sort of breeze can blow it away ... my "wont come home" video shows that. ..a change to 35 made a huge difference (via mission planner) and she was a treat to fly after that. The white tx is good for about 300m and the older one doesn't reconnect if it goes into failsafe / out of range so make sure you have a good gps lock before taking off as it will "return to china" if not After my first fpv that went out of range i was left watching her do her own thing all the way back .... fortunately she landed within about a foot of the take off point but i changed to the Taranis after that Of course these days you wouldn't be able to fly that far with all the regulations anyway Good luck and enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 One more thought ... how do you know the esc has gone? Did it smoke or is it just playing up? It can do odd things if a connection to mission planner goes wrong. There have also been at least 3 different versions of the escs so try and get a match if you can.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I've been enjoying my Nova since Xmas, firstly adding a Q-2D gimbal for my HK Actioncam and latterly the Gitup Git2 cam - amazing performance for its price! I've also put the Quanum retract set on the Nova and increased the prop size from 8045 to 9443, which was when my problems began..... It's suddenly become very susceptible to the the vortex ring effect and I'm now on my second bodyshell. I reduced PILOT_VELZ_MAX from 250 to 100, LAND-SPEED to 30 but neither has made any difference. Even in forward flight it can commence pitching, so I'm not sure it's entirely due to VR. I suspect the change in prop size may have had an effect but I've read nothing on the Web (and I've looked, oh, how I've looked....) about anyone changing parameters when they increase the prop size. IMU vibration graphs show values of <2 so I don't think that's the cause. I've now reverted to the original spec - no cam, fixed u/c and 8045 props - and flown it today without any problems. Your Nova seems to be well-loaded, Mark - have you encountered this VR issue at all? I stll have ANGLE_MAX at 2200, although I've been tempted to try it at 3500 for the reasons you mention. I'm wondering if this could improve or worsen my issue? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hi Mark,Looks like I may have to go on to Mission Planner,do I connect a lead from the Nova to my computer and then am I able to calibrate it on my computer? or do I still need to do the short 20 second flight and then go 3-5 turns horizontal and 3-5 turns nose down?.Resetting the angle from 20 to 35 degrees looks a good idea ,once they get downwind of you theyre gone.Can I do that in Mission Planner? White Tx good fo 300 meters is fine for me,50 meters is far enough,GPS lock that's back to calibration I believe, not done that yet,can`t switch Tx on within 5 secs of connecting battery,OR is there an easier way? What is Tarannis? When the ESC went (if it has gone)it only tipped over 2-4 inches off the ground and the motor cut out and never worked since,wiring looks fine motor seems ok (continuity test) is there any way of testing the ESC? The ESC I ordered was an exact match,which is why I ordered it,but anything could turn up. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Pete .. angle max makes a world of difference believe me ... pilot velz only has affect in certain flight modes if i remember correctly so i have never changed it. The props makes a big difference, as does weight. I suspect that extra weight overloads the escs and as the battery runs down they give up a bit...maybe as they overheat. ..and you get that drop. As it rides its own prop wash you get the "wobble of death" ... one of my videos on YT shows one .. it suddenly recovered a foot or so from some rocks. I have had little success with CF props but standard QR X350 PRO props from Banggood are my current choice. A decent battery also seems to make a difference. Chris. ... mission planner is essential. .. don't accept a firmware upgrade and don't run the calibration wizard. . ..just do all calibrations one at a time ... use a really long usb cable, preferably taped to the quad so it doesn't move as you calibrate. I have never done the inflight calibration but have setup auto-tune as a flight mode ready for fine tuning later. GPS lock comes from leaving it on the ground until you get a solid green light .. you can't tell just how good that is without telemetry ..or take the laptop outside and leave it plugged in just to see the status. The full parameters section in mission planner has the angle_max value. .. change from 2200 to 3500 You could try swapping the esc with the one opposite ...just in case the board is at fault Taranis is a radio system .. open source software ... you need to be a bit techy but wonderful once you get to grips with it ... i get 16 channels to play with and all setup on the pc ... speach too so i know what each switch does. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I'll take my hat off to you if you've managed to fly the Nova without the benefit of Mission Planner, Chris Absolutely indispensable, I'd say - indeed, my first tentative hop went very badly wrong due to it having arrived with a laterally-reversed compass setting in the original parameters. Before you get to the auto-trim stage, you should follow the 'Mandatory Hardware' sequence of checks and settings in MP - but I wouldn't use the 'Wizard' as that encourages you to update the firmware and that's the last thing you want to do with the Nova. The Nova's firmware is not quite the same as the generic APM 2.6. Follow the instructions for each of the hardware settings meticulously. Until you have the compass setting and all calibrations correct, any attempt to use a GPS-required mode will go badly. I'm using a DX9 Tx but understand that the supplied Tx has some different procedures which you should follow. I would balance all the props, too - any vibration can affect the accelerometers and cause problems. Taranis is a very capable Tx from Frsky - there's a few enthusiasts floating around here.... If the motor is OK, I'd just swap out the ESC as you'll need to remove the ESC to test it with another motor anyway - that's a bit of a faff as you'll probably need to solder bullets to connect it to another motor if you have one. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 We seem to be reading off the same hymn sheet, Mark.... I'll change angle max for sure - it might give me more chance of slipping out of the propwash. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 One thing i did notice is that keeping moving helps as well as changing modes. There us also a throttle trim value that the apm calculates itself ... setting the throttle mid value to that works great as it compensates for the extra weight of the camera etc I need to look in mission planner to get the right value names but they are something like that. ... it should be 500 by design (unloaded ) but mine went to over 700 fully-loaded .. very bad Helps avoid prop wash when changing flight mode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Yes, I adjusted mine to just under 700 with the u/c and cam - made the transition much smoother. It's done by comparing the throttle in and throttle out values. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I have added a gallery and started a thread covering what i have done with mine ... will complete it as i get time It is here Edited By Mark Stringer on 18/03/2016 13:28:51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 To keep your Nova thread clear, I'll just put up a short vid of mine whilst testing the Loiter accuracy: Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 I have downloaded Mission Planner What do I do next? My esc has arrived so all ready to go now hope to have it going by Easter,will test the old one with a spare receiver battery and motor,lots of spares here,will test motor as well. Pete,12 months ago I bought a Syma x5c so I am well used to flying quadcopters,wish I was better at it,once they get downwind of you theyre gone,I always fly into wind. I must balance my props,especially on my planes,got a ballencer but must get a decent one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 I'd start by watching this video from Painless360. The early part of the video, which should be watched for general info about the software, includes installing firmware for the APM2.6 - you do not want to do this - and don't accept any prompt from the software to update it either! As I mentioned earlier, don't use the wizard as that will update your firmware but use the 'Mandatory Hardware' menu. He goes through the Mandatory hardware procedures and that should cover most of what you need to know to get familiar with it. Once you have plugged the min-USB lead into the underside of the Nova and have connected it to MP, it's important to not inadvertently pull the plug - if you do, that could create problems. I tape the USB to the nearest leg to prevent this happening. This is essential when you are doing the compass and accelerometer calibrations. Flying upwind is good practice with most models - we've all been there..... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Thanks Pete,great video,just starting to understand it all now,so when he stands the APM up against a set square ,Do I do the same with the Nova? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Yes, Chris, just set the Nova in the attitude requested by the program. The FC is facing forwards, of course. I've kept the foam inserts from the packaging and they make a handy support for the arms when you need to invert the quad for calibration or maintenance - that keeps the compass puck off the deck. Once you've done the compass calibration, go to the flight data page. You should be able to see the compass heading and attitude of the quad moving when you manipulate it. Point the quad towards each of the compass points that you know are correct and make sure that the direction you are pointing matches that shown on the HUD. I failed to do this before my first flight and it set off towards some place north of here. I found that it was incorrectly set and didn't know its west from east.... Pete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christopher small Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Do I have to calibrate like this in every field I fly in?If so I will need a new battery in my old laptop,or just plug a Lipo in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 No, once it's set up like that, you're good to go. If you were moving a few hundred miles between sites you might need to re-calibrate the compss but that's unlikely! You'll only need access to the laptop to download flight logs or change parameters. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stringer Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 As it is a new ESC i am thinking that you wanted to calibrate that to match the others. I have never done that myself but this video shows how it is done on the cx-20 which is pretty much the same thing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PtYWjsbsCwA You still need to do the APM calibrations, not forgetting the radio too ...including moving both switches to calibrate the flight modes too. If you move between fields a lot then just give it plenty of time to get its bearing before the first flight. It is sometimes worth powering it up, leaving it for a few minutes then unplug and plug again. This seems to help it get a fix and identify where in the world it is. ... too soon and any problem would have its return to home actually try to return to your previous field / home. An angle_max of 3500 will definitely stop it blowing away in the wind Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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