700 My New T-Rex 700X Build

[Heliman450]

If you download the Hobbywing PC software you can connect the ESC to your PC and update it's firmware. It's a worthwhile update because it adds a new option to adjust the initial start up power: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0109/9702/files/Hobbywing_USB_Link_V4.0.3.zip?816210359424584430

Hi again Steve,

Thanks for the link, I've sorted out a spare USB cable for connecting the unit to my laptop so will be able to make use of that facility. As I'm working through the ASBox instructions, it looks like the separate battery is for the OPTO series of ESC's without the in-built BEC. Of course, the instructions are always written for the various products that are available. Unfortunately, they tend not to make it clear for the less experienced hobbyists such as me.

Back to work on the instructions.

 

[PLANETGETLOW]

Hi all, bad news to report............

#1 View attachment 17103 #2 View attachment 17104

I carried out a successful bind to my Jeti DC-14 and then powered up in the normal way only to be 'enveloped' in smoke. You can imagine my reaction and I immediately disconnected the battery. Photo #1 is the source of the smoke, the patch cable between Rx. and the Axon. I checked out what was wrong and discovered that the throttle plug was stepped back one pin in the '#6' port of the Axon. As you can see in photo #2 there is a further row of pins on the right-hand side that run at right angles to the others and a gap so that the signal wire of the throttle plug must have been in the live position and the live to the neutral. I obviously didn't locate the throttle plug properly into the port causing the short.

At the moment, I don't know if there is any other damage inside the Axon or the Rx. The Axon works OK when connected to the PC via the USB cable but I didn't spend any more time today wanting to first check through the documentation and, if necessary, send a query into the guys at Bavarian Demon as I'm not sure what else might have got fried by the event due to not having a wiring diagram of the internals. I seem to recall reading something in the Axon manual that there is internal protection against short circuits but that's a matter for my checking the document.

When I feel more inclined after changing my underpants, I'll return to carry on tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Damn dude, is this the same 700 that had a mechanical/electrical failure?

 

[Smoggie]

No, the one that had the crash was mine and that's now fixed and flying again. Phils hasn't flown yet.

 

[Heliman450]

Damn dude, is this the same 700 that had a mechanical/electrical failure?

Well, I'd like to blame what happened on a mechanical failure but I have to accept full responsibility on this one. Yes, it was my patch cable that was fried after I inadvertently plugged the throttle cable into the port incorrectly causing a short. I'm working through trying to get everything back on track without damaging anything further and hopefully without having to spend any more cash on it. Luckily, my wife shrugged and said 'sometimes such things happen' (something like that anyway )

 

[PLANETGETLOW]

No, the one that had the crash was mine and that's now fixed and flying again. Phils hasn't flown yet.

Ah, copy that. Glad you're back in the air

Well, I'd like to blame what happened on a mechanical failure but I have to accept full responsibility on this one. Yes, it was my patch cable that was fried after I inadvertently plugged the throttle cable into the port incorrectly causing a short. I'm working through trying to get everything back on track without damaging anything further and hopefully without having to spend any more cash on it. Luckily, my wife shrugged and said 'sometimes such things happen' (something like that anyway )

Damn that sucks. I think my Ikon just went out in a 500 I have. I'm just going to dump it and get another one. Yours is a bit of a different situation. A shrug and a comment like that from a wife is a green light to move forward

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all, latest update..............

I've managed to establish that the receiver is ok and sends a signal from all ports to a servo when connected directly. However, when I include the ESC and the Axon, the ESC just sits there blinking red. According to the ESC manual, this is because the throttle signal has not been received for over 0.25s. Presumably, this is because the throttle range hasn't been properly calibrated as I interrupted the process when the short occurred. I delved into the instructions and found the caution about doing the calibration on page 3 and the procedure on page 10. Being a simple soul, I'd have thought the best place for these are at the very beginning.

During my attempts over the weekend, I did go through this procedure but it obviously needs me to try again. That's my first job tomorrow. I'm not getting quite as much time as I'd hoped for this as there's always something else getting in the way

Up to now, I haven't found out how to get round this if it doesn't work. Is there a factory reset or something? Back to the instructions...............

 

[Smoggie]

Phil,

If it were me I'd not worry about the ESC for now. I'd see if the FBL is working ok. Reason for this is that the FBL may need you to set throttle range during FBL setup, you would want to do that before moving on to the ESC.

If just for piece of mind you want to check out the ESC quickly then you could plug it directly into the throttle output on the receiver so that the FBL is bypassed.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi Steve,

Sorry that I haven't described my checks very well, it's been a bit hit and miss up to now. I have looked into other options but haven't kept listing them out (my bad). Here goes.................

Over the weekend, I tried with/without PC. Various combinations of connections etc. etc. One consistent thing is the LED responses from both the ESC and the Axon.

The Axon signal is consistently showing 'Waiting for input signal' and the ESC 'No throttle signal is received for over 0.25s'. As yet, I haven't tried to set up the Axon without the ESC connected as I'm still struggling with the idea that it's possible as the system isn't yet initialised i.e. no twitching servos or constant LED light from either item.

I'm always game to try something new, so will take my laptop with me tomorrow and give it a whirl but if the Axon's still blinking 'Waiting for input signal' what's it actually waiting for? Up to now, I've assumed it to be the 'all happy' signal from a valid initialisation of the ESC. Vicious circle??

The trouble-shooting guide in the Axon manual just refers me to the LED chapter that only tells me the message above, not why or what options to try to correct the problem. If I can't break the impasse, I could just try re-installing the firmware on both units and starting again I suppose.

All suggestions welcome.

 

[Smoggie]

The Axon will need to be set to the appropriate receiver input type before it can recognise the signal from the receiver (Sbus/PPM or whatever Jeti uses). That would also explain why the ESC isnt getting a throttle signal.

 

[Heliman450]

The Axon will need to be set to the appropriate receiver input type before it can recognise the signal from the receiver (Sbus/PPM or whatever Jeti uses). That would also explain why the ESC isnt getting a throttle signal.

It's already set along with the servo frequencies and gyro orientation but of course, I'll recheck it.

Late update...........

I think I've found a couple of possibilities in the ESC manual but need to check them out. Will let you know.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all,

Well bad news I'm afraid. Still no go so taking a break from my frustration.

I've tried the possibilities I found in the ESC manual but drew a blank there. I went through as much as I could of Steve's suggestion in the Axon software even resetting the unit twice and collected a lot of screen shots. One thing that I noticed first off is that the channels didn't agree between the software and heli. My test yesterday, showed that the Tx. and Rx. agree and work the channels fine. The problem starts when I include the ESC and the Axon, I just can't get a satisfactory initialisation of the system. The Axon does exactly the same thing whether connected with the ESC in the circuit or not.

Next port of call is to contact Align to ask them about the likelihood if the ESC is damaged internally or take it to my supplier for testing. I found another nearby supplier with one for 305.00 CHF (about the same as Align's price), although I've had dealings with them before and something shown as in stock mysteriously wasn't once I paid up and I had to wait nearly two weeks.

No matter what, at the moment, I'm not moving forward. Fingers crossed that changes soon.

 

[Smoggie]

Phil,

Again, I'd recommend getting the FBL fully set up, all the servos working, pitch range set etc, and moving on the ESC last of all. For sure I'd not go buying a new ESC at this stage.

If you have a servo tester you can manually set the ESC throttle range by plugging in the ESC throttle cable to the servo tester and using the tester to simulate the required open and closed signal that the ESC needs to calibrate itself. If the ESC can be made to initialise on a servo tester then it proves it's ok.

 

[Smoggie]

PS.. it's a real shame that we aren't closer because I have a box of spares that could easily be used to narrow down the problem. That includes a spare Align 130A ESC that I got with my donor airframe.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi Steve, as always I appreciate your sticking with me on this. Taking the issue of ignoring the ESC, I have done it this morning as per my thread #191.

1. I connected the Axon to the laptop with nothing else connected. It shows green as per the manual and then flashes red quickly followed by red flashing slowly 'Waiting for input signal' and then just stays there flashing away merrily.
2. I connected just the receiver with external power and the Axon goes through its flashing routine.
3. Then I opened the BD software and it asks for me to connect a unit. When the the USB is connected, the software activates and shows the home page and one can choose the wizard or the expert options. During this session, I went through the wizard and noticed that the channels didn't agree with those set in the Tx. (I already tested Tx./Rx./Servo to each port so all 4 channels agree without the Axon) I changed the channels in the Axon to agree with the Tx./Rx. Nothing! The Axon doesn't 'see' them to do any diagnosis step, it just sits there flashing slowly.
4. I tried twice more resetting the Axon each time and entering all the information again without the servos or the ESC connected to the unit.
5. I tried one more time with everything except the ESC connected, still no joy.
6. I tried once more with everything connected, still no joy.

The only thing that I haven't done today is begin with a new bind step although there's no evidence that it will make a difference. It seems to be only the completion of initialisation that's missing.

I need to take the car in for its service soon, so won't be able to go back to my workshop until tomorrow. I'm going to compile something for Joachim at BD and also send something to Align to get everyone on the case. Once again thanks for your input, it all helps the little grey cells.

Bye for now!

 

[Smoggie]

I didn't realised that you had reached an impasse at that setup point, sorry. Unfortunately as the axon and the Jeti are something I've not 'played with' there isn't much more I can offer in the way of help unless you wanted to go to the trouble of videoing the process and seeing if I or anyone could spot something amiss?

 

[Heliman450]

I didn't realised that you had reached an impasse at that setup point, sorry. Unfortunately as the axon and the Jeti are something I've not 'played with' there isn't much more I can offer in the way of help unless you wanted to go to the trouble of videoing the process and seeing if I or anyone could spot something amiss?

Hi Steve, unfortunately my normal life is getting in the way of my hobby and I can't get back to my workshop just yet to test out the latest feedback from Bavarian Demon (Joachim), he's been superb up to now and even though not a representative of Jeti, he's kept on my case. It looks like the problem lies within my Jeti DC-14 and between my ears . As the hobby goes deeper into computer stuff there's a certain pressure to keep up to speed on all fronts and that just makes it a bit more difficult for an old git like me.

I'm assuming at the moment that the default setting in the Tx. is for a communication protocol different than the Ex-Bus (ppm etc.). I should have gone through the process of setting everything up there first for the new model before 'getting ahead' with the Axon software. In my defence, I didn't set it up for the 550 and the guy who did it didn't explain what he was up to well enough for me to retain what he said, even if he did say something at all (I've been asleep a few times since then).

My first chance is later today after I get the car back from its service. Yesterday evening, I managed to spend some time with the Jeti manual so am feeling quite bullish about the prospect of clearing the logjam on my progress.

Let you know later on how it goes.

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all, fixed it!

I needed to configure the pins on the receiver. As I'm using the Ex-Bus feature, I had to connect power to the Rx., and configure ports 'E1 and E2' as Ex-Bus rather than the default 'Servo' configuration.

Something new learned and filed away for future reference. Tomorrow, I can begin the setup process (at long last).

 

[Smoggie]

That's good news.. maiden this weekend?

 

[Heliman450]

That's good news.. maiden this weekend?

That's my target provided the ducks keep going in the right direction

Thanks for sticking around in the background to keep my enthusiasm up

 

[Heliman450]

Hi all,

Moving along quite well but didn't have long enough to complete setting up the Axon today. One thing I did notice is that the 'Expert' area of the software seems easier to use than the wizard, strange. The swashplate is now responding fine and looks nice and straight at the mid position. Needs a bit more fine tuning on the high and low limits of #2 servo but I ran out of time.

The tail servo still needs some serious attention in my next session.

Bye for now!