New FC40, odd thing happened.

[Guipago]

Re-doing IMU basic & advanced cali on a surface that bubble levels flat(maybe overkill but) Iv'e put the idle speed up a notch, charging a Batt & we'll see what happens.

Well, bugger all happened, did a re-cal on the controller as well, no joy, all the updates for Phantom & controller are the latest ones, might harass the Australian importer on monday.

 

[lake_flyer]

I did a complete calibration yesterday with Naza Assistant as well as a full controller calibration with the Phantom RC tool. No change in behaviour.

One last ting I could do is reloading the latest firmware and do the whole firmware upgrade procedure again. It might have gone wrong somewhere during the 1 and only time I reflashed the firmware, 2 days after I got it. But the procedure is pretty straight forward and there's a lot of indication (with flashing lights and beeping) that the installation is carried out like it should.

Still, my feeling about this is that somehow a different firmware sneeked into the transmitter memory that makes the Phantom think that the throttle stick is not centered at power up. And that it regards the first movement of the stick as moving to the center. A lot of Version 1 flyers complained after the latest firmware upgrade that their Phantom behaved very sluggish at take off because of the new throttle stick settings.

 

[Guipago]

I think slothead was onto it, so now to think outside the box, have you tried the 9" vision 2 props?? I'm still running the 8" ones that came with it & "IF" the controller thinks it's operating a vision 2 instead of a 1 model it might be compensating for the bigger props & cause sluggy behaviour with 8" props, sooo hobby shops in my area are open on sundays I'll get a set & try them(they were on the cards anyway)

 

[lake_flyer]

Can't hurt to try out. I'm looking out to your findings.

 

[CarlJ]

I think slothead was onto it, so now to think outside the box, have you tried the 9" vision 2 props?? I'm still running the 8" ones that came with it & "IF" the controller thinks it's operating a vision 2 instead of a 1 model it might be compensating for the bigger props & cause sluggy behaviour with 8" props, sooo hobby shops in my area are open on sundays I'll get a set & try them(they were on the cards anyway)

No such communication exists. I think the only way to find out would be to revert back to your original firmware, and check to see if the problem is resolved, but I would not advise that. You both seem to be flying pretty well after launch, so it aint really broke...

 

[darwin-t]

9" props don't change much when used. A little more power, a little more flight time, I guess. I switched to 9" props and didn't notice any big change. The FC40 certainly doesn't change to adapt for them

 

[darwin-t]

9" props don't change much when used. A little more power, a little more flight time, I guess. I switched to 9" props and didn't notice any big change. The FC40 certainly doesn't change to adapt for them.

I don't think it automatically updates firmware. I have connected mine to a computer several times and have never seen any behavior indicating that it was doing so. I'll check the firmware version the next time I connect it.

 

[lake_flyer]

No, I don't think that it automatically updates also. However when you do the upgrade, how do you know for sure that the downloadable firmware version is exactly the same as the factory installed one? They claim it is but is it? I have the feeling they changed something.

Anybody else here who reinstalled the latest firmware?

 

[Guipago]

Tried the 9" props, but no change, just more twitchier when hit by a gust(no camera on it), so put the 8" back on & started slowing down the throttle stick advance, this had more of an effect, lift off was roughly at 3/4 throttle, tried pushing stick fast to full throttle & back comes the lag, will do more tests, maybe I need to be a bit more sedate on throttle advance??

 

[lake_flyer]

Interesting, so the props don't matter, I expected that but good to know for sure.
The throttle might be doing the same thing here. I don't move the stick slowly at take off because it threatened to flip over in the beginning. I always throw it at full, ever since it changed.
I m going to try a slower throttle as well maybe it is just lag and nothing more.

It definitely changed behaviour at some point and that's what's bothering me. Not a big deal because it flies great but with toys like this, capable of causing nasty injuries and damage when not handled with common sense (or when not programmed right), I just want to rule out possible causes for future disasters. At least as much as I can. Who knows, maybe the throttle issue is a preview to a much bigger issue in the future, don't think so but you can't be sure enough.

 

[CarlJ]

Interesting, so the props don't matter, I expected that but good to know for sure.
The throttle might be doing the same thing here. I don't move the stick slowly at take off because it threatened to flip over in the beginning. I always throw it at full, ever since it changed.
I m going to try a slower throttle as well maybe it is just lag and nothing more.

It definitely changed behaviour at some point and that's what's bothering me. Not a big deal because it flies great but with toys like this, capable of causing nasty injuries and damage when not handled with common sense (or when not programmed right), I just want to rule out possible causes for future disasters. At least as much as I can. Who knows, maybe the throttle issue is a preview to a much bigger issue in the future, don't think so but you can't be sure enough.

We always tell new owners that applying thrust slowly will cause a tip-over, so it's recommended that you floor it giving full thrust at launch and bring the Phantom 6-10 feet off the ground where it should hover (in GPS) until you determine that the craft is responding to commands. This increases the odds that should you encounter a problem, and your Phantom doesn't take off like a rocket, that it will encounter an object and crash...better a crashed bird than no bird.

I have no doubt that you guys are experiencing some change in behavior, and lacking a better explanation, I think it's firmware related, but we're now engaged in throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. This might in the fullness of time yield results, but until then just following standard protocol should keep you happy and flying.

 

[Guipago]

Yep, something might show up later, I was using re-chargables in the TX, so I changed them back to the alkaline ones I was using when I made the 1st 4 flights, I remember I put the rechargable ones in when I 1st connected it to the Assistant & have had them in ever since so I thought they might be causing some form of lag between the TX & the Phantom(throwing stuff at walls!)still the same, I'm getting good results from easing the throttle up till lift off(just under 3/4 throttle)& following thru with full stick(calm conditions) might be just the nature of the beastie, thanks for the help guys.

 

[lake_flyer]

Fair enough.

Let's wait until the next firmware is released. As I said, no problem, flying is great, I was just curious.

Anyhow, time to clean the walls here. Spaghetti all over the place and I even don't like spaghetti.
Never heard the expression (in Dutch we have something that would translate as 'throwing a punch at it') but I like this one better.

No flying weather in this part of the world anyhow. Under a storm front that covers half of Europe I believe.

 

[Lonewolf]

Iv'e put the idle speed up a notch, charging a Batt & we'll see what happens.

Not sure if you're referring to the same thing here but, have you gone to your Naza-M V2 Assistant "Basic, Aircarft tabs?" Here you can TEST your motors. (BE SURE TO REMOVE YOUR PROPS FIRST!) From your posting it sounds like you've already gone to the "Advanced, Motor tabs" and might have notched up your idle speed some. If not, try that too.

 

[Wedeliver]

I experienced the same thing after I did a software upgrade back in june or July. After the upgrade it took full throttle to lift off without a tilt over. At least that is what I think happened.

 

[Guipago]

Iv'e put the idle speed up a notch, charging a Batt & we'll see what happens.

Not sure if you're referring to the same thing here but, have you gone to your Naza-M V2 Assistant "Basic, Aircarft tabs?" Here you can TEST your motors. (BE SURE TO REMOVE YOUR PROPS FIRST!) From your posting it sounds like you've already gone to the "Advanced, Motor tabs" and might have notched up your idle speed some. If not, try that too.

Haven't done a motor test as it lifts off & flys well, just lifts off slower than before, once used to it there's no problem, might have a snoop at the motor tests & see what it does anyway.

 

[lake_flyer]

The motors test do actually nothing more then letting them spin, one by one, for less then half a second, so you can check if they are getting power and that they spin in the right direction. I don't think it has anything to do with the gains. You can set the motor cut off to immediate or intelligent but there's no need to change the default values. If they aren't already (or still), set them to default (middle).