7 Channel Receiver connections to an APM 2.6

ArduCopter Traditional Helicopter
1

I read the WIKI connections for an APM 2.6 and just about every post I can find and I can’t find the answer to the following for a conventional helicopter set up.

I have a Futaba T10CAP transmitter and a Futuaba R617FS 7 channel receiver that I will use on a 450 size helicopter as a “test bed” until I can test it out and then move up to my 550 (and more expensive) helicopter.

My receiver has the following channels:
Channel 1 - Ail, 2 - Elevator, 3 - Throttle, 4 - Rudder, 5 - Aux 1, 6 - Aux 2 and 7 - Aux 3.

What channels map to the input channels of the APM 2.6? For example, the WIKI channel mapping says to map the receiver channel 8 to channel 3 of the APM 2.6 but there is no channel 8 on the receiver.

Any help to clear up this confustion would be greatly appreciated.

2

Where does the Wiki say that? Normally the channels pass through directly as shown here:

copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/trad-h … nd-motors/

3

If you follow WIKI it will work but you lose the ability to set Swash settings on the Heli setup tab. The swash won’t allow blade pitch change (move up or down but it will move roll and yaw). Likewise, in the radio setup tab you get channel 8 movement for throttle. The radio set up tab is not as bothersome as not being able to set the swash. All the params are default Mission Planner params.

The settings on the heli set up tab in Mission Planner are CCPM and Flybarless.

Current connections that won’t allow Swash setup:
receiver 1 = APM input 1
receiver 2 = APM input 2
receiver 3 = APM input 8
receiver 4 = APM input 4
receiver 5 = APM input 5
receiver 6 = APM input 3
receiver 7 = no connection (can connect later to allow for a dial control)

Main issues: Am I connected right and, if so, why can’t I do the Swash setup in Mission Planner (I have the current version and my firmware is the latest for my APM 2.6.

Thanks!

4

Are you using a helicopter, or airplane mode in your radio transmitter? I’m thinking maybe you’re using Helicopter.

5

Yes - helicopter as explained earlier in the post.

6

Actually, you didn’t say which mode type you were using in the radio. So, that is the issue, you are using the helicopter mode instead of the airplane mode as recommended in the wiki. If you use a helicopter mode, it leads to these issues with channel arrangements.

7

Sorry for the confusion. I am using airplane mode in the transmitter and CCPM mixing in the APM. The swash works fine but the only thing Mission Planner will not do without the mixing is to show the swash movement on the heli set up page.

8

If you are using an airplane mode in your Tx, then I would put all the channels straight through. 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc.

The only difficulty you’ll have is Ch8. But lets get the swash going, and then we’ll deal with that.

9

Rob,

Thanks. Swash was going and still is. I did change out to an 8 channel receiver and to my Spektrum DX9 transmitter from my Futaba T10CAP mainly for the voice prompts and so I could use channel 7 as the auto tune switch. Still need to do the autotune but the weather has been too crappy in west Texas to fly. I have it set up so that I am able to hover in my basement for 5+ minutes and it is trimmed perfectly and it almost hovers itself in stabilize mode. The TREX 450 clone also hovered great with the Futaba xmtr and 7-channel receiver with channels 1-7 mapped to 1-7 on the APM 2.6 input and the ESC plugged into channel 8.

Now all 8 receiver channels are mapped 1 to 1 from the receiver to the input on the APM 2.6. Thanks for your help and also for your insights put into the several forums I have visited.

Hank