With the radios simply not connecting it turned out to be a mismatch between the parameters on each radio. Check that out first - things like frequency range and all those other little check boxes.
Later on the problem was that the radios would eventually be talking but just wouldn’t connect… it would either time out or sort of connect then perpetually fetch parameters until I unplugged or cancelled…
The issue in that case was that my old tablet (circa. 2003 pen type thingy) was deciding that the usb radio was actually a mouse… This was fixed by unplugging the radios and plugging them back in. Later, after one of the APM updates the problem seemed to fix itself.
These days I am plagued by the parameters being retrieved at a rate of about one a minute, for ever. To fix this I just disconnect. Unplug the radio and plug it back in and reconnect. I keep doing this until the whole fetching of the parameters goes nice and speedy which is usually only one iteration of the whole disconnect-unplug thing.
Wish I could offer a more concrete solution to your issue but that is my only experience with the radio problems…
[quote=“kdstanhope”]I’ve had the same issues from the start.
With the radios simply not connecting it turned out to be a mismatch between the parameters on each radio. Check that out first - things like frequency range and all those other little check boxes.
Later on the problem was that the radios would eventually be talking but just wouldn’t connect… it would either time out or sort of connect then perpetually fetch parameters until I unplugged or cancelled…
The issue in that case was that my old tablet (circa. 2003 pen type thingy) was deciding that the usb radio was actually a mouse… This was fixed by unplugging the radios and plugging them back in. Later, after one of the APM updates the problem seemed to fix itself.
These days I am plagued by the parameters being retrieved at a rate of about one a minute, for ever. To fix this I just disconnect. Unplug the radio and plug it back in and reconnect. I keep doing this until the whole fetching of the parameters goes nice and speedy which is usually only one iteration of the whole disconnect-unplug thing.
Wish I could offer a more concrete solution to your issue but that is my only experience with the radio problems…[/quote]
Thanks for the info.
This is really driving me nuts. I have 2 laptops here. One a 2005 Dell Inspirion still running XP.
The other is a recent model laptop running Windows 7.
I have the same issue with both. I can see that the 2 modems are both trying hard to connect (red & green flashing leds on each one) but they refuse to connect.
I have gone into my device manager settings and fiddled there. No joy. Everything seems to be setup as it should.
So on the front side of the radio you see a green light solid with a flashing orange. (Connected to other Radio).
If you have a Green flashing light then not connected to other radio.
Next to the plug you see an orange flashing led as it connects to the PC.
In Mission Planner you can go to the Initial Setup screen and Optional Hardware and select 3DR Radio and select the Load Settings button and it connects?
This should work even if the other radio is off. The NET ID and firmware version should match on both radios before they will talk to each other. You will need to plug in each radio and make sure they are the same if you did not get a solid green light.
[quote=“iseries”]So on the front side of the radio you see a green light solid with a flashing orange. (Connected to other Radio).
If you have a Green flashing light then not connected to other radio.
Next to the plug you see an orange flashing led as it connects to the PC.
In Mission Planner you can go to the Initial Setup screen and Optional Hardware and select 3DR Radio and select the Load Settings button and it connects?
This should work even if the other radio is off. The NET ID and firmware version should match on both radios before they will talk to each other. You will need to plug in each radio and make sure they are the same if you did not get a solid green light.
Baud rate should be 57600.
Mike[/quote]
Hi Mike,
I have a blinking green light on the USB modem (that sometimes fires up green & red blinking, or solid red) depending on what I’m fiddling with in MP. Mostly it sits there blinking green.
I can upload firmware to the USB modem and get the LOAD SETTINGS to work & it populates the left window with settings. NET ID is 25.
The Pixhawk side modem just sits there flashing fast alternate red-green. I can’t get the software to communicate with that one at all. I get differing messages about radio not found or no heartbeats detected or similar.
I’m thinking maybe I have the wiring incorrect. It came with 2 leads. One with a 5pin connector, one with a 6 pin connector.
I’ve tried both. The lead with the 6 pin connector won’t even power it up. It has the -Neg pin shifted over one pin so I understand that, but not sure if the order of the tx/rx pins are correct.
I’ll leave it all for now & come back to it later. I have been advised to concentrate on getting the Pixhawk & GPS working on my heli first.
[quote=“iseries”]The 5 pin cable is for an APM board and the 6 pin is for a Pixhawk board not to be interchanged.
You should be able to plug a USB cable into each radio and check the NET ID and firmware.
If they are both connecting and have a solid green light then the issue is the cable going to the flight controller.
Mike[/quote]
Thanks Mike,
I have not had a solid green light on either the usb radio or the air radio.
The usb radio connects & gives me the values in the left window & is recognised everytime I plug it in, but the air radio modem just sits there flashing alternate red/green.
I have tried every combination and trick I can think of. I must have a dead modem on the air.pixhawk side.
Given up on the Pixhawk & this Mission Planner stuff.
Man, it’s way too finicky, unreliable & complex to trust my heli or any of my planes with.
I might install it on my GWS Slow Stick just for fun if I can get that to work.
So, if we understand right, you can plug one of the radios into a usb port, and you can get the first window in Mission Planner to show you the readings/settings right? Forget the second window. And if you unplug that radio, and plug in the other radio to the same USB connection, you get nothing ???
