I have a 3DR Hexa-C, bought February 2013.
It was working until today.
Recently, it became harder to get it to arm - holding the yaw-throttle in the lower-left corner would sometimes not arm it.
Today, no matter how long i hold the yaw-throttle in the corner, it never arms.
I went through all the troubleshooting.
I have recalibrated the radio, the compass, accels, and the ESCs. More than once.
Connected to APM planner, it shows that the device is in “Disarmed - Stabilize” and just stays there.
Radio calibration shows all the expected good values for the radio (pitch, yaw, throttle, etc.)
Everything looks correct - except that it never leaves the “Disarmed” state.
What are my options at this point?
Is there anything left to try?
Is there anyone I can pay to make my UAV work again?
Thanks in advance.
To arm the APM or Pixhawk the command is throttle down and full right rudder. In your post you mentioed holding the throttle down and rudder left, which is the disarm command. Have you checked the trims on all 4 of your control sticks? bumping the trim is easy to do and if the signal is to far off the APM will not arm.
Matt, thanks for replying. I have tried both lower-right and lower-left corners for a full minute at a time, but it never arms. About “trim on the control sticks”, assuming you mean the little buttons which nudge the stick values one way or another, the values seems to be well-centered in the radio calibration (and it’s been re-calibrated countless times) so I don’t see how that could be an issue.
Everything else works, it simply never arms.
My question, and I’m REALLY hoping you or anyone can answer, is: What are my options to get my UAV working again, short of buying an entirely new one? Is there any kind of support? Will 3DR service it? Or anyone else? I’ll happy pay money so my UAV is not a paperweight. At this point my problem needs to be troubleshooted by someone who really knows the hardware/software of the APM/Hexa-C, so who is that person or company? Can anyone help me? Thanks in advance.
If it’s a 3DR ready to fly model, even if it’s out of warranty, they should offer some support and/or troubleshoot to get the copter working.
What Transmitter/Receiver are you using?
Do a radio calibration and check that max yaw value is at least 1800 and min throttle is at most 1100.
You can also take your propellers off, connect to mission planner and try to arm as this could be a case of a pre arm check that is preventing you from arming.
If the apm is just plain unrresponsive, you can always upgrade to the pixhawk which is a nice upgrade.
If it’s a 3DR ready to fly model, even if it’s out of warranty, they should offer some
support and/or troubleshoot to get the copter working.
Great, how to I get that support? I looked around and the only support option I could find is to post to this forum, which I have done, and no 3DR person has responded to this thread.
What Transmitter/Receiver are you using?
A FlySky FS-TH9X.
Do a radio calibration and check that max yaw value is at least 1800 and min throttle is at most 1100.
My ranges are: Yaw 1057 - 1888, Throttle 1050-1886. Those values seem OK.
You can also take your propellers off, connect to mission planner and try to arm
That is what I am doing. That’s how I know it is in “Stabilize” mode.
as this could be a case of a pre arm check that is preventing you from arming.
If it is a pre-arm check that’s failing, how would I find out what that check is?
If the apm is just plain unrresponsive, you can always upgrade to the pixhawk which is a nice upgrade.
I guess this would involve physically changing the hardware on the UAV? I don’t have hardware skills, is there a person or company that could change the hardware?