GPS: No Fix and Motor test not working

Hello all,

I have the problem of GPS: no fix and its highlighted in red. Previously, it was the same but it was not highlighted in red as I am using a Mateksys optical flow. In standard parameters for arming checks, gps lock is unselected and still have this problem along with motors not working in motor test.

Where are you trying this?
Inside, outside between buildings, outside with clear view if the sky?

“GPS: no fix” does at least mean it is connected and the FC sees it

Hi Jan,

I am trying it indoors, as I have to fly it indoors hence I had to buy an optical flow. There are quite a few buildings and in the building that I am in, it has a gps lock. I am not sure if there is any way to bypass this as I need to fly it indoors only.

Within a building you will not get a good quality GPS signal.

Check this out: Non-GPS navigation

Hi Jan,

Thank you. I have looked at this document before when i set up the mateksys optical flow. I am not sure how, but the gps no fix originally was just in white and not showing up red as an error. Is there a way to bypass gps fix since there will be no satellite detection as i am indoors?

look here: Optical Flow Sensor Testing and Setup — Copter documentation

After leaving the quadcopter connected to mission planner after a while the drone started beeping maybe because of the esc and the motors jerked a little bit. Now this does not happen, does anyone know how to get this back as i think this is the reason why the motor test does not work.

Depending on what ESC’s you have that could just be the Beacon. Typical default delay is 10 minutes. What ESC’s do you have?

Post the parameter file.

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Hi Dave,

What is the Beacon? The esc being used right now are BLHeli S ESC 20A. I did not really change anything, I was using logs and downloading/reviewing them for the set up of optical flow and I realised it stopped beeping and tried the motor test, they dont spin it beeps, arms the drone then beeps again and disarms it.

Click here to find out about BLHeli beacons

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It’s a sound the ESC will cause the Motors to make when it’s idle for a time. It means nothing to you at this pont.

That’s probably why it’s not working. Post the parameters file.

I would forget about any other issue until the motors work in Motor Test.

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Hi Dave,

Yes you are right, I am more concerned with the motors not working I don’t really care if it beeps or not. the parameter file is posted below:

LatestParameterFileMotorsNotWorking.param (18.0 KB)

Hi Jan,

Thank you for this, if it only relates to enabling or disabling the beeping and does not affect the motors, then i don’t really need it.

There are a few parameters you have not set to run Dshot with BLHeli_S ESC’s. A common problem we see on the forum often.
What Flight Controller is it?

Hi Dave,

Right, I had a feeling it might have been some parameters which were wrong or not set but I was not sure which ones. I am using Pixhawk 6c flight controller.

BRD_IO_DSHOT,1
MOT_PWM_TYPE,6
SERVO_BLH_AUTO,1
SERVO_DSHOT_ESC,2

Then cycle the power.

This should make the motors spin in Motor Test.

What you should really do is flash Bluejay firmware to the ESC’s, Flash the Bdshot version of firmware to the FC if it isn’t already, and then configure to use BDshot. If none of this sounds familiar then just move along as is.

When the Beacon get’s annoying you can disable it using the BLHeli Configurator.

I wonder if we should add a configuration option in the MP initial parameters plugin or servo setup page to correctly configure DSHOT via dropdown options?

@xfacta, I know you were interested in an overhaul of the initial configuration page, and that may not be the proper place for such an option, but I do think it’d be helpful to optionally auto-set ESC parameters someplace in MP (or offer a warning that a user’s motor config is suboptimal, at a minimum).

If the idea has merit/traction, we can split that to another topic.

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An excellent idea. 3 of those parameters are being missed by users of BLHeli_S ESC’s and Bluejay should be mentioned somewhere ( I know it is in a Wiki). It turns an old ESC protocol on cheap ESC’s to very useful devices.

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Hi Dave,

Thank you very much. I tried the motor test and it works now after changing those parameters. Can I ask how you knew to change these specific parameters?

There are Wiki entries for all of these things but it can be a bit trying for the novice to find them. I know about them because I have been tracking Ardupilot progress for awhile, and have a bunch of vehicles, and configured BLHeli_S ESC’s on a FC that has a IOMCU. And flashed Blujay, and configured them for Bdshot. So, what we are talking about here covers a bit of ground.