No basic RC controls, Tx works properly

ArduPlane Plane 3.4
1

Hey, I’m having a bit of an odd issue with APM Plane in my Bixler. I have a 3DR Pixhawk, 3DR GPS/mag, 3DR power sensor, 3DR radio, and an analog pitot tube in this plane. Along with that, I have my radio(turnigy 9XR and FrSKY DJT) and in the plane is a D4R-ii bound and in PPM mode.

I am able to radio calibration, and see my stick values update on screen. I can even successfully switch between my 6 flight modes. But I cannot do transmitter arming, and even when de-activating the hardware safety and arming through GCS, I still cannot move any servos or the speed controller. Plugging them directly into the D4R-ii confirms the servos and ESC work, and I can confirm the servos are plugged in properly to the Pixhawk, as the ESC arms when I de-activate the hardware safety, and the servos are holding position at 0 degrees.

Is there anything I might be missing that is stopping the pixhawk from passing my controls to the outputs? Even in manual mode I am getting no control at all.

If it helps, I attached my parameters on pastebin: pastebin.com/AhFSTGLG

2

Hello,

According to your settings, your RC TX need to be tuned (end points):

RC1_DZ,30
RC1_MAX,2015
RC1_MIN,990
RC1_REV,1
RC1_TRIM,1508
RC2_DZ,30
RC2_MAX,2016
RC2_MIN,992
RC2_REV,1
RC2_TRIM,1505
RC3_DZ,30
RC3_MAX,2017
RC3_MIN,992
RC3_REV,1
RC3_TRIM,992
RC4_DZ,30
RC4_MAX,2016
RC4_MIN,994
RC4_REV,1
RC4_TRIM,1509
RC5_DZ,0
RC5_FUNCTION,0
RC5_MAX,1815
RC5_MIN,1164
RC5_REV,1
RC5_TRIM,1164
RC6_DZ,0
RC6_FUNCTION,0
RC6_MAX,2017
RC6_MIN,992
RC6_REV,1
RC6_TRIM,993
RC7_DZ,0
RC7_FUNCTION,0
RC7_MAX,2017
RC7_MIN,992
RC7_REV,1
RC7_TRIM,992
RC8_DZ,0
RC8_FUNCTION,0
RC8_MAX,2016
RC8_MIN,991
RC8_REV,1
RC8_TRIM,992

RC Min should be around 1050, RC Max around 1950. So you have to enter your TX settings and tune the endpoints in order to be is this range. When done, you may have to redo the RC calibration with APM Planner.

Marc

3

Sorry, but my transmitter endpoints are 990 to 2015 (default for a Taranis) and they work just fine.

Do you have variable rates for aileron/elevator/rudder? I calibrate my radio on high rates but it means I can only arm with high rates as low and mid don’t go high enough.
Do you get any messages on mission planner when you try arming?

4

Thanks for the replies. I can successfully calibrate my radio(which is how those values showed up in my config), and can toggle flight modes with my RC radio, but no stick controls work(even though I can see the stick values update in the radio calibration menu).

I don’t have dual rates, so everything is at full rate. I can’t arm with the sticks, but I can arm via GCS without any errors.

5

I don’t understand your post.
What flight mode are you trying to use to test this? It should be manual.

Are you expecting full control before you arm the Pixhawk? If so, that won’t happen. Are you getting pre-arm check errors with mission planner connected when you try to arm?

Have you pushed the arming button on your pixhawk?

I would solve the arming problem first.

plane.ardupilot.com/wiki/arming-throttle/