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Single Radian on roll axis

Discussion in 'Radian' started by fireflydigital, Oct 15, 2012.

  1. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    Hey,

    I am very new to the Cinestar and RC in general so please excuse my ignorance. I have the 2 axis gimble and am trying to attach the Radian to the Roll axis only (I have a Sony camera attached that handles the tilt stability very well so I thought I would save myself a few hundred dollars and just deal with the roll at this time).

    My question is, can I attach the radian directly to the power lead that the roll servo was attached to and can I also access receiver control as the servo was controlled through that cable previously? Or do I have to use a separate satellite receiver (Im using a Spektrum DX8 controller)?

    Any help is greatly appreciated.
     
  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Can you tell me from where you're receiver is getting power, please? The FF servos can pull 1.5 Amps or more, so the question really is, will the connection to the receiver provide sufficient power to the roll Radian and it's servo.

    If there's enough power available, you can certainly connect a servo cable that provides power and slew control signal for roll from the primary Spektrum receiver to the Radian port 1, and then from port 4 on the Radian on to the roll servo.

    From what Tabb posted here, you should not use Port 1 on the roll Radian if all you're providing is power to the Radian and servo and have a Spektrum satellite receiver plugged into the mini-Molex connector on the underside of the Radian. Use some other port. All the Radian ports have their power and grounds connected together.

    Thanks
    Andy.
     
  3. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    Hi Andy,

    The Cinestar was purchased as a RTF from Quadrocopter (8). The Satellite reciever is powered I believe though the bottom of the NaviCTRL and is hard wired. The Roll Servo also gets its power from there also (3 wire cable plugged into the side). I am guessing 1 of the 3 wires is for servo control from the receiver and the other 2 are power?

    The only receiver on the Cinestar is the satellite (as well as a telemetry module). I am guessing this is normal as the AR8000 is in a bag somewhere and the Cinestar flies fine without it :)

    Will it do any damage if I simply plug the Radian into the original Roll servo cable to see if it works? or should I be hooking the power and receiver connection differently?

    Thanks so much for you help.

    Cheers

    Julian
     
  4. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Julian:
    I know this is a pain to do, but can you post an image of your set-up showing the wiring? I've not seen the NaviCtrl board used as a power supply -- the Flight Control Board does have two Recom DC/DC converters, one of which is designated for use for servos -- however, the Recom only supplies 5v at 1 Amp, so is not really powerful enough to supply the two FF servos. You may need to connect up a BEC (Battery Eliminator Circuit -- it eliminates the need for a second battery). These typically can supply 5 Amps or more. You can either purchase one from QC -- these are variable voltage output, so you need also to purchase the programming tool that allows you to preset the voltage. Alternatively, a lower cost option is to get the 5v only BEC. I've been doing business with dpcav.com for a while and they've provided consistently rapid shipping and handled returns (I ordered the wrong cable, duh) very well.

    It will not do any damage to the Radian sensor if you connect it to the Roll servo. (Edit: connect it to Port 1 of the Radian) -- there are three wires, ground (black or brown), +5v (red), and servo control signal (typically white, yellow or orange). The good news is that the +5v is the center of the three, so the worst that will happen is if you should accidentally plug it in wrong way around is that the servo signal gets grounded....ask me how I know... ;)

    [Edit: Connect the servo cable to Port 1 of the Radian. The signal wire should be on the left closest to the "front" label of the Radian sensor.]

    What the Radian servo is going to "see" therefore is +5v, Ground, and the original servo's PWM control signal. If you're not familiar with PWM (or its relative PPM), here's a short tutorial on the difference. (PWM is just control pulses for one servo, PPM is control pulses for several servos sent one after the other.)

    Hope this helps.
    Andy.
     
  5. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    Hey Andy,

    After hours of frustration and the wrong USB cable (Thank the gods for this forum) I have finally got the radian working. However, I still seem to have an issue. The Radian seems to be taking it's time to actually work and then cuts out all together at times. When it works the light is solid green. When it isn't working the light flashes green. It will also "drift" every now and then - rolls over.

    Not sure what I am doing wrong or if perhaps I do need another satellite receiver or not?

    Any thoughts?
     
  6. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Have a quick look at the LED status shown on the last but one page of the Radian documentation.
    What typically happens when you first power up the Radian sensor is that it will flash green rapidly and then, unless you are in Fixed Position Stabilized mode (see Step 6 in the documentation for an explanation of this), the green will go solid. If the green flashes slowly, then you've got the system disabled.

    You have to have the gimbal perfectly still when you first power it up otherwise the sensor cannot calibrate itself correctly.

    When you say "When it isn't working the light flashes green" is that a slow or fast flashing, please?

    Also, when you say, "drift" I presume you mean it slowly increases the roll angle in one direction or another?

    I'm not convinced it's a problem with the Satellite receiver -- at least not yet.

    Can you just confirm what connections you have plugged into the Radian and, if possible, take a close up image so I can see the cables plugged into the Radian and upload the file. The maximum image file size for uploading is now 2MB, I believe.

    Also can you confirm how you're now powering the gimbal, receiver and servos -- just want to make sure that there's no change from before.

    Thanks
    Andy
     
  7. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    Once I have powered everything on the LED is solid green but then it will randomly flash rapid green and go limp. Then it seems to reconfigure itself but does the same process again. I did notice that the Spektrum telemetry module has a reddish light that came on at the same time. Not sure what that means. Here are some photos of the set-up. Excuse the mess as I just want to get it woking first then will figure out what I need to clean it up.

    As you can see the power comes from the original cable off the Cinestar (not the NaviCTRL as I thought but the lower board). I have stuck the Radian directly to the wheel as it is an older version and the extension plate doesn't fit.

    IMG_1386.jpg IMG_1387.jpg IMG_1388.jpg
     
  8. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    It sounds like you're momentarily losing power to the Rx and the sensor. The Rx counts the number of power interrupts and flashes a red light I believe (that might be just the primary receiver not the satellite -- don't remember).

    So check that the power connection is good -- if that were to go away momentarily, it would produce the "reset" symptom you describe and the momentary Rx signal loss.

    Hope this helps.
    Andy.
     
  9. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    Hi Andy,

    I did check all the connections and they seem secure. It is the primary reciever that has the red light however it doesn't come on every time the Radian shuts off. Oddly enough every time I attempted to tilt the gimbal (with the transmitter) the Roll Radian shut down, the green light flashes fast - the it resets itself until the next time I touch the tilt. Very frustrating. Not sure if I mentioned that I disabled the on / off functionality as I am out of channels on the DX8 and the default is the same as the Altitude hold.
     
  10. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    Andy,

    After ready some other posts here, I'm wondering if it may be a power issue? Am I correct that the 2 axis gimbal servos are normally powered from the MK flight controller? Does adding a Radian on the Roll servo add any extra current draw? perhaps too much for the Flight controller to handle? I'm wondering if I should try a separate power source but can I still leave the current source plugged in so I can still receive RX control? (that would mean power is coming into the radian from both a separate battery and the Flight Controller).
     
  11. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    That suggests that the power supply that you have isn't providing enough power -- when you operate the gimbal, the servo draws power and the voltage sags, to the point that the Radian sensor resets. I'm just guessing of course.

    Given that you're pulling power from the Flight Control board (you say above "the original cable off the Cinestar (not the NaviCTRL as I thought but the lower board)" -- that's the big square board with the wires leading out to the motor -- the Power Distribution Board. I'm not sure how much current at 5 volts you can pull from the Power Distribution board.

    What I would try next is to provide a separate source of power to the receiver, Radian sensor, and servo. You will need to use something like a 3S 1200 mAH Lipo with a 5v DC BEC. Let me know if you're not sure how to do this -- you can first set it up just for ground testing and then figure out how to mount it on the gimbal.

    Hope this helps.
    Andy
     
  12. Enrique Rubio

    Enrique Rubio Member

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    Hello Im Enrique . flight 8 cinestar with Wookong, buy Radian 2 axis, but now not is how to set the values. use channel 6 for the tilt.When starting the program I have an error message. com 10 does not exist

     
  13. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Enrique:
    Please see Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) #18 at this link.
    As you are just starting out, I would recommend you read all of the FAQ and read all of threads that you see at the top of the screen with the red "push pin" under the "Start Date" at http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?forums/radian.23/

    Also, please read the Radian documentation carefully. Remember you will need to connect up your PC to each Radian sensor to program it individually.

    Thanks
    Andy
     
  14. fireflydigital

    fireflydigital New Member

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    So I purchased a BEC and tried a separate power supply for the Radian and at first try it seems to have done the trick. Interestingly enough it is working without any receiver hookup (The Spektrum satellite is on order). Does this mean that if there is no need for a shut off switch at the transmitter that there is no need to hook up a receiver to the Radian? I think I will be attaching the tilt and perhaps the Video downlink to this power supply so I know I will need the receiver then but it seems that the Radian itself only needs power and not much else as long as receiver control is turned off in the software.

    Thanks for all your help Andy, it's great to have someone that understands this stuff just an Internet away.

    Cheers.
     
  15. Enrique Rubio

    Enrique Rubio Member

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    thanks butI

    still don't understand how I connect with wookong. do not really understand the language English is why so many questions
     
  16. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Enrique:
    I understand your problem with English.

    Do you know about Google translate : ¿Conoces Google Translate? Puede ayudarle a hacer preguntas.
    What language do you prefer to ask your questions in? : ¿Qué idioma prefiere para hacer sus preguntas en?

    I do not know about Wookong so I cannot answer your questions. : Yo no sé acerca de Wookong así que no puedo responder a sus preguntas.

    My apologies : Mis disculpas.
    Andy.
     
  17. Enrique Rubio

    Enrique Rubio Member

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    of course I know, I was referring to the audio from videos. but it solved thanks in any way. I'll post how to connect e-DJI
     
  18. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Enrique:

    Glad to hear you know about Google translate.
    I did not realize you were referring to the audio from the videos.
    I'm glad to hear that you solved the problem, though.

    Andy.
     
  19. Enrique Rubio

    Enrique Rubio Member

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    I could not understand anything in the video tutorial. that I was talking about. about how to connect a radian 2 axis with (dji wookong) with just one ( Y )
    soon I'll post the information as well as the first video with the radio IMG00314-20121019-1448.jpg IMG00322-20121019-1929.jpg
     
  20. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Thank you.
    Can you tell me what language you speak? It will help me translate information.

    Andy.
     

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