APM 2.5 & Rctimer Arduflyer V2.5 Guide for Arducopter

[Jumpy07]

This is more of a hardware and features guide., work in progress, latest version will be posted here only.

Although this was written for the Rctimer Arduflyer APM 2.5 compatible FC, much of it is the same for genuine boards.

Current version V1.4


Disclaimer: Use at your own risk, I am sure there will be a few errors and typos, would welcome feedback.

V1.2  (removed, updated with V1.4 below)                          (2470.67 kB - downloaded 2364 times.)
V1.3  (removed) updated with V1.4 below)                          (2476.72 kB - downloaded 2220 times.)

V1.4

[Gaza07]

Very nice work Craig 

[icedfusion]

That is a fantastic guide! Thank you for taking the time to collate all this information and making it clear and concise in one document. You sir are a star!

ice.

[Mslater]

Nice, I';ve just added motor leds to mine, tis easy when you know how but the Wiki';s make it appear really complicated - its not.

If you want to drive any more than 40mah then you need a circuit like this, otherwise just plug the Leds in on the board. The LED behaviour can be controlled in the mission planner by entering a value between 0 and 255 in the motorLeds parameter. I';ll document how you work out the numbers later but for now the default values work quite well anyway.

[attach=1]

Original drawing by U4eak of Diydrones (this version shows APM2 and dual LED voltages)   Current draw up to 500mah per channel MAX

[TeeJay]

Just registered to say a huge thanks to Jumpy for creating/posting these files
It';s a great help to someone like me who';s an "early adopter" but without the real knowledge/skill to be one :)

Cheers

[Gaza07]

Hi TeeJay and Welcome to the forum please feel free to post any pics or share any video you might have 

[Jumpy07]

Just registered to say a huge thanks to Jumpy for creating/posting these files
It';s a great help to someone like me who';s an "early adopter" but without the real knowledge/skill to be one :)

Cheers

Cheers .. thanks for the feedback.. I was in the same boat as u a few months ago.. and just thought.. wouldnt it be great to get all this info in one place...   glad it helped

Craig

[TeeJay]

Hi TeeJay and Welcome to the forum please feel free to post any pics or share any video you might have 

I';ll stick a few up but they';re old now and using an APM2 in a quad, I';m much more into planes now which is what I';ll be using my Arduflyer 2.5 for

[Gaza07]

I would be very interested in seeing how well it does in a plane, I started out with planes and still some times fly a cougar 2000 

[TeeJay]

Well I';m finaly getting round to installing the APM2.5 in my Super Skysurfer
Having a few teething issues due to lack of knowledge but getting there

The latest problem is a little odd though...
When I power up to get the Mavlink OSD to work I have to unplug it then plug it back in again, not very convenient

[Jumpy07]

Its a common problem with high TVL cameras, make sure you have latest firmware installed.. sometimes this fixes it..

You may have to do what I did in the end... fit a momentary break switch from in the video wire from camera to minimosd... and press it to reset and sync video after MimimOSD has booted.

[LTMNO]

Great document... just joined to say thanks... will follow the forum moving forward.

Cheers.

[pektusin]

Great document, thanks a lot! However it is painful to see that you advertise a cloners but not the original developers. Everything comes from 3DR, they developed hw, fw, Mission Planner and they keep doing great job updating sw. Where this project would go without 3DR? Did RCtimer contribute anything into this project?

I know that Arduflyer is cheaper. Consider this when you';re buying the product: 3DR has to pay developers, therefore they cannot match chinese clone price. Rctimer gets everything for free.

[teslahed]

Where do you see the rctimer clone being advertised without the original being mentioned?

The guide is titled "APM 2.5 & Arduflyer V2.5  - Guide for ArduCopter & MultiRotor's "

Where the APM 2.5 is the official board and the arduflyer V2.5 is the rctimer clone. I don';t see anything wrong in mentioning both - it';s an open source project so there is nothing wrong with people cloning the hardware like this - but i agree it';s only fair to include mention of the original developers of the hardware and software. If you can point out where we';ve missed doing this i will see about getting it fixed, thanks.

[Gaza07]

Hi pektusin and welcome to the forum I agree with what teslahed has said above we have reffered to two boards not one, if we are guilty of anything its the assumption that every one knows the APM2.5 is made by 3dr and possibly not mentioned their name enough,
we will be sure to correct this in the future 
what you dont see here is the times we have pointed members to one of the approved 3dr dealers to buy the genuine products which we often do in live chat 

Great document, thanks a lot! However it is painful to see that you advertise a cloners but not the original developers. Everything comes from 3DR, they developed hw, fw, Mission Planner and they keep doing great job updating sw. Where this project would go without 3DR? Did RCtimer contribute anything into this project?

I know that Arduflyer is cheaper. Consider this when you';re buying the product: 3DR has to pay developers, therefore they cannot match chinese clone price. Rctimer gets everything for free.

[pektusin]

Where do you see the rctimer clone being advertised without the original being mentioned?

Almost every picture shows RcTimer logo (pages 6, 10, 19 etc).
Please excuse me, perhaps I';m taking it a little bit too emotionally. I just feel sorry for the engineers who developed this excellent product. They have to be rewarded for the work they are doing (here I have to admit that I have no relation to 3DR). But wherever I go I mostly see links to Rctimer.
There is an interesting reading on this regard: an interview with the 3DR CEO. I got some mixed feelings after reading this. He sounds not very enthusiastic about this rctimer clone but tries to be.

Hi pektusin and welcome to the forum I agree with what teslahed has said above we have reffered to two boards not one, if we are guilty of anything its the assumption that every one knows the APM2.5 is made by 3dr and possibly not mentioned their name enough,
we will be sure to correct this in the future 
what you dont see here is the times we have pointed members to one of the approved 3dr dealers to buy the genuine products which we often do in live chat 

Thanks for welcoming me even after a such emotional post :)

[teslahed]

Almost every picture shows RcTimer logo (pages 6, 10, 19 etc).

The guide was written originally for the Rctimer board, all pictures were taken by Jumpy, yes some Rctimer logos, but as indicated this guide was for the Arduflyer board.

Please excuse me, perhaps I';m taking it a little bit too emotionally. I just feel sorry for the engineers who developed this excellent product. They have to be rewarded for the work they are doing (here I have to admit that I have no relation to 3DR). But wherever I go I mostly see links to Rctimer.
There is an interesting reading on this regard: an interview with the 3DR CEO. I got some mixed feelings after reading this. He sounds not very enthusiastic about this rctimer clone but tries to be.

Thanks for welcoming me even after a such emotional post :)

My feeling on the whole apm issue is that i hadn';t even heard of the board before the clone came out. Then the clone came out and everyone was talking about them and many people seem to have bought them. The majority will have bought rctimer clones but i know plenty of people that either don';t like soldering, wanted to order from the uk, or just wanted the official version, who bought that instead.

I expect arducopters market share amongst the flight controllers has increased a lot as a result of the clone being released and this increases the chance that the next apm will be a success with lots of enthusiastic users waiting for it when it';s released.

I can understand why Chris Anderson has mixed feelings about it. I bought the rctimer clone (arrived yesterday), but if it helps i did buy an official case

But you are more than welcome to discuss issues such as these and others on the forums and i do sympathise with your position. Reminds me a little bit of the rabbit situation, although not quite the same;

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php/topic,188.0.html

[Gaza07]

Thanks for welcoming me even after a such emotional post :)

Well its not the normal first post we get from members, but I think you have made some valid points and your comments have been taken on board, And I will in future try to give a more balanced view 
When I purchased my Arduflyer board I did actually check to see if the board was legally created or not, from what I was told right or wrong the hardware was open source and the eagle files free to anyone who wanted them 

[Jumpy07]

Great document, thanks a lot! However it is painful to see that you advertise a cloners but not the original developers. Everything comes from 3DR, they developed hw, fw, Mission Planner and they keep doing great job updating sw. Where this project would go without 3DR? Did RCtimer contribute anything into this project?

I know that Arduflyer is cheaper. Consider this when you';re buying the product: 3DR has to pay developers, therefore they cannot match chinese clone price. Rctimer gets everything for free.

This debate has been done to death....
The Arduflyer board is developed from Opensource files published by 3DR, I cant comment on 3DR';s business model, but this is the one that they have chosen.

[sturgm]

As summer is approaching ( hopefully!) I have dusted down my quads.  And as a result of reading your outstanding documentation I have also decided to give the APM 2.5 ago.

It really is a great read and well done.  I really do understand and thoughly appreciate the effort that must have taken.

Well done Jumpy07

[optiplex]

A superb manual u wrote there craig, thanks alot :)

[Hands0n]

@Jump07 - I';ll just add my voice of thanks to you for the splendid manual. It has answered a lot of questions I had in my mind.

I';m building a H-frame for FPV stuff and the APM 2.5 is on my mind as being possibly the best to get for the price. I think it has more to offer than MultiWii, with a more commoditised and user friendly management in the Mission Planner. 

I';m presuming little to no difference between APM and RCTimer boards, although if the price isn';t too different I';d tend to go for the ready-built APM board if it can be had over here in the UK.

[firey1]

Hands

i have been watching the feedback on the hobby king apm clone and its getting great reviews and at the price is good value as already soldered up and ready to go

I am just waiting for next pay and will be getting one of theres

[titeuf007]

it s far better to buy here..
made in usa and with a real support
http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/flight-controllers/readytoflyer-2-5-2

[firey1]

it s far better to buy here..
made in usa and with a real support
http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/flight-controllers/readytoflyer-2-5-2

doesnt say anything about being made in the usa
un-soldered board
have to buy header pins

[Hands0n]

doesnt say anything about being made in the usa
un-soldered board
have to buy header pins

Thats what it looks like to me also.  If I';m buying a genuine APM 2.5 then I want it built and in a genuine case.   Thats not to say that either don';t look like superb FCs to me, at least.  I';ve not read bad about either, yet. Save for the soldering effort - not a challenge for me, but I';m getting to be a bit of a lazy git as I age 

[LTMNO]

Just wanted to jump on the thank you note to Jumpy07 as this document was very helpful.
I was excited to see a solution for the APM2.5 and FrySky communication via the IOBoard.
I have had the IOBoard many months now with no luck on getting it working.  the T9X and Er9x or OpenTx just don';t jive. 
There is work in progress from a few and if it should change, I will be sure to post back to the group.

Thanks again,

[kennelliott]

I bought my apm2.5 from unmanned drone. After struggling for a day to make it do anything at all I returned it. They ran a test and discovered faulty flash chip. It was replaced within days. Try that with rctimer . . .  I have and it';s like pitw

[Randersen]

Hi, i have problems powering up my APM 2.5 on an arducopter with four 30A ESC';s from Jdrones. When I connect the battery the only reaction i get is b-ee-P and beep-beep-beep with one second intervall. No signs of life or led';s on the APM. It seems like the powermodule who was a part of the APM package does not power the APM. I have set up the APM using the missionplanner, and everthing sems to work well with the transmitter and the WFLY09 reciever, but it looks like the only way i can power the APM is using the USB. When i power the APM using the USB and connects the battery, the beep stops, but I cant get a signal from the inputs (reciever) through the APM to the outputs (ESC';s) and run the motores. No reaction!

I have tried to download your manual, but your link doesnt work.
Can anyone help me or give me an advice?

[robshaw]

How have you connected the power to the APM? It needs to be powered via a ubec through any one of the inputs of the APM. All the red wires coming from the escs need to be cut and you also don';t need the black wires.

I';ve just checked the manual download and it works OK.....