Motor/ESC/Naze strangeness (almost like a desync)

[kilby]

I have put this in the Naze section as it seems most appropiate.

My 250 has been flying fine but it was time to move from Spektrum to FrSky, so I switched the receivers over, changed the settings to PPM and flashed with the most recent Baseflight.

When I get close to the mid point the motor starts to vary in speed as shown (well heard) in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTfkREVUA3g all 4 motor/ESC pairs do the same thing (they are the 12A EMax ESCs that where available mid last year that had mention of SimonK in the description.) The value they misbehave at varies (so even holding the model in your hand means it tries to twitch a lot)

I have recalibrated the ESC';s several times and checked all connections several times, and to rule out other issues I removed the OSD and video kit, and even the new D4R-II without improving matters.To rule out the Baseflight update I erased the Naze and rolled back to the version I had been flying for a while (and recalibrated again)

I am aware that it could be an ESC issue, but all 4 of them at once, as they are the older EMax ones I';m unsure if they suffer from the getting a bit humpy about being recalibrated. However I don';t think anybody actually knows how SimonK they actually are

Has anybody got any ideas (apart from reflashing the ESCs )

[quadfather]

I have put this in the Naze section as it seems most appropiate.

My 250 has been flying fine but it was time to move from Spektrum to FrSky, so I switched the receivers over, changed the settings to PPM and flashed with the most recent Baseflight.

When I get close to the mid point the motor starts to vary in speed as shown (well heard) in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTfkREVUA3g all 4 motor/ESC pairs do the same thing (they are the 12A EMax ESCs that where available mid last year that had mention of SimonK in the description.) The value they misbehave at varies (so even holding the model in your hand means it tries to twitch a lot)

I have recalibrated the ESC';s several times and checked all connections several times, and to rule out other issues I removed the OSD and video kit, and even the new D4R-II without improving matters.To rule out the Baseflight update I erased the Naze and rolled back to the version I had been flying for a while (and recalibrated again)

I am aware that it could be an ESC issue, but all 4 of them at once, as they are the older EMax ones I';m unsure if they suffer from the getting a bit humpy about being recalibrated. However I don';t think anybody actually knows how SimonK they actually are

Has anybody got any ideas (apart from reflashing the ESCs )

That sounds like misprogrammed ESCs.  If you have the programming card for EMAX I would go over them one by one and make sure they';re all set to the same (sensible) values.  If you feel like a challenge you can program them using the motor sliders or your radio.

http://youtu.be/E6epG5E8gAQ

I';m using the same settings as he does in the video (timing medium-high).

As for reflashing them, there is no EMAX firmware you can reapply.  You can flash BLHeli to them using an Arduino and involves removing the heat shrink.  That would give you OneShot but not much else, e.g. no braking.

The EMAX ESCs don';t have SimonK on them despite the name.  A quote from Simon K himself. http://diydrones.com/xn/detail/705844:Comment:1991805

Note that the EMAX units just borrowed my name for marketing but have nothing to do with me. They';ve never shipped my code as far as I know.

In essence, I don';t think your ESCs are shafted, but rather need a look at the programming.  It easily happens when trying to calibrating them that you enter programming mode and change something.  Happened to me more times than I';d like to admit.  :embarrassed

[kilby]

As I don';t have a programming card it would mean doing things the hard way.

I haven';t managed to get the Naze to pass the throttle values straight through to the ESC (tried it last night)

Though I do have a cc3d which I believe does permit that.

As I have an arduino kicking about the reflash may be the least repellant option, though I did see an arduino being used as a programming card once.

Grrr bloody typical, I need to rebuild the 450 and the 250 gets itself into a twist

[kilby]

Programming card ordered <sigh>

[kilby]

Thanks a million, I had to do each ESC separately via my Spektrum RX.

Each now spins normally using the default EMax settings (except for the low voltage protection which is off)

I';m very glad I didn';t cut off the 5v lead (as some people do)

Once I get this flying I may turn the control frequency to 22KHz later (probably when the programming card arrives)

Obviously when I was calibrating the motors I managed to bounce the slider about.

[quadfather]

Good stuff.  I think this is the single biggest problem people are having with these ESCs.

Glad you got it sorted.