Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

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Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

I want to mount a servo up so I can use pan/tilt feature, but it seems it's very hard to find a diagram of the board I have anywhere. Hoping someone could help me.

This is the board I have: http://www.readytoflyquads.com/multiwii ... controller

wanting to mount a servo up and eventually GPS, but not quite sure where I would be mounting the pins at exactly.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Echosyp wrote:I want to mount a servo up so I can use pan/tilt feature, but it seems it's very hard to find a diagram of the board I have anywhere. Hoping someone could help me.

This is the board I have: http://www.readytoflyquads.com/multiwii ... controller

wanting to mount a servo up and eventually GPS, but not quite sure where I would be mounting the pins at exactly.


The Pro 2 does include the ability to control pitch, roll, and cam trigger, but there is nothing for pan. The pitch pin is pin D44 and would correspond to what you call tilt, the roll pin is D45 and the cam trigger is D46. What these pins do is supply a signal to the servos that keep a pitch/roll cam gimbal level to the horizon no matter what the attitude of the quad at that point in time. Two servos are needed to operate the gimbal. The servos can't be controlled remotely by the TX from these pins and are tied to the motions of the FC instead. The cam trigger pin sends a signal to a third servo that has been set up to mechanically trigger the cam's "take a shot" button. This pin can be triggered by remote but it is only a single make the servo cycle type of signal and I have no idea how you tie it to a TX switch.
When you get a GPS, go with a Ublox and hook it up to serial port two. That is the four pin connector holes in the middle of the three sets of ones that are labeled GND,5V,RX2,TX2. Make sure TX on the GPS goes to RX on the FC and the RX on the GPS goes to TX on the FC. For Bluetooth you will want pins in the serial 0 port. That is the one with six pins labeled DTR,TX0,RX0,5V,NC,GND.

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

Thinking about skipping the bluetooth and going with a 3DR Radio instead.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Hooks up where the Bluetooth goes. I have the 915 Mhz.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Kbev5709 wrote:The Pro 2 does include the ability to control pitch, roll, and cam trigger, but there is nothing for pan. The pitch pin is pin D44 and would correspond to what you call tilt, the roll pin is D45 and the cam trigger is D46. What these pins do is supply a signal to the servos that keep a pitch/roll cam gimbal level to the horizon no matter what the attitude of the quad at that point in time. Two servos are needed to operate the gimbal.

To qualify this even further you can still hookup only one servo if you want but it will still be tied to the FC motion.

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

well that's not good, was hoping to get some time of servo control from the board to bind it to my tx. Oh well that's not a deal breaker. Gonna grab the 3DR radios and the GPS unit and go from there.

If I got these: http://www.readytoflyquads.com/3dr-radi ... kit-915mhz then I could hook up to EZ-GUI on my phone right?

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Echosyp wrote:well that's not good, was hoping to get some time of servo control from the board to bind it to my tx. Oh well that's not a deal breaker. Gonna grab the 3DR radios and the GPS unit and go from there.

If I got these: http://www.readytoflyquads.com/3dr-radi ... kit-915mhz then I could hook up to EZ-GUI on my phone right?

Yep, but your phone has to be "Host mode" capable. It at least has to be able to use a flash drive on the USB. Chances are if you can transfer stuff from flash drive to your phone it MIGHT work.
Higher end older androids and I think most new androids with the right OS can do host mode.
My old piece of crap can not do it and I'm still saving up to get a nice tablet to use instead.
The 3dr works great between quad and computer. Computer is a pain to take flying :roll: :lol:
Last edited by Kbev5709 on Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Echosyp wrote:well that's not good, was hoping to get some time of servo control from the board to bind it to my tx. Oh well that's not a deal breaker.

You can always use a brushless gimbal made to do panning from a pot on your TX. Easy enough. Not really as inexpensive but it's probably the only option.

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

Kbev5709 wrote:
Echosyp wrote:well that's not good, was hoping to get some time of servo control from the board to bind it to my tx. Oh well that's not a deal breaker.

You can always use a brushless gimbal made to do panning from a pot on your TX. Easy enough. Not really as inexpensive but it's probably the only option.


How would I hook that up to the FC and make one of the knobs on my Turnigy 9x control it? Wouldn't that be the same as setting up a servo?

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
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Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Echosyp wrote:How would I hook that up to the FC and make one of the knobs on my Turnigy 9x control it? Wouldn't that be the same as setting up a servo?

No, you would hook that right up to one of your RX AUX pins. The FC is out of the circuit for this. Then control that AUX channel from your TX pot.
If you are running a quad you can't use a standard pitch and roll servo setup like you use on an airplane, where the TX directly controls servos by the FC sticks. The pitch and roll stick as well as the yaw is used for ESC control instead. The only way left to control servos is by plugging them directly into the RX aux pins then pairing that aux channel with a TX switch or pot.
Last edited by Kbev5709 on Sun Jan 24, 2016 2:50 am, edited 2 times in total.

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

Would a servo not work the same way? Hook one of them up to my RX? this is the servo I planned on using: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... ec_9g.html

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
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Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Echosyp wrote:Would a servo not work the same way? Hook one of them up to my RX? this is the servo I planned on using: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... ec_9g.html

Sure. It will work. That is exactly what I was describing. But I just mentioned brushless gimbals because that is the smoothest option. I actually was running a 3 axis servo driven gimbal from the camstab on the FC on my quad for a while. The pan servo (which was controlled by my aux pan pot I had set up) wore out too quickly from the weight of the gimbal hanging from it and was shaft wobbly within two weeks of flying about every third day. The pitch and roll servo action was quite jerky and I found that it was not satisfactory for shooting video. I ended up getting a really nice new two axis brushless gimbal with controller for less than $50.00 on ebay. Also, I found that I was too busy flying to ever even use the pan. I would have needed a dedicated camera operator to handle filming with pan.
Last edited by Kbev5709 on Sun Jan 24, 2016 2:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

Oh, sorry I got it all confused. I thought I was going to have to set all this up on the FC itself instead of the rx. Hmm, the servo doesn't tell me which pin is + and which pin is -.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Normally the darkest colored wire is ground on one side of the plug, lightest color signal on the other side and power is in between. On my servo that I'm looking at right now the ground is brown, power is orange and signal is yellow.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

Kbev5709 wrote:
Echosyp wrote:Would a servo not work the same way? Hook one of them up to my RX? this is the servo I planned on using: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... ec_9g.html

Sure. It will work. That is exactly what I was describing.


The servo you have a link to is pretty small and not really built well enough to pan anything but maybe a very small FPV cam. The all plastic gearing and shaft can't take much lateral strain before wearing out. I was using a metal geared brass shafted one that was a mini (one size up from yours) and my two axis gopro gimbal and go pro clone tore that one up in two weeks. Plus, the servo coupling yoke broke from the slightest rough landings. The following link takes you to a video of my servo pan setup. Just fast forward to 1:10 in the video. That's where I'm moving the pan using my TX pot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYdVwJFu1ng
Last edited by Kbev5709 on Sun Jan 24, 2016 3:50 am, edited 2 times in total.

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

I got the same colors and hooked it up that way, soon as I did that and plugged in the battery my board sung to me as usual and the servo started making this evil buzzing noise, I plugged it into AUX 2 on the rx. I then took my transmitter and moved the AUX 2 knob but the servo didn't respond.

So being the noob I am, what did I miss?

Also appreciate all the help Kbev you are a real hero to me so far.

Kbev5709
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:56 pm

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Kbev5709 »

If the RX is getting a good 5 v supply there should be no problem powering your servo from it (as long as your polarity is correct.) I have needed to power my retracts from a separate voltage source because the RX couldn't pass the amperage needed though, so maybe you could try powering the servo from a spare ESC +5 source and just hook up the signal wire from it to the RX. I found this on the HK website about that servo: "There is a downside of being strong and fast, they draw quite a bit of current.
I measured about 550mA when exercising one HXT900 without load. This is an average, it seems to require more peak current. If used together with a linear BEC it will cause voltage drops."

You might be drawing too much amperage through the RX. The RX might not be able to output 550mA.....

Echosyp
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:39 am

Re: Sero and GPS connections. Where are they?

Post by Echosyp »

Not sure, it's the FrSky D4FR rx which is no longer sold anywhere.

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