Hi all,
I have installed NaviCtrl and MKGPS on my MK but so far it is not responding. Apparently it is not trying to catch a 'fix'. No beeping other then the normal one at startup and no led blinking, the led just remains on steadily.
Here is my configuration:
FC 1.2 - Firmware 0.70d - in settings GPS has been checked - MKTool v1.53

Here is what i did:
- plugged the antenna on the MKGPS board making sure the small dot is pointed towards the led
- soldered the antenna pin on the MKGPS
- soldered the jumper on MKGPS as passive
- soldered the 10 pin and 6 pin connectors on ports SV1 and SV6 on NC
- capacitor soldered on NC with right polarity
- crimped the 6 wire cable and connected the NC to FC
- crimped the 10 wire cable and connected the NC to FC
- connected MKGPS to NC using the provided cable making sure it would 'plug in' well. Wires are as shown on pic in the wiki page ( http://www.mikrokopter.com/ucwiki/en/NaviCtrl?highlight=%28KategorieEnglish%29 )
- soldered 10 pin connector at 90° on MK3MAG and connected it to NC (i left the other 10 pin connector on)

Turning on the FC it does the usual beeping sounds but then nothing.
Green led on MKGPS stays on without flickering.
Red and green leds on NC flicker fast (should be normal)

In MKTool KompassValue is 0 while Ersatzkompass keeps changing from 0 to 359 (i havent recalibrated the MK3MAG yet, maybe that's why).
GPS Nick and GPS Roll remain at zero.

I checked with a multimeter on the 6 pins and 10 pins connections and touching the pads both of FC and NC there is connection.

Does anyone have a suggestion about what else I could check or do? Thank you.

Regards

I would definatly recallibrate the Compass. I previously used mine on its own without NaviCtrl but found that it needed recallibration after I connected it to the NaviCtrl.

That should be the reason for the problems you had though so I'm nut sure. Have you tried resoldering the 2x5 and 2x3 pin rows on your NaviCtrl?.

Alex

Just a matter of interest, are you trying to get a satellite fix outdoors? I find that I cannot get a fix at all indoors and sometimes it may take up to 10mins to get a fix in an open space outside.

I also finds that the Ersatzkompass keeps changing from 0 to 359. I have tried to calibrate it using the method on Speedy's video blog, would the stick configuration be different for Mode 2? If so what would it be?

Steve

Hi Steve,

The stick configuration for mode 2 should be:

Left stick - top left, Right Stick - down, -to start calibration

and

Right stick down to change between steps during the calibration.


I also found that the fix does not happen indoors, but then again I dont think GPS penetrates through ceilings and roofs anyway. Just for interest I tried to get a fix outside - surrounded by houses and it took a lot longer than normal (~3minutes) but eventually did get a fix. In contrast, at an open field it takes 15-30seconds!.

By the way, I have just translated the MK3Mag instructions into English so take a look on there if some bits were unclear previously.

Alex

Thanks Alex and thanks for translating the Wiki pages, it is great help and I am sure I speak for a lot of non Germanic speaking MK enthusiasts in thanking you for your time and trouble in what you have recently

After having posted the above comment I did read your page on the MKMag and have now got a little minor alteration to carry out tomorrow

I usually find that to get a fix (that's GPS not Class A drugs) takes quite a time and since I use 2 lipos at a time I tend to change the batteries by keeping the power on and removing and replacing them one at a time so I do not lose the GPS fix. As I mentioned earlier it took about 10mins to get a fix once and even though the sky was clear and there was no way you would ever see a satellite you do find yourself doing this (or am I the only one???)

Once again many thanks

Steve

Glad you're finding them useful, i'll try and keep on top of any important new ones as and when they come out (doesnt take me that long to get it done anyway). Its nothing compared with the amount of work and effort many people in the community put into it in various ways.

Who needs a class A drugs fix - I get the shakes when I dont get my MK fix at least once a week!

ddrake, any luck with your NaviCtrl problem yet?

Hi guys, thank you for the help.
The problem is that it doesn't even start to try getting a fix. Both outdoor and indoor. Green led on MKGPS is fixed and beeper doesn't do any special beeping aside from the normal ones at startup, gyro calibration, loss of radio signal if i turn tx off....
I'll definitely check again the contacts on the 2x5 and 2x3 ports again, both on FC and NC although with a multimeter it seemed there was contact (i used it in measuring ohms function and it reacted on every single pad).
I found a post by wep talking about a similar problem:
http://forum.mikrokopter.de/topic-post87743.html#post87743

Ciao

After some more checking / redoing the soldering on the pads of the 2x5 and 2x3 connections. My NaviCtrl decided to speak with the FC and after a while it was blinking, showing she had 'THE FIX'

Couldn't try GPS hold and coming home though. The MK3MAG seemed to have tantrums on the field, even if I calibrated it carefully more than once. In such conditions poor NC couldnt have worked well. Once at home MK3MAG showed good readings with no drifts save a couple of 'peaks' that were not repeated during a long scope.

Hopefully I'll be able to try it tomorrow...

ddrake meinte

After some more checking / redoing the soldering on the pads of the 2x5 and 2x3 connections. My NaviCtrl decided to speak with the FC and after a while it was blinking, showing she had 'THE FIX'

Looks like my advice paid off for once! excellent - made my day!

We had a lot of people comment how dependent the compass callibration is on magnetic fields. Do make sure you try to callibrated it away from power lines, houses, cars etc - it really does make a huge difference.

Best of luck with it - let us know how it goes!

Zitat

Do make sure you try to calibrated it away from power lines, houses, cars etc - it really does make a huge difference.

What do you have to look for on the MK tool to see that the MK3Mag is calibrated correctly?

Steve

I'll have to be honest with you, I've never had fantastic results checking the compass on my PC - reason - lots of magnetic objects in my office and two speakers either side of my monitor right next to where I normally sit my MK

Instead I checked mine in an interference free field using the EPI OSD - turning the MK and checking that the OSD compass measures 360deg proportional to the rotation.

Also, you will know if your compass isnt callibrated the moment you turn on position hold! - it will do things like move in massive circles or try and disappear in a certain direction.

Zitat

Also, you will know if your compass isnt callibrated the moment you turn on position hold! - it will do things like move in massive circles or try and disappear in a certain direction.

Mines not calibrated then.......

crashedagain meinte

Looks like my advice paid off for once! excellent - made my day!

We had a lot of people comment how dependent the compass callibration is on magnetic fields. Do make sure you try to callibrated it away from power lines, houses, cars etc - it really does make a huge difference.

Best of luck with it - let us know how it goes!

Sure! If you pass this way I'll provide you some good salami!

The magnetic problem was simply due to lack of reasoning on my part... I was in a hurry to try the NC and made a center plate protection with wireframe. Duh! I should have known...
Actually at the desk with engines off MK3 readings were fine. But the magnetic field produced by the running engines must have been a trouble for little MK3!

Ok, so far am VERY MUCH PLEASED by the NC & GPS. I managed to test them a bit with pretty good results.

One small issue: I had a good flight with GPS hold working flawlessly then landed, changed battery and turning on the MKGPS wouldnt start searching. I waited for several minutes but nothing. I turned the FC off then on again and search started... duh! Happened the same on the next battery change. I wonder if this happens to anyone else?

To tune the GPS i did as suggested in the wiki. Assigned Poti2 at GPS Gain:
externer Link:


Poti 2 is assigned to Ch6. On my MX16 I assigned the rotating knob (Ctrl7) to Ch6.

I started the MK, got the FIX (about 3 mins to get it). Started flying, put the switch (SW6/7) on GPS Hold (or AIM mode as they call it) then progressively rotated the knob from zero position clockwise. This way the GPS gain was progressively increased till i found a value that would hold the MK in place without 'oversteering' which makes it wobble around the position.

Now my problem is how to convert the value I found in a % value to be inserted in the GPS Gain parameter (no need to use a precious channel for that anymore). Here are the readings:

externer Link:


externer Link:


externer Link:


externer Link:


In the first picture it shows the value to be slightly below 50%
Plus in following pics we can see the value is -11 (or -10, reading slightly changes).
Let's put in a 0-255 scale: x = 128 -11 = 117
So, making the proportion: y = x * 100 / 255 = 45.88 =~ 46 %

Which is the value am going to insert in GPS gain.


@SteveG: if in MKTool you read good values from the MK3 (away from magnetic fields) then probably the problems are due to an incorrect GPS gain value. When i put it at 255 with the knob control my MK was wobbling a lot, like a wild mustang!

Return home is also working very very well. Hopefully I'll be able to make a video soon if the weather will improve.
One thing I miss already (appetite comes eating...) is that you can't fix a 'home' point in flight. It's just the place where you started the MK. While this may be effective in most cases sometimes that is not what you want. But after all Holger has shown already one can set a GPS point through bluetooth.....

Well, i hope this helps. Regards and thank you for the help!

Wow - you've been busy ddrake!

I made things a lot easier and simply had a go with the default settings - maybe I'm lucky but they work fantastic for me - rock steady even in slight/moderate wind!

Your calculations to determine a Gain value do seem to make sense so I'm sure it wont be far off - try it and see what the result is like :-)

Hi,
default parameter I had in GPS gain was 100% too much actually.

Ciao

Good work Drake, I'm sure many will benefit from your explanation

Hi. News update!

I've updated firmware to the new versions:
NaviCtrl: 0.12i
Flight Ctrl: 0.71h
MK3MAG: 0.21b
(and MKTool 1.58 of course)

This time I didn't alter any setting. GPS-Gain is 100% and working extremely well!!
Really good performance with default values.

Cheers!

I see that on the new parameters that you can set the 'radius' of the GPS. Surely the GPS ideally should have as small a radius as possible to hold it in that position.

What is the effect of reducing the radius to say - 1 rather than the default setting?

Steve