Blade 350 QX from Horizon

Hey MWM,

Ok, moved on to V3 firmware, thinking this could help. found you post with your .ini file which I installed on my DEVO 12s.

Still no gimbal response, but the rest seems to be working well. Apart of engine start, Flick RUD D/R up like it used to be makes a 3 beep sound, but then this sound plays again immediately (inverted) and engines do not start.

In between, I have bought another satellite receiver to try with, and I'm hoping this will work.

Thanks for your help !
Joe

Hi all,

Moved back to firmware V2, and re-installed the .ini file that is on page 3 of this topic.

Works fine for everything, but not the gimbal.

From inside 350 QX V1 running firmware 2.0, it goes with 2 wires connector to gimbal, and DSM2 compatible Satellite receiver goes to the only port it can go in, the receiver port.

Putting the Volt meter on it with power on from 350 QX mainboard, it shows 3.20 volts. It goes to 3.21 when I flick MIX 0 to MIX 1, and no reaction if I move AUX 5 or AUX 4

Question : 3.20 Volts is quite low isn't it ??

Thanks to you all
Joe

UPDATE

I have plugged a external receiver AR500 into the 350 QX mainboard. From this receiver, I go into the 3 wire plug (middle port bottom).

Then bind with a spektrum radio, cut red wire and power all the things on. Gimbal is working when I move the aileron stick.

So, I'm about to buy a spektrum AR6210 Ultralite, plug it into the mainboard and then into the middle port of the gimbal, hoping this will work.

I suspect the orange RX to be not responding to Ch7 and this is the cause of all problems.

Joe

I hate to tell you this, but the AR6210 going to be problematical. It's a six-channel RX, and the 350QX V2 firmware uses all six channels. You might be able to use the RTH channel, but will need to limit the gimbal control to the range below what turns on RTH mode - and expect the gimbal to go odd when you hit RTH. This is why the V3 firmware - that moved RTH to the flight mode channel - was such a big deal.

The second issue will be getting everything connected. Spektrum only supports the AR7000 (or maybe it was the AR7100) DSM2 Rx for having both connected at once. I don't know if anyone is using any DMSX Rx. I've used an OrangeRx R600 and an LemonRx 8-channel Rx - both DSM2 - for this. But this is why they recommend a satellite.

Even then, the QX1 V1 & V2 firmware was really noisy during the connection - so much so that thing wouldn't connect properly. Not sure if the V3 firmware has this problem, or if it's even fixable in firmware. One solution is to put a switch in the power line to the second Rx or satellite, and then turn it on after the 350QX starts up and connects. I recall having to use the deviationTx "Bind" facility in the model setup page to get things working propelry, but it's been a while since I've used this.

My long-term solution is to stop using the 350QX as an aerial camera, and go to a 525 size kit. If you really want to stay with the 350QX, the best option seems to be to use a Taranis Rx (OpenTx and deviationTx seem to share some DNA) and then use a DSM module for the 350QX and the internal FrSky radio and a FrSky Rx to conrtrol the gimbal.

I've got a couple 8s, 10, and two 350 qx, few other multirotors. One 350QX v1, while running the 2013 model.ini, also with this 2015.ini prior in this thread, I am unable to initiate the QX calibration protocols on bind.

Yaw left at bind is supposed to enter Mag cal. Yaw right the pressure sensor.

Who knows why, but one day one of my 350qx, while doing my typical hover, right, left stick checkouts at about 5 ft, suddenly flipped over and augured. It was bizarre to see after 30-40 nominal flights.

This bird is now 'spastic'. Always wants to flip over, and the inertials do not seem quite right, when holding and powered up with low RPM, and forcing rolls by hand, motor sequence doesn't seem 'balanced' . As test, forcing an induced pitch oscillation & holding the landing gear & powered up you can get a feel the flight control & accels are responding properly..

When using the sticky throttle arm/disarm, if the arm button is up, looking at the channel monitor, the Yaw right or left appears to be correct at bind, but bird does not enter cal mode. binds fine, but always goes into GPS lock, not cal.

Any ideas on how to do cal, with this firmware and model.ini ?

gonna grab a spektrum radio tomorrow, try the basic bare bone method.

by the way, as an aside. I find stable mode is critical if you try to pull photos in high wind. I fly in 17-22mph, tough by hand . to shoot kite surfing, min wind velocity is about 15-16. Pull out a windmeter and check what you fly as 'windy'. Most folks do not appreciate how hard 20mph sustained is really like, unless they are a kiter or hardcore slope soar type. GPS 'dumb mode' is pretty aggressive at correcting wind & gusts seems to work OK, not great. Still risky proposition. hoping for larger & more stable in the future, but this one is good for just go fly (perhaps, get the APM, Y6, 600+ class on the bench running).

thanks in advance for any suggestions on calibrations & resets.
great thread, very good info. appreciate other's sharing experiences.

I've always had problems with the Blade bind modes and deviationTx. I eventually bought a Dx5e for doing this kind of thing, and also testing aircraft behavior. It's not programmable, so I can't screw up the programming on it. And the HH tech support people are a lot more helpful if I tell them I'm using a Dx5e than they are if I tell them I'm using a Walkera Devo 10.

Anyway, the only way I've managed to get these things to work is to make sure all the magic stuff is off. Not in low rate modes, and have the combined FC Iniit/TH switch in "flight" mode at bind time. Otherwise, the channel output isn't right, so it won't see the values it needs to bind in the alternate mode.

If that doesn't work, getting a Blade Tx and trying it is the next step. After that, call HH, but have the Blade Tx around if they need you to use it.

Final note: consider upgrading to the V2 firmware, if not V3. V2 adds an AP mode that is nicer than Stable mode for aerial photography, but without screwing up the controls the way that the "Smart" mode does. If you go to V3, that moves the RTH setting to the flight mode channel, freeing up a channel for use with a gimbal if you're doing that.

Hi,

Just want to share my QX3 ( Firmware V3) no-nonsense config. There is no magic curves or six layers of mixers, all straight forward. One switch one function.
Written from scratch with new values for FW 3.0.

RUD DR is your THR hold (-130). It will init FC (start motors) using new sequence (sticks down-in) if going from RUD DR0-1. RUD DR1-0 will kill motors at any time as it set THR to -130.

GEAR 1 is RTH, always. GEAR 0 will return you to whatever mode is selected by FMOD.

FMOD0 - Purple - AP mode ( wilt gps position hold and throttle controlling alt)
FMOD1 - Blue - Stability mode to fly around for fun or FPV
FMOD2 - Red - Agility mode to do loops, flips etc.

AIL DR 0 - 20% EXP and 80% travel just in case agility mode is too scary or you don't want to go inverted.
AIL DR 1 - 20% EXP and 100% travel

ELE DR switch reset flight timer which runs if THR is applied.

Safety is THR0 and Gear0 as you don't want them while init motors =)

Known limitations: you can NOT enter calibration modes on this config. Not that I ever needed it. You can do it via PC if desired anyway.

Hi, can anyone help me to the setup of my devo 7e? My quadcopter is a blade 350 qx2..
I have already installed deviantion firmware.

Rom,
Hate to tell you but the Devo 7e is severely lacking in the switches department for something like the Blade 350qx, I replaced my 7e with a Devo 10 and it was the best decision I could have made. I use the Devo 10 for all my mini quads, helis, and the blade 200qx and 350 qx. Also I never trusted the range of the 7e even after the range mod, I would hate to auger in one of my blades for the price for a $120 radio. VVS has written a nice file for the Blade 350QX3 and it works great with a Devo 10.
Best of luck!

vvs wrote: Hi,

Just want to share my QX3 ( Firmware V3) no-nonsense config. There is no magic curves or six layers of mixers, all straight forward. One switch one function.
Written from scratch with new values for FW 3.0.

RUD DR is your THR hold (-130). It will init FC (start motors) using new sequence (sticks down-in) if going from RUD DR0-1. RUD DR1-0 will kill motors at any time as it set THR to -130.

GEAR 1 is RTH, always. GEAR 0 will return you to whatever mode is selected by FMOD.

FMOD0 - Purple - AP mode ( wilt gps position hold and throttle controlling alt)
FMOD1 - Blue - Stability mode to fly around for fun or FPV
FMOD2 - Red - Agility mode to do loops, flips etc.

AIL DR 0 - 20% EXP and 80% travel just in case agility mode is too scary or you don't want to go inverted.
AIL DR 1 - 20% EXP and 100% travel

ELE DR switch reset flight timer which runs if THR is applied.

Safety is THR0 and Gear0 as you don't want them while init motors =)

Known limitations: you can NOT enter calibration modes on this config. Not that I ever needed it. You can do it via PC if desired anyway.

VVS,
Thanks for the file it works great with my Devo 10! I have made some minor tweaks to fit my flying style but all in all I was surprised that everything works as it should. One question, does the quad seem a little lazy especially in the Aileron department. I have made sure that I have the Ail switch in the high rates or 100%mode but it just doesn't perform quite as well as my 200Qx, maybe it is to be expected from such a big quad. So my question is can the rates be set to 125% to make the quad turn better? In blue mode are you limited to 100% because of the preset bank limitations of that mode? Is it possible to set scalar=125?
Thanks

NinerRider wrote: Rom,
Hate to tell you but the Devo 7e is severely lacking in the switches department for something like the Blade 350qx, I replaced my 7e with a Devo 10 and it was the best decision I could have made. I use the Devo 10 for all my mini quads, helis, and the blade 200qx and 350 qx. Also I never trusted the range of the 7e even after the range mod, I would hate to auger in one of my blades for the price for a $120 radio. VVS has written a nice file for the Blade 350QX3 and it works great with a Devo 10.
Best of luck!

I am asking the same as Ron did, but I have added 2 3 way switches ans I would like one of them to be for flight modes but I am lost trying to set it up. I tried programing it in the devo7e by copying from channel 5 to SWA but it didnt work and then tried copying the text in the model.ini but that got messy too.

I'm in need of assistance. I appreciate it very much. I've gotten this far so now I just need to set it up so I can finally get to use it.

I have a DX5e but when I upgraded the QX2 firmware, it no longer gels with it so my Devo7 with the 2 way switches has got to be the answer here.

I wonder why no one will help me with this. Maybe if i say please. Please!!!

trying to figure this out

Seven5555 wrote: I wonder why no one will help me with this. Maybe if i say please. Please!!!

Try being patient. Most people don't read this forum even once a day.

Anyway, the fix isn't to copy channel five to SWA, but to change the places where the switches on the 10 are used to use the 7e switches. All those places, as they may well show up in more than one. Also, make sure you have a model file for the right firmware version, as Blade changed the behavior of the flight mode stuff on each version.

mwm wrote:

Seven5555 wrote: I wonder why no one will help me with this. Maybe if i say please. Please!!!

Try being patient. Most people don't read this forum even once a day.

Anyway, the fix isn't to copy channel five to SWA, but to change the places where the switches on the 10 are used to use the 7e switches. All those places, as they may well show up in more than one. Also, make sure you have a model file for the right firmware version, as Blade changed the behavior of the flight mode stuff on each version.

Thank you very much for responding. I'm not very good at public speaking. I have posted things that never get answered, I am sorry about my frustration, I am having a tough time with this. I don't really understand what youre saying to do with the switches in the ini. I just want the 3 way switches to do what the QX2 (with the latest firmware) needs them to do. Like the modes switch, how do i get my 3 way switch to handle modes?

@MWM using the model4.ini from above left by ws, I edited channel 5, I changed the FMODEO, 1, 2 to SW A0, 1, 2, So, now when I use the 3 way switch, the QX2 shows a solid purple (AP), solid blue (Stability) and rapid red with beeps(return home). Am I getting somewhere?

I cannot get it to arm or intialize, what does this mean?
"RUD DR is your THR hold (-130). It will init FC (start motors) using new sequence (sticks down-in) if going from RUD DR0-1. RUD DR1-0 will kill motors at any time as it set THR to -130.."

The QX is a thing, not a person - it doesn't want anything. What you need is for the QX to do what you want it to a with each switch setting. This matters, because what you want is important, and the config will change depending on what you want. For instance, I have no use for AP mode, so my config doesn't use it. You may want something else.

Yes, you are getting somewhere. With the latest firmware, all the flight modes are on channel 5, so that mix and the channel settings should be sufficient. You need to change the offset on the three mixers to get the values you want for channel. Those are explained in the PDF you can get at www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=698573 .

RUD DR is used to start and shut down the quad. Moving the switch from the 0 position to the 1 position will start the quad motors. Going the other way will shut it off. You can use this instead of the stick dance that blade uses.

mwm wrote: The QX is a thing, not a person - it doesn't want anything. What you need is for the QX to do what you want it to a with each switch setting. This matters, because what you want is important, and the config will change depending on what you want. For instance, I have no use for AP mode, so my config doesn't use it. You may want something else.

Yes, you are getting somewhere. With the latest firmware, all the flight modes are on channel 5, so that mix and the channel settings should be sufficient. You need to change the offset on the three mixers to get the values you want for channel. Those are explained in the PDF you can get at www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=698573 .

RUD DR is used to start and shut down the quad. Moving the switch from the 0 position to the 1 position will start the quad motors. Going the other way will shut it off. You can use this instead of the stick dance that blade uses.

I'm sorry but I dont understand what change offset is but I will read the modes document and I dont know where RUD DR is or how to make it spin props. non of the switches do that and neither does stick dancing. It just flashes and beeps like it has for months. It would be nice to fly it or anything.

Thank you for responding. I appreciate it.

You have a 7e, not a 10. The 7e doesn't have a RUD DR switch. If you want that functionality, you'll have to fix that switch as well.

You should be able to init the quad with the standard stick dance.

mwm wrote: You have a 7e, not a 10. The 7e doesn't have a RUD DR switch. If you want that functionality, you'll have to fix that switch as well.

You should be able to init the quad with the standard stick dance.

So can I replace RUD DR with HOLD0, 1 or FMOD0, 1 in the ini to make a Arm switch?