I am about to throw the Tricopter in the fire!!!

[DHG500]

On march 20th this year I bought the stadard setup Tricopter V4 with electronics set to go make aerial video’s on my coming Iceland trip.
Assembly turned out easy with the perfect video tutorial.
Setting up the flight controller in combination with my Tx and Rx (Graupner MX-12 with a GR-12) not so.

Cleanflight was also easily installed, a connection quickly made and the latest system software flashed on the FC.

After many hours (over 50 hrs!) I was able to set the connection between Tx and Rx and see the stick-response on the Receiver TAB on the Cleanflight navigation.
I never reached the point where I was able to arm / disarm the motors and get them to spin. Nor was I able to provoke any reaction from the tilting tail rotor servo.

I have posted several questions on this forum which gave hardly any solutions,
My vacation is coming up quickly and I am left with a rather costly non-functional tricopter.

Anyone out there able to help me through the setup of this configuration (step-by-step)??

HELP!!!!

[BranBepic]

I shall help you fine sir, what is the step you are at now?! Have you set a switch to disarm and arm yet?!Have you set the proper tilt for the tail motor yet?! Are the stick ends set to 1000 min and 2000 max in the Reciever TAB
Please make sure the props are off don’t want to be making you ugly lol
I am logged into my phone to respond quickly as well

[DHG500]

I did indeed program a Switch (AUX1) to Arm the motors. I have set the right readings for the switch to arm / disarm the motors. On the Receiver TAB the right reading was 1150 and I’ve set it for readings in between 1000 en 1250 so should react alright.

I hav not been able to set/calibrate the tilt. Currently there is no tilting reaction at all (connected nor disconnected servo to hinged motor).

And yes, props are still in their bag.

Thanks for your input!

[GAntonjo]

Good morning.
I see you state that you installed the CleanFlight to the Flight Controller. Please be aware that you should install the TriFlight version instead, as this is tailor made for the RCExplorer tricopters. I guess you have followed the TriFlight video down at https://rcexplorer.se/product/tricopter-v3-kit/ ?

Just for the record, it is the F3FC Flight Controller you have, right?

[DHG500]

Hi @GAntonjo,

thanks for your reply last year. I missed out on the opportunity to prepare the tricopter and make any flights in Iceland so I totally lost faith in ever flying this thing.
Now a year later I am willing to give it another try. I hope you still want to support me 😉 .

I do indeed have the F3FC controller and I flashed it with CLFL_v2.3.2 – RCEXPLORERF3 – 22-04-2018. You mention the Triflight software to install on the FC. There you’ve lost me. Where do I find this and should I install this instead of v.2.3.2 as mentioned above?

Looking for this, I found https://www.patreon.com/triflight Should I use this? And if so, do I just flash this HEX file (with use of cleanflight U.I.) as I did with v2.3.2?

Kind regards for your reply!

[jihlein]

First, don’t throw it in the fire, it’s one of the best, if not the best, flying copters I own.

Second, I’m of the opinion that the triflight routines are not 100% necessary on the V4. I have a V4, and a Fortis airframes Titan Tri, both of which are almost identical in size. One flies with triflight, the other does not. I can’t tell the difference between the two.

For triflight, you will need the feedback equipped servo.

I’m not sure how many users use the MX-12/GR-12 combination, and from your description, it sounds like the issue is getting that setup correctly with the flight controller. I may be able to get access to that combo, need to check.

As far as firmware goes, given the F3 controller, you may have to look for a slightly older versions of the more popular firmwares, one that will fit in the F3’s memory space and not over tax it’s throughput. Betaflight and iNav come to mind here. The BetaFlight modified version with triflight would also work here.
The version of dRonin posted in the installer sticky will also work on the F3Fc, and supports the Graupner protocols, although I have never tried setting it up with a Graupner radio. It also has the triflight routines. Be aware dRonin configures quite differently from the *Flight firmwares, it’s not any harder, just different. I use it on an F3Fc Racing board on an RCE Baby Tri, and my V4 with a Matek405Std.

In the end, pick the firmware your most comfortable with. I’ll see about getting my hands on that Graupner radio and try to become familiar with it. May take a week or so, have a week of business travel scheduled.

[DHG500]

Hi @Jihlein,

don’t worry. I am aware that this tricopter has great potential. I was just extremely fed up and dissatisfied I could/can not (yet) unleish this potential (and therefore missed great filming opportunities in Iceland).

I’ve discovered (as you did) that my MX-12/GR-12 combo is rarely used for multicopters.
But then again, I do not intend to fly FPV nor race this drone and this 6 channel TX/RX setup with telemetry options should fill the bill perfectly.

I am about to explore the options with Triflight (I just flashed this firmware to the FC and will test this firmware with my Tx connected and a flightbattery aboard.

The dRonin is option C. As long as I can find enough storage on my laptop I will try to persevere.

Speaking of storage, you mention the maximum flash memory. According to this datasheet (https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32f303cc.html) this processor holds 128 to 256 Kb flash memory. I’ll keep that in mind, looking for appropriate firmware…..

I’ll keep you informed on progress and really appreciate any suggestions and/or reactions!

[Author]

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