Genius cp will not stay up for long

[Intheway]

I guess we need a Devo expert. Since he has 2 birds (1 with a new motor and one out of the box new) that do exactly the same thing with known good (new) batteries, I would have to conclude that the Devo is the only thing in common that could cause this but I can't imagine what it would be. Maybe the pitch curve is too steep? I have my pitch curve set to:
L=0
1=0
2,M,3,4=All set to "Inhibit"
H=+60

My Throttle Curve is:
0=0
1=Inhibit
2=80%
M=Inhibit
3=Inhibit
4=Inhibit
H=90%

I'm sure there are better curves out there but this works for me and I'm still (embarrassed) using stock Walkera batteries too.
I guess it would help if jb 1024 could list the curves he is currently using. This may help figure out what is going on. jb said that it acts like it has too much pitch so it could be the P-C.

On a side note...
Thanks for the details on 6x jonbailie. Sounds like it draws a fair amount more current with everything that goes on by all the servo movement etc. You mentioned about 3 minutes in 6x. How much more time do you get in 3x assuming that you are just doing the sort of hovering you do in 6x? Sounds like it is significant.

[jb1024]

Intheway your exactly right it kinda frustrates me as a beginner to end up with problems like this thought buying another heli would solve the problem but appearntly not i just wanna say thanks to you all for helping me you guys are the ones that make me want to stay in the hobby and not give up I can't even express how grateful I am that you guys are here to help beginners like me thank you

[jb1024]

I have my pitch curves set to the ones. Jonbaile posted on this thread

[jb1024]

The only settings I can remember That didn't have this problem was the ones that came pre programmed in my radio with my genius cp ovcourse I accidentally erased these setting and have had this problem ever since and btw I don't no if this helps but I haven't been using fixed id I've just been using auto bind thanks every one

[Heli-opolis]

I just checked Walkera's site and although they usually have manuals, with settings included, for most if not all the helis they currently sell, I can't seem to access them from their web site. The little 'waiting' spinner just spins forever not loading the list of manuals. :-(

Is anyone else able to access and download from the selection of manuals?

[5488fletcher]

If your flying outdoors in the cold this will happen even with batteries that are prewarmed in your pocket .

[jonbailie]

Fixed id wouldn't cause this, at least I'm pretty sure it wouldn't.

Did you erase your entire model? Or just the pitch curves? Maybe you can find someone or somewhere to copy/transfer a model settings file into your devo. Maybe if you got the entire thing, you could get this problem solved.

[Intheway]

Originally Posted by jb1024

I have my pitch curves set to the ones. Jonbaile posted on this thread

Keep in mind Jon has a different (2810 pro) radio, so the 5 values he gave you were meant for a radio like that. The Devo has 7 values, so I'm wondering what you did to translate that to your Devo. Plus, I looked over this thread and unless I missed it he only gave you a "Throttle Curve" and not a "Pitch Curve". With that in mind, lets get your current settings for both the pitch and throttle curves.
To do this you have to:
Turn on the Devo, go into the "Function Menu" and select the "Throttle Curve" Icon.

At this point be sure to set the toggle-switches on the Devo such that throttle hold is 'off' (necessary to run the motor on the bird) and the 'Flight Mode' switch is also set to FM=0 on that toggle switch. This is the mode where you hover and do no stunts etc.
Back to the Throttle Curve menu...
Mode should be set to Exp. off.
This is where it gets somewhat tricky. There may be a better way, but I haven't found it. You should see a graphic with your throttle curve, and then an item called "Point". This refers to the various 'points' that will control the speed of the main motor. Changing the points changes the look of the curve you see. If you click on the >> next to "Point" it will replace the graphic curve with the list where you can set your 'points' to control the motor speed as you move that collective stick (throttle/rudder) up. To see what your settings are, you must 'click' or tap on each individual 'point' and the actual VALUE that you have set for that point on the stick will show up on the bottom of the display where it says "Output" since this is what will be output to the motor to change its speed. Each time you tap on a 'point' (L,1,2,M,3,4 or H) the display will go back to the graph and the "Output" value for that point will show up in the "Output" block and the arrows on either side let you tweak it. If you look at the curves I posted in this thread you will also see that I have a number of "Inhibit" statements listed. The inhibit function just makes it easier to create various curves. When you tell the radio to 'Inhibit' a point, it will simply make a line (linear) from the last point in the list you actually defined (didn't inhibit) to the next point that you don't have inhibited. If you wanted a linear curve from -100% to +100% you would only need to enter -100% for point "L" and then inhibit (using the “Status” block to turn inhibit on or off for that point) points 1,2,M,3 and 4. Then you enter +100% for point “H” and it will draw a nice diagonal line for your curve. DON’T DO THIS! I meant this as an example to describe how that works. All I would like you to do now, is use these instructions to give us the “OUTPUT” values you have for each of the 7 “points” in BOTH the Throttle Curve menu and the Pitch Curve menu. I think this will probably lead us to the fix if you can do this.
Thanks for working with us, and I’m sure I speak for all the HF members when I say that we enjoy helping each other, sharing ideas and informing each other on stuff. They even let people like me who barely know what I’m doing myself, help people like you that are going through the same problems I had a year or so ago with my first mcpx.
It’s all good.

[Intheway]

Sorry... I blew it. I thought you had a Devo 6 or 8. The 7 doesn't have the touch screen and is a completely different xmitter. Ignore my last post. Sorry about that. I'll grab a Devo-7 manual though and see if I can find some similar instructions but for the correct radio this time.
My bad.

[jb1024]

Ya devo 7 doesn't have the graphs and all the bells and whistles the 6 8 and 12 have

[jb1024]

Inthe way I will try the throttle and pitc h curves you mentioned above

[Intheway]

Worth a try. I'm downloading the manual so I have it as a reference. If you haven't already, I recommend printing a Devo-7 manual so you have it not only as a reference, but you can write notes in it as you learn the tricks and traps of the radio and its settings. Manuals are available on the Walkera China site under the download section. Select page 19 of 20 to find the Devo-7 transmitter manual. This is a good time of day to download it if you haven't already.
Keep us posted and good luck with the different curves.

[Heli-opolis]

Here's something totally off the wall...

Is it possible that the battery connection isn't all that good creating a high-resistance connection leaving less current for the motor so that when it starts drawing the juice, there isn't enough current available?

One way to check would be to measure the voltage at the battery side of the connection and then measure at the RX and see how much of a difference there is.

I don't know how feasible that is with the Genius, not having one myself, but if the battery connection is crap, the power available will be less.

Here's a question for you jb1024, are you still using the stock battery connections or have they been upgraded to Micro-Deans or the like?

I don't know what the chances of this being the problem is but I do know that a poor battery connection will cause a loss of power when it is needed the most.

[Intheway]

Off topic a bit (again) but I just ran a test using the same stock Walkera 200 mAh battery in both 3x and 6x modes on my bird. This test was indoors and I just hovered it in a 5' area until shut-down and I got the same times (3:50 (aprox.)) in both modes. I'm sure in the wind or anything (including on-board vibrations) can have an effect on this. Not more than +/- 5 seconds difference in a controlled environment with mine.
For what it's worth only. Won't help the issue at hand I'm sure.

[jb1024]

Ya I am using the stock batteries and connectors and i cant get to the walkera downloads page the loading wheel just sits there and spins

[Heli-opolis]

Originally Posted by jb1024

... the loading wheel just sits there and spins

Same happened to me. InTheWay was able to get in last night but said it was not a speedy process by any stretch of the imagination.

More than likely an effect of 'The Great (fire-)Wall of China'.

I've got a server in Shanghai I'll try and slurp down to what manuals I can as that should be quicker. Setting up a crawler to do it though will take some time though.

[Intheway]

Originally Posted by Heli-opolis

I just checked Walkera's site and although they usually have manuals, with settings included, for most if not all the helis they currently sell, I can't seem to access them from their web site. The little 'waiting' spinner just spins forever not loading the list of manuals. :-(

Is anyone else able to access and download from the selection of manuals?

The file is almost 20M or I would PM it. One thing to remember. You have to create an id and be logged on in order to access the forums or download area. If I remember correctly it doesn't always tell you this but instead gives you the eternal wheel. Try it again, but be sure you are logged on. You will still get the wheel but once it has loaded the entire page for your browser, it should come up. Then go directly to the page I mentioned and wait for that page to load and you should see the manual.

Good luck. You really want to have this especially since you are new like me. The more you read the more you will begin to start to understand how things tie together. Then, a life-time later and you will be and expert!

[Heli-opolis]

Yep, thought about the logging in part, I had to create an account to download the latest devo-8 firmware and I made sure I was logged in to try to download.

My server though is eternally patient so I'll get it to 'download' them for me.

How can I get better speeds from my server than Walkera can through the Great Firewall?

Wouldn't they like to know.

[Intheway]

You would think the folks in the US that are able to sell Walkera birds or parts would be able to post the Walkera manuals. There may be copyright issues or maybe the web software out there doesn't support it, or it's too much of a hassle to keep them current when the 'new bird a month' company is on a roll. I thought I was able to get some of the manuals for the birds on at least one vendors site way back when.

Anyway, for now I'm looking for anything in the settings that might be a clue but nothing jumps out yet. Strange problem indeed. I'm sure it will be simple after jb 1024 gets things working, but finding that simple thing is always the hard part. Hummmm.

[Heli-opolis]

I saw some manuals on Helipal, explaining the process to upgrade a Devo's firm/software but that's about it. That said, I haven't looked to hard either.

One thing though, it seems that Walkera may come out with new heli's/manuals often but it also seems they don't update anything once its out so it shouldn't be TOO hard to keep up.

As for copyright, we are talking about China, right?

Seriously though, Walkera preventing vendors 'stocking' manuals for their products would seem like taking careful aim at one's foot and blasting away.