New build motion control question

[Doug McEwan]

Hi All
I am new to armortek kits
Building p3
I cant get motion control unit to work
24 v system is good, green light on on ext start module but no light on in receiver and read zero volts on receiver leads from motion unit.
I have confirmed receiver bound and functioning with other power source and servo( spektrum dx 6e system)
Set up as per manual, nothing changed
Is there a trick to powering up receiver connections?
Could there be a blown fuse?
Has anyone ever seen a malfunctioning motion unit??? Unlikely I know
Any suggestions appreciated
Cheers
Doug

[Adrian Harris]

Hi Doug, and welcome to the forum.

There are four fuses inside the MCM (1 x 5A, 2 x 10A & 1 x 60A) but even with all four removed, mine still powers the receiver, so I doubt it's a blown fuse.

Looks like you have a faulty unit

Adrian.

[Doug McEwan]

Thanks Adrian
Ill contact sales about sending back for testing
Doug

[Pete Nash]

Hi Doug

Welcome to the Armortek fraternity.

You don't say whether you have experience with other radio control models so please forgive me if I treat you as not having any.

First thing is, after checking fuses, have you got the receiver connection the correct way round. The loom has three wires; Positive, Negative , and Control. The latter is the White wire. You may have connected it to the receiver 180 degrees out.
Also if you put the receiver wires into the motion module one pin out , i.e. too high or too low you can blow the fuses. 'like what I did'

Usually the Receiver gets its power via the Throttle connection, though it can vary from set up to set up The Armortek module can power the receiver from the 'Track' control leads. So it may be necessary to spend hours of frustrating hair tearing hours until you get it working the way YOU want.

Transmitters BASICALLY work in two modes Mode 1 and Mode 2, for aircraft and drones.
Mode 1 is simply Left stick forward and back for Throttle, sideways for Roll , Right Stick forward and back for elevator, left and right for rudder. Us in the model boat world use this mode for prop and rudder.
Mode Two is the other way round.

So what you need to do is have the Left Stick and Right Stick controlling your tracks forward and back wards. Turning is by moving one stick forward and the other back.
Therefore in theory you'll have left track in Receiver 'throttle' connected to Input 1 on the Motion control Module. This may be marked '1' on some receivers. This should also power your Receiver.
After that it is trial and error until you get the set up you want. One tip though, put a bit of masking tape with the function on the control leads and a note of where you have put them in the receiver.

I use a totally different transmitter, A EXmitter EX-6. (£50 from Howes Models) For that;-
Throttle controls Gun Elevation (left stick)
Roll controls the Left Track (right stick)
Pitch controls Right Track (Right stick)
Yaw controls Turret Turn (left stick)
Sound is Aux 1, Channel 5, a three position switch. If your sound does not work as advertised (like it doesn't on this transmitter) try selecting the sound by reversing the switch action, i.e. when the instruction says move it TOWARDS YOU, move it AWAY.
That transmitter has a 'Mix' function which combines Roll and Pitch so that forward, backward and Turns are all controlled from the Right Stick
Hope that is not as clear as mud.

regards

Pete

[Mark Heaps]

I am sure I saw a post somewhat similar somewhere on the forum but I cannot find it now.
It did list the Armortek wiring colours and the corresponding Futaba and Spektrum colours / connections.
If I remember rightly, it did mention that one brand of receiver was difficult to connect correctly as the easy way they slid in meant they were reverse connected. You either had to force them in or chamfer the connectors.
Maybe someone remembers the post I am thinking of and knows where to find it. Maybe it has a bearing on this fault.

[Adrian Harris]

One of mine:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7225

The problem is the Armortek plugs don't easily fit into receivers which expect a chamfer.

If Doug has found no 5V power being supplied on the receiver leads then how it is connected is a moot point.

Adrian.

[Mark Heaps]

Thank you Adrian Harris,
That is the thread I was thinking of.
Just because the OP was not able to measure the 5V does not mean that it is not there. His voltmeter probes may be too thick to make contact with the plug. I work in the testing department for a firm producing electronic modules and we regularly experience that problem and have to resort to other means, like cutting the leg off a resistor and poking it into the connector.
Mark

[Doug McEwan]

Hi All
Thanks for all the information.
I sent the unit back to armortek and they kindly replaced it, bit of a delay discussing as I am in Australia so a bit of parcel delivery time.

Now this is another odd thing.Finally tried to install motion.
New unit powers up and I read correct voltage,spektrum dx6e is bound and working.I have set up spektrum for single stick using mode 2 and right stick to control motion. Using profile for aircraft,wing type elevon-b and confirmed mode 2 and 22ms.

Oddly,forward works with both wheels but when I try reverse I see the led lablled d4 illuminate but get no reverse motion on right side( as from behind model),do see reverse motion on left wheel.

I dug out an old 40mhz radio and receiver and hooked it up and confirmed that rc input 3 on armortek motion control unit works but rc input 4 only gives forward movement on reverse I see that led light up and no reverse wheel motion.

I apologise if I have not stated the issue clearly enough.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions

I am certainly a novice and any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

[Stephen White]

Doug

Sounds as though you're close and that you've done all the essential things in setup. The track behaviour should be reflected in the correct indications on the Servo Setup screen (Press the roller, select Servo Setup). You should see a visual representation of the servo travel (which in this case is controlling the speed controllers rather than a servo). You should see the channels (from the top) as Thr, RAL, LAL, RUD.

RAL and LAL control your tracks. With the right stick in the 12 o'clock position, you should see the RAL bar move to the right and LAL to the left (and vice versa for the 6 o'clock position). At the 9 o'clock position, both RAL and LAL should move to the right. If you'e getting these indications, you're set up correctly and it's possibly just a trim issue. If not, ie the tracks aren't responding in the correct sense, you'll need to experiment with servo reverse to get the tracks and stick responding correctly. It doesn't sound as though this is a problem and it's more likely to be trim. All of this is explained in the Knowledge Base, here:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... 45c254d906

If trim is the issue, you can try a simple test. With the tank jacked up, apply a small movement of the stick towards 12 o'clock. Both tracks should move at the same time and at the same speed. If not, you'll need to use the trim controls to correct. Once you've balanced the track movement, you can fix the trim position by using the Sub-Trim menu in Servo-Setup.

Trim will sort out minor imbalance. If that doesn't cure the problem, someone here might offer another solution or it may be (unlikely) an issue with your Motion Modules.

I hope this sorts it out, looking at your issue from a distance.

Stephen

[Shaun Hunt]

Hi Doug,

Sounds like a similar issue i had with my Tiger 1, although I only noticed it when doing turns. It appeared to work ok in forward and reverse straight Line but when doing turns the D4 led would light up.

LED D4 is the over current LED

If your right motor is hooked up to speed control 3 this is the switched 60AMP / 5AMP control.
On my unit (the latest motion control unit) it looks like the 5AMP setting is when the DIP switch is in the off position (DIP4 if i remember correctly) when i flipped it to the up position ON I no longer have the over current LED light and the tiger now turns correctly.


I cannot think why you get forward but not backward unless there is some binding / resistance when the right track is going backwards.

Hope this helps you track down the problem.

photo is of my unit switch positions (sorry for the quality it was taken with the unit deep in the tank) DIP1 and 4 are on, DIP2 and 3 are off. DIP1 is for my radio setting.

Regards Shaun