[uglyduck]

Hey all,
I cant figure out the issue with this for the life of me.  I have a Turnigy 9x (mode 1) with an iA8 AFHDS 2A receiver.  Its set to mode 1 in the firmware.  I setup the radio in OP config according to instructions and the right stick (mode 1) is assigned correctly to throttle, up/down (chan 3) and steering, left/right (chan 1).  OP config see's them correctly however when I operate the tank the controls are swapped.  Up/down controls steering and left/right the throttle.  This is further confirmed because when I change the forward and reverse speed under the "limit driving speed" menu the tank turns slower in neutral steer.  Also, changing the max neutral turn speed affects the forward/reverse speed.

I tried swapping the channel order and can control the tank properly but then the settings under driving then don't behave correctly because they're inverted as described above.  The tings for Forward/reverse speed is affected by "max neutral turn speed" settings and vise versa. 

I suspect this is a tx setting issue but I'm new to the 9x (and modern RC in general).  The model type in the radio is set to "acro".  The receiver is correctly connected to the ibus/ppm/non-inverted serial port on the OP board.  I did swap it to the sbus port and the tank behaves in the same manner with no changes made to the transmitter.  The tx is also set to PPM under the "MODULAT" menu and PPM i-bus under the "output select" menu. I also swapped the tx settings to PWM and the tank has a mind of its own.  The motors run without any tx input.

I should also mention that I'm using the Hobby King xcar 45A ESC's and both are programmed to "Crawler" mode.  OP config is set to Tank (Dual drive motors), RC Output, and I'm using the built-in drivers for turret elevation/traverse.  Also, the red positive pin on the ESC's was removed as indicated in the wiki.

I'm hoping that I don't need to flash ER9x (although I may want to anyway) so i can change the channel order on the tx by swapping Chan 1 and 3 so it doesn't affect the OP config settings.

Any insight is appreciated.

[LukeZ]

This is a strange set of symptoms, but everything else seems to be working as it should, so I suspect the problem is ultimately something very simple. My best guess is that you need to swap the polarity of your motor wires where they connect to the ESCs.

Just to be sure, I would recommend first performing the radio setup routine once more, in case your settings were not saved to the TCB or were overwritten accidentally. When you perform Radio setup, make sure the each stick not only controls the correct channel that you intend it to, but that when you move the stick up, for example, that OP Config confirms "Forward", or that when you move the stick right, OP Config confirms "Right." If it doesn't, then re-order the channels in OP Config, or check the "Reverse" checkbox, until OP Config confirms the exact behavior that you expect.

When you complete Radio Setup watch the status bar at the bottom of the screen to be sure the settings are written to the TCB.

Now confirm again that you have the left motor ESC plugged into RC Output 1 on the TCB, and the right motor ESC plugged into RC Output 2 on the TCB. I have gotten myself confused before because the motor that drives the right gearbox for example is facing to the left, so it doesn't hurt to double-check you have it right.

Now give it a test. Push the stick forward without any turning. Both tracks should move in the forward direction. If they don't, swap the polarity of the motor where it connects to the ESC (don't swap the ESCs themselves). I think this will fix your problem, but if not, post back and let us know.

[uglyduck]

Did as suggested Luke and resolved the issue.  I believe my left and right ESC's were swapped although I can't be sure that was the cause because I also setup the radio again and made sure it wrote to the OP after selecting "done reading".  Regardless, one of those suggestions did the trick and the tank is performing as expected now.

I'll also note that before I setup the radio again I swapped the polarity from the ESC's to the motors and the channels were still swapped.

The ability to manipulate the tanks behavior is simply awesome.  You can really tune it to achieve the look and feel of the real thing.

[LukeZ]

Great, thanks for reporting back. Nine times out of ten, it's something simple like this.

I'm glad you like the customizations and driving characteristics. Jerky and unrealistic driving was what bothered me the most when I first got started in tanks, and was the original reason I decided to make my own control board.

[uglyduck]

A quick update.  I swapped a gearboxes on this model and had the same issue in the OP.  All connections checked out from the TCB to the ESC and then the motors.  I swapped the polarity of the motor that wasn't behaving as expected and the issue resolved.

[LukeZ]

Thanks for the comment. Maybe I need to make this more clear in the Wiki, but the process is always to get your radio stick directions mapped correctly in Radio Setup first. After that, swap polarity on your motors so the tank moves in the correct direction.

I think some people have an issue because they do the opposite - they note which way the motors turn after install, then try to change their radio so it will work. This is backwards and can lead to problems.