Thanks very much for yet another great video. I'm only a year or so into this hobby, and every new FC I try, there you've gone with great videos. I finally got a chance to try my APM 2.8 FC out today, and (with help from your videos) it's just a breeze to setup and fly. I don't know how good the fancy new FCs are, but they've got a pretty high bar to overcome if they're going to best the APM. Retired or not, as you've insisted in this video, the APM is incredibly versatile and stable. I wouldn't hesitate to drop another $80 or so for an APM+M8N GPS. To those lamenting your recent APM purchases, don't beat yourselves up. It's still a great FC.

Man! We love you bro! Your awesome!!!

Thank u very much our teacher

Good information .... thank you!

Thanks! saved me from buying APM ;-) I think I will but a 3.1 board anyway later (as the price drops) and look at piuxhawk after your vid.

Thank you sir for providing us correct information. Thank you.

you are the greatest!!!

One of the Best - Still an excellent choice!

Thank you for the update. I've been using a 2.5 board in my high wing trainer to assist in teaching new pilots at my club. The ability to download the flight data and plot it on Google Earth so they can analyse their mistakes has been invaluable. Like you I don't see any issues as an end user that there'll be no more updates as it works well irrespective of the configuration. The Naza-M V2 hasn't received any updates in over a year but that is still a very popular MR FC. As a tight fisted Yorkshireman I hope that the prices for the 2.X 8bit boards become even more economical as more users migrate over to the 32bit offerings 😉 Regards Nidge

Did open development come about for this board? I managed to get 3.3.1 on my apm 2.6 just the other day...

thanks! i was just planning to buy a apm. this annoucement turns me off though. i go for a pixhawk now.

Good night, gostarria taking a question about updating firmware for APM 2.6, recently installed the version V3.2.1 and my drone virbra enough, is unstable and the time to take off it raises the front and ends up becoming , already broke some propellers and still I could not solve this problem, will be qu u could help me and indicating which firmware version is unstable or if you have any necessary adjustment to the parameters to use the V3.2.1 version?

I want to use an apm 2.8 (because I have it) for servo rudder control on my kontiki (submarine) for taking a fishing line out to sea. Is the gps feature able to be used to control the servo to enable the kontiki to point at a point about 3km out to sea? It won't be used for any other operation, other than turn off at low battery voltage.

me, as a nonpro, I never noticed any difference between various fw versions tbh. I have never even finetuned the apm, i fly it out of the box lol. well... at least they are going to be cheap now haha :D as for the CC3D.... bought one for 15usd from ebay, I installed cleanflight, and added GPS, baro ang mag... I love it!

Thank you

Thanks a lot. I've been fight with the continuously flashing yellow led. Now I just realize that it was all about the 8bits and 32bits. The board can not sustain such huge data flow. And all the problem emerge only I did the upload. And now I just find the mission planner no longer available for the 3.2.1 or any version before this. Thanks for your sharing.

Hi Lee, I'm building an Opterra 2 meter wing and I want to use a MINI APM PRO Flight Controller. Have you covered this one yet? I also want to hook up a Neo-7N GPS.

I have a question hopefully someone can help me out, I have a areosky x350 quadcopter, and I believe my voltage regulator is bad on flight board, the problem is I can find any identified markings or numbers on board to buy a new one and if anyone know how to find one that would help greatly. I can provide photos to anyone that want to see it, My error in flight planner was originally a bad compass sensor, so I bought a new gps/compass then now it says bad gyro health so I reset board and its back to saying bad compass health. I am just so flustered on what to do but measured the voltage going to gps and its like 4.49 volts isnt it suppose to be 3.3 volts which would be a faulty voltage regulator on board?

I'm way behind the power curve... had APM2.5 with GPS/remote compass but smoked the Board, replaced with Arducopter APM2.8 having much trouble finding the Firmware to download (on Mission Planner) AND do I need to upgrade the GPS?

hi. I've just watched your video and now have to ask.. if I let my computer do the update it keeps saying I have will this bugger my apm? or can I select just the latest version that works... I've only just finished my first Octo that I started last year due to illness and I don't want to mess it up. thanks again for all your great videos mate, they have guided me thru from start to finish and I have stuff that flys to my amazement :-)

Going to buy a APM board and set it up on my HobbyKing EPP-FPV mainly for the RTL if I loose video. I will be flying with a spotter our flying clubs rules won't let me otherwise which I totally agree with. Bangood seem to have some good deals but I noticed they have quite a lot of issues on the feedback for various deals on APM's. Wondered what your experience is of them. Are the telemetry transmitter/receiver useful they have with one deal, are they legal in the UK. Thanks for a great channel Keith

I USED APM 2.8 flight controller. Do the need of any programming or upload hex file in flight controllers for make ready to set up by mission planner..?

Help! this is my second APM2.8 (I smoked the first one) where can I get help with getting a (Not Updated) Mission Planner and the Correct Firmware upload for my 2.8? in the Pervious Firmware I don't know which one to load and I've tried several that I thought were right but get errors (especially Compass not calibrated) Which firmware do I need, where can I talk to someone about this? I've never gotten my APM to load or work and I don't want to move on until I can get past load problems

Did anything ever come of the possible separate development of 2.x firmware?

Hi Brother ;) I have had a Ys-x6 for along time and never flown with it. I couldnt get pass the ESC's Calibrations, and in the same time didnt have time enough so I just put it into rest, and now I have a new!!? Apm 2.6 which I am setting up right now, which I was hoping to use for FPV, but you say no to that , where can I find info about it if you have talked about it before !? Thanks

Ok, I'm picking my apm up from the post office tomorrow. When I ordered it I didn't hear about them retiring the copter. Now I'm worried that I can not use it and have a $200 paper weight. Is there any way to still get the older firmware to have it work?

nice video and hv watches ur apm setup videos and i bult one using those..and btw i cant get gps and i ws thinking that 8bit is the problem?

after calibration complete, when i tilt APM right side then mission planner showing it on left . what's the problem?

I have a question. If i buy APM 3.1, can i use it. I check mission planner, they don't update for APM 3.1 anymore

Be aware the Pixhawk too is out of date, since the release of the 3D Robotics Solo. They haven't announced the Pixhawk 2 yet, but we're looking at a multi-core (ARM Cortex) computer now as the flight controller. I follow the APM development closely and it seems they are already talking about the problem of memory limitation on the Pixhawk so as more and more of the new cool 3DR Solo features are added the close the Pixhawk 1 will get to being retired too. As a happy medium, and cheaper alternative to the Pixhawk 2 is the NAVIO+ board from Emlid. You can buy a 30 quid Raspberry Pi 2 which is a 4 core computer and stick this on top, which only costs the same as a Hobby King HKPilot32 Pixhawk clone with GPS anyway (and much cheaper than the 3DR original Pixhawk). Then you have the best of both worlds, the good old 100% compatible Pixhawk (the current stable generation) and enough spare RAM and CPU power to ensure you will not be retired soon. It's a no brainer really, cheaper price for more and future proof. The only negative side of a RasPi2+NAVIO+ compared to a Pixhawk or Pixhawk clone is size of the unit, it's a bit bigger in width and height but not much. I recommend you check it out. Pixhawk is great and I love it, but Pixhawk + RasPi2 is just amazing.

Good morning, my name is Rafael and I am from Spain. I recently bought an apm 2.8 and mistakenly loaded unsupported firmware. Since then it has not connected with mission planner, and when trying to load it by dfu it did not recognize it. Modify the atmel mega 32u2 bootlander and now I can't fix it. Does someone from the bootlander have to install it or if I cannot return the motherboard to the initial configuration?

Hi Painless I have spoken to you before about a 2.5.2 board that I have somehow in error been able to load with Firmware 3.4 and does not work correctly, HK are of no help, is there a video anywhere of how to flash the board with an early version , say 3.2.1 or earlier, nothing in Mission planner shows instructions on loading an earlier version, all my searches have found nothing, hoping you can help, Regards and thanks Geoff.

So the main goal here is to make people buying Pixhawk? It's sad i was hoping one day to try one APM flight controller! Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend

They have now retired the website as well, along with all the reference material. The links now redirect to ardupilot.org and only pixhawk info :(

Hi, is there anyway to get UART1 Rx and Tx pinout from UART0 Rx and Tx in APM 2.8 board? Any video link plz. My GPS port and paths are gone from the board level. So I need those pads out from Telemetry port.

Hi mate, I must say you have one of the very informative KZfaq channel about rc. Just wondering if you can advise about powering the AMP flight controller without 3DR module? I bought the module month ago but due to current situation in Australia, getting delayed. So if you can assist it will be great. Thanks

maybe you know the solution for my problem. i have flashed the new sbus encoder on the apm 2.6 and in mission planner all the channels read the correct value and orientation. when i go to fly and throttle up the quad starts leaning to the right and the only way to stop it from doing it is giving it full stick to the left. all sensors are calibrated en work correct in Mission planner. any ideas?

A nice informative video. Just one comment if I may; you suggest (around 1:30 in) that APM is not for FPV but good for mission and other GPS flight. Curious about that. I don't agree with that as it came across, although you may not have quite meant that. I've several APM and now a Pixhawk that I've used variously for FPV and it works very well indeed. Not FPV Racing in Acro, mind you. That particular game is held by the Naze32 and its cousins in the 32bit world. But, as you say, APM 2.x and 3.x remains a fabulous FC even if now set in amber with ArduCopter 3.2.1 software. Largely bug-free and highly capable. For anyone wanting to try the ArduCopter experience then APM is an increasingly low-cost means to get into flying with an FC that is at the top of the game.

Mission planning/autonomous missions have been in MultiWii for two years now and it works very well. Not as sophisticated as APM, but good basic functionality. I find it strange that these capabilities haven't found their way into the 32 bit derivatives such as baseflight and cleanflight.

That's not good! :/ I just bought one? Will I be able to install the v3.2.1 on the APM from mission planner now that it has been retired? If not then how do I install it? I'm also looking forward to buying another FC. So Naze32 full or MultiWii? Thanks!

Hi. can apm 2.8 use px4flow, if possible, how to connect them?

How can I load the old firmware to my apm 2.6?

Sir can you tell me ihave Apm 2.8 so which firmware is best ever it will bery helpfull for mee please tell me

hello painiess i have a proplem with the apm2.6 every thing is wired right an flys great in stable ,,,in fact it flys an handles fantastic , but when i switch to atl mode or pos hold it starts dropping like the motors are cutting offf //on ,need help i think its in the advanced setting .i might have move something ,an didnt relize it

The only I see with this that the PixHawk is just as expensive as the Naza. The only reason I went with APM is cause of the price saving. Damn it 3DR!

Good day sir, im having problem with my ardupilot, can you please help me. My friend gave me a apm 2.8 but the settings he made is for ardurover. Now i want to erase and put new settings which is for arducopter.. i cant find any video regarding to my problem on my apm 2.8... please help thank you.... and the mission planner i download 1.3.74 build. I dont understand theres no option for TERMINAL just like yours.

Do you have any experience with APM 2.8 ? Thank you

if I was to buy a new apm how would I get the firmware onto it. use Misson planner if so would it just say this boad is retired??

Dear Friend, I say friend, because your tutorials really hav helped me a lot. Now I having a problem with Loiter mode, it seems to be named as toilleted boil efect, please can you tell me how can it be fixed? Thanks

I think that's why my calabrations and compass won't work when I try to calibrate them 2.8 apm maybe ??

Do you know if there is a pixhawk mini?

Is pixhawk 32bit like naze? ps my 2.6's retired themselves after 3 months of flying. Worse FC I have ever used.

Has there been an update ? I've spent 500 dollars on an quadcopter that apm 2.8 is the board . And they're still for sale on ebay ? I've had nothing but problems with it , and if it is an inferior product then it shouldn't be sold anymore . I still owe the 500 dollars for the kit because I used my paypal credit account to pay for it ! Is there a way to get updated firmware loaded to this board ? Or will I always have problems , and have to run outdated firmware on an outdated board that I just bought a month ago ? If this product is not up with the times let me know so I can dispute it with ebay , and maybe go a different route . 500 dollars is alot of money to ask someone to pay for something that is outdated , and not able for the latest firmware updates . Do you agree ???

I would love to hear if anyone has received any Chinese Pixhawk boards. I have seen some on EBAY and am very interested!

apm 2.8 can fly without gps module??

Bad compass health any solution sir. Apm 2.8

which apm is stable 2.6 or 2.8 please reply soon

Thank you for all the great information, I ordered this unit 2 days ago and would like to know do you know if the fiemware is ok or will I need update...or should I request a refund......APM2.6 ArduPilot Mega External Compass APM Flight Controller Ublox NEO-6M GPS PM..... Thanks again.

Mine works fine as long as i don't want quadplane. For quadplane I'm using Pixhawk.

Sorry but ONE MORE TIME...I can NOT find an old version of the Mission Planner (I programmed my APM 2.8 once successfully) then the Mission Planner got on line and "UPGRADED" to NOT USEFUL... now APM won't setup... none of the archeive firmware loads have recognizable numbers and Now I've got $150 into an Autopilot that is Obsolete never loaded.I tried the github.com website but is was totally useless.. I've joined three websites (DIY Drones, github, and another one but just arrogantly told to Not bother them read the Wiki but I"ve downloaded and Printed them three times I know what to do but can't find the firmware or Mission planner that will work (Thanks for all you help, I've watched your whole series' over and over but can't get out of this hole in the ground...) Kenny B

Sir, Can we fly VTOL with APM 2.8 with Mission Planner ? Sir plz guide . .

There is quite a bit of action in the Pixhawk clone market already. One that I've been watching (which you mentioned below) is a mini-version of the Pixhawk, which is about the same size as a Naze32 board -- the AUAV-X2 arsovtech.com/?page_id=1502 with a US store here: www.auav.co/product-p/auavx2_6.htm Discussion here: www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2285520 There are also a few clones out there, such as: multirotormania.com/ardupilot/318-mrmhawk.html and www.readytoflyquads.com/rtfhawk-2-4 Very active support thread here: www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2142174 John