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Chris L edited this page Sep 23, 2023 · 3 revisions

Why are my motors not spinning, or spinning irregularly on arm?

This is often the case with whoops, and the most likely reason is that the min and max startup power values are too low. Try increasing these values (move slider to the right) via esc-configurator.com. If that does not fix the issue, try increasing min idle or dynamic idle via your flight controller firmware configurator.

Why is my quadcopter gradually losing power until it lands?

This is usually due to temperature protection kicking in. You can try disabling temperature protection via esc-configurator.com first. If this solves your issue, then it is most likely that your power rating is set up incorrectly. On AIOs that are rated for 1S only, this needs to be set to 1S, on all other AIOs, rated for more than 2S (also ones rated 1-2S) this needs to be set to 2S+.

Which PWM settings should I use?

This depends a lot on your specific build. On whoops, 48kHz is usually the best choice since it will give you the longest flight times. The improvement between 48kHz and 96kHz is usually miniscule and not worth it. On bigger builds this comes down to preference and you can simply try which one you like best.

There is one big caveat though: Dead time. The higher your dead time is, the lower your PWM frequency should be. The dead time is deducted from the duty cycle, decreasing throttle resolution on ESCs with higher resolution substantially. There is no one value where we can definitely say that issues start, but if you are experiencing one or more of the following symptoms and are having a deadtime of >= 30 you should consider using a lower PWM frequency:

  • motors don't spin consistently on arm although min and max startup power is maxed out
  • frequent de-syncs
  • motors stuttering

Learn more about deadtime

Is my hardware supported?

Bluejay can be run on any hardware which supports BLHeli_S firmware and has a BB21 or BB51 MCU.

A user- and developer-curated list of actual tested hardware can be found in the wiki. The wiki is public, and all are encouraged to update this page with their findings. This will allow us to collectively expand the list for everyone's future reference.

Tested hardware

Which Bluejay version should I use?

The Bluejay team recommends always using the latest version of Bluejay firmware.

The latest version will have the best options for advanced debugging. So if you ever run into any issues, please help us help you by providing as much information as you can (including logs, if available), tell us your exact hardware setup (FC / ESC, or AIO model), and describe the issue as well as you can.

The firmware can only grow and improve if we are made aware of any issues you encounter, if you report these, and if you help us debug them.

If someone recommends using an old version of Bluejay, please ask them why. If there is a specific reason, and you have a support arrangement with them, please feel free to continue to work with them for further support. The Bluejay team will only support the latest version going forward.

What are the issues with the latest version? Why are people recommending to run v0.16?

The Bluejay team recommends always using the latest version of Bluejay firmware.

You might have heard about the recommendation of downgrading to v0.16. This recommendation has been made by individuals that have no relation to the Bluejay team. If you encounter any bugs/issues we encourage you to share it in the ⁠support channel, so Bluejay can continue to improve and support the FPV community.

Bluejay is open source software: Anyone can get, check, compile, adapt and install this software for free. We charge no royalty fees to companies or individuals.

We run on donations made by individuals and companies - almost exclusively hardware - to grow the project.

Anyone can join and collaborate to improve the software. The aim of Bluejay is to provide users with an inexpensive, safe, and reliable ESC firmware option to help popularize FPV.

Keep in mind, that there are new versions for a reason. Bugs from prior versions have been fixed, improvements have been made. If you are running into issues, please also consider re-evaluating your tune/settings.

Can I use other protocols than DSHOT?

Unlike BLHeli_S, Bluejay does not support any traditional analog PWM based protocols.

Currently, DShot is the only supported protocol allowing for a precise and reliable signal as well as modern features such as RPM telemetry.

The following bitrates are supported:

Bitrate ESC Support
150 BB1 (L)
300 BB1 (L), BB2 (H, X)
600 BB2 (H, X)