UAV Update: Autopilot kablooey
Everything seemed to be ready to go for the first test of the autopilot board. Infact, an initial test showed it worked perfectly! Servos were moving, everything seemed happy. Then I hooked up an additional, fateful wiring harness to the R/C receiver's battery input port. Because of a wording/phrasing ambiguity in the manual for the PPM encoder board, I did the opposite of what I was supposed to do. (I seriously can only take half the responsibility here - it was terribly worded and quite ambiguous.) Unfortunately, the AP board went kablooey. More specifically, the PTH08080 linear voltage regulator died. You can see it, somewhat fuzzily, in the photo - just click on it. Sorry, I didn't put my macro lens on, the standard walkaround was acceptable enough. Fortunately, the part is easy to replace, and not expensive (about $8) and I've already ordered a replacement from DigiKey. However, this will mean more delays. At least know I know that the interfacing works properly, and we should be in the air shortly!
