I am trying to make  my own quadcopter that has a Pixhawk Mini 4 as a FC, and using a Spektrum  DX6e as a controller, and using Mission Planner ArduPilot.

We are having some trouble with something, but I don't know what the root cause is. When we connect the PPM Encoder into the Pixhawk's PPM port, the lights turn on on the Encoder, but when we try to do an RC calibration on MP, it is not connecting as we see no bars, and when we try to move the throttle, there are no green bars. Only sometimes when we start to play around with the connection (i.e removing it, plugging it back in) it does connect but it seems random..Sometimes it connects on my firs try, or it connects on my 30th try. Is this because of a bad Encoder or bad Pixhawk port? My gut tells me this is the Pixhawk but I hope I am wrong.

Thanks.

Unfortunately you might struggle to get an answer to your problem on here. Most of us are running Betaflight and iNav firmware. I only know of one member on here (Aaron) who runs ArduPilot on one of his quads but he doesn't tend to visit the forum very regularly.

You will likely find better help on RCGroups forums but with over 200 sub forums that place can be a bit of a minefield so finding the right section to post your question where the right audience will see it can sometimes be a bit tricky.

Sorry I couldn't offer you any better news to try and help you with your problem.

On RC group, use the multirotor drone electronic forum.

https://www.rcgroups.com/multirotor-dron...onics-792/