This will be my first post to this forum, let me know if I'm not doing it right.

This is my first quad, which I have been building and destroying for 6 weeks,
and which has yet to fly properly.  I'm using Betaflight 4.3.0 RC6, 10.8 Configurator,
FC is iFlight Succesx F7, hardware is F450 frame, Emax 2212 935 kV motors,
Readytosky 30A ESCs, RC controller is Radiolink AT10II with R12DS receiver.
Motors and ESCs have been through many crashes and are not doing well (spin up
at different speeds) and will be replaced with Racestar BR2212 980kV motors and
Tattu BlHeli_S ESCs, now being shipped.  

Here is my question.  Using the motors test on the Betaflight Motors tab with
the current hardware, everything works perfectly, all the motors spin at exactly
the same speed. But if I try to test the motors with the motors test (USB connected)
but commanding them with the RC controller, the motors speed up very unevenly (as they do when flight testing),
and at full throttle one motor reads 1500 us but the others read 2000 us. Also,
when I switch the motors to different positions, the motor  with the lower reading
does not follow the switched position but another motor has the lower reading.

So the question is: does it make sense to use an RC controller to run the motors test when
the USB is connected, and if so, why are the results different when just running the
motor test using the USB connection?

Sorry for the long description, just trying to get anything relevant in there.
Appreciate any help given, thanks in advance.

If you have “air mode” enabled which it is by default in BF, the motors will spin at different speeds because it’s sensing that the motors aren’t giving the right response to its inputs..The props aren’t on, so of course nothings happening and the quad is basically freaking out. It’s harmless and it happens to everyone. Only use the motors tab to check direction and to make sure the motor is spinning. Don’t do full throttle either without the props, you can burn a motor without a load on it. Just a little above idle is all that’s needed. I would not leave the USB connected. Just put it on the floor without the props on and arm. The motors are going to spool up and down but if you give a little throttle you should hear the increase you put in. When I originally set up my quads I put a switch for enabling/disabling airmode. If you have air mode on it is hard to make a smooth landing. The quad feels the landing and compensates by bouncing wildly! Kinda unnerving in my belief. If it arms ok and the motors spin put some props on and do the hover test. Remember when close to the ground the air pushing on the ground will bounce back and hit the quad so it’s best to hover a couple feet off the ground or you will have a hard time controlling. It’s called the “ground effect”. Happy flying!

OK, thanks Kevin2112, that helps a lot. I disabled Airmode because I thought it might conflict with Angle mode, which I have set up in the Modes tab. I'm pretty sure I have either damaged motors or damaged ESCs, so I'm just investigating until new hardware arrives. A "smooth landing" is beyond my wildest dreams! Right now the quad rises a foot or so off the ground, shoots up and then rocks violently, flips over and I have to disarm as it falls to the ground. But I'll keep on trying. Thanks again.

Did your quad fly correctly before crashing, or has it always just went up to the moon? I’m pretty good at putting props on in the right direction but every once in a while I’ll put a couple on wrong The result is it arms and as soon as throttle is given it spazzes out and disarms. Kinda freaks you out cause it happens so fast.

The quad is now on its third frame and its second FC (first FC was an Arduino YMFC-AL from J. Brokking). It's gotten progressively worse. The first iteration would rise smoothly but zip forward, eventually trimmed that out but crashed it into a tree, breaking an arm where the motor mounted. The second iteration (still with the Arduino FC) could do short hops a foot off the ground, but any higher and it would rock and flip over. Eventually hit a wall and broke an arm, again where the motor mounted. The third and current iteration has an iFlight F7 FC and gets off the ground OK but then zips up, rocks and flips, and you can hear one or more motors really roaring. So my guess is that one or more motors, or ESCs, is damaged, and my next step is to replace all 4 motors and ESCs. If that doesn't work, I may give up on this quad and try a kit or a BNF.

Have a look into the FC orientation. When connected to BF does the quad in the lower part follow your moves while holding quad? Radio should be off just plug into the USB port.It should mimic pitch forward and back, roll left, right and yaw. If you bank right the quad in BF should bank right. This can be why it’s flipping out. Look for a video on how to adjust FC orientation I your quad is not following the model on the screen.

I did check the orientation when I was configuring Betaflight, and it was OK. And during test flights not only were all the controls except throttle centered, but the flights lasted less than 10 seconds -- no time to command anything! But thanks for your continuing interest. Anyway, new motors and ESCs arrive today, so I hope to have better results in a few days. BTW, after I received your first reply, I checked out some other forums and found this rant, which says exactly what you said, but much more emphatically! https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre...ing-motors

Lol, yes I’ve experienced that on RC forums. Good luck with the new stuff! Do you have a video of it doing this?

I wish I had thought to make a video, it would have been very entertaining, especially the look on my face! New motors and ESCs are installed, but too windy to fly today, hopefully fly tomorrow AM.

I’ve somehow managed to swap two props out and all in the wrong places. It’s a good thing it failsafes quick cause it’s darn right scary with a 7” quad!

Well the new motors and ESCs did not fix the problem -- the quad still rocks and tries to flip over as soon as it leaves the ground. I'm running out of ideas, so I think I'll start a new thread, titled something like "Why Won't This Quad Fly?" and ask for help. I'll also include a video, thanks to your earlier reply. And thanks again for all your suggestions.

Give us a break down of the components you are using. Especially a store link to the FC you have.

Give us a few photos of the build, especially the orientation of the FC and props.

Provide us your current Betaflight CLI dump.

Sorry, have a video of a test flight but can't find a way to attach it -- some special procedure for videos???

Components are:  YoungRC F450 frame, 1045 props, Tattu BlHeli_S 30A ESCs, Racestar 2212 980kV motors, iFlight F7 TwinG FC, Radiolink AT10II Controller and R12DS receiver

Can't send link to FC -- bought from Amazon, but they no longer carry this item

Thanks for your interest.

Quad shooting up

Its NOT hardware.

Its NOT FC orientation or wrong propeller.

You have wrong PID. Very likely too much vibration, noise and too high D. You can blindly try some "safe" values.

1. Do NOT use BF4.3. Use BF4.2
2. Setup rpm filtering. Flash BLHeli_M or BlueJay.
3. BF defaults are for 5". You have 10" props and 2212. Very low authority.
4. Your frame is not very rigid. You need more filtering.
Drag filters sliders to left to 0.8x
5. Try much lower PID
P20 I30 D10 (for roll and pitch)

Check if your FC has blackbox. Otherwise you need to buy a OpenLager and get microsd card .

Logs will help alot in tuning.

As others said, BF motors tab is for testing motor direction at LOW speed, props off. Only usb. no radio.

There is a chart with accelerometer. Put frame on a towel. Spin up each motor 10sec slowly to 50%.

Do you hear grinding? Rubbing? The chart shows vibrations. If frame is loose or bearing bad or bell bent, you will see huge noise on the chart.
After 1050 input, do all motors spin at approx same speed?