Hi. A newbie here and retired old professional pilot and veteran. I would like to thank all of you for the wonderful info I have found here. Very helpful. My son's company has this drone (P2V+) that was crashed twice. They are a land development company. They have bought a second one and my son wanted me to look at the wreck since they are not drone people. It was bad. The second "repair" was stopped after the could not get it running. It had a whole new body. One motor and ESC had been replaced. X-axis camera gimbal broken. When powered up, camera did the "crazy dance". Three of the props shattered, one intact but hub nut missing. The last pilot said the motor stopped and prop flew off. Internal inspection revealed both square internal antennae were dislodged (they were affixed with scotch tape, probably when doing the body swap).
After reading the literature as you all recommend and watching some great you tube videos I felt ready to tackle this. I started with the camera and gimbal. A $700 dollar replacement did not warrant repair of the drone, so after a pin drop of JB weld and indexing the shaft to level, I clamped it all together. Thankfully, the ribbon was intact. In the meantime, I charged all the batteries and downloaded the DJI app to my iPhone. The next day I powered it up and camera stabilized. Yes! I linked the iPhone and, yes!...got a picture and could control camera tilt!
Tried to start motors (with props off)...nothing. Downloaded Assistant (3.8) to my laptop and updated all firmware in all devices. Checked the IMU calibration and it was way off. Methodically went through all the processes for the bird and controller. Then powered up and tried to start motors and they worked! Controller worked great, too. I then tried to calibrate the compass. Did so in horizontal but not vertical. No GPS lock. Inspected the GPS antenna and no cracks. I was in my house. After hours of frustration, followed the advice here and went out to my field and, yes!...successfully calibrated compasses. No degaussing necessary. Then the GPS starting locking on. I had 5 satellites in a minute or so, then the "green" light with 6. Occasionally would get 7.
What I am experiencing now is that I will hear the motor(s) changing speed with no input from me. Previous pilot said he thought there was another bad motor or ESC. Suggestions here would be helpful. I am confident the bird can be fixed.
In the meantime, I'm waiting for the props to come from DJI (forever). I have ordered an ingenious wraparound gimbal clip for the gimbal and a guard that goes between the gear. I also ordered a 4mm GPS antenna (the more sats the better) and plan on doing the top body GPS wiring shielding. After I get the motor speed problem worked out with ground tests (with your help), I will then do tethered tests. Lot's of ground school watching pilot videos.
Forgive the long missive. It's for those new at this to encourage them to be methodical, patient, read the forum and literature, and a thank you to the pros here who are so helpful. There is always some thing to learn. While I'm waiting for parts going to read about solar activity and satellite apps...
Thanks again
p
After reading the literature as you all recommend and watching some great you tube videos I felt ready to tackle this. I started with the camera and gimbal. A $700 dollar replacement did not warrant repair of the drone, so after a pin drop of JB weld and indexing the shaft to level, I clamped it all together. Thankfully, the ribbon was intact. In the meantime, I charged all the batteries and downloaded the DJI app to my iPhone. The next day I powered it up and camera stabilized. Yes! I linked the iPhone and, yes!...got a picture and could control camera tilt!
Tried to start motors (with props off)...nothing. Downloaded Assistant (3.8) to my laptop and updated all firmware in all devices. Checked the IMU calibration and it was way off. Methodically went through all the processes for the bird and controller. Then powered up and tried to start motors and they worked! Controller worked great, too. I then tried to calibrate the compass. Did so in horizontal but not vertical. No GPS lock. Inspected the GPS antenna and no cracks. I was in my house. After hours of frustration, followed the advice here and went out to my field and, yes!...successfully calibrated compasses. No degaussing necessary. Then the GPS starting locking on. I had 5 satellites in a minute or so, then the "green" light with 6. Occasionally would get 7.
What I am experiencing now is that I will hear the motor(s) changing speed with no input from me. Previous pilot said he thought there was another bad motor or ESC. Suggestions here would be helpful. I am confident the bird can be fixed.
In the meantime, I'm waiting for the props to come from DJI (forever). I have ordered an ingenious wraparound gimbal clip for the gimbal and a guard that goes between the gear. I also ordered a 4mm GPS antenna (the more sats the better) and plan on doing the top body GPS wiring shielding. After I get the motor speed problem worked out with ground tests (with your help), I will then do tethered tests. Lot's of ground school watching pilot videos.
Forgive the long missive. It's for those new at this to encourage them to be methodical, patient, read the forum and literature, and a thank you to the pros here who are so helpful. There is always some thing to learn. While I'm waiting for parts going to read about solar activity and satellite apps...
Thanks again
p
