camera going crazy during flight

Corey Tucker · Apr 24, 2016

so check out this video. first time its ever hapened. camera is bouncing around all over the place. this is a mission so i had no idea until i watched the video later on. it wasn't windy or anything and i've never seen this b4 any other time. should i send this back?

Mark The Droner · Apr 24, 2016

Looks to me like your gimbal is damaged. Try to figure out where it's broken. Maybe there's a drone shop around where you can have it repaired?

alokbhargava · Apr 24, 2016

Check for gray cables on gimbal if they are sting loose. Also check for any physical damage to ribbon cables.

Are vibration absorbers ok? I see even horizon tilt. Are you sure you never dropped it?

Corey Tucker · Apr 24, 2016

don't know how it would be damaged. i haven't crashed this one at all. plus it does fine most of the flight. i just put the parts of the video that were messing up

alokbhargava · Apr 24, 2016

Also check if you have switched by mistake gimbal to Fpv mode. Set it to follow mode.

Lonewolf · Apr 24, 2016

Corey Tucker said:
don't know how it would be damaged. i haven't crashed this one at all. plus it does fine most of the flight. i just put the parts of the video that were messing up

Ever heard of Murphy's Law? "If something can go wrong, inevitably it will for no apparent, or logical reason."

Corey Tucker · Apr 24, 2016

Lonewolf said:
Ever heard of Murphy's Law? "If something can go wrong, inevitably it will for no apparent, or logical reason."

well thanks for that help

Tony Cowan · Apr 24, 2016

I'm not sure of a switch for the gimbal from fpv to follow mode. But for sure either vibration dampners or gimbal. Something looses. Even when you are not moving you can see it slightly. Wow. For sure if you don't want to fool with it. Take it to local hobby shop. Or back to dji.

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msinger · Apr 24, 2016

*Corey Tucker*, are you able to reproduce this behavior?

WetDog · Apr 24, 2016

Look carefully at the gimbal. Any little bit of lint, plastic or whatnot will do something like that although this is usually coincident with a gimbal overload warning. Ancient folk such as myself would do this under magnification to see very small particles. YMMV.

Lonewolf · Apr 24, 2016

Corey Tucker said:
well thanks for that help

Wasn't meant as a sarcastic remark. Just a fact of life. Sometimes you have to accept life experiences as they are.

You said you checked your system out & found no problems. Didn't you? Well...That's why I said sometimes you have to accept Murphy's Law. Sometimes you have no control over things that go wrong. If you've been in model making for any length of time, you would have understood my original comment. Sorry you didn't.

CRF319 · Apr 24, 2016

Corey Tucker said:
this is a mission

What app were you using for the mission?

Corey Tucker · Apr 24, 2016

using litchi. been using it a while. never had this problem

Dounin Front · Apr 24, 2016

Corey Tucker said:
using litchi. been using it a while. never had this problem

Run it again using the Go app. If it's ok, try Litchi again. If that's it, go to their forum. A Litchi engineer is always monitoring it. Google Groups
Good luck.

m0j0 · Apr 24, 2016

Run it in GO ... If it is the same RMA it.

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Corey Tucker · Apr 25, 2016

yeah but this was an auto mission and go doesn't do those, right?

Dounin Front · Apr 25, 2016

Corey Tucker said:
yeah but this was an auto mission and go doesn't do those, right?

The Go app does waypoint missions, but you have to manually fly them first to set the waypoints before sending it off autonomously. That's why everyone uses Litchi for waypoint missions, especially missions with multiple focus points. Litchi does admit to a few bugs right now so I suggest you follow their forum that I linked to earlier to see what's happening.
But, my guess is if your gimbal jumps around in both apps - especially in the manner shown in your video - you have a serious gimbal problem developing. It almost looks like it's spontaneously rebooting.

Corey Tucker · Apr 25, 2016

cool, yeah this mission was like a mile away so i couldn't do that with go, but i'll definitely send this in to get replaced. thanks for the help

Wolfiesden · Apr 25, 2016

By chance did you add a lens hood to the camera? (ie 3D printed or purchased) Perhaps a ND filter?

I tried a lens hood on mine and found that it caught the wind and would overpower the gimbal motors yielding a similar bobbing.

Corey Tucker · Apr 25, 2016

nope, i haven't made any modifications to this one. i got this as a replacement for another bad p3, so i'm wondering if they gave me a refurbished one or something and it still had problems. this will be like the 3rd time i've had to send one back. oh well...