FPV Stutters to the point of being useless

[dpilot83]

I gave a Phantom III Pro. Latest firmware on RC and the drone itself. Using an iPhone 6+ as the FPV device.

Video taken from SD card is fine.

I don't use it all that often. First noticed it a year ago using the DJI app. At that time it was recommended I update everything and try again. Someone else recommended I use Litchi instead.

So this time was with everything updated and through Litchi.

Litchi works pretty good from a mission planning standpoint but the FPV video is still nearly worthless. Probably alternates between 5 seconds frozen and 1/2 second working on the FPV video.

I will try the updated DJI app soon but I expect it to be the same.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[dpilot83]

Flew it with the DJI app. Sometimes it worked well, other times it was poor. One exceptionally bad time the screen popped up with this message.

Before I opened the DJI app I force closed all of the other apps. Is there anything else I can do to conserve CPU resources? Why did it work well for part of the flight, then work poorly, then work well again for the last 2 min or so?

 

[aburkefl]

View attachment 86074 Flew it with the DJI app. Sometimes it worked well, other times it was poor. One exceptionally bad time the screen popped up with this message.

Before I opened the DJI app I force closed all of the other apps. Is there anything else I can do to conserve CPU resources? Why did it work well for part of the flight, then work poorly, then work well again for the last 2 min or so?

Did you really miss that big "warning" label? Additionally, if you run Litchi, cache video to your phone *and* video the screen (a neat function easily available in Litchi) your phone is going to be incredibly busy - apparently much too busy!

Before you fly, it also might not be a bad idea to make sure every unnecessary app on your phone is stopped/shut off.

Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

 

[dpilot83]

Did you really miss that big "warning" label?

It seems like you're implying I did not see it. Did you read and understand the text that I typed under the picture? I said:

One exceptionally bad time the screen popped up with this message.

Additionally, if you run Litchi, cache video to your phone *and* video the screen (a neat function easily available in Litchi) your phone is going to be incredibly busy - apparently much too busy!

In this case it was not Litchi, it was the DJI app.

Before you fly, it also might not be a bad idea to make sure every unnecessary app on your phone is stopped/shut off.

Again, in the text after the image I said:

"Before I opened the DJI app I force closed all of the other apps. Is there anything else I can do to conserve CPU resources? Why did it work well for part of the flight, then work poorly, then work well again for the last 2 min or so?"

 

[aburkefl]

It seems like you're implying I did not see it. Did you read and understand the text that I typed under the picture? I said:





In this case it was not Litchi, it was the DJI app.



Again, in the text after the image I said:

My apologies. I think part of the problem is that you spread your post/comments across several separate posts, but I'll accept some of your criticism about my observations of your experience.

Be that as it may - what you're describing is (in my humble opinion) the overloading of your device - in this case your iPhone. In so many cases of "stuttering" or similar, the tablet/phone/device is too hot and/or too overworked. Maybe an app that's hidden in the background - trying to run phone functions at the same time, etc.

I have a relatively fast (and reasonably-sized memory) iPad Mini 4. During the real heat of summer - I'm talking central Florida in July, with humidity in the 90% range and a heat index of 100 or more - after a couple of short flights things start to get balky. *And* as I pointed out, if I add "screen record" in Litchi (or screen record with a separate app), it starts to act goofy even before it gets hot.

Even without being "over-burdened" your phone (or my tablet) has a lot to keep track of. Every time there's an update (new version of software or new firmware) the "load" being carried tends to increase.

A last thought - are you by any chance using your iPhone as a "hot spot?" Many users seem to think they need cellular services to fly a Phantom. The maps can be cached before you fly. I've flown for years without any cellular capability in my iPad Mini.

Good luck

 

[Numone]

They've been other reports of "CPU Fully Loaded" warnings recently... there maybe some answers there...

See here

 

[dpilot83]

My apologies. I think part of the problem is that you spread your post/comments across several separate posts, but I'll accept some of your criticism about my observations of your experience.

Be that as it may - what you're describing is (in my humble opinion) the overloading of your device - in this case your iPhone. In so many cases of "stuttering" or similar, the tablet/phone/device is too hot and/or too overworked. Maybe an app that's hidden in the background - trying to run phone functions at the same time, etc.

I have a relatively fast (and reasonably-sized memory) iPad Mini 4. During the real heat of summer - I'm talking central Florida in July, with humidity in the 90% range and a heat index of 100 or more - after a couple of short flights things start to get balky. *And* as I pointed out, if I add "screen record" in Litchi (or screen record with a separate app), it starts to act goofy even before it gets hot.

Even without being "over-burdened" your phone (or my tablet) has a lot to keep track of. Every time there's an update (new version of software or new firmware) the "load" being carried tends to increase.

A last thought - are you by any chance using your iPhone as a "hot spot?" Many users seem to think they need cellular services to fly a Phantom. The maps can be cached before you fly. I've flown for years without any cellular capability in my iPad Mini.

Good luck

Thanks for the comments. I probably did make it confusing to follow with my original two posts. I appreciate your thoughts.

Your 4th gen iPad mini has the same processor as my iPhone 6+ so it's quite interesting to me that you're mostly successful with it.

I am going through the settings attempting to turn anything off that doesn't need to be on.

I do leave cellular data on although it sounds like I don't really need to. In fact it sounds like I could just put it in airplane mode if I wanted to.

I am not using the phone as a hotspot though. I do frequently use it as a hotspot but not while flying.

I'll try a few more things based upon your thoughts. Thanks again!

 

[dpilot83]

They've been other reports of "CPU Fully Loaded" warnings recently... there maybe some answers there...

See here

Thanks, I'll take a look.