GPS PLUG CONNECTION FIX

[oilswoodhome]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

It explains why my cable was folded right there, to wedge it in place. I would notice that I would get an increase of satellites if I had a little bump on landing sat count would jump.
Thank you for bring this to our attention. I will tighten that up and hopefully get more constant sat count.

 

[Prylar Bek]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Im not understanding the ..."short piece of plastic write tie..." fix Do you have a picture?

 

[Fplvert]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

:shock:
So how many other pilots have had GPS connection issues and this hasn't been corrected? V3 pilots? This may explain why those of us with Flytrex have secured this connector and never paid attention to the original problem.

Good find Frank!

 

[flyNfrank]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Im not understanding the ..."short piece of plastic write tie..." fix Do you have a picture?

No I don't. I used a small plastic wire tie and slid it down the flat surface of the plug and into the connector on the board. Do so that the plug with then not rock from front to rear, and then clip off any extra sticking above the plug for a clean look. When finished, half the wire tie will be between the plug and connector. The rest will be seen from the top of connector to the top of plug where the wire come out. I probably just gave too much detail for what needs to be done.

 

[MapMaker53]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Thanks Frank. I'm definitely securing that connection better. So you think the loose connection throws it all the way into manual mode and not just ATT?

 

[clingermac]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

When I was fueding with DJI over the ribbon cable, I found that it only takes 20 people to form a class.

 

[Prylar Bek]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Frank, which version do you own?

 

[lsteigerwalt]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Thank you very much Frank. I finally opened my bird today for the first time. I put my GPS wire under the shielding since I had it open. I used a zip tie and pushed it down the thin side instead of the flat side. Seemed to add enough pressure to make it sturdy. I hand catch but riding in the case in my truck it could come loose....we owe ya man....

 

[Skydronik]

VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Great discovery and suggestion. Certainly, it'd be sticked in the forum soon.

 

[eyecon82]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Is this plug an issue with V3 as well as the older ones?

good question, amazon let me exchange my v2 for a v3 and I haven't had a reason to open her up yet since GPS count is good


and I think a class action lawsuit may be required for DJI to do the right thing.

anyone here an attorney?

anyone have any media connections? perhaps some bad media about DJI Phantoms right before xmas may knock some sense into dji

 

[CityZen]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

I think this is quite an overreaction. The plug is designed to go on a 4-pin header. If you'll notice, all the connections on the Naza are just pin headers. None of them are locking.
I think the only real problem here is when people open and close their covers too often. This loosens up the contacts in the plug. They should normally be pretty tight just by themselves.
It's the contacts themselves that matter, not so much the plug. Sure, if the contacts get loose, then having a locking plug will help.
It's possible to bend the contacts to make them tight again, but this involves releasing each one from the plug, which requires a bit of skill.

 

[Prylar Bek]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Great point Thanks

 

[flyNfrank]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Thanks Frank. I'm definitely securing that connection better. So you think the loose connection throws it all the way into manual mode and not just ATT?

No.... I wrote what I thought at the time was going on. Looking at it now, plus since then I have also had the chance to fly in manual mode, the quad was in a combination of manual & atti. I realize it sounds odd but then again the quad didn't have any idea what was going on. It had nothing to reference itself so it was going from failsafe descending, to the mentioned combo.

At 1st you could see it descending at the usual 4-4.5mph and after 8-10 seconds it will begin drop altitude at a fast rate. Now back then on the flight logger it had shown it would peak at just under 23mph. As I say I have since flown in manual and when I did it was really only to see how the quad would react to free falling. I noticed on my data that the actual speed was not getting recorded as it fell. It would show it as something like 16mph when I could clearly see it over twice that speed. The quad remained upright as it came down and eventually it would begin going more outward in a angle then straight down. And this is when the speed would be more recognized by gps again.

 

[flyNfrank]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

I think this is quite an overreaction. The plug is designed to go on a 4-pin header. If you'll notice, all the connections on the Naza are just pin headers. None of them are locking.
I think the only real problem here is when people open and close their covers too often. This loosens up the contacts in the plug. They should normally be pretty tight just by themselves.
It's the contacts themselves that matter, not so much the plug. Sure, if the contacts get loose, then having a locking plug will help.
It's possible to bend the contacts to make them tight again, but this involves releasing each one from the plug, which requires a bit of skill.

Overreaction?

What type of reaction should one have when their quad doesn't return, or like Dirty Bird's quad that sitting on the ground and suddenly takes off and into a tree? And so on...

The concern now is to protect your investment from a total loss, or expensive repair bill. Nobody should have to go anything like this that is not of their own making. I can't help to think about the people that were just starting out in this hobby and lost their quad and were left with the feeling it was of their own fault. And even worse they lost it and were unable to stick with the hobby.

 

[hey_moe]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

As far as a law suit...lol. that will never happen, same thing as them doing a recall. Now if there is a lot of people getting fly away and hurting the public you might have a chance of getting them to do a service flash to correct the problem. Part two of this is once you go inside and make any fixes or adjustments yourself you are held responsible, not DJI. I see this kind of stuff everyday in my field of work. In this day and time it is all about profit. To do a recall like this on a small company would mess with their bottom line profit...lol. Most of this is made in China and their laws differ from our laws. Getting them to except that there is a problem with ANY part of their product would be easier to find a needle in the ocean.

 

[MapMaker53]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

GPS satellite loss results from:

• 1. Horrendous RF interference emanating from the gimbal/camera control board.
  2. Inadequate shielding of the GPS antenna.
  3. Poor GPS plug connection on the board.

Since the beginning, we have been beta testers of the P2. DJI has abandoned us with horrendous customer support, terrible repair times, and inadequate information. "My Phantom flew away" results in a "too bad" response from DJI, while they are fully aware that their own engineering has caused many of the "flyaways", cost their customers aggravation and money, and endagered the public when these birds come down wherever they end up.

Prior to the P2 version 3, with better shielding and isolation, the responsibility of each and every "flyaway" should be borne by DJI. WIthout Flytrex 3G live, or a GPS tracker, there is no evidence of what happened. Even then, if the Phantom ends up in a lake or the ocean, there is still no evidence. But there is plenty of evidence of the design flaws, and that alone should be enough to offer a credit to those that lost a Phantom, or an upgrade to those that still have an older version. A good company, worthy of repeat patronage, would take care of its customers.

This is not going to happen without a class action law suit. 1000 lost Phantoms X $1400 is a 1.4 million dollar lawsuit. Such a paltry sum is probably not interesting to a law firm that would only recover a third of that for their efforts (legal isn't my thing, perhaps a lawyer could expand on this).

Other DJI engineering faults:

• Heat sink of the original WiFi unit in the Phantom (new version (?) eliminates the issue)
  No inertia guard for camera/weak ribbon cable (solved by aftermarket parts
  Weak landing gear (solved with aftermarket reinforcements)

I agree with you, DrJoe. But I also agree with what hey_moe feels about the chance of any lawsuit. I think P2V+ owners' only recourse is to continue to point out the shortcomings of the product and have DJI eventually reach the conclusion that the bad publicity generated by these problems is hurting their bottom line and they rectify the situation. Recall possibility aside.. It would significantly help their image if DJI were to simply provide current owners with the ability to upgrade to a completely corrected version (gimbal separation fixed, fly-away fixed, wifi heat-sink fixed, etc.) at a deep discount price - much like the software companies do when they sell an upgrade to current software owners. Unfortunately, pointing out DJI's failure to address product issues seems to be considered an act of treason by some members in this forum.

 

[msinger]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

I think P2V+ owners' only recourse is to continue to point out the shortcomings of the product and have DJI eventually reach the conclusion that the bad publicity generated by these problems is hurting their bottom line and they rectify the situation.

Is their bottom line hurting though? It seems most don't learn about the defects until after they've made the purchase.

 

[MapMaker53]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

Is their bottom line hurting though? It seems most don't learn about the defects until after they've made the purchase.

I think it definitely hurts their bottom line. As a P2V+ owner who enjoys flying his quad even though a bit nervous regarding the known problems, my next quad will probably not be a DJI quad because of the list of issues they are slow to rectify and because of their lengthy repair time, which I pray to never need. (Frankly, I'd use a more efficient third party repair service.) DJI was the first to offer advanced quad capability at an affordable price, but other quad companies are now starting to match the same GPS capabilities and add additional capability such as circular GS flight with the camera pointing at the subject. These companies (such as GoPro for example) are building on the DJI success, avoiding DJI's shortcomings, and (IMO) will be leaving DJI in their dust when it comes to consumer and company purchasing of drones in the years to come. DJI grabbed a huge chunk of the consumer quad market by being the first to offer such features and it's theirs to loose with the poor customer support they continue to have. Just my opinion, guys.

 

[doug86]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

I have seen the same thing on my V+, but I have some questions about the conclusions here. Lets assume that the bird does loose GPS due to the loose plug. Wouldn't it behave exactly as if it lost the GPS signal? In other words, you would still be able to fly the thing in ATTI mode? A flyway as I understand it is complete loss of control, where the Phantom doesn't respond to any commands.

I'm not saying the loose plug isn't a bad fit, but how does it coming loose account for a complete inability to even force the Phantom to land by pulling the throttle down?

Also, if the plug comes loose in flight, wouldn't the Phantom go into RTH mode, and then land itself?

Or, are you suggesting that the GPS module has to be plugged in no matter what, even if one was flying in Manual Mode?

 

[Prylar Bek]

Re: VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY

And I for one agree with it. The blew their 'first to market' chance by the above and oft mentioned issues, in particular CS. GP are you listening????