Image transmission problems.

[Whitwellian]

I've had my Phantom 4 since June and on my various flights, everything seemed to work OK until . . .

Last Friday I dropped the RC controller & tablet due to the neck lanyard snapping. The controller seems OK from the outside, but the tablet (an Alcatel onetouch pixi 3 (10) ) dropped off and the screen is now cracked.

I managed a flight within minutes of the mishap and all seemed OK - steady image on the dji GO app etc.

On the Saturday, I tried connecting up again and the image seemed to be breaking up on the app - even when the drone was stationary on a table.

However, I bought a smaller replacement tablet (ASUS ZenPad C7.0) on the Saturday and still have similar problems with the image breaking up into either "blocky" parts - or bands of the screen go green. It seems to take a 5 or 6 seconds for the displayed image to catch up.

The images and video recorded onto the micro SD card on the drone seem OK.

The system status button at the top centre of the screen displays various messages, including one about "Image transmission signal weak" - and that even when the distance between my drone and the controller is about 10 cm!

Sorry that I haven't got any images that I could attach.

Any suggestions that you could make will be most welcome!!

 

[msinger]

The antenna connectors might be damaged inside of your remote controller. You could open it to check or send it back to DJI to be repaired.

If you decide to open the remote controller, you can see how it's done in the following video:

 

[Whitwellian]

Hi msinger, many thanks for your reply and video link. Your video is very comprehensive in its detail and I'm almost tempted to try it.

Looking at the symptoms I have, I agree that the antenna connection may be damaged.

I've spoken to dji since I put the message above on, who suggested a couple of things, which haven't worked, so I will contact them again tomorrow with a view of sending part (or all) of the equipment back to them for service.

Thanks again.

Whitwellian (a.k.a. Ron)

Additional info - 8th September 2016.
I had a chat with a young lady in the technical department of "drones direct, from whom I bought my phantom 4 this afternoon. After speaking to one of her colleagues, she suggested that the break up problem might be due to a damaged/poor connection on the usb connector lead, and that I try using a new lead to connect the tablet to the RC controller.

Got a suitable replacement this evening and have just tried it. I've checked the image quality by walking into different rooms of the house and moving it around. Everything looks stable on the damaged Alcatel.

The little Asus Zenpad C7.0 is a different matter. Image still breaks up, even at 30 or 40cm from the drone, quite possibly due to the processors being inadequate for this particular job.

Going to call in at Drones direct tomorrow to try to get a tablet that's suitable for the job!!!