Lost video signal issue...

[Jive]

Hello! I bought/received a P3S for Christmas, and have flown three packs through it without issue. My range has been very good, considering all the horror stories I had read, but something happened yesterday that has me a bit worried.

I was flying after work, and had just did a flight to 400' straight up, and had came back down to around 100' or so off the ground, and was hovering above my office, aiming to get a pic of the building roof. All of the sudden, I get a connection warning, and the video feed freezes. I still had control of the aircraft, although it did give me the RTH option. I flew it back to me, and landed....still with the video frozen, and shut it down. I restarted everything, and noticed a compass error warning, but that quickly went away. I did not fly it again, but the video feed was back to normal. Over the weekend, I had flown out to about 1,600' away from me with no video signal issues. When this happened, I was around 200' or so from the drone.

Here is a link to the flight log, and you can see where the downlink was lost:

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

A couple things to mention: We do have WiFi in the building, but I am hoping that did not cause it. Also, I had rolled back the Go app to the previous version to get Google Maps back. When I lost the video signal, I noticed that the Go app had updated to the latest version, as it was using Here maps. Not sure if that affected anything or not.

Also, FWIW, I've been flying r/c craft for years. Nitro helis, electric helis, and many multirotor craft. My previous multirotor was a DJI Flamewheel w/Naza. The Phantom is the first WiFi controlled aircraft I have had however.

 

[Jive]

I'll watch the video, but the drone was not directly overhead, it was actually to the side of me, and I did have the transmitter facing it..

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yep. FPV video freezes when you lose the 2.4 signal. Telemetry freezes too. So you're left with a snapshot of the past showing incorrect info relative to the present, including battery percentage, altitude, etc.

This has nothing to do with your 5.8 signal. Your P3S's control signal will normally stay connected to the controller even when you're on the edge of range or just beyond the range of your 2.4 signal.

Most of the time, everything comes back when you regain the signal, but sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes your screen will stay locked up even while the aircraft is landing five feet from you.

Sometimes when you lose video, you'll find it stays locked up when you get back into range but you regain telemetry.

Rarely, but once in a while, your video will return, but your telemetry will not.

One reason the video/telemetry doesn't come back might be your mobile device is inadequate. And yes, wifi interference will always be happy to cause problems for you.

 

[Jive]

Ok, good...I guess. Good that it seems like a common thing, and not affecting the actual control of the drone, but bad that it could happen where I am at the edge of LOS. I'm still not comfortable with the RTH functions, but I guess I need to be in case this would happen far out. I'm so used to just flying the drones myself that letting it fly back to me still makes me uneasy.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Once you get used to it, RTH is just another control function. Learn to engage and disengage it on the fly. Use it to find the very edge of control range, us it to Return To Home, use it to fly half way home, use it to simply point the aircraft to home. I use it every flight. Sometimes I use it 2-3 times in one flight. Eventually you'll use it without a worry in the world. It's rock solid. You should practice it a couple times in an open field.

A good tracker would give you peace of mind.

Welcome to the site!

 

[Jive]

Thanks! I guess next time I am out, I'll give the RTH a try.

 

[Jimmers]

Yep. FPV video freezes when you lose the 2.4 signal. Telemetry freezes too. So you're left with a snapshot of the past showing incorrect info relative to the present, including battery percentage, altitude, etc.

This has nothing to do with your 5.8 signal. Your P3S's control signal will normally stay connected to the controller even when you're on the edge of range or just beyond the range of your 2.4 signal.

Most of the time, everything comes back when you regain the signal, but sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes your screen will stay locked up even while the aircraft is landing five feet from you.

Sometimes when you lose video, you'll find it stays locked up when you get back into range but you regain telemetry.

Rarely, but once in a while, your video will return, but your telemetry will not.

One reason the video/telemetry doesn't come back might be your mobile device is inadequate. And yes, wifi interference will always be happy to cause problems for you.

Very informative and detailed posts every time. Thank you sir!!


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