no video signal

[wa5tef]

My new Phantom 4 Pro V 2.0 has stopped sending a video signal. In the GO app, it shows no video signal and the RC cannot move the camera like it did. The video picture that should be there is a black screen and in another part of the app, it shows the gimbal disconnected! Does anyone know what to do before I send the thing back? I had this problem when first attempted to fly it and I swapped the ipad out for an older version and it worked for several flights. Now today, it simple stopped working.

Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[PhantomFandom]

Hi,
If this is a brand new drone I would send it back. I think you may have two totally different issues from before and now. If you are getting a "Gimbal Disconnected" error and you cannot pitch the camera up and down, swapping the iPad wouldn't fix that. That seems like a hardware issue. It could be and most likely is a simple (cheap) fix like the gimbal ribbon cable becoming disconnected or loose. However, if the drone is new then you don't want to go through the hassle.

Since you didn't mention it, can I assume that there were no crashes, hard landings, or rough handling of the drone?

 

[wa5tef]

Amazing!~ Right after I posted this, I started swapping out stuff. The cord first, no change, checked all the camera settings and everything else I could find, still nothing. Then I swapped the SD card for an exact copy and everything started working!!! Now who would have thought that the SD card could limit the camera video, much less the gimbal movement? I mean, nothing I could find that was associated with the camera or gimbal worked until I swapped the card. To check, I put the first card in the computer and it still contained the last three flights, all still intact. I transferred them to my video folder on the computer then formatted the card and tried it in the drone. Worked perfectly!

I really wish someone could explain how all this could happen as I don't understand all I need to about this system. I must consider that the video has to pass through the SD card prior to being transmitted but why does it also allow or block the gimbal control commands?????

Hopefully someone knows.

Thanks
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[Alan Russel]

That is an odd one Jim..never heard of sd card affecting gimbal control? Glad you fixed the issue what ever you did!

 

[wa5tef]

Thanks Alan. Glad you posted. It is indeed a strange situation. I am going to do some more testing tomorrow and see if I can figure out what is going on. I wish I had not formatted the bad card just to have it as a test item but it is done and working now. The only thing I can think I may have done to the card is remove it without going through the standard eject process. I may have just snatched it out of the drive. But now that I think about it, I had to force my desktop computer to reboot as it stopped responding to any commands. I may have corrupted some part of the card that way as the videos were still intact. Strange indeed but thanks for your comments. Hopefully someone will know what happened. I'd call DJI but I doubt they would respond any more intelligently than the last time I called!

Thanks again,
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[PhantomFandom]

Thanks Alan. Glad you posted. It is indeed a strange situation. I am going to do some more testing tomorrow and see if I can figure out what is going on. I wish I had not formatted the bad card just to have it as a test item but it is done and working now. The only thing I can think I may have done to the card is remove it without going through the standard eject process. I may have just snatched it out of the drive. But now that I think about it, I had to force my desktop computer to reboot as it stopped responding to any commands. I may have corrupted some part of the card that way as the videos were still intact. Strange indeed but thanks for your comments. Hopefully someone will know what happened. I'd call DJI but I doubt they would respond any more intelligently than the last time I called!

Thanks again,
Jim
WA5TEF

That is great news and very puzzling. Glad you got it resolved.

 

[WV. Rootman]

I hope it is not an intermittent problem and it is not what you thought.

 

[wa5tef]

Thanks Rootman, yeah I'll fly it today and test to be sure it still works. I have considered the situation quite a bit the past few hours and cannot understand how an SD card could cause so much failures. Oh well, maybe someone out there knows.

Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF