putting life back together after a crash

[mduehmig]

Hey all, I had a flyaway this afternoon and when the drone did its usual swing left (which is how each flyaway begins) it hit a branch before I could react. Down it went. The impact ejected the battery and the camera came off the anti-vibration mounts. The mini-jack connector on the back of the camera is bent but that is the only visual damage.

With the mini-jack plug straightened, the camera remounted and battery replaced, I took it through its paces to see if any other damage was done. Here is what I get:

The drone will turn on and find the six satellites. The back lights turn green. However, the front red lights, which come on during start up, don't come on when the back lights turn green.

I cannot get a wifi signal on my iPhone.

When I bring my controls together to start the rotors, the back green lights turn red.

Any thoughts? How bad off is my baby? Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Pull_Up]

Plug it in and recalibrate everything: IMU and transmitter. The IMU can get thrown by a big impact and need to be reset.

 

[mduehmig]

Plug it in and recalibrate everything: IMU and transmitter. The IMU can get thrown by a big impact and need to be reset.

Thanks Pull Up. I have been putting off doing this as I have Macs and need to get a PC to make this happen. It's time I guess. I will do this.

 

[mduehmig]

Sorry to hear about what happened.

I did send it back to the dealer, finally the problem was detected. Bad or damaged battery. Dealer changed the battery and problem was solved.
You can try with a spare battery.

http://phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php? ... 980#p27445

Geert, this is a great idea. The blinking red might be the 2nd Level Low Battery Warning. Since the battery was ejected, it could have really gotten damaged. I'll try it!

 

[mduehmig]

Geert, just thought I'd update you that using my spare battery didn't help. All the same results. No wifi and a red light when I try to power up rotors. I'm on to the rest of the list!

 

[mduehmig]

Khaki, the camera still moves when I tilt the quadcopter as if it's still alive and kicking. But it did take a tumble when it hit.

Do you know where the wifi host is? Is it in the helo or in the wifi booster? A broken/unplugged antenna could account for the inability to connect by wifi if it's on the bird. I'd think I could still connect to the wifi if it is in the booster but not get any info from the bird or camera to my iPhone.

Just got my hands on a PC so I'll update firmware and recalibrate everything tonight.

 

[Pull_Up]

The camera is the wifi transceiver. You can switch the camera off completely and still fly the Vision - you'll just have no telemetry, fpv or camera control. However the SSID that your phone connects to is the range extender. The camera's SSID is hidden and is used for a connection between range extender and camera unit.

Hope that makes sense...

 

[mduehmig]

However the SSID that your phone connects to is the range extender. The camera's SSID is hidden and is used for a connection between range extender and camera unit.

It does make sense. And since the mini jack out of the camera was damaged, it explains why it isn't talking to the range extender. But that doesn't explain why I can't see the range extender's SSID -unless the range extender doesn't provide an SSID unless it is talking to the camera's wifi connection.

I saw a video on youtube that I haven't watched yet on how to disassemble the Vision. i guess that is in my future to replace that mini jack connection and check the connections to all the antennas.

 

[Pull_Up]

DJI do a Vision spare connectors/wires pack which includes the camera plug lead and others - might be good for your needs.

 

[mduehmig]

DJI do a Vision spare connectors/wires pack which includes the camera plug lead and others - might be good for your needs.

Pull Up, you're saying a package of spare connectors is available? I can't find it on the DJI website. Is it 3rd party?

 

[Pull_Up]

As an example, see half way down: http://www.dronefly.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1832

Other vendors in other geographies are available!

DJI don't list the spares catalogue on their website, for some reason...

 

[pileosnafu]

Hey there!

I had two crashes both have been my fault so I think anyway. But that being said suffered the bent plug into the camera. I took it out verified it was straight pushed it in tight. Went to the Camera, plugged it back in. I noticed it wasn't setting all the way in the cam. I gave a gentle push and it went all the way in. I turned the camera off and back on to wifi. Power cycled everything. And it worked. But I had quite a few panicky hours. Hope that helps.

 

[mduehmig]

Thanks Pile. I think mine is all the way back in. But I'm suffering more than that now. I was hoping a firmware update and a recalibration of the controller would help bring it back to communicate with the rest of the world. Alas, when plugged in to the laptop with the Phantom 2 Assistant, the assistant doesn't see the Vision. So no update, no calibration...

I think "I got bits falling off my ship." - Capt Mal Reynolds.

Screwdriver…

 

[mduehmig]

As an update to anyone following this, I keep seeing new threads to pull on before actually needing to open the case to the aircraft.

I get a single red light on the aircraft when I do the Combination Stick Command to start the rotors. I did see that this is similar to the Second Level battery warning light, but I knew my batteries are both topped off. Well I finally got my DJI Assistant software running, Firmware updated and the laptop talking to the aircraft. The aircraft thinks that neither batteries are true DJI Intelligent Batteries. This worries me a bit as the aircraft is powered up, yellow lights blink as it searches for GPS (I'm inside) and it has spent a lot of time talking to the laptop. But it isn't willing to power up flight controls because it thinks it has the wrong battery. Hmmm.

The other anomaly I'm facing is that my iPhone can connect to the Phantom wifi connection now, but I won't talk to the camera, which is hopefully due to the bent mini-jack connection in the back of the camera. (Though I straightened it as best I could and put it back in.) Could be a damaged or disconnected wire.

I think my next step is to open the case and see what I can see. I'll keep you posted.

Now I'm making these notes as much for others who come after me as requesting advice and observations from seasoned pilots. Thanks for any thoughts you have!

Mark

 

[iDrone]

Mark, as you may already know... so far the "invalid battery" warning has been known to be caused by loss of connection between the two small gold pins in the PV's battery compartment with the two gold pads on the SmartBattery. These provide battery data to the PV (your actual power is carried by the two larger blades). Some have reported the spring-loaded data pins don't always bounce back and make contact with the pads on the battery, others suggest insufficient push-depth to make & maintain contact. You might want to inspect the pins & alignment w/respect to the battery.

As for WiFi & camera, can you see your camera firmware version in the app under: Settings/About/Camera ? Can you see the NAZA-M version as well? This will tell you whether serial comm exists between camera & PV, and between PV and app. If you can read your NAZA-M version but not camera, then maybe the camera connector/cable has a broken wire inside. Hope this helps a little.

iDrone

 

[judsoncarter]

was there ever a solution here? I can get everything to work except the camera. it is almost as if the shutter won't open

 

[cb1]

First mishap with the Phantom. My mistake.

I had a good flight. I was experimenting with atti mode. There was about a 20 km/h wind and it was fun allowing it to drift and do wide sweeping turns. I was aware that the battery was getting below 20% so I lowered it down to about 20 ft off the ground. The Phantom started to auto decend but I was still in atti mode and was drifting. I was getting close to a small tree (about 15 ft tall). I tried to apply max throttle in hopes of clearing the tree but the Phantom would not respond. It drifted into the tree, did a cartwheel and landed in a snowbank. All 4 props broke and the camera totally separated from the vehicle. Took it home, removed the props and ran the motors to dry them out. Put the camera back on and tested all the systems. Everything is functioning normally.

I guess I wasn't aware that once the low battery warning occurred, that I couldn't override the auto decent and gain any altitude. Also, if I was thinking quicker, I could have flipped the S1 switch back into GPS mode to stop the drifting. Anyway I guess it's a lesson learnt that if the Phantom begins auto decent to make sure you switch back to GPS mode and move to a clear landing area ASAP.

 

[xedo]

I had almost the same accident. The problem is my phantom goes left by it self when it supposed to stay. And sometimes it goes up. I can control it. But it obviously goes left like 10 meter if i dont touch anything. Then it trues to come back where i left it then again it tries to go left. anyways. My last accident was a stupid mistake but before the accident it was going to left also. But i was thinking that it was because of wind. But i realized its not about the wind after last crash. Help me guys.. Tnanks a lot..

 

[mduehmig]

Everyone, I've found two items of damage that I think account for all the troubles I'm having. Will post details soon along with photos. In short, there are two items;

- damaged wire coming off the camera

- wire connecting battery info to motherboard is broken. (iDrone, you were right) Or more appropriately, the connector is broken off the motherboard. Might have some soldering to do.

 

[mduehmig]

As I posted yesterday, I opened up the airframe and found two things; a damaged wire leading to the camera & a broken connection on the motherboard. The wire I can splice. The connection to the motherboard will be trickier.

I'm uploading some images of what I'm working with. This broken connection leads to the two skinny pins that connect to the battery. Thus this is the error I'm getting saying the batteries aren't "DJI Intelligent Batteries."

Surgery scheduled today. I'll keep you posted.