RC Battery life & Vision Assistant connection

[PhantomMan88]

I purchased my Phantom 2 Vision+ in April of 2015. The Remote control and Wi-Fi extender seemed to have a much longer battery life than the drone. Today, however, the RC was charged and the large LED was green before the flight. It lasted about 8 minutes and the RC was beeping and the large LED was flashing before the flight finished. The RC was connected to power until the LED was green and another short ~8-10 minute flight was made. The RC again started beeping and flashing. Both flight completed successfully. The RC is "sealed". There is no battery door on this model. Does anyone know the charging life cycle of these batteries?

Second problem: When the Phantom is connected via USB to my computer and the Vision Assistant program is started, it does not "see" the Phantom.. The RC assistant works fine on the RC, so I concluded connections, cables, etc. were okay and the problem lay with the Phantom. Does anyone know if this is fixable locally, or is it problem that requires a factory repair station? Thanks to any and all.

 

[CapnBob]

I bought my P2V+ when they first came out (V2) and over time upgraded it to V3 specs with ESCs, motors, compass etc, in addition to many other mods (GPS antenna, WiFi heat-sinking..) The one thing I didn't opt for was the "new" remote with the rechargeable battery. I did not want another thing to worry about recharging; I simply carry 2 sets of fresh AAs in the case. I love that I can just pop in another set if it starts chirping at me. You may want to grab an older RC from Ebay as a spare. You can install a $3 PS2 joystick in it for cam tilt (I have a post on doing this here). As for the USB problem, that actually happened on my RC as well. The wires attached to the connector are tiny, and one had broken off during my camera tilt mod. a simple solder job did the trick. On the bird, though, I believe the USB connector is soldered directly to the main board. It may not be as simple in your case.

I purchased my Phantom 2 Vision+ in April of 2015. The Remote control and Wi-Fi extender seemed to have a much longer battery life than the drone. Today, however, the RC was charged and the large LED was green before the flight. It lasted about 8 minutes and the RC was beeping and the large LED was flashing before the flight finished. The RC was connected to power until the LED was green and another short ~8-10 minute flight was made. The RC again started beeping and flashing. Both flight completed successfully. The RC is "sealed". There is no battery door on this model. Does anyone know the charging life cycle of these batteries?

Second problem: When the Phantom is connected via USB to my computer and the Vision Assistant program is started, it does not "see" the Phantom.. The RC assistant works fine on the RC, so I concluded connections, cables, etc. were okay and the problem lay with the Phantom. Does anyone know if this is fixable locally, or is it problem that requires a factory repair station? Thanks to any and all.

 

[RoyVa]

Phantomman, sometime damage can occur to the USB connector in the Phantom. It is a harness and with a little work can be replaced. You can find them on EBay. Thier is one screw that holds the connector I place and a spot of silicone glue on the cable at the connector. The cable runs to the camera that has the spot of glue. The USB interface cable run around 10 dollars and is part # 13 and has a plug to the controller.

 

[CapnBob]

Good info. I couldn't remember if the connector in the bird was attached to the board or wired.

 

[mad in nc]

Second problem: When the Phantom is connected via USB to my computer and the Vision Assistant program is started, it does not "see" the Phantom.. ......

If PC (Non MAC) make sure the WIN DRIVER file is loaded and running on PC first before opening Assistant........

 

[PhantomMan88]

Okay, operating on the theory that there is no shame in being ignorant, just in staying ignorant, I ask a lot of questions. Starting from the beginning: I downloaded, and installed DJI_WIN_Driver_Installer. Just before running the DJI Pahntom2 Vision Assistant, I execute DPInst.exe.The Driver Installation Wizard reports the Driver Name as dji-innovations.inc (usbuser) Ports (12/06/2-15 5.1.2600.5515) and Status as Ready to use. Using the DJI Wiki page on using the Phantom 2 Vision+ Assistant software, as a guide, I plug in a USB cable into the body of the Phantom (not the gimbal port), turn on the drone, and open the Phantom Assistant software. The two indicators in the lower left-hand corner which indicate connection and communication never light up. I use the same cable to connect the Remote Controller when running the RC Assistant software and I get connection and operation, so I conclude the cable is okay. That takes me back to the drone's USB body port. As everyone must know, if speakers are on, connecting and disconnecting USB devices, usually produces a two-tone noise. I get this noise when connecting the Controller but not when connecting the drone. So, now what? I'm reluctant to open the drone unless the expected repair is simple. Its a wise man that knows his limitations. Opinions? Thanks.

 

[BlackTracer]

You might want to try another computer with a fresh install of driver and assistant. Or uninstall reinstall the driver and assistant. You didnt mention if you tried either of these.

 

[PhantomMan88]

Sorry for the omission. I have done the R&R. I've also tried version 3.6 and 3.8 of the Vision Assistant. Thanks for the come back.

 

[RoyVa]

There are a couple of things to try first before changing the birds USB port/ harness.
First try another USB cable. Next plug into another USB port on the PC. Next go to settings, control panel, system and security, then to device manager. Now scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controler. Highlight USB root Hub, now right click on it and delete it. Shut down and restart the PC and it will reinstall an updated driver. Re-Install the DJI Windows driver and the assistant. Now plug into the Phantom. You should get the beeps indicating a connection. If not now is Phantom USB plug replacement time.
To eliminate having to do the above steps to the Device manager if you have a Laptop or other Windows device with USB ports see if they will connect to the assistant after loadinggnthe DJI Windows Driver. If the same result. It's the Quad.
Hope this helps some.