Troubleshooting: It flies, but no Telemetry, camera or GPS Feedback

[Mad Max Mark]

New subscriber here. 1st post. I had a hard crash with the P3 Standard.

Twisted and tore the gimbal yaw arm completely off, tore the camera ribbon cable in half, compressed the landing gear - showing multiple cracks and yield marks on legs, ect.

I ordered parts and have rebuilt the gimbal. New yaw arm and ribbon cable are now installed and new landing gear/legs.

Camera and gimbal are now working. However, I do not receive a feedback signal to my phone screen. The screen is black with no telemetry. All feedback is dead and the controller communication light is steady red. DJI app is telling me aircraft not connected. There have been two times during random trouble shooting on the kitchen counter, when the entire system briefly began to function (in full) with all feedback telemetry displaying correctly on screen, connected in GPS mode with satellite signals displayed and live streaming on screen from the camera fully transmitting, but then within a minute or so, the feedback signal is lost for no aparent reason and the telemetry goes dead again with the last camera image received freezing on-screen in grey scale color.

During the times of no feedback and a dead screen (99%), I can still rotate the camera gimbal using the remote wheel and fly and control the bird, though it seems its in full manual mode only. When I first power the aircraft on, the gimbal goes through its proper gyrations and oscillating motions with confirming audio sounds as it should. During one of the two different episodes when full feedback suddenly/spontaneously began working, I was able to run the gimbal/camera calibration from the phone app and it fully calibrated perfectly.

Firmware is up to date so I know this is not a software issue. I seem to have a short somewhere and I wonder if its even temperature related as circuit boards begin to warm, though admittedly I cannot seem to establish enough of a time/temperature pattern to know. This is just a hunch, so don't read too much into that thought...

I tried to relink the aircraft to the controller using two different methods, but it doesnt seem to complete the process as I understand it.... even the small button under the side of aircraft to depress for linking is always glowing steady red. Not sure it should be doing that or not, but regardless... have not been able to perform a relink procedure successfully. I really don't even think relinking is my problem, because everything fully functions as it should during those infrequent episodes of proper signal feedback.

I inspected the square circuit board very carefully during gimbal rebuild, which is housed in the upper gimbal mounting assembly and it looked perfect with no visible signs of damage, but I'm wondering if maybe this electronic board is faulty due to the hard impact it took. The yaw arm did make some visible marks and scratches on the plastic cover - between it and this circuit board above - when it broke off during impact, but as I said, no visible signs of damage to the board when I had it removed. Also, when everything is turned on, I am getting a solid, steady green LED light on the housing of the gimbal assembly, so that is a good sign.

Additionally, I plugged the USB connection into the camera/gimbal port and I'm able to surf and see the DCIM folder with saved pictures on the SD card from my computer, among other system folders as should be there. Also, during one of the episodes when i began to receive a spontaneous feedback signal with all displays working, I pressed the camera button on screen to take a few stills and those three pictures of my kitchen countertop were saved and visible on the SD card when I hooked the aircraft to my computer and surfed manually using Windows Explorer, so I believe the newly installed ribbon cable was done correctly with all optics, camera, gimbal and gimbal motors working perfectly.

I am wondering if that largest, square circuit board in the top gimbal assembly is faulty, but I cannot locate a part or part number... not even the official description name for that board.... have searched ebay and varous websites with no luck. Not even sure this board is my problem, but willing to buy another and replace it any way to experiment.

Have I explained all details clearly? Does anyone have any insights on where my intermittent feedback signal problem from the aircraft may be occuring?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

 

[riderson]

exact same issue here. Only that I didnt crash from that high. Another thing I checked were the antenna cables from the gimbal controller. They seem to be in great shape though... still looking for a solution

 

[Mad Max Mark]

exact same issue here. Only that I didnt crash from that high. Another thing I checked were the antenna cables from the gimbal controller. They seem to be in great shape though... still looking for a solution

[Update] Additional steps taken to troubleshoot:

1. I bought and installed an entirely new camera/gimbal assembly that included the upper Gimbal Top Circuit Board. Result = no improvement; still no telemetry or feedback signal.

2. Replaced the cable which connects the Top Gimbal Circuit Board to the mother board in the fuselage. Result = no improvement. Still no telemetry or feedback signal.

3. I have replaced both 5Ghz antennas built into the landing gear that connect to the fuselage motherboard and recieve command signals from the remote controller - Result = no improvement. (Since the aircraft still flew and I can control the camera gimbal, I didnt really think this was the issue but did it anyway as a process of elimination ).

4. Next, I replaced both 2Ghz WiFi antennas that connect to the Gimbal Top Board and are positioned in the fuselage adjascent to the battery. Result = no improvement, still no video.

5. Last night, I recieved and installed a new Compass antenna, which is also mounted in the landing gear and connects to the motherboard in the fuselage. Result = no improvement. Still no feedback.

Someone directed me to the DJI Website saying there was a diagnostic application to install on my computer that would troubleshoot when connected to the USB port. According to DJI staff answers in their forums, this "DJI Assistant 2" (as it's referred to) does not work for the Phantom 3 Standard and I have not located such a diagnostic application as of yet. This seems ridiculous that there isnt a diagnostic app available. During assembly at the factory, every bird must get tested for functionality before packaging. There must be one in existence.

For now, my drone sits on the kitchen counter in pieces after 4 weeks. I'm running out of ideas and don't know what to do. Surely, others have experienced this same problem and fixed it. Has anybody out there ever sent a Phantom 3 Standard back to DJI for this repair??? If so, what did their service dept. say was the problem? What did the paperwork say was replaced? Somebody please enlighten me!