Trying to patch together a backup P3P

[REL]

I'm a P3P flyer and have recently acquired a P3P drone needing repair. My goal is to get this drone operating again and use it as a backup should something happen to my primary drone. The appearance of the drone is near perfect ..... but the camera is missing. The plan is to get the drone operating ( verify it will fly) then pick up and add a used camera down the line to complete it as a backup. Problem is, I can't get my current P3P controller to link with the new (cameraless) drone. I've tried the DJI GO app linking option, the C1 + C2 + Record button option to no avail. Is there a way to update the firmware in the drone (to match that in my primary drone) without a camera being added ? Any other ideas on linking options will also be appreciated.

 

[3rdof5]

Why not move your good camera over for testing purposes and then you'll know for sure all is well.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Be careful if you update the other drone.
I don’t believe you can update the 2nd drone without a camera.
What is the fw version in the primary drone, and the second drone?

 

[REL]

I was hoping there was a simpler way (without doing that) and possibly creating an issue with a currently working set up by disassembling it. Maybe thru the USB port on the 2nd drone?
The primary drone has fw 1.8.80+ in the drone and 1.9.3 in the RC. I don't know what fw is in the 2nd drone ..... since it won't connect to the controller. Is there another way to access the fw version like through the drones USB or otherwise?

 

[KachemakDiver]

Well, the second drone may have a faulty OFDM circuit board.
The camera is fairly simple to swap around to the other drone. But unless you can link the bird to the remote controller, there is no reason to swap the camera to it.
Does the linking light illuminate on the second drone when trying to link it?

 

[REL]

Thank you KD and 3rdof5 for trying to help. Yes, the linking light is illuminated red when just the drone is powered on. The landing lights are solid red in front and blinking fast yellow in the rear. When I turn on the transmitter the linking light on it is also solid red. If I watch the linking light on the drone carefully it stays mostly solid red but does blink green briefly every few seconds.
I've looked carefully at the camera connections on the working drone .... and it doesn't look like a difficult job to swap it over for a trial .....unless it is obviously another issue.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Yes, the linking light changing color briefly shows that it wants to link but doesn’t.
You haven’t mentioned it but I assume that the controller connects to the primary drone fine?
There may be a mismatch of firmware between the second drone and your controller.

 

[REL]

Yes, it connects to the primary drone right away and both the linking lights on RC and AC turn from solid red to solid green when that linking happens. Sounds like it might be worth a try to fit the camera and try a firmware update to match the 1.8.80+ firmware in the primary drone via the SD card slot in the camera ? Anything else you can think of to try B4 I do that ?

 

[KachemakDiver]

My guess is that the second drone has firmware that is more recent than the firmware on the remote controller. If so, I believe that they will not link. If you update the fw on the remote then it may not link with your first drone. I would get a second remote for the second drone. I would not want to update the fw on the first drone. The 1.8.8 firmware is better than the latest firmware, less restrictions!

 

[KachemakDiver]

Well,, if you do decide to update the firmware be sure that you aim a fan at the top gimbal board while it updates. It is VERY IMPORTANT. The gimbal board gets very warm while updating and it can ruin the video transmission feed.

 

[REL]

So, it would not be possible to just update the 2nd drone FW ..... without updating the transmitter ?

I do recall the fan warning when updating FW ...... THANK YOU for reminding me about it.

 

[KachemakDiver]

My guess is that the firmware on the second drone is already updated. At least to a firmware version that is making it not able to link with the remote. If you update the first drone, you will have to update the remote also.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Hopefully @Oso will see this thread and give us his thoughts on this issue.

 

[REL]

I was thinking that it would be possible to downgrade the FW in the backup drone (assuming it is a later version) to match the 1.8.80+ in my current working drone .... and just leave the transmitter alone. Might need some coaching on how to copy that 1.8.80+ off the working drone to a SD chip to do it though.

 

[Oso]

The plan is to get the drone operating ( verify it will fly) then pick up and add a used camera down the line to complete it as a backup.

Just to manage expectations - with the prevalence of bad gimbal top (main) boards for P3Ps, it may be on the difficult / expensive side to get a good camera/gimbal for a P3P. There's a fair amount of risk of purchasing a bad camera/gimbal advertised as good. Just keep in mind that a working camera / gimbal alone may cost as much as buying a used P3P already complete with a known good camera / gimbal.

Problem is, I can't get my current P3P controller to link with the new (cameraless) drone. I've tried the DJI GO app linking option, the C1 + C2 + Record button option to no avail.

Have you followed the directions as outlined in the post just below and in the video linked in the post? Note - I know that a P3S will NOT link without a gimbal present, but I feel like I've read here or somewhere that P3A / P3Ps will link without a gimbal. For example, this thread. They will for sure fly without a gimbal / camera if they were already linked.

P3P Controller Link To Bird

Hi All is there a manual way to connect the controller to the bird without using mobile app & does it need to have a camera connected to do this? I can't find it on google anywhere Thanks for the help in advance

phantompilots.com

I don’t believe you can update the 2nd drone without a camera.

This is correct. You can't do a FW update without the camera / gimbal present.

The primary drone has fw 1.8.80+ in the drone and 1.9.3 in the RC. I don't know what fw is in the 2nd drone ..... since it won't connect to the controller.

My guess is that the second drone has firmware that is more recent than the firmware on the remote controller.

An RC with 1.9.x should be fine with an AC using 1.8 or later. If the new AC has FW older than 1.8 that could potentially be an issue but I feel as if they would still link. Not sure. sorry.

Might need some coaching on how to copy that 1.8.80+ off the working drone to a SD chip to do it though.

You can't get FW that way. DJI has historically maintained an archive of FW versions on their site even though they don't always show links to them. For archived FW versions directly from DJI, follow the links in this post.

 

[REL]

Thank you Oso for the response and the very helpful info. After some reading and additional research ..... the results were impressive. I transferred the camera from my original working setup to the back-up drone with no camera that would not link to original RC transmitter. I could not find a 1.8.80+ bin file on the internet, so I chose a 1.8.80 bin file and a P3X_FW_DEBUG file from PHANTOM 3 MAGIC - Google Drive and copied them onto the 16gig SD card that came with the drone. Leaving the transmitter with the 1.9.3 FW off, I plugged the SD card into the drone and started it up (using a cooling fan to prevent overheating). The drone started right up with the camera "chicken dance" which normally happens. Initially the drone started giving 4 beeps and the LED on the camera housing (right above the lens) started blinking red. after about 30 minutes the four beeps stopped and a long beep followed by 2 short beeps replaced it, and the blinking red LED turned to solid green. Things seemed to be finished ..... but I let it continue another 30 minutes before I shut the drone down. On power up, I started the drone 1st( with a clean SD card ) , and then the RC transmitter. I then opened the DJI GO app and initiated a transmitter link. While it was counting down the 60 seconds I pressed the controller link button on the side of the drone with the unfolded end of a paper clip ..... and VOILA .....the transmitter linked with the drone. The camera video seems to be coming through to my iPad Mini2 just fine. I did a motor start up (props off) and everything seems to be working just fine. I'll do more tests tomorrow to confirm this success .... but for now, I'm a happy camper.
Thanks again to KD, 3rdof5, and OSo ..... "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while"

 

[Oso]

Thank you Oso for the response and the very helpful info.

You’re welcome sir.

I could not find a 1.8.80+ bin file on the internet

FYI for you and for any future readers. There is no .bin file for any “+” FW. Sorry that you spent time looking for something that doesn’t exist. It didn’t occur to me to tell you that when I gave you the link to FW in my previous post.

VOILA .....the transmitter linked with the drone. The camera video seems to be coming through to my iPad Mini2 just fine. I did a motor start up (props off) and everything seems to be working just fine. I'll do more tests tomorrow to confirm this success .... but for now, I'm a happy camper.

This is tremendous news. Great job. I’m thrilled you got it going.

I especially appreciate that you took the basic info we gave you and did your own research to expand on it and find the particulars you needed for your situation. So often we see people just say, “Didn’t work. Now what?” Instead of trying to help themselves as you did, they often just wait for us to research for them and spoon feed them suggestions. It’s so refreshing to see someone like yourself who took the lead with troubleshooting and research and made it happen. Very impressive sir. Best wishes to you.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Nice job!
Happy flying ?

 

[REL]

I especially appreciate that you took the basic info we gave you and did your own research to expand on it and find the particulars you needed for your situation. So often we see people just say, “Didn’t work. Now what?” Instead of trying to help themselves as you did, they often just wait for us to research for them and spoon feed them suggestions. It’s so refreshing to see someone like yourself who took the lead with troubleshooting and research and made it happen. Very impressive sir. Best wishes to you.

Thank you for your kind words In the long run, I hope to be a positive contributor here like you and many others who help and make this hobby more enjoyable by doing so..

 

[REL]

Nice job!
Happy flying ?

Thanks ! I appreciate your help