Unexplained Crash

[jrharte]

Hi everyone,

I'm a recent owner of a DJI Phantom 2 w/ zenmuse gimbal (bought from the
classified on here actually.)

And I'm a recent crasher of said drone.

OK, so I took my drone out (without gimbal / gopro attached) and had a fly
around the garden to get to grips with the controls.

Happy with flying, I stuck the battery on charge again and started assembling
the gimbal and attached it along with the gopro.

Took her out again in an attempt to do my first drone filming an disaster stikes!

See below:
http://youtu.be/dW2NK3O1cMo


I just pushed up to take off, without any other controls and this is the result.

Do I need to recalibrate the drone whenever I add / remove extra weight? That's
only thing different from my test flight to this crash.

Here is a photo from the flight just before the camera was added:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...1749141244.199335.506221244&type=1&permPage=1

I had absolutely no problems then...

Any ideas?

 

[LandYachtMedia]

For sure you didn't wait long enough for the computer to fully warm up and get the GPS info.

You have to wait till you get the fast flashing lights. That takes about a minute to get after you turn it on.

 

[N017RW]

I did not watch the video but I can say...

...you always need to (re)calibrate the compass after adding, removing, or relocating equipment on your Phantom.

On of the main reasons for doing so is to compensate for possible distortions or other interference which the equipment can cause to the magnetic field around you Phantom.

 

[tgreenstone]

+1 +1 on compass and waiting for GPS. From the video, it looked like it it went up and the wind/propeller push forced it right back. Lucky catch at the end, probably saved you from hurting it more.

I always power on my controller, then place my phantom on the ground, boot that, and then get my FPV monitor/antennas ready. By the time i have those all installed and powered on, i have lock. Only takes a minute or two but well worth the wait

 

[phantomi]

12 seconds from powering to take off? Then no home lock, not the minimum number of satellites, no compass calibration, then an Explained Crash. At least it was a lesser crash so do the preflight steps and try again.

 

[phantomi]

Pre flight steps of a new quad: Verify firmware at the assistant and check IMU calibration. Update and calibrate accordingly. Calibrate compass, S1 and S2 switches all the way up, Tx on then power quad and wait for the safe to take off light scheme. Idle the motors for a while and watch them for any problem. Clean regularly the battery contacts and had at least an 80% battery charge.

 

[Happyflyer]

Everything phantomi stated plus read the manual again.

 

[darwin-t]

I can't imagine that it got all of the way through the startup. You have to wait for 2 separate series of rapid green lights, and then for slow green blinking lights.

Also, don't move the quad after you plug in the battery. It sets the gyros and stuff and needs to be level and still so they can be properly calibrated.

Mine take at least a minute and a half to go through the startup procedure

 

[OBX Kevin]

I agree with everybody else. Also, make sure your Go Pro's WiFi is turned off.

 

[PhantomFanatic]

The video wasn't a clickable link. For me, that is.

 

[GaryDZ]

The video wasn't a clickable link. For me, that is.

http://youtu.be/dW2NK3O1cMo