Limp gimbal

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I'm new to drones and still learning all the terminology ect. My Phantom 3 standard,model W321, has no video streaming and the vision gimbal hangs limp, it seems a very common complaint. I've watch a hundred video's and searched all over, to no avail…… when it comes to real troubleshooting. I have a simple 8 pin ribbon cable going from the body of the craft to the gimbal/camera. Looking all over, I'm still not sure what the difference between a vision and a vision + is?

While all all these video procedures are helpful, for someone with some troubleshooting experience and equipment, I can't even find a pinout for the 8 pin ribbon cable. Does anyone know about this, without guessing? This appears like a strategic point to start for troubleshooting.

Further, can u have one or two motors work on the three axis gimbal without all of them mal-functioning? E.g. does a bad flex cable kill all the gimbal motors?
 
Hiya,

What does the camera gimbal LED light do when you switch the aircraft on?

Considering that the gimbal is limp and their is no video from the camera it does seem to point to data/power connection from the Phantom 3 body.
 
Hiya,

What does the camera gimbal LED light do when you switch the aircraft on?

Considering that the gimbal is limp and their is no video from the camera it does seem to point to data/power connection from the Phantom 3 body.

With one caveat, it takes still pix through the App. In addition to the 8 conductor cable, there's a single gray and black wire also and I can't be sure which pin on the gimbal board they hook too. My kid gave me this thing with the wires off so I never see one hook up properly.
 
So what is the camera LED doing then?

When you take a picture with the app it should flash green.
 
With one caveat, it takes still pix through the App. In addition to the 8 conductor cable, there's a single gray and black wire also and I can't be sure which pin on the gimbal board they hook too. My kid gave me this thing with the wires off so I never see one hook up properly.
I can tell you about the two wires (black + gray), they are the wifi antenna wires and need to be hooked up under the two small doors on top of the gimbal, that are held in place by two small screws each.
 
I can tell you about the two wires (black + gray), they are the wifi antenna wires and need to be hooked up under the two small doors on top of the gimbal, that are held in place by two small screws each.

The problem is; I don't think these are interchangeable so the gray has to hook into a particular door as does the black. I have the gray hooked into the same side as the 8 conductor ribbon cable. If these are back wards that would explain the video problem.
 
The problem is; I don't think these are interchangeable so the gray has to hook into a particular door as does the black. I have the gray hooked into the same side as the 8 conductor ribbon cable. If these are back wards that would explain the video problem.
They are interchangeable, they just go to two different antenna pads.
 
So what is the camera LED doing then?

When you take a picture with the app it should flash green.

THe camera LED is normally on, but there's a beeping coming from within the gimbal main board.
So what is the camera LED doing then?

When you take a picture with the app it should flash green.

The LED is normally green. I can't recall what it looks like when a still shot is taken. I think what we are leading up to here is the WIFI module or antenna. Still doesn't explain why the gimbal doesn't work. My kid is about to take it in to a local repair shop. I told him he better learn how to fix these things because this won't be the last time this will happen.
Theres just very little technical knowledge floating around out there.
This last incident was a uncontrolled incident that caused it to hang in a tree. Had a helll'va time getting it down.
 

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If it is your wifi module and you find one, could you please post a link? I can't find one for my P3Standard anywhere. Thanks


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I have part 97. Already installed. But I'm meaning the board, on top of the gimbal, that the antennas attach too.


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I think that's going to be hard to find, would just buy a replacement gimbal.
 
Well, I'm not convinced ....yet that my WIFI module is on the gimbal board. There's a module of some kind on the main board inside the drone, that's shielded and has two coax cables on it.
 
Well, I'm not convinced ....yet that my WIFI module is on the gimbal board. There's a module of some kind on the main board inside the drone, that's shielded and has two coax cables on it.
The wifi antennas are hooked up directly to the gimbal, I think that speaks for itself. Maybe your talking about the 5.8 GHz signal?
 
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There's no block diagram as to what signals go where, it's feel as you go. I'm sure most of you on here know far more than I.
 

I replaced the flex cable and now everything EXCEPT the gimbal works. I can't understand why it appears that in all cases I noted on the Internet, all the motors either work or all of them don't. There must be a common element there. I believe there's two data buses that pass through that gray ribbon cable from the drone main card in the body to the gimbal card. If one of those were broken that might cause it. I'm pretty sure my ribbon cable is good because I did a continuity check on it, but I may have missed something. It may be headed to the repair shop. There's just not enough known about this gray ribbon cable and the signals it carries, so even someone with a scope can't be sure what they are seeing. My cable appears to have two each data buses, two 12 volt, and two ground for a total of 8 conductors. Where are the drivers for these gimbal motors, on the gimbal board or on each individual board on the each motor. The gimbal motors appear to be warm by the touch, so power must be getting through.
 

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