New copter with Zenmuse H3-2D has issues.

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Just got the unit on Friday. Flies perfect as far as I know because the first time I've ever flown anything was Saturday morning and nothing got crashed into anything else. So I bravely mounted the Zenmuse along with my camera. The Zenmuse did activate when I turned the unit on, but it pointed the camera straight at the ground and the X1 lever did nothing to move it when toggled. I began hooking everything up to my laptop to see what all need to be updated.

The RC Assistant said there was an update so I followed procedure, got the acknowledgement that it was updated, I cycled power, but the update didn't go away in the list and still hasn't after several times hooking it up. The X1 lever feels like it isn't engaged to anything. Sort of flops back and forth, but when I opened the RC case and turned the pot by hand still nothing on the camera or the Assistant software moves.

The copter itself flew fine, but when I tried to update the firmware there was a warning that there was abnormal communication between the battery and the MC. Tried to update the board for the Zenmuse integration and it says I have succesfully updated, but once again never goes away in the list.

Waited through 36 callers to get in to DJI and they say to ask the seller to replace the unit or I can send it to them for repairs with a 4 week turnaround. Any suggestions on what I might have missed before I one way or the other have to send the unit back?
 
Did you calibrate the controller in the RC assistant and after that calibrate again in the Phantom assistant?

Important Notes
1. For the users of PHANTOM 2 with H3-2D, must adhere to following steps to upgrade the Remote Controller firmware.
1) Use the PHANTOM RC Assistant software to upgrade the Remote Controller firmware to V1.0.1.11.
2) Calibrate the sticks and X1 channel of the Remote Controller using PHANTOM RC Assistant software.
3) Use the PHANTOM 2 Assistant software to upgrade the Gimbal IMU firmware to V1.8 on the Upgrade page.
4) After upgrade completed, calibrate the X1 channel of Main controller using PHANTOM 2 Assistant software,
then the PHANTOM 2 will work well with H3-2D.
 
Thank you xgeek! That solved a majority of the problem. The gimbal now tilts using the remote. The lever still isn't engaging the pot, but I have read where others used a rubber gasket to solve that and I think I get the concept.

I'll have to recalibrate my controls for flight now. I got so caught up in the gimbal that I think some of my sticks are too touchy. Not as steady flying as it was out of the box, but tuning it to your liking is what makes this fun. I think all my firmware is up to date, because the version in the left hand column matches what's in the right hand column and I assume the left hand column is showing current installed version. I'll play around with it for a while before I send it back.

Thanks again xgeek, this made my day.
 
triggins said:
Thank you xgeek! That solved a majority of the problem. The gimbal now tilts using the remote. The lever still isn't engaging the pot, but I have read where others used a rubber gasket to solve that and I think I get the concept.

I'll have to recalibrate my controls for flight now. I got so caught up in the gimbal that I think some of my sticks are too touchy. Not as steady flying as it was out of the box, but tuning it to your liking is what makes this fun. I think all my firmware is up to date, because the version in the left hand column matches what's in the right hand column and I assume the left hand column is showing current installed version. I'll play around with it for a while before I send it back.

Thanks again xgeek, this made my day.

Another tip for you when you get a little adventurous. The gimbal tilt switch is a piece of crap, you WILL get sick of it, especially when you're filming a nice scene and the tilt switch makes the gimbal lurch from level to 90 degrees down in half a second. I purchased a dial controller and installed it on the Tx yesterday. I disconnected the pot for the gimbal and soldered the three connectors onto the new dial pot which is mounted on the face of the controller. Now my gimbal can be adjusted gently and smoothly and is sooooooo much nicer to use.
 
[/quote]

Another tip for you when you get a little adventurous. The gimbal tilt switch is a piece of crap, you WILL get sick of it, especially when you're filming a nice scene and the tilt switch makes the gimbal lurch from level to 90 degrees down in half a second. I purchased a dial controller and installed it on the Tx yesterday. I disconnected the pot for the gimbal and soldered the three connectors onto the new dial pot which is mounted on the face of the controller. Now my gimbal can be adjusted gently and smoothly and is sooooooo much nicer to use.[/quote]

Do you pictures and a parts list for this?
 
So I got the gimbal to tilt using the advice from xgeek. I had to open the RC and use a screwdriver on the pot, but it did work. Today I opened it back up and could tell the metal tabs holding the pot off the board were bent and that's why the lever was not engaging. Straightened them up with needle nose and we have a functioning remote. I'm going to mod with a dial controller as PetePerrim suggested as the lever still feels very flimsy.

That solved one problem I was about to send the entire unit to DJI for repair. The second has to do with updating. This is the screenshot of what my update tab says when connected to the copter.


I tried to explain to support that it never clears the list and says No Update for the MC or the P330CB. I get an error message that pops up in the lower right hand corner saying there is abnormal communication between the battery and the MC. This pops up and goes away so fast that I had to grab a quickly captured PrintScreen and paste it to Paint just to see what it said. Am I correct that all my firmware is up to date according to the image above or should I send it back? Just not sure what the screen should say after I follow the update procedure and get the message it was succesful and to cycle power.
 

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So basically I followed the video posted by Adam from last year in this post viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1496


I did get the linear potentiometer instead of the radio as suggested later in his post. Once I popped the tilt control pot off I put solder on the leads. Then I decided to put the dial between the sticks so I had to move some of the installed wiring around. Then I drilled a 5/16" hole with a drill press and shortened the shaft on the dial. Soldered the 3 wires to the dial and installed it in the drilled hole. Ran the wires back to the pre-soldered leads and got everything buttoned back up. Recalibrated and took a test flight to make sure all was well. Flew straight and true, but too dark for video.Not bad for my first time soldering or at least I think it's good.I did break a wire while drilling so be careful if you attempt this.Once I recalibrated in the RC Assistant and then in the P2 Assistant the gimbal tilted up and down as smooth as glass.
 

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Is it possible to just solder wires for the new pot onto the metal pins of the existing pot - essentially have two tilt controllers?
 
rodemic said:
Is it possible to just solder wires for the new pot onto the metal pins of the existing pot - essentially have two tilt controllers?

Unfortunately If you do that, you'll be putting 2 (variable) resistors in parallel. Doesn't work that way. It should be one pot or the other.
 
fanredwings said:
Unfortunately If you do that, you'll be putting 2 (variable) resistors in parallel. Doesn't work that way. It should be one pot or the other.

I was hesitant about removing the old pot so I tried it and it seems to work...am I damaging any of the electronics by doing this?

I went with a 1k pot with 4 x 910 ohm resistors as suggested in this post: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8399&p=103876&hilit=910+resistor#p103876

Calibrated X1 in the RC and Phantom Assistant and working smoothly. It does get confused if you also use the original tilt control, so I have just taped that up.
 

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