Phantom 1 won't recognize H3-2D

[macnanday]

Hello all,

I posted this in the Zenmuse forum but it was suggested I post it here. I have a Phantom 1. It flies well but I wanted to add the gimbal for better video (obvious, I know). When I ordered the gimbal it came with an upgraded board and a GCU-V1. Now, I've seen instructional videos and they're either installing the GCU and PMU(?), OR the upgraded board alone. So, I installed the upgrade board alone.

The result is an H3-2D that hangs limp even though the power light goes on, the GoPro receive power and I can hear the mtors whiting soft in the gimbal. Below is the last message from the other thread...


After discussing the issue with DJI I was told that since my NAZA has a red sticker on it, that means it's the original (older) NAZA and that, in addition to the upgrade board, to get the Zenmuse to work I need to add the GCU-V1 as well. I told the guy over the phone I was skeptical of that and he assured me that should solve the problem.

But here's the problem, how do you hook up the GCU-V1 to the upgrade board in the Phantom? I've watched the videos of the Zenmuse install, both with the old board where you use the GCU-V1 and the other module (can't remember the name of it off the top of my head), and the one with the upgrade board where you don't have to add any modules.

Nowhere have I ever seen instructions that show installing the upgrade board and the GCU-V1 together, Probably a good reason for that, there's nothing to plug it in to. You can solder in the power leads, you can run the AV cable to an FPV system, and you can run the G8 cable to the Zenmuse. What's left over is a USB port and a CAN-bus (that originally linked to the other module). There are no other CAN-bus ports.

Not sure what to do next. I don't have another 50 minutes to sit on hold with DJI waiting for more "advice". And they totally ignore emails. I guess I'm just ranting because I've spent $1000 on a pile of plastic and wires. At least it still flys. I could take off the gimbal and GoPro and just fly it for the heck of it. But that's not what I bought it for.

 

[ElGuano]

Do you know if you have a v1.1.1? Does your NAZA-M have a Red LED inside of it that shines through the plastic casing when it's powered up?

"Most" Naza-M V1s (the red sticker ones) in Phantoms are more recent versions, which are the same as the Naza-M V2 and should work fine with the upgrade board. In fact, I'm not aware that older V1s are INcompatible with the upgrade board, since the board is the same thing as a PMU + GCU.

You're right that you do not run the GCU with the upgrade board. Your options are:

1) Upgrade board alone, zenmuse plugs directly to the board
2) PMU-V2 + GCU, zenmuse plugs into GCU, which plugs into PMU via CANBus

A PMU V2 costs $70 and is a fairly hefty 28g weight. The GCU has a weight penalty as well, and it's hard to cleanly stuff both of those into the Phantom's shell. I'd first try to get the upgrade board working before going the PMU + GCU route, it's a much cleaner solution overall.

 

[macnanday]

Hi ElGuano,

Thanks for the reply. I powered up the unit. I do not see a light coming through the plastic casing. In fact, the plastic looks rather opaque. There's a red light right next to it on the board.

I may have misspoke, I do have the upgraded board in place. And the Zenmuse is plugged straight into that.

 

[ElGuano]

Hi ElGuano,

Thanks for the reply. I powered up the unit. I do not see a light coming through the plastic casing. In fact, the plastic looks rather opaque. There's a red light right next to it on the board.

I may have misspoke, I do have the upgraded board in place. And the Zenmuse is plugged straight into that.

What firmware are you running? I'm loathe to recommend you spend another $70 on a pmu if we can't first ascertain that it's definitely the upgrade board that is not working (it might be a bum gimbal).

Is your gps plugged into the upgrade board as well, and the upgrade board plugged into both X3 and EXP on the Naza?

 

[macnanday]

Is your gps plugged into the upgrade board as well, and the upgrade board plugged into both X3 and EXP on the Naza?

The GPS is plugged in. The upgrade board has leads plugged into the X2, X3, EXP and LED ports on the NAZA in accordance with the training videos from DJI I watched.

As far as the Firmware version, I don't know. When I try to hook up the P1 to my computer via the USB cable I get an error message that the device won't connect. Likewise, when I run the NAZA Assistant software, it doesn't see a device either.

When I told this to the "support" guy at DJI that was when he told me that because the NAZA had a red sticker it was old and I needed to also install the GCU-V1. I don't think that was the right advice. That was 9 days ago and my inquiries to them have all gone unreturned. Needless to say, I truly appreciate your assistance.

 

[ElGuano]

Is your gps plugged into the upgrade board as well, and the upgrade board plugged into both X3 and EXP on the Naza?

The GPS is plugged in. The upgrade board has leads plugged into the X2, X3, EXP and LED ports on the NAZA in accordance with the training videos from DJI I watched.

As far as the Firmware version, I don't know. When I try to hook up the P1 to my computer via the USB cable I get an error message that the device won't connect. Likewise, when I run the NAZA Assistant software, it doesn't see a device either.

When I told this to the "support" guy at DJI that was when he told me that because the NAZA had a red sticker it was old and I needed to also install the GCU-V1. I don't think that was the right advice. That was 9 days ago and my inquiries to them have all gone unreturned. Needless to say, I truly appreciate your assistance.

OK. I assume your X2 is actually going to your receiver subboard (not connected to the mainboard) and the LED is actually going to your LED/USB and not the upgrade board as well, but it can be a bit confusing under the hood with all those wires. If you can, it would help if you could take a few CLEAR photos of the board showing all the connections just to make sure everything is set right, and the bottom with the H3-2D installed.

I think you may need to resolve your firmware issue before anything else. There are upgrades available for the NAZA, the mainboard, and the H3-2D that should be applied. These are all done through the NAZA Assistant, plugging into the USB. Download the v2.20 Assistant (either Mac, or PC with any required drivers) from the dji.com site here: http://www.dji.com/product/phantom/download and get those running. Upgrade everything it asks you to, make sure your settings migrated correctly, and then see if your H3-2D initializes on power-up.

 

[macnanday]

Hi ElGuano,

Sorry for the late response. I took some time off for the holiday weekend. I am happy to report success. I'm not totally sure what did it, but when I was taking the photos I unplugged some of the connections, (for some of the photos) then plugged them all in (for the complete photo). And, now it works. So, I would guess either I accidentally had a connection wrong and put it back correctly, or maybe one of the connections wasn't tight (although they felt good). Either way, it works and I'm happy. The video quality with the gimbal is so much better I can't even compare it to the standard footage.

Thank you again for all your advice and assistance while I struggled with this problem. BTW, I also downloaded the NAZA assistant for Mac and that was a great help too because I still can't get the PC to find the NAZA.

Cheers!
-Ken

 

[ElGuano]

Glad it's working now, happy flying!