Alright, so I have a couple problems with my bird, just when I thought I managed to get it all up and running... A little backstory: I put together a Phantom 2 with H3-3D and a FPV setup. By put together I mean buying a stripped down Vision (without Wifi and camera), replacing the Tx and Rx for a regular 2.4GHz versions and adding the video stuff. It all took a while to build because parts are increasingly hard to come by where I live. Now on to the issues...
First of all, last week I flew this thing for the first time. Removed the gimbal and other video components, installed prop guards (this will be relevant later on) just to get a hang of it and not damage the expensive equipment if I crash. I calibrated everything and did all procedures by the book. Issue #1 - extremely short range. Antenna pointed straight up, I'm getting about 100-150 meters horizontal at like 20 meters altitude (not going to fly higher for now) if I'm looking directly at it before it flashes yellow for lost signal. Shorter when I cover the antenna with my palm or when the FPV monitor is installed. My guess is that the replacement Rx is not fully functional, I'll probably start off with replacing the Tx antenna for a bigger one. Maybe mod the Rx ones too? Any input on that?
Anyway, I can deal with the short range, the second issue is much more worrisome. This weekend I took it out to the field WITH camera & FPV installed. On my second flight it simply fell out of the sky while hovering from about 15 meters. It happened pretty fast and I'm half sure I had no control of the craft as it happened. When it crashed I lost video feed (the gimbal cable was partially disconnected on impact I guess), the engines were still running at high speed and it was not responding to any inputs - I had to manually pull the battery to shut it off. When I turned it on again it demanded compass calibration, which I did and it passed without issues.
I took it home to assess the damage and read up - luckily only the shell cracked in a couple places (it needs replacing anyway, I swear this drone is made up of 60% epoxy and the rest is electrical tape, honestly I'm sometimes surprised it even works) and there's no damage to the gimbal. Well anyway, I read up on VRS/prop wash and it could have been it, though I hear it usually happens when descending which I was not. At this point I removed the prop guards since apparently they amplify the problem. Doesn't really explain the lost controll, but 1) it could have been in combination with lost signal as per the first issue, and 2) in panic mode I probably only tried to increase power instead of trying to move horizontally - I'm honestly not sure of this one.
After fixing up the shell I took it to my backyard the next day. Again - did advanced calibration, compass dance, no prop guards, battery charged. Powered up my camera and took off. This time the plan was to only let it hover at about 5 meters and do little circles every now and then. Boom - a couple minutes into the flight it goes down again - this time I had control and was able to steer it away, but since the altitude was so low it still hit the ground - controlled crash I guess.
So, how do I deal with it? I was hoping the prop guards were the problem, but I still experienced a crash with them removed. The problem didn't exist until I mounted the gimbal and camera. I have video of both crashes which I have yet to watch, maybe I'll upload it to youtube so you guys can help me find the issue... Honestly at this point I'm tempted to sell it and buy a P3 or something, but holy hell I spent a lot of time on this one and I want it to work!
First of all, last week I flew this thing for the first time. Removed the gimbal and other video components, installed prop guards (this will be relevant later on) just to get a hang of it and not damage the expensive equipment if I crash. I calibrated everything and did all procedures by the book. Issue #1 - extremely short range. Antenna pointed straight up, I'm getting about 100-150 meters horizontal at like 20 meters altitude (not going to fly higher for now) if I'm looking directly at it before it flashes yellow for lost signal. Shorter when I cover the antenna with my palm or when the FPV monitor is installed. My guess is that the replacement Rx is not fully functional, I'll probably start off with replacing the Tx antenna for a bigger one. Maybe mod the Rx ones too? Any input on that?
Anyway, I can deal with the short range, the second issue is much more worrisome. This weekend I took it out to the field WITH camera & FPV installed. On my second flight it simply fell out of the sky while hovering from about 15 meters. It happened pretty fast and I'm half sure I had no control of the craft as it happened. When it crashed I lost video feed (the gimbal cable was partially disconnected on impact I guess), the engines were still running at high speed and it was not responding to any inputs - I had to manually pull the battery to shut it off. When I turned it on again it demanded compass calibration, which I did and it passed without issues.
I took it home to assess the damage and read up - luckily only the shell cracked in a couple places (it needs replacing anyway, I swear this drone is made up of 60% epoxy and the rest is electrical tape, honestly I'm sometimes surprised it even works) and there's no damage to the gimbal. Well anyway, I read up on VRS/prop wash and it could have been it, though I hear it usually happens when descending which I was not. At this point I removed the prop guards since apparently they amplify the problem. Doesn't really explain the lost controll, but 1) it could have been in combination with lost signal as per the first issue, and 2) in panic mode I probably only tried to increase power instead of trying to move horizontally - I'm honestly not sure of this one.
After fixing up the shell I took it to my backyard the next day. Again - did advanced calibration, compass dance, no prop guards, battery charged. Powered up my camera and took off. This time the plan was to only let it hover at about 5 meters and do little circles every now and then. Boom - a couple minutes into the flight it goes down again - this time I had control and was able to steer it away, but since the altitude was so low it still hit the ground - controlled crash I guess.
So, how do I deal with it? I was hoping the prop guards were the problem, but I still experienced a crash with them removed. The problem didn't exist until I mounted the gimbal and camera. I have video of both crashes which I have yet to watch, maybe I'll upload it to youtube so you guys can help me find the issue... Honestly at this point I'm tempted to sell it and buy a P3 or something, but holy hell I spent a lot of time on this one and I want it to work!