Post Crash Help!!

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Hi everyone

Took my P3 professional out for a spin today and stupidly managed to hit a low hanging branch which caused it to crash.

There does not appear to be much physical damage beyond some scuff marks. All the blades were still attached and not damaged either.

Once I got it home I tried to power it up again and I can get it to start, the motors spin and the gimbal resets and holds but there is no camera signal.

I can move the gimbal from the controller but again no signal, there does not seem to be any cables loose that I can see and all looks ok with the gimbal.

There is however a double bleep buzzing noise from the gimbal followed by a continual buzz and the LED on the front of the gimbal is a solid red.


Really hope I can get this sorted and learn my lesson without it costing me a fortune to fix and repair.


Regards


Jim
 
there does not seem to be any cables loose that I can see

Just to be sure: the gimbal / camera package connects to the body of the P with two multi-pin connectors. Get out your best magnifiers and flood in plenty of light to look in there. I'm trying to find a video that shows them ...
 
Here's a video that shows it (as well as how to remove it, if it turns out that you need to):

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Go to the 1:50 mark to see the multi-pin connectors.
 
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From what I can see those connectors are looking ok. I have not taken the camera and gimbal off however the clips are firmly pushed in and the grey wires appear to all be in place.

There are marks on the camera housing so I take it, it took a knock. It's just weird that it moves ok but no image.

When I start it up I get a message on the app that says aircfraft upgrade error and to follow a set of instructions but they don't show what they are.

Will try to attach a picture of it
 

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I would take out the SD card to see if it's readable. If it is, make sure there's a firmware BIN file on it. If not, put one there (hopefully the version you already had on the craft, if you know, rather than introducing murky waters by using a different firmware version).

If the SD card doesn't read, format it. After it reads well and has the BIN file, use it in the UAV again. If you still get the "aircfraft upgrade error", then it might be time to send it to DJI.
 
I have taken out the SD card and got the footage off that I took on its last flight. Including the embarrassing crash.

I cleared the card leaving the latest bin file that was already on it and then re formatted the card in the DJI app when it was connected.

It has stopped the buzzing noise and I now have a green light on the gimbal but no video unfortunately and still a no signal message.

Feel so close it's so frustrating.


Jim

EDIT: Just noticed that when connected although I see no image, when I cover the lens the ISO settings change on the auto setting.
 
Jim, a completely new Gimbal and Camera package from DJI (everything below the two multi-pin connectors in the video) is around $389 from DJI (assuming you do the work yourself).

But it sound like you might have less damage than that. Like perhaps the camera works (with that ISO test), the gimbal works, the SD card to firmware memory sounds encouraging with the green-light now on, but ... there still some disconnect. It could be a cable, or a more expensive cracked board.

Nobody here can tell you for sure, but I'm guessing that a) it now needs a trip to a repair shop, non-warranty, but b) it sound like it would cost less than the $389 for the entire package, though of course with labor costs.

Any other recommendation forum folk?
 
Even though the image on your device is black, are you able to start and stop video from the controller? Might be worth doing that (if you can) and see (if it works) if the video recorded on the SD card is black also. If not, we're down to only an image transmission problem and the camera may be OK.

Mike
 
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Even though the image on your device is black, are you able to start and stop video from the controller? Might be worth doing that (if you can) and see (if it works) if the video recorded on the SD card is black also. If not, we're down to only an image transmission problem and the camera may be OK.

Mike

Just tried this and although it says no signal and I get a black screen on my iPad it does record video and take pictures

The video and pictures both came out fine with no apparent issues.


Regards


Jim
 
Just tried this and although it says no signal and I get a black screen on my iPad it does record video and take pictures

The video and pictures both came out fine with no apparent issues.


Regards


Jim

So I guess we're down to the lightbridge Tx board or a wire busted off the cable inside? I would guess a couple of the wires going from the camera are similar to an HDMI out that feeds the lightbridge. That's beyond my knowledge. Anyone have a pinout for the cables? Is it worth trying to relink the RC/AC or does the fact that the RC can operate the gimbal mean that's OK? I'm thinking you might need to open the case to see if a board is cracked or a cable jarred loose inside the case.

Edit: inspect those flat ribbon cables going from camera to gimbal. Are you sure there are no nicks or cuts, particularly on the edges of any of those cables?

Mike
 
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I am going to take the gimbal and camera off today and inspect it. If the problem is the transmitter where would I find that inside the casing.

I will try to re link again and see if that works first. Is so frustrating as its so close to working and replacing the camera now would be such a pain.


Jim
 
Best of luck and please report back. I googled P3 and schematics yesterday and found a bunch of stuff. Never having had mine open (yet) though, I don't really know what I'm looking at nor which one matches the innards inside. I was able to find one image that showed some info on the ribbon cables going from the camera and it looked like one of the outside wires (near the edge) was a live video signal, probably that the lightbridge uses. That's why I said check the edges of your cables for nicks (don't know which side... just one of the outer wires). Honestly, I think it could be anything, even something broken inside the camera. But my gut tells me its more likely that it's a wire either broken loose from a cable end or cut, and the camera, gimbal, and boards may be OK.

Another thing I thought of. If you are getting "no signal", I don't know whether that means the board isn't transmitting at all... or if it can throw "no signal" when it's just not getting a live video signal from the camera (and the board is OK). Sorry: too many questions, not enough answers. Hopefully someone with more repair background will chime in.

Mike
 

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