Transmission error but the drone still flies and records

[tevek]

Hi, new to this forum and have an issue with my P3S flagging transmission error up in the banner area of the screen. I have recently relocated to a distant location (spelt foreign country) and carried out a compass recalibration, upgraded the App to 2.8.6 and now have the error message appear on the screen. The drone still flies with complete control and records video as per normal. I missed the last upgrade (June 2016) due to moving and up until now have never had an issue with the unit. I have read elsewhere that removing and reinstalling the SD card (mine is a 32 GB micro card purchased from a drone supplier) seems to be the fix and I will try that tonight. I have checked that the antenna orientation is correct and both the RC and drone are fully charged, doesn't appear to be anything wrong that is obvious and I have flown this unit for months with no issues whatsoever.
Maybe it hates the sight of rice and fish heads in its new home.

 

[tevek]

Sorry I posted before typing in the heading. Supposed to read " Transmission error but the drone still flies and records"
Update on the NITS, the unit will power up and assume the Safe to Fly GPS position. Within 10 seconds of flight, it will revert back to NITS, still fly but no picture/video.
App 2.8.6
Aircraft 1.6.80
As mentioned earlier, the unit has been relocated to another country, a compass calibration done and there we go.
I also have a P4 that has the FW upgraded and not an issue.
Any ideas please......

 

[dirkclod]

Sorry I posted before typing in the heading. Supposed to read " Transmission error but the drone still flies and records"

Fixed it

 

[RodPad]

Welcome to the Forum!,
Wow, no help yet?

Ok, Little confusing post, so you are not loosing control?

You are loosing signal from the Phantom, live view (FPV) and Telemetry?

Rod

Dirk my first impression was his problem was fixed! , I am glad you work for free.

 

[tevek]

Welcome to the Forum!,
Wow, no help yet?

Ok, Little confusing post, so you are not loosing control?

You are loosing signal from the Phantom, live view (FPV) and Telemetry?

Rod

Dirk my first impression was his problem was fixed! , I am glad you work for free.

Hi RodPad, yes after reading my first pass at posting my query, it looks like my five year old wrote it. The drone initializes with safe to fly GPS and then shortly after loses transmission, flies as per normal, and records video. I tried again last night and found in addition to the lost transmission, I also lost satellite connection and landed the craft immediately to prevent killing one of the locals.I initially thought the three thousand satellites around the camp where I work were creating the grief, so I moved to an open space to see if it that was the issue. Same story in a location where I am assuming there is no WiFi interference and nothing structural within 100 metres. As mentioned in an earlier post, the unit worked faultlessly in Australia but over here in banana land is coming up with this fault.
I have tried the remove/install of the SD card, read a number of other posts and looked at their suggestions and may have to downgrade the FW from 1.6.8 as a last resort.
I need to post a screen shot of the display that probably explains where the unit is at to make more sense.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post, I have a feeling it will be something really simple but will require someone with much more experience to push me in the direction.

 

[tevek]

Just an update with the Standard 'troubles'. Found out today that the flying area that I thought was sterilized of interference has an 13.8kV cable buried beneath where I was trying to launch from. In addition to that I uninstalled/reinstalled the App, played with the SD card one more time, initialized the shebang with controller first/App second and lastly the drone, found a new place to test and away it went. I am assuming either the HV cable by itself or a combination of the other changes I made has removed the transmission error altogether. As an aside, I hope to fly in a day or two at the place where I work and have been asked to film a test flight of a $60K drone used by the surveying people up this way. If I can get it, I'll post it. Apparently they would appreciate someone being able to film this little adventure from a distance in case their expensive drone is never seen again................
Thanks

 

[RodPad]

This means it worked better or good?
"found a new place to test and away it went."

 

[tevek]

This means it worked better or good?
"found a new place to test and away it went."

Hi Rod Pad, yes it fired up and flew as per normal following a couple of simple checks that were posted and a relocation to an interference free area.
Thanks again, this site is full of useful tips for people like me who have a memory like a sieve...

 

[Hawkwind]

Hello tevek, Glad to see the transmission problem appears to have been solved.I too have found the folks on this site are extremely helpful and courteous.I have had distance problems with my P4,but I live in an area with wifi signals,power lines, and the telephone company right down the road. I'll be going up north to the Adirondacks this spring and hopefully find out how far I can go.By the way we had another snow storm 2 days after I had last talked with you.By the way,is that fresh or salt water,lake or canal I back of your property.Hope your having a good weekend.Happy flying.



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[tevek]

Hello tevek, Glad to see the transmission problem appears to have been solved.I too have found the folks on this site are extremely helpful and courteous.I have had distance problems with my P4,but I live in an area with wifi signals,power lines, and the telephone company right down the road. I'll be going up north to the Adirondacks this spring and hopefully find out how far I can go.By the way we had another snow storm 2 days after I had last talked with you.By the way,is that fresh or salt water,lake or canal I back of your property.Hope your having a good weekend.Happy flying.



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Hi again, gees that was an old post back when I was trying to get my PS3 sorted out. The good folk on here helped me get it sorted. I sold that and bought a P4 which I am still experimenting with, particularly with boosting my signal due to forest I live in. The P4 is a lot less perceptible to inteference due to the lightbridge technology but you can still get caught out with metal and electrical challenges in your flying area. My record is 6 klms before the wind forced me to return! The lake is fresh water, full of fish and Marron (crayfish) and shared with only a couple of others. I can fly and fish from the front of the block without having to travel. Good times indeed. Drone on!

 

[Hawkwind]

We have a similar place on the Great Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondacks in upstate New York.

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[Hawkwind]

I sent this photo before finishing the conversation.This fish is a northern pike. Great story behind this catch. He cut my line on his first try for the lure.I Went out with my canoe and retrieved my lure. Ten minutes later he went for it again.Got 'em. That's ok,catch and release works every time.Keep fish'n.


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[tevek]

I've got nothing on that. Well the biggest fish in the lake are perch which would come in at no more than a couple of kilos. Apparently we aren't allowed to throw them back as they were an introduced species and are considered a pest. Nice tasting pest! Enjoy.

 

[Hawkwind]

Rainbow Trout in one of our local streams.Another catch and release.

 

[Hawkwind]

I had a lost transmission on my P4 today.First time it ever happened.Started fiddling around and I suspect the cable going from the controller to the Ipad.Ordered a new cable from Apple.

 

[tevek]

Rainbow Trout in one of our local streams.Another catch and release.View attachment 76601

We have trout as well, but haven't been lucky enough to catch one as yet. If I caught one, not sure if I could release it! You're clearly better at fishing than I am.

 

[tevek]

I had a lost transmission on my P4 today.First time it ever happened.Started fiddling around and I suspect the cable going from the controller to the Ipad.Ordered a new cable from Apple.

Yeah cables can give you that sort of grief, although usually you are not able to connect at all to the app. Did you just lose video but still able to control the drone?

 

[Hawkwind]

The controller said " lost transmission" and everything went gray.Fortunately I had just taken off.I was at 393ft. And could see and hear my P4.It started to come down as it went into return home mode.The problem was it was off about 20 ft and would of landed in a tree. I had pulled the cable going to the Ipad. As it was coming down I plugged the cable back and my pic came back on and I took control of the bird and manually landed it.I have a new cable on order from Apple.


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[tevek]

Well hopefully it's just the cable and you're back in business. I had my first full loss of video and control signal yesterday afternoon. I was at 350 mtrs up and 2.6 klms out over the forest and it went into RTH. The wife and I were having a bet as to whether I would ever see it again and after a minute or two, I could hear it whining its way back, got control back and did some speed trials to calm down a bit. I have to crank up the max altitude to try and keep a reasonable signal strength and will try it again.