MP RC disconnects

[borislip]

Not necessarily. The LED has nothing to do with the transmission signal. In fact, what does the display read when the drone disconnects? "Disconnected?"



Your first statement was that "I've been flying this bird for a rather long time (2 years or so) and never experienced this before... " which immediately told me that you have used it alot. There is no guarantee that the battery in the controller will last forever. In fact, if it has been left in the heat or cold too many times, it will eventually discharge alot faster than it used to.

Do controller batteries fail? They sure do, but not for at least a couple or few years if taken care of. I have replaced a bunch, both on Phantoms and Mavics.

If youre going to try and replace it yourself, take baby steps. The controller has alot of fragile ribbon cables inside, and if you nick one of them, or break off a connector, it will just rub salt in the wound.

What it says when the drone disconnects? Thats a very good question. I didn't happen to notice, but next time it happens, i"ll definitely look and see if it makes sense, of if it looks "hanged up".

Yea, i know how those batteries missbehave. They don't short out, though. Capacity drops (which IS the case with mine as well). Internal resistance increases. So, yea, RC momentarily neeeding more juice, and a sudden voltage drop because of the higher current consumption, may hang this sh1t... point taken, gotta see if it indeed hangs.

PS: i am fine with electronics.

 

[borislip]

Yawn. Its past my bed time.

Have a good night, and thanks for the replies, which provide some actual points to test.

PS: will keep making sure my launch area is all clear for autolanding and keep taking notes.

 

[borislip]

It happened again :-(

The RC seems very much alive, the screen shows the previous message, but it refreshes when one hits the buttons, it says "shutting down" when restarting it, buttons beep... its main board definitely doesn't seem stuck hanging.

Its looks like if just the SDR/RF part of the RC is somehow knocked out, without the main code ever knowing, with the restart bringing it back to life.

Will try eliminating most likely source of RF interference, my own phone... by putting it into flight mode while flying (what an ironic name, lol).

Will replace the RC battery anyway, when i am back.

Thanks everyone.

:-(

 

[madkaw]

Unrelated, read the OP

Modded GO4 app stability my friend...Anyway you’ll figure it out eventually.

 

[borislip]

Modded GO4 app stability my friend...Anyway you’ll figure it out eventually.

I did make it clear in the OP - i am getting the link between the RC and the MP dropped. Doesn't have much to do with app stability.

Anyway, did 4 flights with the phone in flight mode and it didn't happen. Kinda implies EMI from the phone knocks the RC out, which it never did before.

Guess i'll have to use flight mode for now as a workaround, opening the RC up later on (when i am back and have some time) going over the RF shielding , seeing if i can spot something. Will replace the battery while i am in there. And yea, that buzzer is finally getting its doze of a hot glue or something, lol.

 

[madkaw]

Yes you did, I need to read through carefully next time. Glad to hear you have a fix.
Anyway, have you tried taking out the micro SD card and try flying to see if you still get disconnects? Corrupt SD card can cause interference.

 

[borislip]

Yes you did, I need to read through carefully next time.
Anyway, have you tried taking out the micro SD card and try flying to see if you still get disconnects?

I am no longer getting them after putting the phone in flight mode (tested on 4 flights for now), which leads me to the conclusion something may be wrong with the RF shielding inside the RC. Just a speculation, csuse i've never opened it up (so i don't really know how its shielding looks inside and how its done), but things like EMI tape getting un-glued, contacts that ground the shielding no longer being properly pushed/springed/soldered/wedged in, etc. You know, stupid stuff, which can happen. And probably worth opening that thing up and giving it a good look.

Again, will keep using flight mode as workaround during my current trip, will crack the RC open and take a look after return.