Got disconnected

[psl_air]

Hello all. My Gf gave me Phantom 3 pro as a gift. It was new in the box, never used. I've never owned a quad copter or any other flying rc craft. This is the first one. To make a long story short, I have issues with the drone disconnecting with the rc. I started flying the drone in the back yard about 4' off the ground to get used to the controls. had no issues. I took it to it's first high level flight the next day and it stayed in air for about 8 minutes @ about 80' and then lost connection and landed on it's own. this has happened every time I've taken the drone out to fly. The disconnects are random but are more frequent now. As of the time of writing this, @ startup, turning the controller and the drone on, I will either get a green light on the controller showing that it's connected as well as in the app and stay that way till I try to fly it or I'll get connection conformation in the app and on the controller and then a sudden disconnect while the craft is warming up. The controller will show a red light and the app will show connection lost or craft warming up along with the camera image turning gray.

The disconnections are completely random. To add to my confusion and ignorance, I did get a message to update the firmware on the drone and the controller at some point I did manage to install the firmware but the connection issues continued. I tried to find information on the net but because the model is older the information is confusing for me or outdated. As for as I know, all firmware and the app are up to date. in my attempts to update the firmware and re update it I may have created even more issues. At the time of writing this I was having the above issues. I posted this but I got a message saying it was waiting for approval before it could be posted. that was Sunday 1/3/21. since then I did manage to re install the firmware and I calibrated the IMU. I started it after doing this but got the same issue. I could start the craft and controller but the light on the controller would turn red and the image would turn gray with the warming up message displaying as soon as the app finished loading.

The next day I started it and had no disconnect issue. I did not fly it, I did this several times in the next two days and have had no disconnects. I wanted to test the controller so I turned the craft and the controller on and walked outside, got in my vehicle and was able to drive more than 500 feet away before I lost connection. I drove around my block and then at about 700 feet away the drone reconnected and stayed that way all the way back to my house. Keep in mind that the signal had to travel through trees, houses, cars and probably a few people and animals. I'll have to test fly it when I have a chance and report back. Here is an image of the about section of the app. I have access to the misc folder, those text files have a lot of info on them.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Hello all. My Gf gave me Phantom 3 pro as a gift. It was new in the box, never used. I've never owned a quad copter or any other flying rc craft. This is the first one. To make a long story short, I have issues with the drone disconnecting with the rc. I started flying the drone in the back yard about 4' off the ground to get used to the controls. had no issues. I took it to it's first high level flight the next day and it stayed in air for about 8 minutes @ about 80' and then lost connection and landed on it's own. this has happened every time I've taken the drone out to fly. The disconnects are random but are more frequent now. As of the time of writing this, @ startup, turning the controller and the drone on, I will either get a green light on the controller showing that it's connected as well as in the app and stay that way till I try to fly it or I'll get connection conformation in the app and on the controller and then a sudden disconnect while the craft is warming up. The controller will show a red light and the app will show connection lost or craft warming up along with the camera image turning gray.

The disconnections are completely random. To add to my confusion and ignorance, I did get a message to update the firmware on the drone and the controller at some point I did manage to install the firmware but the connection issues continued. I tried to find information on the net but because the model is older the information is confusing for me or outdated. As for as I know, all firmware and the app are up to date. in my attempts to update the firmware and re update it I may have created even more issues. At the time of writing this I was having the above issues. I posted this but I got a message saying it was waiting for approval before it could be posted. that was Sunday 1/3/21. since then I did manage to re install the firmware and I calibrated the IMU. I started it after doing this but got the same issue. I could start the craft and controller but the light on the controller would turn red and the image would turn gray with the warming up message displaying as soon as the app finished loading.

The next day I started it and had no disconnect issue. I did not fly it, I did this several times in the next two days and have had no disconnects. I wanted to test the controller so I turned the craft and the controller on and walked outside, got in my vehicle and was able to drive more than 500 feet away before I lost connection. I drove around my block and then at about 700 feet away the drone reconnected and stayed that way all the way back to my house. Keep in mind that the signal had to travel through trees, houses, cars and probably a few people and animals. I'll have to test fly it when I have a chance and report back. Here is an image of the about section of the app. I have access to the misc folder, those text files have a lot of info on them.

View attachment 121146

You will loose signal if you have houses,trees,cars and such, blocking the signal between r/c and a/c. Have you thoroughly read the owner’s manual? The only issue I see in your image is the ‘+’ sign after the firmware version of the a/c. That’s more than likely because of the battery that is in the drone is not updated to match the a/c. I assume that it’s showing the image transmission to your device? By the way, with the Phantom 3 Professional, you should always have a small fan pointing at the camera gimbal assembly while doing an update, it’ll get pretty warm if you don’t and may cause another problem. Tell us what tablet or phone you are using also.

 

[psl_air]

You will loose signal if you have houses,trees,cars and such, blocking the signal between r/c and a/c. Have you thoroughly read the owner’s manual? The only issue I see in your image is the ‘+’ sign after the firmware version of the a/c. That’s more than likely because of the battery that is in the drone is not updated to match the a/c. I assume that it’s showing the image transmission to your device? By the way, with the Phantom 3 Professional, you should always have a small fan pointing at the camera gimbal assembly while doing an update, it’ll get pretty warm if you don’t and may cause another problem. Tell us what tablet or phone you are using also.

Thank you for the reply. Just to be clear, I understand the limitations of Wifi to pass through solid objects. I made reference to it because it was a positive sign for me being able to keep a connection at a distance with the addition of the signal passing through objects. The signal was dropping previously at shorter ranges in line of sight. I haven't read through the entire manual yet. I found information on the net about the "+" sign. One site said it was due to the firmware not updating all portions of the hardware for some reason and another site said it was a certification sign from the DJI engineers that the firmware version was a fix for a previous version with the same version number that was causing issue with some drones. That's where the confusion comes in for me. yes the device i'm using does show the image correctly while it's connected. I did read on another thread about using a fan to cool the components while updating the firmware and did that on my final re install of the firmware. I have a background in computer hardware and understand the importance of keeping components cool. I am currently using the Galaxy Tab E with the PH 3 PRo I've also attempted to use an apple ipad Gen 7 and had the same disconnect issues.

 

[MapMaker53]

Sorry to hear you are having such problems as it can be very frustrating. Sometimes it can be because of something very simple such as antenna orientation. New flyers will often start out pointing the RC antenna tips at the drone, but this results in the weakest signal. The RC antennas should be oriented with the long flat surface facing the drone for the strongest signal.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Thank you for the reply. Just to be clear, I understand the limitations of Wifi to pass through solid objects. I made reference to it because it was a positive sign for me being able to keep a connection at a distance with the addition of the signal passing through objects. The signal was dropping previously at shorter ranges in line of sight. I haven't read through the entire manual yet. I found information on the net about the "+" sign. One site said it was due to the firmware not updating all portions of the hardware for some reason and another site said it was a certification sign from the DJI engineers that the firmware version was a fix for a previous version with the same version number that was causing issue with some drones. That's where the confusion comes in for me. yes the device i'm using does show the image correctly while it's connected. I did read on another thread about using a fan to cool the components while updating the firmware and did that on my final re install of the firmware. I have a background in computer hardware and understand the importance of keeping components cool. I am currently using the Galaxy Tab E with the PH 3 PRo I've also attempted to use an apple ipad Gen 7 and had the same disconnect issues.

Ok there's no wifi signal with p3p,,its lightbridge transmission just to be clear,different,,have you tryed relinking process to see if it improves transmission,,,,like above read the manual, there's a pdf download of this manual,,it covers everything you need to know,,I still read to keep the brain fresh,,firmware is optional ,,,when you get a disconnect do you still have control of drone or does rth happen,,make sure your USB cord is cable capable of transferring data good,you probably already aware of that,,,,dont be shy read that book ,,its pretty much a must do ,,flying without know what is actually going on is recipe for disaster

 

[KachemakDiver]

Thank you for the reply. Just to be clear, I understand the limitations of Wifi to pass through solid objects. I made reference to it because it was a positive sign for me being able to keep a connection at a distance with the addition of the signal passing through objects. The signal was dropping previously at shorter ranges in line of sight. I haven't read through the entire manual yet. I found information on the net about the "+" sign. One site said it was due to the firmware not updating all portions of the hardware for some reason and another site said it was a certification sign from the DJI engineers that the firmware version was a fix for a previous version with the same version number that was causing issue with some drones. That's where the confusion comes in for me. yes the device i'm using does show the image correctly while it's connected. I did read on another thread about using a fan to cool the components while updating the firmware and did that on my final re install of the firmware. I have a background in computer hardware and understand the importance of keeping components cool. I am currently using the Galaxy Tab E with the PH 3 PRo I've also attempted to use an apple ipad Gen 7 and had the same disconnect issues.

I use a galaxy tab E also! There is a tutorial on setting up an android device on the forum, it helped me tremendously. I’ll look for it.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Here’s a pdf on setting up an android.

 

[psl_air]

Ok there's no wifi signal with p3p,,its lightbridge transmission just to be clear,different,,have you tryed relinking process to see if it improves transmission,,,,like above read the manual, there's a pdf download of this manual,,it covers everything you need to know,,I still read to keep the brain fresh,,firmware is optional ,,,when you get a disconnect do you still have control of drone or does rth happen,,make sure your USB cord is cable capable of transferring data good,you probably already aware of that,,,,dont be shy read that book ,,its pretty much a must do ,,flying without know what is actually going on is recipe for disaster

Thank you for the reply, I did see the reference to light bridge technology in the documentation and thought it was a proprietary form of wifi. Yes I have relinked the controller to the drone on a couple of occasions but still had issues. I do have the manual and I will read through it beginning to end. I was having two different experiences with the disconnects. First one, I would start the drone, then the controller with the galaxy tab E already on and the app would start automatically. The drone would go through it's start up process and show that it's warming up. At that point the drone would disconnect. the lights would flash yellow on the drone and the controller light would turn red. the video signal would turn gray showing the feed was lost. The props of the drone were not started at this point. I had no control of the drone using the controller.
The other experience would be that the drone would go through the startup process with no issues. all processes appeared to be functioning correctly. Lights flashing green on the drone, green light on the controller with the display showing ready to fly (GPS) with video feed. I would get it in the air and go to different elevations less than 75 feet in distance before it would suddenly lose connection. When I did lose connection each time after getting it air born it would land in the spot that I was disconnected. I was never able to gain control of the drone once the connection was lost. I would have to restart everything.
I've used different cables with the same results. Because of my work schedule I've not had a chance to fly it but I've started it each time the last four nights with no connection issues. I also was able to drive around outside with the remote connected with only one disconnect and then reconnection in that test. I'm wondering if it's possible that calibrating the IMU and re installing the firmware may have corrected the issue. I'll find out the next time I get a chance to fly it. I'll report back.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Thank you for the reply, I did see the reference to light bridge technology in the documentation and thought it was a proprietary form of wifi. Yes I have relinked the controller to the drone on a couple of occasions but still had issues. I do have the manual and I will read through it beginning to end. I was having two different experiences with the disconnects. First one, I would start the drone, then the controller with the galaxy tab E already on and the app would start automatically. The drone would go through it's start up process and show that it's warming up. At that point the drone would disconnect. the lights would flash yellow on the drone and the controller light would turn red. the video signal would turn gray showing the feed was lost. The props of the drone were not started at this point. I had no control of the drone using the controller.
The other experience would be that the drone would go through the startup process with no issues. all processes appeared to be functioning correctly. Lights flashing green on the drone, green light on the controller with the display showing ready to fly (GPS) with video feed. I would get it in the air and go to different elevations less than 75 feet in distance before it would suddenly lose connection. When I did lose connection each time after getting it air born it would land in the spot that I was disconnected. I was never able to gain control of the drone once the connection was lost. I would have to restart everything.
I've used different cables with the same results. Because of my work schedule I've not had a chance to fly it but I've started it each time the last four nights with no connection issues. I also was able to drive around outside with the remote connected with only one disconnect and then reconnection in that test. I'm wondering if it's possible that calibrating the IMU and re installing the firmware may have corrected the issue. I'll find out the next time I get a chance to fly it. I'll report back.

Anything is possible and doesn’t hurt to calibrate the IMU. I would strongly recommend setting up the Galaxy tab E like it shows in the attachment in post #7. The Phantom 3 Professional is a excellent drone. I’ve had all of mine over 10,000 ft. It definitely helped setting up my tab E that way.

 

[psl_air]

Anything is possible and doesn’t hurt to calibrate the IMU. I would strongly recommend setting up the Galaxy tab E like it shows in the attachment in post #7. The Phantom 3 Professional is a excellent drone. I’ve had all of mine over 10,000 ft. It definitely helped setting up my tab E that way.

I only calibrated the IMU the one time, I'm reading through the the document posted and there's some good info there that I'm using to streamline my galaxy Tab E. I've watched many videos showing the capabilities of the PH 3 Pro and I'm glad I have one. Thank you for the help.

 

[KachemakDiver]

I only calibrated the IMU the one time, I'm reading through the the document posted and there's some good info there that I'm using to streamline my galaxy Tab E. I've watched many videos showing the capabilities of the PH 3 Pro and I'm glad I have one. Thank you for the help.

Yes, when this connection issue is resolved, you’ll have a lot of enjoyment from the P3P.

 

[psl_air]

One observation that is worth mentioning about updating my controller. When I was updating the firmware on the controller I could not get it to install using the Galaxy Tab E. When I used the ipad Gen 7, the install was flawless. There is definitely a performance difference when using an ipad with more processing power and memory vs the older slower devices.

 

[crash1sttime]

RTH or auto land if within 20 feet of home point is indicative of a lost signal to controller


If this was mine I would be looking at finding someone with a controller and see if swapping it over cures the issue, as for firmware updates, I always used the SD card in the camera slot and the USB adaptor for the controller, I never trusted the app way of doing it.

Yes the + usually means one of the modules hasnt updated but as said its more likely to be the battery, remember to blow cold air over the camera assembly with a fan whilst updating to prevent board burn out

 

[KachemakDiver]

One observation that is worth mentioning about updating my controller. When I was updating the firmware on the controller I could not get it to install using the Galaxy Tab E. When I used the ipad Gen 7, the install was flawless. There is definitely a performance difference when using an ipad with more processing power and memory vs the older slower devices.

Agree, that is why I was curious as to what device you were using. And also compatibility with the GO app, not all devices work well with it.

 

[psl_air]

RTH or auto land if within 20 feet of home point is indicative of a lost signal to controller


If this was mine I would be looking at finding someone with a controller and see if swapping it over cures the issue, as for firmware updates, I always used the SD card in the camera slot and the USB adaptor for the controller, I never trusted the app way of doing it.

Yes the + usually means one of the modules hasnt updated but as said its more likely to be the battery, remember to blow cold air over the camera assembly with a fan whilst updating to prevent board burn out

Thank you for the reply. I took it out this morning and had two different results using two different batteries. I first used the original battery that came with the drone. This battery did not have a full charge, 50%. I was able to take the drone to 300' and about 50' distance without one disconnection. I was able to move the drone to different locations within 50' radius. The battery went to low status and I activated RTH and it landed at the recorded location. I then used the new battery that was charged to about 85%. I was able to start it and all appeared to be normal. I was able to get to about 10' up and about 200 yards distance. After 2 minutes I encountered a disconnect. The drone went to the preset RTH altitude and RTH. I had this same result 3 more times. I then got to the point that after turning the drone and RC on it would not connect at all. I did notice that on the new battery it is reporting that there is a "Broken Cell". here is an image of the battery status page.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Thank you for the reply. I took it out this morning and had two different results using two different batteries. I first used the original battery that came with the drone. This battery did not have a full charge, 50%. I was able to take the drone to 300' and about 50' distance without one disconnection. I was able to move the drone to different locations within 50' radius. The battery went to low status and I activated RTH and it landed at the recorded location. I then used the new battery that was charged to about 85%. I was able to start it and all appeared to be normal. I was able to get to about 10' up and about 200 yards distance. After 2 minutes I encountered a disconnect. The drone went to the preset RTH altitude and RTH. I had this same result 3 more times. I then got to the point that after turning the drone and RC on it would not connect at all. I did notice that on the new battery it is reporting that there is a "Broken Cell". here is an image of the battery status page.

View attachment 121155

Maybe discharge this battery down to around 25% and then recharge, but check the balance of the cells before flying with it to be sure that they are very close to being equal. And a rule of thumb, always fly with a freshly charged battery. Especially a unbalanced cell battery.
It would be nice if you had access to a different remote controller to try.

 

[psl_air]

Yeah I don't have access to another controller. I discharged it down to 20% and have it fully charged now and that last posted image is what it reads. I'm wondering what the acceptable range would be within. +/- .05 may be too much? I'll research it more. I read somewhere on another forum about discharging the battery to about 5% and then seeing if it corrects the issue. I have both batteries @ 100% charged now and I'm going to test them again. I'll report back.

 

[psl_air]

I took it out to fly it. Started it up and It connected and then disconnected while using the original battery. It did the same thing with the other battery as well. After several attempts at restarting everything it would not connect at all. I got it home started it up again and it connected and disconnected. Something is wrong with it. Time to call Dji I guess.

 

[KachemakDiver]

I took it out to fly it. Started it up and It connected and then disconnected while using the original battery. It did the same thing with the other battery as well. After several attempts at restarting everything it would not connect at all. I got it home started it up again and it connected and disconnected. Something is wrong with it. Time to call Dji I guess.

I’m leaning toward you having a bad OFDM module.

 

[psl_air]

I’m leaning toward you having a bad OFDM module.

That board does not look too terribly hard to replace. I wish I could get a hold of another controller just to rule out a faulty RC.