300' Powered drop straight down into the ground

[Droneman]

Well I'm devistated, it happened to me 2 nights ago after having 16 months of a perfect flight record with my H. Batteries were fully charged. Had just completed my pre-flight check list where all is perfect, ascended up to about 300' and was hoovering in place for about 30 seconds while I checked camera settings - when I heard the motors change pitch (sound) and sounded like they were running much faster than normal - but still in place. Suddenly it dropped rapidly straight into the ground, props turning, motors running and no control on my st 16. In the brief time I had I visually checked settings and all appeared correct. Seems like I've read on here a number of similar events recently. No I wasn't smart enough to take photos of the crash site but I do have photos of what's left. Strangelty, the damage is much less that I anticipated crashing at such a fast speed.

If there is someone out there that could tell me where to find directions to download my flight log from the st16 I'd like to do that and then post it here (or somewhere) to see if someone smarter than me can help figure out what went wrong.

Fortunately, I have a backup H standing by. Yesterday I took it out for a test flight after completing my pre-flight list. I noticed 2 things that were not normal right away. Looking for any help I can get here as well.
A. My H would only run at about 1/2 full throttle speed wide open - and yes the batteries were fully charged.
B. When I'd take a still photo (with the still camera selected) I didn't hear the normal shutter sound. I did see the message on the screen that the capture was complete and the photo were there on the card. I did not try a video. Frankly after just having a crash and things not seemingly normal I wanted to get the H on the ground. You guys are the best and I appreciate any help. Remember I'm not your pc wiz so keep help simple to start with. 78 and still enjoying a challenge. Thank you

 

[Steve Carr]

Are you using the same ST16 with your spare H?
Go to Flight settings and Hardware Monitor. Check the stick movement and in particular the left stick up and down. Does it move full scale?
The easiest way to access the flight log is to connect your ST16 to your pc using the charging cable. Power on the controller. Open Windows Explorer and look for a new drive that looks like azxxxxx. Click that and then internal storage. Open the flight log folder and then click on Telemetry. The file you are looking for will have the date of that flight which should be the highest numbered file unless you have flown something else with the controller. The file will be named something like Telemetry_00106.csv. Right click the file and select Copy. Go back to your Desktop and in an open area right click and select Paste. Then right click the file and select Rename and add .txt to the end of the file name. You can then upload that file here so we can help you look for answers.

I will be surprised if telemetry provides any clues that will point to a problem but it's worth looking. I just had a similar experience a week ago when the motors shut down while descending for a landing. Everything was still powered on and remained on after landing in the top of an 80' Pine. I found no errors in the telemetry.

 

[BobW55]

How to access Telemetry Data on ST16
This will help with the telemetry files. Please post them here. It may help others.

 

[PatR]

I hate to use conjecture but some of these are sounding like a power distribution issue. If something is letting go at the power portion of the board there's no chance of capturing a fault in telemetry.

 

[Droneman]

Are you using the same ST16 with your spare H?
Go to Flight settings and Hardware Monitor. Check the stick movement and in particular the left stick up and down. Does it move full scale?
The easiest way to access the flight log is to connect your ST16 to your pc using the charging cable. Power on the controller. Open Windows Explorer and look for a new drive that looks like azxxxxx. Click that and then internal storage. Open the flight log folder and then click on Telemetry. The file you are looking for will have the date of that flight which should be the highest numbered file unless you have flown something else with the controller. The file will be named something like Telemetry_00106.csv. Right click the file and select Copy. Go back to your Desktop and in an open area right click and select Paste. Then right click the file and select Rename and add .txt to the end of the file name. You can then upload that file here so we can help you look for answers.

I will be surprised if telemetry provides any clues that will point to a problem but it's worth looking. I just had a similar experience a week ago when the motors shut down while descending for a landing. Everything was still powered on and remained on after landing in the top of an 80' Pine. I found no errors in the telemetry.

Steve thanks for your reply. Each drone has it's own st16 it'd bond to. I will try your directions to see if I can access the log. I'll let you all know tomorrow Sunday. I'll also try the stick movement test as well. Thanks a million for all of your assistance. You guys are the best.

 

[mmidyette]

After 16 months you may already have checked these but, just in case:
On your backup H, Rabbit/Turtle mode switch for speed. And volume settings for sound (the + - buttons below the screen) for sound.

 

[Droneman]

Are you using the same ST16 with your spare H?
Go to Flight settings and Hardware Monitor. Check the stick movement and in particular the left stick up and down. Does it move full scale?
The easiest way to access the flight log is to connect your ST16 to your pc using the charging cable. Power on the controller. Open Windows Explorer and look for a new drive that looks like azxxxxx. Click that and then internal storage. Open the flight log folder and then click on Telemetry. The file you are looking for will have the date of that flight which should be the highest numbered file unless you have flown something else with the controller. The file will be named something like Telemetry_00106.csv. Right click the file and select Copy. Go back to your Desktop and in an open area right click and select Paste. Then right click the file and select Rename and add .txt to the end of the file name. You can then upload that file here so we can help you look for answers.

I will be surprised if telemetry provides any clues that will point to a problem but it's worth looking. I just had a similar experience a week ago when the motors shut down while descending for a landing. Everything was still powered on and remained on after landing in the top of an 80' Pine. I found no errors in the telemetry.

Stick movements (mechanically) both move freely full range. Thanks for your help Steve. Will get to the file stuff later this am.

 

[Droneman]

After 16 months you may already have checked these but, just in case:
On your backup H, Rabbit/Turtle mode switch for speed. And volume settings for sound (the + - buttons below the screen) for sound.

Maybe I'm just slow this am but there isn't a switch per say for speed control on the 16. It's a slider and I did check it and it has full range movement and at Rabbit (max speed) it only runs and .5 speed. As for the volume + - tabs. I don't get what you want me to check there? Are they somehow connected to drone speed?

 

[Rayray]

Each drone has it's own st16 it'd bond to

Any Typhoon H will operate with any ST16. You only need to bind the craft and camera, and possibly create a new model. All that info is on the forum.
The audio thing confused me too, but I'm easily confused.

 

[Droneman]

Any Typhoon H will operate with any ST16. You only need to bind the craft and camera, and possibly create a new model. All that info is on the forum.
The audio thing confused me too, but I'm easily confused.

I meant that each of "my" Hs has it's own dedicated ST16. Sorry I wasn't clear.

 

[mmidyette]

Maybe I'm just slow this am but there isn't a switch per say for speed control on the 16. It's a slider and I did check it and it has full range movement and at Rabbit (max speed) it only runs and .5 speed. As for the volume + - tabs. I don't get what you want me to check there? Are they somehow connected to drone speed?

You said that "B. When I'd take a still photo (with the still camera selected) I didn't hear the normal shutter sound."

The + - buttons below the screen raise and lower the volume that the ST-16 makes. I sometimes mute the volume when typing on the screen and it also mutes the shutter sound.