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A solution for some GPS acquisition troubles

I'm having the same problem - all of the symptoms that were described above - are all present - "acquiring" short term lock - won't land - hovers 5m up in the air - all very disconcerting. I'd hate to start tearing into the H and trying to solder anything, much less a battery in a "delicate" board....I've had this thing on for almost 7 hours and even in my house it acquires 11 sats - but no "lock"....next stop - the freezer.....
it's quite strange that we all seem to get the same problem at around the same time... Would it be a coincidence?
 
I've got in touch with the Support suggesting this might be caused by a software issue rather than a hardware failure, as many of us have had successful flights prior, but we seem to get the same issues starting from feb/march. Let's see if they might be able to figure out the underlying cause. I work with electronics, and I've never seen a case where something would go bad over time with it turned off and not under any power.
(Exception is capacitors, but there is almost none that could go wrong on the FC itself.)
 
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Hard to be a software/firmware issue since it has not changed since May of 2017 unless it there was a time bomb built into the code. To get GPS Ready there has to be a fix from both the aircraft and the ST16.

The only way to tell if it is the FC or a lack of GPS ready from the ST16 is by looking at the Flightlogs. You can use the instructions in the document from this thread Way To Fix Drones project to retrieve and post them here.
 
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Hard to be a software/firmware issue since it has not changed since May of 2017 unless it there was a time bomb built into the code.
That's what I'm referring to, an expired license or whatever it might be, maybe an oversight by someone :) Will see their response. I'm currently checking the pins to the FC I've mapped out all 6 of them so far, and checking every capacitor on it (seems OK so far). I've just started to check the GPS module, and I've found one capacitor that is shorting.(False alert.) I'll see what happens next.


I've tested the Wizardwand also, but the H will not lock with the wand either. The wand will show gps lock, but the H will keep blinking purple 3 times.


Didn't find anything that would indicate anything is wrong on the GPS board. Took it out, let it sit for a while. 15 sats, no lock. WhenI turn off the GPS from the ST, it instantly says the lat/long on the remote, if I start a compass calibration, it will restart and say "ready" instantly. Checked the logs, latitude and longitudes are correctly displayed. I've found something strange in the logs. If the gps says "ready" then it will report IMU_STATUS as 225, if the gps is is "lost" then the IMU status will be 65 or 97.
Checked earlier logs, and it seems like when the IMU_STATUS is 225 or higher, then the gps will say "ready", otherwise it is in the "acquiring" state.
 

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That is telling me that you are not getting the c-gps signal from the ST16 saying it has a good fix. Refer to Table 3.3 on page 31 in the attached document.
 

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That is telling me that you are not getting the c-gps signal from the ST16 saying it has a good fix. Refer to Table 3.3 on page 31 in the attached document.
Sorry it was my mistake, the CSV reader I'm using is sorting them with some odd behaviour. 65 is for like the first 50s while the ST-16 didn't have enough satellites. After that, it stays on "97" I don't seem to find anything referring to that code in the manual you've attached. But if it was caused by the ST-16, wouldn't it mean that with the wand it would have no problem locking on?
 
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The wand sends a similar signal to the aircraft also. It gets the GPS ready LED which is equivalent to the GPS Ready icon on the ST16.
 
The wand sends a similar signal to the aircraft also. It gets the GPS ready LED which is equivalent to the GPS Ready icon on the ST16.
I get a "gps lock" on the wand icon, but the last LED will not light up. Which means the aircraft can't lock, right? So that would mean my ST-16 isn't the source of the issues. Or am I missing something?
 
Looking at the chart in the Wizard manual the lack of a light for aircraft status means it does not have GPS acquisition.

It is starting to sound like a problem with the FC, but if you are getting an IMU Status of 225 in the FlightLogs you should be getting GPS Ready.
 
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Looking at the chart in the Wizard manual the lack of a light for aircraft status means it does not have GPS acquisition.

It is starting to sound like a problem with the FC, but if you are getting an IMU Status of 225 in the FlightLogs you should be getting GPS Ready.

When the IMU statis is 225, I get the ready. Here is the deal:
Typhoon H sees 16 satellites. (In the logs IMU is 97) I start an Accelerometer calibration. It succeeds and restarts the H. When the drone restarts I get 16 satellites and "ready" after 1-2 seconds. (IMU statis 225) then, gps lost warning pops after like 3 seconds of ready, and IMU status is 97 again, and back to acquiring.

I seem to have found a used FC for 50 Euros, hopefully it will be enough to make it work and sell this garbage of a drone.

ps.: Sorry but I'm a bit salty.
 
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So I've had this GPS "acquiring" problem for a long time. Working through all the possible steps, I tried all the mentioned fixes, eventually replacing the GPS unit (with Yuneec OEM GPS unit), as well as affixing it on the outside of the H and leaving it on to ensure the battery was sufficiently charged. I always end up with 14+ sats on both the H and ST16. Also used Wizard to confirm GPS issue was in the H, not the ST16. I got to the point where I was confident the flight controller was the problem. I bought a flight controller and installed it. When powering the H on, pressing the power button makes it beep once, but will not power on the H.

So, 1) Are there any additional steps for the drone to recognize a new/replaced flight controller? Factory reset, etc.?

There is an interesting difference between the two boards, see pictures below. My original flight controller board has a micro SD card slot on the bottom, and an extra wire connector. All the flight controllers in all the images I looked at online for re-sale and even OEM variants do not have that and have an empty space/slot at the top right of the board.

20200607_093941.jpg20200607_093956.jpg
2) Could this account for the powering on problem?

3) Are there any other steps I am missing?

Thanks all for the great info, and I hope I can get this **** thing airborne again :)

MJ
 
Either the FC you just bought is defective or it needs the firmware reflashed. If you wish to try that I can give you the information.
 
I will trust the FC until I don't. Yes, I think I should reflash the firmware. That would be great if you could pass the info. Thanks!
 
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Did you get the information?
Were you able to make any progress?
Steve,

Thank you for the info! I was able to get the seller to send me another FC board as well as the ESC board (Looks like FC board I bought was bad, or mismatch with my ESC). I replaced both together, re-assembled, and I was able to acquire GPS and FLY! Victory! However, still took a LONG time to acquire on both of two flights.

However, now my landing gear will not re-tract...

The ESC board was a newer stamped board than my original (from TH purchased Jun 2016), and I'm wondering if this is now a hardware mismatch between ESC board and the board at rear of drone (re-tract module board???)

I verified that both landing gear cables are connected to re-tract board/module, re-tract module connected to the ESC board, and the landing gear are attached correctly with good contact to body. Any other thoughts or other troubleshooting to try?

Obviously landing gear isn't a showstopper, but definitely cramps by 360 degree views! Again, thanks for the assist with GUI/Firmware, good stuff to have in my back pocket.
 

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