Camera Needs Reset Every Time

[Elmlea]

Hello all, anyone encountered this one?

I have 2 x TyHs, both of which have been in storage and out of use for about a year. Finally decided it was time to check them out again, and see if they're going to be kept or sold on.

First one out of the box with a fresh battery worked fine, but the camera wouldn't connect. I'm used to having to drop into system settings on the ST16 and select it manually, but it wasn't appearing. Gimbal controls all worked fine, but there was no light on the camera. I pressed and held the outboard "wifi reset" button next to the SD card on the camera for a few seconds, and the light came up white. A couple of minutes to go through the usual startup routine and the camera bound fine, and I had no issues with it throughout the flight.

Landed, shut down, and then powered up again later with a fresh battery for another test flight, and I had exactly the same problem. No camera light, but when I press the reset button, everything is fine. I've now tried probably about a dozen power cycles, and every single time the TyH powers up, the gimbal springs to life fine, but the camera needs reset before it'll connect to the ST16.

I got the second TyH out to try it, and bizarrely, had the exact same issue! Different aircraft, different ST16, but exactly the same issue; camera light stays blank, press the reset wifi button, camera light goes white and it connects fine. But every time I power down, I need to repeat this process.

Last time I flew either of them they'd occasionally drop the wifi connection to the ST16, or they might need me to manually refresh and select the camera to bind, but I've never had this. Both are fully updated with EU firmware.

Any thoughts...? It's not a huge problem, but I'm reticent to sell them on in case there's a deeper issue here I don't know about.

 

[WTFDproject]

I got the second TyH out to try it, and bizarrely, had the exact same issue! Different aircraft, different ST16, but exactly the same issue;

Was it also a different camera?

 

[Elmlea]

Was it also a different camera?

It was, yes, completely independent aircraft, controller and camera. I did try switching the cameras around just in case, but the problem persists on both.

 

[WTFDproject]

A couple thoughts:
1.) It sounds like it could possibly be a power circuit issue. Possibly the ribbon connector between the WiFi board and the main camera board is poorly connected, or has some corrosion on the contacts. Anywhere on the power path between the gimbal board and the main camera board is a possibility, of course. But if it is a power issue, I would most suspect the ribbon.
2.) Mostly, it sounds like a WiFi Board problem. The mention of previous WiFi issues, and apparent reliable response to reset suggests a problem with the WiFi board. Easy to replace. Maybe not so easy to find online now days.
3.) And, of course, it could be a different problem on each of the two cameras.

This would be fairly rare, at best. For two to occur without a recognizable common cause would stretch the definition of bad luck. Can you think of anything unusual about the storage conditions or other events that might have led to this condition? It might help focus on a suggested target for remedy.
One common factor could be the SD card. Was the same SD card in both cameras when having the issue?

 

[Elmlea]

It is an unusual one. The drones were stored in separate locations, so couldn't even be something strange going on there! Different SD cards too. I'm going to keep troubleshooting and see what I can find.