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Catastrophic Freefall. + Uploaded telemetry

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I know there are so many questions around what I'm about to say; but I'll throw it out there anyway. At 7:30 in the evening in Tennessee, USA, I took my Typhoon H Plus it to show a friend his neighborhood. Powered on st16, powered on unit, lifted off, raise landing gear, tested gimbal, hovered for a couple minutes. At this point I wanted an aerial view so I lifted up (in Angle mode) to the 400' limit (straight above, still in sight) I hovered there looking straight down, then aimed the camera at the horizon and panned.

I suddenly couldn't hear the props, I looked up and the thing was in a freefall. The lights were flashing and I kept thinking it would regain control. It didn't. Crashed down and utterly destroyed itself.

Made a ticket with Yuneec and am sending the unit in tomorrow so they can check the telemetry.

Don't know how to read this telemetry, anyone have thoughts?
 

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I know there are so many questions around what I'm about to say; but I'll throw it out there anyway. At 7:30 in the evening in Tennessee, USA, I took my Typhoon H Plus it to show a friend his neighborhood. Powered on st16, powered on unit, lifted off, raise landing gear, tested gimbal, hovered for a couple minutes. At this point I wanted an aerial view so I lifted up (in Angle mode) to the 400' limit (straight above, still in sight) I hovered there looking straight down, then aimed the camera at the horizon and panned.

I suddenly couldn't hear the props, I looked up and the thing was in a freefall. The lights were flashing and I kept thinking it would regain control. It didn't. Crashed down and utterly destroyed itself.

Made a ticket with Yuneec and am sending the unit in tomorrow so they can check the telemetry.

Don't know how to read this telemetry, anyone have thoughts?

Seerabike,

I am not yet familiar with reading logfiles, but... you might want to consider uploading in something other than PDF so people can actually do something with them. I tried to convert the PDF to a spreadsheet but... too cheap to pay for the conversion capable upgrade for Acrobat.

I believe if you make a copy of the original file and add .txt as an extension, you should still be able to upload the file(s) here.

Feel free to search for "Uploading telemetry files" or the like. I believe there are posts explaining how to do it.

Hope the resolution is good to you, with respect to finding out what happened and the repair/replacement of your ship.

Jeff
 
Seerabike,

I am not yet familiar with reading logfiles, but... you might want to consider uploading in something other than PDF so people can actually do something with them. I tried to convert the PDF to a spreadsheet but... too cheap to pay for the conversion capable upgrade for Acrobat.

I believe if you make a copy of the original file and add .txt as an extension, you should still be able to upload the file(s) here.

Feel free to search for "Uploading telemetry files" or the like. I believe there are posts explaining how to do it.

Hope the resolution is good to you, with respect to finding out what happened and the repair/replacement of your ship.

Jeff


Good thought. Here's a Google sheets version. And thanks for best wishes! Been debating returning the H Plus for a H920 anyway. Not sure...
 
Good thought. Here's a Google sheets version. And thanks for best wishes! Been debating returning the H Plus for a H920 anyway. Not sure...

Stay with the H Plus. Regardless of what happened Yuneec will take better care of you with the H Plus than with a 920, and the H Plus is far from mature at this point.

The 920+ is a good rig IF, and only if, you can accept its limitations. The H will be growing in capability and it’s much more portable. Those buying a 920+ have to be comfortable with their flying skills, willing to accept there will never be a firmware upgrade, understand that customer service in large part doesn’t understand the 920 system or aircraft, they have to be creative with battery alternatives, while handling component repairs largely by themselves. Parts can be very expensive and replacement landing gear motors are not available.

The H Plus is convenient, the 920 is not. I love my 920 for what it can do but I know that I have to work for those benefits. Most would find that intolerable.
 
Wow thank you for the review/advise! I honestly want it primarily for the camera quality as I've shot on the Panasonic GH4. But in the end I know the c23 is plenty quality.

I'll admit I do hope the upgrades and capabilities keep coming. This freefall incident was rather depressing and my st16 can almost never aside enough satellites to use even Smart Mode.
 
The CGO-4 does not provide even half of the user features incorporated with the GH-4, and there is no possibility of obtaining GPS EXIF data with the CGO-4. You can build and fly a waypoint flight plan with the 920 but never be able to use it to build a map using the CGO-4. Like I mentioned, you have to work for things. The color saturation in natural with the C-23 is, IMO, much richer than with the CGO-4. The horizon is cleaner with the CGO-4 and I think the edges look pretty good. I have yet to see lens distortion with the 14-42 lens.

I uploaded an early (Jan 2018) 920 test video the other day for someone in the 920 forum to use for comparison work and putting it here for you to do the same should you desire. Also attached is a color edited version of the video using Filmora. You can download both from Vimeo and play with them to see how your editing software handles them and determine for yourself how the CGO-4 stacks up against the C-23. The first vid is unedited, uncut, 4k MP4 at 30fps, sunny WB, 14mm zoom level, natural scene setting, the change in shading near the end was me changing EV 1/3 stop, a couple pans near the end. Pans were done with yaw, auto focus used but I forgot to tap the screen for a point focus. There is no pan stuttering in the original file but there can be when viewed online depending on internet speed.

Anyone thinking about obtaining a 920 needs to have their eyes wide open before making such a decision. At least one person bought one because of my writings that was unhappy with the limitations I had made quite clear before they bought. If you do buy one, get it from a well known dealer or Yuneec direct. Some buy from eBay, which is not always a bad thing, but be advised at least one is selling re-furbished units. If you go the 920 route DO NOT buy Yuneec 920 batteries, you'll be getting badly screwed if you do. If I had to do it over gain I would still buy the 920 but with each passing day the H Plus is looking pretty darn good, especially where camera controls are concerned. They are much more comprehensive than with the 920+.

unedited

color corrected
 
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I had been saving up to get the 920+ for the past few months. @PatR has answered my questions on the 920 forum with his usual grace and perception. My main motivation for the 920+ over the 480 H are the same as the reason the went with the H plus : better flight control off stick, better camera. I still think the 920+ with the CG04 is a better still camera and a slightly better video, especially with the full camera controls for aperture and focus available. However, the size is a detriment as is the noise. When I saw the initial video from the C23 it looked good enough to try; I also knew I had the BestBuy return as an option if the H Plus was not up to par. My conclusion is the C23 will force every inch of post-production out of me before I reach it's limit.
 
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I know there are so many questions around what I'm about to say; but I'll throw it out there anyway. At 7:30 in the evening in Tennessee, USA, I took my Typhoon H Plus it to show a friend his neighborhood. Powered on st16, powered on unit, lifted off, raise landing gear, tested gimbal, hovered for a couple minutes. At this point I wanted an aerial view so I lifted up (in Angle mode) to the 400' limit (straight above, still in sight) I hovered there looking straight down, then aimed the camera at the horizon and panned.

I suddenly couldn't hear the props, I looked up and the thing was in a freefall. The lights were flashing and I kept thinking it would regain control. It didn't. Crashed down and utterly destroyed itself.

Made a ticket with Yuneec and am sending the unit in tomorrow so they can check the telemetry.

Don't know how to read this telemetry, anyone have thoughts?
Looks like a complete loss of power on page 16 at 120 meters up!
I did notice a reading earlier:
20180820 18:05:29:403 ZERO CURRENT (Might be a glitch)
But definitely there was a complete loss of current, have no idea why.
Was your battery definitely clicked in ? There were reports on the original H a while back that were dropping out of the sky and it was due to operator error not completely seating the battery.
Not saying you were at fault in any way or it could have been a power distribution fault ?
Yuneec will hopefully send you a new replacement :)
 
Oddly enough, in the original post he says, as it was falling, the lights were blinking. Could it be that the loss of current was somehow just to the motors? I hope we can get to the bottom of this.
 
The mention of the lights is what caused me to discount battery separation as well. I don’t know the circuitry lay out of the Plus but a failure of all motors while retaining the lights might indicate a failure of a main fuse between the power supply and ESC circuit or a partial failure of a voltage step down component. Previously, each ESC was independently fused but not knowing the Plus circuitry and having a change in PDB and flight control systems, who knows?
 
Looks like a complete loss of power on page 16 at 120 meters up!
I did notice a reading earlier:
20180820 18:05:29:403 ZERO CURRENT (Might be a glitch)
But definitely there was a complete loss of current, have no idea why.
Was your battery definitely clicked in ? There were reports on the original H a while back that were dropping out of the sky and it was due to operator error not completely seating the battery.
Not saying you were at fault in any way or it could have been a power distribution fault ?
Yuneec will hopefully send you a new replacement :)
Sorry for late reply. Thank you so much for reading through that. Could have been a battery issue but I'd be surprised. I can't say that I triple checked it was clicked in, but it's fairly obvious when it seats. Ya I was at the 400' limit just chillin, looking at the horizon when it happens, zero maneuvering. It's with as Yuneec now. I've heard only good things about their customer service so I'm crossing my fingers. If they try to pin it on me my heart might bail for mavic 2 (shhhh, let's pretend I didn't say that)!
 
Oddly enough, in the original post he says, as it was falling, the lights were blinking. Could it be that the loss of current was somehow just to the motors? I hope we can get to the bottom of this.
I'm nervous but excited to hear back from yuneec, and no matter their judgement will be sharing what they say. I'll try to pick their brains about what happened so I can give a heads up!
 
I'm nervous but excited to hear back from yuneec, and no matter their judgement will be sharing what they say. I'll try to pick their brains about what happened so I can give a heads up!

Don't hold your breath for any detailed info. They are really good about replacement or repair, but usually short on in-depth explanation of what occurred, also had a free fall incident with a Typhoon H... was fully repaired, but they determined that the aircraft went into "emergency mode", just before the crash occurred. No clarification of WTF this mode was or if there was anything I may have done to recognize or circumvent it.
 
Don't hold your breath for any detailed info. They are really good about replacement or repair, but usually short on in-depth explanation of what occurred, also had a free fall incident with a Typhoon H... was fully repaired, but they determined that the aircraft went into "emergency mode", just before the crash occurred. No clarification of WTF this mode was or if there was anything I may have done to recognize or circumvent it.
Oh interesting. Ya I guess I can't blame them for that but ya would huge nice. Emergency mode. Interesting.
 
Could you please upload Telemetry_00038.csv and Remote_00038.csv and the related Sensor file (*.txt but is no text + have different numbering, so relaeted means same time stamp as telemetry file).
The pdf does not really help.

To check those files, I use this (guess why I think it is the best :D ):
Windows64bit: http://h-elsner.mooo.com/downloads/q500log2kml_en.zip
LINUX 64bit: http://h-elsner.mooo.com/downloads/q500log2kml_en.tar.gz
User manual: http://h-elsner.mooo.com/mydat/Q500log2kml_en.pdf

br HE
 

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