CGO3 not transmitting wifi when on steadygrip?

[marklein]

Just got my Q500 4k. Everything works great in the air, but I have not been able to use the steadygrip at all. Powers up fine, gimbal does it's thing, but I can't see any wifi network being transmitted by the CGO at all. Nothing seen my my phone, nothing seen by two laptops. All of these have 5.8Ghz wifi. I'm an IT guy so it seems to me that the CGO is not transmitting at all... except that it works fine when on the drone and connected to the ST10+.

Am I skipping a step? The steadygrip "manual" is about pointless.

[EDIT]Confirmed that my phone connects to the CGO3 when on the drone no problem. When on the steadygrip... no wifi.[/EDIT]

Thanks for the help.

 

[Steve Carr]

When on the steadygrip... no wifi

Are you certain the camera is getting power? It it powers up the wifi will also turn on unless the voltage is very low.

 

[gwhuntoon]

I plugged in my CGO3+ backwards once, then another time it wasn't completely pushed onto the connector. If this is the case, the gimbal may be getting power but not the camera. I would verify you have it seated correctly.

 

[WTFDproject]

Am I skipping a step?

Did you load the CGo3 App on your smartphone? It will not show up on either smartphone or computer without an app to handle the signal.

 

[marklein]

Thanks folks. I did some testing and apparently it's a voltage related problem. I connected the grip to a bench power supply and with anything under 12v the camera will not activate wifi.

The specs state to use NiMH batteries ONLY, which would be a mere 9.6v nominally. Where alkaline batteries at 1.5v each would provide 12v. There's an obvious problem with this. Even on a laboratory bench power supply when provided a super stable 9.6v the grip occasionally blinks red. :-|

I feel like I need to get Yuneec support involved, but are they going to just blow me off?

 

[marklein]

Did you load the CGo3 App on your smartphone? It will not show up on either smartphone or computer without an app to handle the signal.

Sorry but this isn't correct. The camera transmits a standard wifi signal that any 5Ghz capable wifi device can receive.

 

[WTFDproject]

Sorry but this isn't correct. The camera transmits a standard wifi signal that any 5Ghz capable wifi device can receive.

Sorry. Misread your post. I thought you just could not get the PICTURE to show up. Your mention of laptop made me think you were was unaware of the AP. Didn't realize you meant the network signal itself was not showing up.

Have you measured the actual voltage provided by the batteries in your steadygrip?

 

[WTFDproject]

For what it's worth, I just put two different cameras (CGo3 and CGo3+) on a steady grip. Actual steadygrip voltage measured at 9.9v at the contacts. Both cameras worked fine.

 

[marklein]

Awesome, thanks for checking that. My grip reads 9.8v and 10.5, depending on which pins I check. 10.5v inside the battery compartment.

It sounds to me like the camera is at fault for being too picky about its supply voltage.

 

[WTFDproject]

Yeah, but it should have plenty of voltage. The gimbal board in the camera breaks down the input voltage. The camera is actually operating on ~5 volts.
Taking great care not to make contact between the Middle (Hot) contact and the PWM contact, you might want to see what voltage is being supplied by the drone. The drone ground is on "drone right", like the right side of your car, hot is in the center. (If you go center to PWM, you will damage the main board. ) If you aren't sure, I have a labeled picture I can post.

Edit: Found the picture.

 

[WTFDproject]

Another thought:
Have you plugged the camera into the steadygrip with the "pigtail" harness?
It might bypass any possible corrosion related to the hotshoe contacts.

And another thought. Check the WiFi signal to the ST10+ while the camera is on the steady grip. The ST-10+ will recognize the camera regardless of what is powering it.

Update 2019-02-23, ~11:00 Eastern time (GMT-5)
For future reference. Charged the steadygrip batteries overnight. Readings with freshly charged batteries are showing 11.47at the box, and 11.47v at the mount contacts.

 

[marklein]

A good idea, but the pigtail connection didn't change things.

 

[WTFDproject]

A good idea, but the pigtail connection didn't change things.

Does manual "tilt" work normally on the steadygrip?
Can you get access to a different steadygrip to use it for comparison?

Is the camera under warranty?
Has the camera had any recent damage/hard landing/repairs?

You may also want to ensure the correct contact/pin voltage to ensure no wires are crossed internally.

 

[marklein]

Thanks for those pictures, those are super helpful.

I decided to just forget about powering the grip via AA and strapped a 11.1v lipo to the bottom of the grip instead. It's not worth the fight and the runtime on AA is poor anyway. Thanks again for your help!

 

[jannislh]

I had the problem with my steady grip as well. At first the camera started and seemed working but I was unable to connect. Later I noticed the LED on the camera turning on first but turning off again as soon as the gimbal starts working. After some measurements with the voltage meter I found out that the voltage drops significantly as soon as the gimbal starts working. This was caused by poor quality NiMH batteries. To fix this error I just bought eight "Ansmann 2100mAh 1,2V" batteries. Other batteries will work as well.