Few issues / questions regarding Q500 / CGO3

Strangler · Nov 3, 2018

Hello dear readers,

i purchased a Q500 4k about 2 months ago ( Used ) and only got to fly today because of issues and concerns ive had and still have.

First lets start with the drone:

Listing said it was a Q500 4k model but it came with an older model top cover that is white, this was strange to me but seller said it had been replaced, the landing gear says 4k on it, same with the CGO3 it also says 4k, same with the box and same with the bottom of the drone body but what was odd to me was that in the Q500 GUI it only said Q500 and didnt mention if it was a + or 4k version. Does anyone know anything about this ?

Secondly and also my biggest issue ATM is:

That the CGO camera is acting odd, when i turn on the drone then half the time it does not level the view but just hang. other times it levels perfectly for a good while but then ticks and starts hanging and makes 2 slow beeps followed by 3 faster beeps. and most annyoing is that the camera adjustment on the remote does nothing, and also the steadygrip adjustment for the camera does nothing aswell, ive tested the remove and the level for the camera is working and movement is registered by the remote + GUI software and it beeps when i move it but nothing happens with the cameras position.

Sorry for the long read but this is really frustrating to me as i have spend many many hours trying to figure this out and watching alot of videos and reading forums about the drone / camera / etc before posting here.

The drone, the camera and the remote are all updated to the latest firmware.

Best regards
Strangler

ps.
Video of the issue can be posted tomorrow aswell as pictures if anyone request these for clarification or such.

WTFDproject · Nov 3, 2018

Easier things first:
GUI - The GUI is for the entire Q500 series. The main electronics are pretty much the same, regardless of which model it is. The same GUI will even work for the Chroma and the 30QX, and will still show a Q500 title.

Top Body - Lots of folks, including me, change some or all their Q500 4k tops to the white. Mainly just personal preference (but they are easier for me to see when I hang it in a tree). If the lower body has the "hot shoe" type camera connector, it probably started life as a 4K. That's not real certain, since I added the "hot shoe" and associated internal wiring to a couple of Q500s. The main difference in the Q500s isn't so much in the drone itself, it's which camera it has at any given moment.

The camera: Not such an easy answer. At the least, it sounds like the gimbal board is seriously out of calibration. It really needs to be sent to Yuneec, or one of their service centers. There is a trick that works for most camera's, at least for awhile. Before turning on the drone, tilt the drone back so it is resting on it's rear motors and the back tips of the landing gear. Line the camera up to something close to the normal alignment, then turn the Drone "ON". Give it plenty of time (~30 seconds) for the camera to initialize and kick in. CGo3s tend to take a good bit longer to initialize than the earlier CG02 series. If this doesn't work, try standing it up completely vertical before turning on the drone. You just have to eyeball the angle when starting the camera on the steady grip, but it's the same idea. In either case, do your best not to move the camera while it is trying to initialize.
Then comes the "no tilt" issue. Hopefully, the tilt will start working if you get the camera to initialize. If not, it could be a problem with either the camera board OR the drone mainboard. If it initializes, but will work on neither the drone nor the steady rip, then it's a pretty good chance of being a camera problem. Again, Yuneec is your best bet. If it's the mainboard, they can be purchased online, and be installed by anyone that's good with a soldering iron. If it's the steady grip, they can be purchased on-line and REALLY cheap.

General things: Make sure either the CGo3 or CG03 PRO is selected on the ST-10+ ( under "Flight Settings" - "Camera Select"), in addition to just the "Bind" screen. If you have the older ST-10, you will have to upgrade the firmware.
When on the steady grip, the Mode defaults to "Tilt-OFF' each time you turn it ON/Off. You have to press the MOIDE button beside the thumbwheel to activate tilt control each time.

Strangler · Nov 3, 2018

WTFDproject said:
Easier things first:
GUI - The GUI is for the entire Q500 series. The main electronics are pretty much the same, regardless of which model it is. The same GUI will even work for the Chroma and the 30QX, and will still show a Q500 title.

Top Body - Lots of folks, including me, change some or all their Q500 4k tops to the white. Mainly just personal preference (but they are easier for me to see when I hang it in a tree). If the lower body has the "hot shoe" type camera connector, it probably started life as a 4K. That's not real certain, since I added the "hot shoe" and associated internal wiring to a couple of Q500s. The main difference in the Q500s isn't so much in the drone itself, it's which camera it has at any given moment.

The camera: Not such an easy answer. At the least, it sounds like the gimbal board is seriously out of calibration. It really needs to be sent to Yuneec, or one of their service centers. There is a trick that works for most camera's, at least for awhile. Before turning on the drone, tilt the drone back so it is resting on it's rear motors and the back tips of the landing gear. Line the camera up to something close to the normal alignment, then turn the Drone "ON". Give it plenty of time (~30 seconds) for the camera to initialize and kick in. CGo3s tend to take a good bit longer to initialize than the earlier CG02 series. If this doesn't work, try standing it up completely vertical before turning on the drone. You just have to eyeball the angle when starting the camera on the steady grip, but it's the same idea. In either case, do your best not to move the camera while it is trying to initialize.
Then comes the "no tilt" issue. Hopefully, the tilt will start working if you get the camera to initialize. If not, it could be a problem with either the camera board OR the drone mainboard. If it initializes, but will work on neither the drone nor the steady rip, then it's a pretty good chance of being a camera problem. Again, Yuneec is your best bet. If it's the mainboard, they can be purchased online, and be installed by anyone that's good with a soldering iron. If it's the steady grip, they can be purchased on-line and REALLY cheap.

General things: Make sure either the CGo3 or CG03 PRO is selected on the ST-10+ ( under "Flight Settings" - "Camera Select"), in addition to just the "Bind" screen. If you have the older ST-10, you will have to upgrade the firmware.
When on the steady grip, the Mode defaults to "Tilt-OFF' each time you turn it ON/Off. You have to press the MOIDE button beside the thumbwheel to activate tilt control each time.

Thank you for your detailed reply, i appriciate it.

The camera settings are set to PRO and its an 10+ radio.
and i didnt know that about the Steady grip, very good knowledge.

i will try the procedure that you explained and leave a reply and a video clip of the camera issue aswell, i am afraid that the camera may be defective :S
Are you aware how much Yuneec charges for repairs and/or diagnostics ?

Best regards

WTFDproject · Nov 3, 2018

Strangler said:
Thank you for your detailed reply, i appriciate it.

The camera settings are set to PRO and its an 10+ radio.
and i didnt know that about the Steady grip, very good knowledge.

i will try the procedure that you explained and leave a reply and a video clip of the camera issue aswell, i am afraid that the camera may be defective :S
Are you aware how much Yuneec charges for repairs and/or diagnostics ?

Best regards

Yuneec will not quote a price over the phone. The last time I talked to them, the best they would do was state $80.00 for the first hour of work, plus any parts or additional time. You have to pay two way shipping. To me, that's getting pretty close to the cost to a good used camera, with less hassle, and without having to worry about the "additional cost" part. That being said, I have sent a few in over the last couple years. One, they actually did the work for free, and paid for return shipping. (They were upgrading their internal tracking system, and my camera fell through the cracks for a couple months. I think they did the work without charge as a way of offering a very welcome apology.) The others were done before they started charging &80.00. I remember one I got back for a total of about $50, and another for about $60. None of these would be really valid today. You have to send it in at your expense. They will contact you prior to the work, and if you don't want to pay the price, you pay for return shipping. At least that's my understanding. Best to call their customer service and get the real story directly from them.

Strangler · Nov 5, 2018

Hello, now i have a little video 1 minute 30 seconds then it makes some noise and then "loosen its grip / allignment" and beeps. also you can see that it does not react to the tilting lever on the radio / remote

WTFDproject · Nov 5, 2018

Strangler, very good video, and makes the problem clear. My problem is I can't hear the beep pattern when it goes back slack. That would be a clue to what is apparently overheating. Please take a look at the beep codes listed in this link, and tell me if any of them match the beep(b) / pause(.) pattern David Hoegen provided in this post:
Typhoon Q5004K Camera emmitting sequence of 3 beeps and not centering on start up

WTFDproject · Nov 5, 2018

Here's an experiment with a working CGo3. The camera was allowed to initialize, then unplug each encoder, and listen to the "error" code produced. See if the patterns described in this picture match what your are hearing. If these aren't what you hear, I will do the same thing with the motor connectors. Scroll down to see the errors. The picture was fuzzy when I tried to shrink it.

Image updated 11/06/2018 to improve readability and add additional connections.

Strangler · Nov 5, 2018

Great information, i will have a look at it and try make it produce the one that it normally does, i think its 2 long and then 3 faster short beeps. I have tried to find used or new CGO3 4k cameras online but it's not easy in my contry so all i have is ebay and amazon and such as but i would much rather perfer to fix this one, even if i need to replace the mainboard in the camera.
Either way thank you for your time and effort once again.