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:FLIGHT LOG UPLOADED: HELP flashing main Blue LED at startup AND when entering "system settings" on ST16

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Hi Everyone,

Short version:

1) Hex lost a prop and fell from 125 ft... 5 other rotors helped from complete disaster (still pretty hard fall)
2) Took home and repaired with all my box full of parts
3) During repair, I DID remove my Intel RealSense
4) Grabbed my backup CG03+ went behind house, fired up ST16... and H. Went into system settings "unchecked" Intel RealSense and binded the new CG03+
5) Restarted everything and the main LED quickly flashes blue on startup for about 5 seconds then goes to purple to show i'm in Angle mode with GPS locked.

Now the fun starts. unfamiliar with this, I do a compass calibration and restart. (Still flashing blue LED at startup)... once turns to purple, I decided to slowly bring it up 7 feet in the air and see what happens... it was good for maybe 3 seconds and then started drifting and rocking (slowly) as well as LED was blinking red/orange sporadically... landed immediately.

I thought about re-binding the H, so I was able to put it in Bind mode and it Binded to the ST16 controller, but that didn't fix anything.=

NOTE - I still consider myself a "Beginner" when it comes to the software part and "binding", "telemetry", "clearing data". I have 3 shoots lined up tomorrow and would love to not have to cancel on them!

Here is picture of H flashing blue on startup and then also flashing blue anytime I go into "system settings"

(or see video in zip file)


HELP PLEASE
 

Attachments

  • VIDEO Typhoon H blinking BLUE in system settings.zip
    17.4 MB · Views: 12
Quick note -The blue flashing patterns you mentioned are both normal.
The brief blue flashing at startup is just the period when seeking the controller for bind, and ends when the bind is achieved (goes to Purple)
The flashing blue when you go into system settings is perfectly normal. You may recall clicking "OK" to a message that says "Exiting Flight Data Telemetry Screen Will Disconnect You from Aircraft! Are You Sure You Want to Exit?" The controller temporarily breaks bind with the drone when you exit the FlightMode App. It generally takes a few seconds before the drone times out the "loss if signal" and starts to blink blue.

Is the Orange two quick flashes? That would be an indication the compass calibration did not work well, assuming the red and orange are separate incidences (not consistently together).

Please describe the pattern, frequency, and association of both the Red and the orange. It would help to upload the flightlogs for this. See attachment 49 in "Way To Fix Drones project" for help in retrieving the logs if needed.
 
Hmmm, all my previous flying when I turn on the H it will blink Green once for battery and then purple slowly until it gets GPS lock and goes to solid purple... never had blue flashing at startup which is why it’s not familiar for me.
Let me see if I can grab flight log now based on info in your link !

thanks again
 
1) Hex lost a prop and fell from 125 ft.
Did it go into 5 rotor mode? Are you using OEM props?

it was good for maybe 3 seconds and then started drifting and rocking (slowly) as well as LED was blinking red/orange sporadically... landed immediately.
That is what I would expect to see as a result of a bad compass calibration. Remove the camera, go to a grassy area with no metal, buildings or concrete nearby and redo the compass calibration. Then restart the H. Leave the camera off when you do any test flights. Don't launch from concrete. There is nearly always steel reinforcement inside.
 
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The flashing orange on the main means you are getting compass errors and need to redo the compass calibration. I was getting this just the other day. Mine ended up being that I was too close to my sliding glass door with the TH sitting at the doorway.

Also if you are in the bind screen and the aircraft is not showing, press the refresh button. It should then appear in the list.
 
Did it go into 5 rotor mode? Are you using OEM props?

Earlier same day I actually had a motor go bad and toss half of the prop and go into 5 rotor mode... first time ever watching it fall from 200 feet up and repeatedly catch itself, level out and then perfectly land ... that time gave me 5 rotor mode error.... kind of amazing to watch.

Now that i think about it, I do not think it went into 5 rotor mode... it just start flying away and then falling towards the ground (the crash referred to in post).

I ABSOLUTELY know what caused the faliure, it was windy, I was in rabbit mode, I was using older NON-OEM props that weren't balanced (might have been slightly bent)... just not being careful. I have 3 packs of Yuneec blades being delivered today via ups. I learned my lesson.



That is what I would expect to see as a result of a bad compass calibration. Remove the camera, go to a grassy area with no metal, buildings or concrete nearby and redo the compass calibration. Then restart the H. Leave the camera off when you do any test flights. Don't launch from concrete. There is nearly always steel reinforcement inside.

trust me, went into park in middle of big soccer field and tried compass calibration multiple times. didn't do a thing.
 
The flashing orange on the main means you are getting compass errors and need to redo the compass calibration. I was getting this just the other day. Mine ended up being that I was too close to my sliding glass door with the TH sitting at the doorway.

Also if you are in the bind screen and the aircraft is not showing, press the refresh button. It should then appear in the list.

I tried calibrating it in the middle of a soccer field multiple times later yesterday... with and without camera... no luck. In regards to going into system settings... the aircraft is binded... it is just Flashing Blue when i hit system settings. never used to do that.

trying to pull logs now.
 
At the end of the compass calibration do all the motor LED’s flash, then the Main LED go green and the aircraft reboot?

If that is the case then can you video the Main LED during startup with the camera stopped down where the color of the Main LED is more discernible.
 
You should hear a tone at the end of the compass cal. The tone tells you whether the calibration was successful or failed.
 
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Quick note -The blue flashing patterns you mentioned are both normal.
The brief blue flashing at startup is just the period when seeking the controller for bind, and ends when the bind is achieved (goes to Purple)
The flashing blue when you go into system settings is perfectly normal. You may recall clicking "OK" to a message that says "Exiting Flight Data Telemetry Screen Will Disconnect You from Aircraft! Are You Sure You Want to Exit?" The controller temporarily breaks bind with the drone when you exit the FlightMode App. It generally takes a few seconds before the drone times out the "loss if signal" and starts to blink blue.

Is the Orange two quick flashes? That would be an indication the compass calibration did not work well, assuming the red and orange are separate incidences (not consistently together).

Please describe the pattern, frequency, and association of both the Red and the orange. It would help to upload the flightlogs for this. See attachment 49 in "Way To Fix Drones project" for help in retrieving the logs if needed.

Flight Log uploaded... any analysis would be tremendously helpful!
 

Attachments

  • FlightLogforREMedia[1].zip
    9.1 MB · Views: 15
I just powered up my system. My AC battery is at storage voltage of 15.2V and on power up the Main LED is orange followed by flashing blue (ST16 is off). On powering up the ST16 the Main LED starts flashing purple as soon as the RC is connected (in Angle mode). Entering System Settings on the Bind menu the AC does not appear in the left menu and Refresh does not get it to appear. When first in the Bind menu the Main LED continues to flash purple, but after several seconds it turns to a rapid blue flash. The aircraft refuses to go into Bind after several attempts to do so, and the Refresh has no effect. On exiting the Bind menu the Main LED resumes flashing purple.

This is all normal behavior for the system. I videoed this sequence and will upload it if necessary, but I would prefer not to go to the trouble of doing so.
 
Thanks, Doom.

REMedia,
First thing I see in Flightlog Data is LOTS of compass warnings, but no other error flags. I guess you probably expected that anyway. Just starting to look. First glance looks pretty clean other than compass issues.
Compass Warnings.jpg
 
Random thought:
You mentioned "repaired with all my box full of parts":
1.) Did you reuse the original GPS/Compass Unit?
2.) Is it installed with the wires coming out the back?
3.) Are all the wires properly seated in the connector (no part of the metal pins showing above the white)?
4.) Do you have another GPS/Compass unit available?
 
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Throttle and Roll stick have abnormal values. Can you please check in HW Monitor?
If neccessary do a stick calibration.
BTW, this was already before the crash (files 00042).

The blue blinking is normal until the RC connection is fully established.

br HE

Edit:

There is no trace for compass calibration in those flight logs after the crash. I would do an accelerometer cali and a compass cali after repair (acc cali needed because of hard knocks during crash).
 
Last edited:
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Take a look at the numbers for Ch0 and Ch1in flight 00042 (the crash) they are J1, and J4 (throttle and aileron). Both should be reading 2048 when the sticks are centered. The ST16 appears to have been calibrated with dirty sticks.


Same flight 00042 take a look at the press_compass status column. It starts off as a normal 85 value, then goes to 117 for a bit, then finally to 245. This shows the RealSense module being activated followed by IPS mode. The AC is still on the ground at this point.

At 16:14:56 there is a battery change to a very poor battery. This is evidenced by the next telemetry entry at 26:15:25 a 29 second elapsed time. A minute later the motors are armed and he goes airborne. The battery voltage plummets to 14.8 V in 40 seconds. At 16:18:26 2 minutes after lift off he gets simultaneous low voltage 1 and compass errors at an altitude of 17.5 meters. Within 2 seconds he reaches low voltage 2 warning along with continued compass warnings. This triggers an auto RTH and the AC starts climbing to RTH set height. J1 input shows the pilot attempting to bring altitude down and 8 seconds later the Mode switch is changed to RTH. The aircraft is just shy of set RTH height and soon starts descending. Unfortunately the aircraft encounters an obstacle or hillside shortly thereafter.

He may want to check that the GPS module is still mounted well and the wiring is fully intact for it since he is getting more compass errors now. Other than that he needs to remove the camera and do some test flights. After cleaning the sticks and doing a good ST16 calibration.

ScreenshotElevation_histogram_1.png
Full 00042

ScreenshotElevation_histogram_2.png
00042 post battery change
 
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@h-elsner,

Would you take a look at the telemetry when low voltage 2 is triggered and the AC starts climbing. The Remote shows Ch0 throttle being in throttle down position but the aircraft continues to climb. Curious what your take is on that.
 
@REMedia,
Four team members participated in this review. @h-elsner, @Steve Carr, @DoomMeister, and myself. I thank the other team members for their support. This is the result of the flight review:

The event was not triggered by a motor loss. Everything that happened during the flight, and everything changed by the crash, was the result of a bad battery. The #5 motor failed at contact with the ground, not in flight. We would recommend:
1.) Dispose of the defective battery.
2.) Ensure the GPS Module (GPS/Compass/Altimeter) and the associated connector are properly mounted and properly connected.
3.) Ensure the control Pots are clean and functioning properly.
4.) WHEN the control Pots are clean, perform a new Controller Calibration. (not before pots are clean)
5.) Ensure a fresh accelerometer calibration is performed.
6.) Ensure a new Compass Calibration is performed in an open area.
7.) Remove camera for test flight.
8.) Perform some test flights.
 
VIDEO OF CALIBRATION TRY TODAY

still gotta read through posts, but thanks to everyone so far and i'm sure i'll have some more questions. I got back from trying to calibrate in the middle of a field... this is the video. I'm pretty sure the calibration failed due to no blinking LED's on the arms?

 
It appeared to complete properly. It rebooted at the end then bound to the ST-16.
 
Random thought:
You mentioned "repaired with all my box full of parts":
1.) Did you reuse the original GPS/Compass Unit?
2.) Is it installed with the wires coming out the back?
3.) Are all the wires properly seated in the connector (no part of the metal pins showing above the white)?
4.) Do you have another GPS/Compass unit available?

I didn't repair or replace anything inside the shell... only extremities. Right now I pulled the GPS module and took picture of front and back... I do have another top shell with another GPS module... i plugged that in and turned it on just to see what would happen.. same blue lights.

GPS module.jpg

GPS module picture 2.jpg
 

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