H520 to h3 conversion

[Stephen1988]

I’m looking to convert a yuneec h520 into a h3 . Maybe an odd thing to do but I’ve not seen a h3 yet and I have a Leica camera I want to try out. I bought a mainboard and imu for h3 off eBay ,It came with a few other bits like gps module , sr24 I think it’s called and just bits like power switch ect. My plan is fit the board and imu into a h520, change the firmware on a st16s and add the camera . Will this work or will I need to swap over the gps module or any other bits. Another thing I want to do if possible is change the battery from the h3 to h520 battery , can I just solder off the battery connector from the mainboard and add one from a h520 .

 

[Stephen1988]

I’m looking to convert a yuneec h520 into a h3 . Maybe an odd thing to do but I’ve not seen a h3 yet and I have a Leica camera I want to try out. I bought a mainboard and imu for h3 off eBay ,It came with a few other bits like gps module , sr24 I think it’s called and just bits like power switch ect. My plan is fit the board and imu into a h520, change the firmware on a st16s and add the camera . Will this work or will I need to swap over the gps module or any other bits. Another thing I want to do if possible is change the battery from the h3 to h520 battery , can I just solder off the battery connector from the mainboard and add one from a h520 .

O yes also the sd card was missing from the mainboard, hopefully this will be like the hplus where a blank sd card can be added

 

[WTFDproject]

can I just solder off the battery connector from the mainboard and add one from a h520 .

Yes. You might also want to consider simply changing to an EC3 connector and using aftermarket batteries.
You won't have a place for the battery latch switch on the H520 frame. I can't remember if you have to jumper the connector or leave it open when the switch is missing. One way or the other should work.

 

[Stephen1988]

Yes. You might also want to consider simply changing to an EC3 connector and using aftermarket batteries.
You won't have a place for the battery latch switch on the H520 frame. I can't remember if you have to jumper the connector or leave it open when the switch is missing. One way or the other should work

It did come with the switch , I was thinking of connecting it and hiding it inside somewhere. Overall it should be a quick conversion

 

[Enrico Jorysch]

The inner cage of the H520 and the H3 are not identical.
Not only is the mount for the battery sensor missing...
the mount for the battery compartment is also different.

 

[Stephen1988]

The inner cage of the H520 and the H3 are not identical.
Not only is the mount for the battery sensor missing...
the mount for the battery compartment is also different.

Unfortunately I don’t have a h3 inner cage . I also only have one h3 battery. My plan is to use the h520 frame and h520 batteries with h520 battery connector. Hopefully the screws on the mainboard are in the same location on the h3 and h520

 

[Stephen1988]

The inner cage of the H520 and the H3 are not identical.
Not only is the mount for the battery sensor missing...
the mount for the battery compartment is also different.

I’ll just either not use the switch for the battery sensor or it it needs to be connected I’ll hide it somewhere inside the shell

 

[Enrico Jorysch]

The internal chassis of the H520-E is identical to that of the H3.
All the connectors and screw holes for the motherboard also match.

 

[Stephen1988]

H520 to H3 conversion. Some pictures of the progress.

 

[Stephen1988]

Are these 2 sr24 boards the same. One is from h3 and one h520. Also can I just remove the realsence wire that was fitted to the h520 as it doesn’t seem to have a purpose

 

[Enrico Jorysch]

Are these 2 sr24 boards the same. One is from h3 and one h520

Yes, you can use both if the plugs fit.

 

[Stephen1988]

Yes, you can use both if the plugs fit.

Thank you. After a long wait for a h520e shell to complete this h3 conversion it’s now ready for its maiden flight. H520e shell just for battery sensor . Very pleased with how the finished product looks.

 

[Stephen1988]

Failure to launch . I’ve tried the same trick as the hplus where a blank sd card was installed in the mainboard. The used h3 mainboard i bought from eBay had sd card removed when it arrived. I get a similar issue to the h plus where im not getting a gps lock even with an excellent satellite count. Another thing I’ve noticed is the compass calibration completes successfully but accelerometer fails.

Will a failed accelerometer prevent gps lock?
Why do I not get any error messages?
Could a faulty imu allow compass calibration to complete but not accelerometer? I don’t know the history of the boards, it’s very likely the unit it was removed from was crashed.

So far I’ve tested accelerometer calibration indoors after a successful compass outdoors.
Hex shows level on the horizon tile but fails.
I’ve also tried unbinding the hex and camera then rebinding the hex and camera in that order but calibration sill fails after a successful re bind.

 

[Stephen1988]

Failure to launch . I’ve tried the same trick as the hplus where a blank sd card was installed in the mainboard. The used h3 mainboard i bought from eBay had sd card removed when it arrived. I get a similar issue to the h plus where im not getting a gps lock even with an excellent satellite count. Another thing I’ve noticed is the compass calibration completes successfully but accelerometer fails.

Will a failed accelerometer prevent gps lock?
Why do I not get any error messages?
Could a faulty imu allow compass calibration to complete but not accelerometer? I don’t know the history of the boards, it’s very likely the unit it was removed from was crashed.

So far I’ve tested accelerometer calibration indoors after a successful compass outdoors.
Hex shows level on the horizon tile but fails.
I’ve also tried unbinding the hex and camera then rebinding the hex and camera in that order but calibration sill fails after a successful re bind.

Motors will arm when aircraft gps is toggled on under other settings but this setting is likely just another name for indoor mode or to allow flight in areas with poor gps . It might however confirm a healthy imu ?

 

[WTFDproject]

Failure to launch . I’ve tried the same trick as the hplus where a blank sd card was installed in the mainboard. The used h3 mainboard i bought from eBay had sd card removed when it arrived. I get a similar issue to the h plus where im not getting a gps lock even with an excellent satellite count. Another thing I’ve noticed is the compass calibration completes successfully but accelerometer fails.

Will a failed accelerometer prevent gps lock?
Why do I not get any error messages?
Could a faulty imu allow compass calibration to complete but not accelerometer? I don’t know the history of the boards, it’s very likely the unit it was removed from was crashed.

So far I’ve tested accelerometer calibration indoors after a successful compass outdoors.
Hex shows level on the horizon tile but fails.
I’ve also tried unbinding the hex and camera then rebinding the hex and camera in that order but calibration sill fails after a successful re bind.

A thought:
"The used h3 mainboard i bought from eBay had sd card removed when it arrived."
Did the used h3 mainboard come with an IMU mounted?
I know an H3 IMU will not work with on an H520 mainboard. And gives issues somewhat similar to those you describe. Note I do not have notes on the results of mounting an H520 IMU on an H3.
Yes, HPlus, H3 and H520 use the same part number IMU. But H520 has different firmware, and the firmware can't be changed by any means I know of.

 

[Stephen1988]

A thought:
"The used h3 mainboard i bought from eBay had sd card removed when it arrived."
Did the used h3 mainboard come with an IMU mounted?
I know an H3 IMU will not work with on an H520 mainboard. And gives issues somewhat similar to those you describe. Note I do not have notes on the results of mounting an H520 IMU on an H3.
Yes, HPlus, H3 and H520 use the same part number IMU. But H520 has different firmware, and the firmware can't be changed by any means I know of.

Yes luckily it did have an Imu fitted . It was listed as a typhoon h mainboard but the presence of the h3 style battery connector and the shape of the mainboard made me think it was either a h520e or h3 mainboard. It also had a sr24 so I was confident it was h3 . The same seller also had 2 sets of grey arms listed incorrectly so h3 was looking very likely . Final bid came to a whopping 15.50 euro for the mainboard and components and each set of A and B arms came in at 8euro per set. At the price there was nothing to lose. The st16s was loaded with h3 software and after installing the mainboard it binded to both camera and hex. On reboot the h3 camera auto connects each time with no issues, I’m now confident it’s all from a h3.

 

[Stephen1988]

Yes luckily it did have an Imu fitted . It was listed as a typhoon h mainboard but the presence of the h3 style battery connector and the shape of the mainboard made me think it was either a h520e or h3 mainboard. It also had a sr24 so I was confident it was h3 . The same seller also had 2 sets of grey arms listed incorrectly so h3 was looking very likely . Final bid came to a whopping 15.50 euro for the mainboard and components and each set of A and B arms came in at 8euro per set. At the price there was nothing to lose. The st16s was loaded with h3 software and after installing the mainboard it binded to both camera and hex. On reboot the h3 camera auto connects each time with no issues, I’m now confident it’s all from a h3.

See here sd card removed, seller must have taught an 8gb sd card was too hard to part with so it wasn’t included in the sale. I replaced it with another 8gb sd card from the donor h520 mainboard , formatted to fat32. Hoping for some update on this thread shortly today

 

[Stephen1988]

A thought:
"The used h3 mainboard i bought from eBay had sd card removed when it arrived."
Did the used h3 mainboard come with an IMU mounted?
I know an H3 IMU will not work with on an H520 mainboard. And gives issues somewhat similar to those you describe. Note I do not have notes on the results of mounting an H520 IMU on an H3.
Yes, HPlus, H3 and H520 use the same part number IMU. But H520 has different firmware, and the firmware can't be changed by any means I know of.

Sd card removed and formatted to fat 32 again. GPS lock achieved and arms stay solid purple in angle mode. I could not achieve this with multiple attempts prior to sd card format. Compass calibration successful but accelerometer still failing . One odd thing I noticed is the compass calibration started automatically like previously discussed . I have a good feeling some progress has been made. More investigation is needed

 

[Stephen1988]

Sd card removed and formatted to fat 32 again. GPS lock achieved and arms stay solid purple in angle mode. I could not achieve this with multiple attempts prior to sd card format. Compass calibration successful but accelerometer still failing . One odd thing I noticed is the compass calibration started automatically like previously discussed . I have a good feeling some progress has been made. More investigation is needed

Here is a picture of messages after failed accelerometer. When I mentioned above no error messages i meant i didn’t see any in red . Perhaps old software? Has anyone has success after a software update with accelerometer calibration

 

[WTFDproject]

The accelerometer calibration is tricky. I touch the landing gear against something like the computer screen or a wall to steady the unit during the left/right/up/down phase. If you cannot hold it still enough for long enough, you get a fail at that position.
Maybe @Enrico Jorysch or @h-elsner how to use QGroundControl to see if the accelerometer is showing motion even when the drone is standing firm on its landing gear. Or comment on whether the existing values may be good enough without re-calibration.