Just got the H Pro. Took her out for a maiden flight and.... toilet bowl?

[dinglehead]

Ok.. just took the H Pro out for the first time. Everything was fine for the first 5-10 mins, then I saw it start drifting in a circle. I'm linking a video here.

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Control became extremely erratic - thankfully I know how to fly one of these things and got it back to me and landed it. Once it was on the ground the ST16 started vibrating and it said "NO GPS"

The controller said it had 16 sats, but also said it wasn't locked in to GPS. I shut the H down, and restarted....

Swapped to a new battery after landing - kept her super close for the rest of the test flights and everything seemed fine.


Any idea what may have caused this? I did a compass calibration before the first flight.

 

[banned user]

Sounds like toilet bowl effect, have you calibrated the compass since getting it?

BTW I was expecting to see the skelligs or fungi in the background !

 

[dinglehead]

I did calibrate the compass, yes.

It was the "LOST GPS" warning that I found even more concerning.

 

[Rayray]

Good that it happened in the open. See a little wind, and you were keeping it stable manually with GPS lost. I suggest rebinding. When you restart it, give it extra ground time to check for the good lock. I'm sure you turn on the ST-16 first and turn it off last. Good luck.

 

[gwhuntoon]

I had a similar issue my second time out with the H Pro, fortunately I've been really patient and wait for a good GPS lock. I started my ST16 first in angle mode and waited for a complete boot, then I start the H Pro, once booted I waited for a good GPS link. I did a compass calibration facing magnetic north. I backed away from the H then the ST16 started to vibrate, no GPS lock. That subsided, then the lock for the second time was reestablished. For some reason, when I wait and think I have a good GPS lock with over 10 satellites the GPS lock is lost while still showing plenty of satellites on the ST16. It will reestablish but doesn't seem to maintain. BTW - the KP was a 1. I'm not very confident in the GPS on this thing. Once it's been on for 5-10 minutes it seems to maintain, at least so far.

 

[dinglehead]

I had a similar issue my second time out with the H Pro, fortunately I've been really patient and wait for a good GPS lock. I started my ST16 first in angle mode and waited for a complete boot, then I start the H Pro, once booted I waited for a good GPS link. I did a compass calibration facing magnetic north. I backed away from the H then the ST16 started to vibrate, no GPS lock. That subsided, then the lock for the second time was reestablished. For some reason, when I wait and think I have a good GPS lock with over 10 satellites the GPS lock is lost while still showing plenty of satellites on the ST16. It will reestablish but doesn't seem to maintain. BTW - the KP was a 1. I'm not very confident in the GPS on this thing. Once it's been on for 5-10 minutes it seems to maintain, at least so far.

Thanks. I'd really like to figure out what caused that GPS lock loss. I intend to use this extensively with the Wizard controller, but I don't even want to IMAGINE what would happen if the GPS lost its lock when operating with that thing.

 

[gwhuntoon]

Thanks. I'd really like to figure out what caused that GPS lock loss. I intend to use this extensively with the Wizard controller, but I don't even want to IMAGINE what would happen if the GPS lost its lock when operating with that thing.

Where are you located? I'm on the west coast of Michigan where there is virtually 0 magnetic deviation so in essence what I would think is a perfect spot for GPS. I heard of issues in the southern hemisphere which were corrected with a firmware update. Maybe the GPS lock issue will be fixed with the new firmware. I can only hope.

 

[THoff]

It is absolutely critical to perform the calibrations on a completely level surface, with no metal or electronics nearby.

 

[dinglehead]

It is absolutely critical to perform the calibrations on a completely level surface, with no metal or electronics nearby.

I did the calibration with my cell phone in my pocket.

I'm going to not do that next time.

 

[dinglehead]

Where are you located? I'm on the west coast of Michigan where there is virtually 0 magnetic deviation so in essence what I would think is a perfect spot for GPS. I heard of issues in the southern hemisphere which were corrected with a firmware update. Maybe the GPS lock issue will be fixed with the new firmware. I can only hope.

South Florida. So as far as declination is concerned it's about the same as you.

 

[banned user]

because your in kind of an urban environment, it's possible not likely but possible that you did the calibration over some underground service pipe..

 

[Steve Carr]

Thanks. I'd really like to figure out what caused that GPS lock loss. I intend to use this extensively with the Wizard controller, but I don't even want to IMAGINE what would happen if the GPS lost its lock when operating with that thing.

What you describe is not normal operation. Call Yuneec asap and you might need to send them the telemetry data so they can diagnose the problem. I would not recommend flying until you have some certainty the issue has been fixed.

 

[gwhuntoon]

Admittedly, I flew mine from my son's big back yard in a suburban neighborhood which has power lines on 2 sides. To be fair I need to be out away from metal and electrical disturbances. I should be able to test this out this weekend and let you know. I'm hoping its environment and not the H because I really like the H so far.

 

[Steve Carr]

Admittedly, I flew mine from my son's big back yard in a suburban neighborhood which has power lines on 2 sides. To be fair I need to be out away from metal and electrical disturbances. I should be able to test this out this weekend and let you know. I'm hoping its environment and not the H because I really like the H so far.

If the ST16 had good sat and the H is erratic then there is a problem with the H. My H always shows many more sats than the ST16 and if you fly up over surrounding obstructions you should have a solid GPS lock. Did I understand you correctly regarding which unit is losing sat lock?

 

[Hoss]

I'm in South Florida and have never done a calibration. No issues. Call Yuneec.

 

[Hunter_Michael]

My first bird had the toilet bowl effect like yours, it seemed fine with full battery but got worse as battery was depleated. did numerous calibrations which did not correct the issue. Sent in to support (taking 3 weeks to get back) came back with a GPS replacement and had the same issue. Sent it back the second time (another 3 weeks) and I believe I got a whole new replacement and has been flawless since. So if the calibrations don't fix it I would call.

I did not experience the loss of GPS and vibration with ST16 like yours did so it may be an entirely different issue with the GPS loss.

 

[gwhuntoon]

If the ST16 had good sat and the H is erratic then there is a problem with the H. My H always shows many more sats than the ST16 and if you fly up over surrounding obstructions you should have a solid GPS lock. Did I understand you correctly regarding which unit is losing sat lock?

I guess I don't understand your last question. My H Pro never had the toilet bowl issue, it flies fine. My issue is the ST16 vibrating and displaying that GPS Lock was lost. This always seems to happen shortly after the first power on after I already have a good GPS lock. I power on the ST16 first, then the H Pro, while sitting on the ground after 1-3 minutes with a good GPS lock, the GPS lock is gone, shortly after it comes back. Once I'm flying the lock seems good, I'm just leery of loosing it just before or during takeoff even though I'm in Angle mode.

 

[DarkWhiteChocolate]

how may satellites did you have? I know if I try to take off with less than 6 on the ST16 with GPS ON I will have issues, it only gets worse as I fly... now I wait until I have 6 or more and I have yet to have an issue

 

[gwhuntoon]

how may satellites did you have? I know if I try to take off with less than 6 on the ST16 with GPS ON I will have issues, it only gets worse as I fly... now I wait until I have 6 or more and I have yet to have an issue

I had 14 on the ST16 and 13 on the H Pro when I first lost GPS. I usually have anywhere from 11 to 14.

 

[dinglehead]

Ive taken it out and flown through another couple of batteries and haven't seen any hints on anything else going wrong.

Ugh. That one moment is enough to make trusting this thing's brain a little tough.