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My review of the Typhoon H now that it is 1 year old

Hey Mr. "flat-lander" :)

I flew it over this past winter (some videos of this are on my channel). The coldest flown was one day where it was -19 Celcius. I can't include the windchill factor because that pretty much only affects objects that produce heat (like me... and I froze all winter!)

I flew it in all seasons. I've flown it in mist (through clouds... there is a video on my channel of this), and I flew it one day where it began to rain while the Typhoon was far from me (no video as I was not recording at the time). The rain seemed to have no effect on the ST16 or the Typhoon H. The Typhoon H was in the pouring rain for maybe 3 minutes of flight, and then another 2 minutes on the ground. I just wiped it down when I go home and laid it on its side overnight. Flew fine the next day.

You should have zero problems flying in the winter. Just keep your batteries warm (close to your skin if possible). In one recent video flying in the spring where the weather was near zero celcius the battery had acclimated to the surrounding air. I took off to film water and ice and within 5 minutes I received a low voltage warning and then the Typhoon H force landed itself due to a critically low battery. I've never had that problem before, however, in previous cases I always had the battery under my winter coat and close to my skin.

Safe flying!

Steve
I had one thought when I saw the word "mist" that you probably already know but if you fly in mist and the dew point and temp get closer prop icing is a real possibility. That condition brought down my Mavic from about 75' straight into the ground. I first got a "Battery Overheat" ... then no response to RTH and then acceleration straight into the ground since the icing destroyed the prop lift. As a pilot I should have known better but I got distracted by having so much fun.
 
Good video idea, and great implementation as usual. Your videos are clear, to the point, and inspire all of us.:) Because you always "tell it like it is", your credibility is second to none, unlike many of the YouTube "Experts":eek:.

I ain't no spoilsport (just chicken!:rolleyes:), but I suggest that new owners not handcatch. I know it's your thing and that's fine.

Best wishes for ANOTHER good year. Have you named that TH? My first, an early RS model named Wendy, will b-day in July.
:):):)

Long ago when I received my very first drone (a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+), I watched a video of surf dude down south catching his drone and I thought it looked cool, so I began doing it. Then I realized that catching a drone ensures the camera remains clean and there is zero chance of a bounce or tip over, so I did it with all camera hobby drones.

If a newbie wanted to try it, I do agree it is not something to do if you have a fear of the blades, do not feel confident in the drone or your skills or are not wearing eye protection. Certainly not something a newbie should attempt.

As for names.... I'm pretty boring in that area. DJI makes you name your products and I just call them what they are & give them professions or characters (i.e., The Phantom, Dr. Mavic, Private Spark), so no name for the Typhoon H other than "Mr. T".
 
Have seen a couple of your videos, but this one was great!! I have been lurking on this forum for some time now. See "Lurking" in introductions. I am trying to figure out if the TH is for me or do I need to wait on the 520. I want to be able to use a zoom camera. Something around 8 or 10x I also want to do thermal imaging. I'm not sure if the CGO-ET would fit the bill. I would like to do roof inspections and solar panels. At 160X120 resolution the CGO-ET may not be very clear at 100 ft. I also want to do cell tower inspections, hence the zoom. Do you think the H would be alright around a cell tower if I was to stay out 20 to 25 ft.? I still have a lot of questions but I am beginning to see I really need a Yuneec. Seems to be a great forum here. Wish I would have found this before I bought the Inspire2.

I may not be the best person to ask this question to because I just fly for fun and not for the purpose you're looking having a camera drone for. I can add the following:

- Zoom lens on a small drone like the Typhoon H would not work very well. This is why drones like the Inspire 2 have cameras with aperture and zoom but the zoom is very minor (optical zoom requires some quality glass and space between the glass causing length & weight)... hanging weight is not a good thing for drones when they attempt to hover in wind. If you take your cell phone or point and shoot camera or a DSLR and zoom into something while watching a live view, you'll see that every small movement is magnified many times which would cause blurring. It is easy to take a snapshot or record video at 4K from a distance of 20 feet and then zoom into the image on your computer at home to see what you must.
- Thermal imagining... I have no experience in that department other than what I've watched in Yuneec Youtube videos.
- The Typhoon H uses a bandwidth that is common and outside that of cell towers so I would think you'd be fine. I've flown near cell transmission towers with no issues (perhaps I've just been lucky).
 
I had one thought when I saw the word "mist" that you probably already know but if you fly in mist and the dew point and temp get closer prop icing is a real possibility. That condition brought down my Mavic from about 75' straight into the ground. I first got a "Battery Overheat" ... then no response to RTH and then acceleration straight into the ground since the icing destroyed the prop lift. As a pilot I should have known better but I got distracted by having so much fun.

That is unfortunate but it happens. I must have been lucky. I fly into a cloud on a cold morning, came out and landed and noticed that the landing gear and motor arms were covered in ice which could have ending in a different outcome.
 
Happy late Birthday Typhoon H! I received mine in May of 2016 and have been flying it along with many other drones. Here are my thoughts after 1 year.

Hey Captain, I too have had my Typhoon H for almost a year now and it's been flawless as well, except for one issue, my CGO3 camera. 95% of my videos have "jumping" issues where the video gets choppy and skips. It is not do to distance as it will do it even 10 feet from me or over 400 feet it just happens and has done it since day one, I have removed the camera from the gimbal 2 or 3 times and cleaned the contacts just to make sure everything was making contact, however nothing has ever improved it. I usually shoot in 1080 × 60fps mode and have tried others, either way same issue, sometimes I also get choppy green looking overlay on my entire screen during the choppy sections of video.
Have you heard of this issue ever?
I contacted yuneec, they want a super short video of it happening and to be honest I haven't been able to duplicate it during a short video especially since I can only fly when it's not raining and I live in Portland, Oregon so I haven't been able to fly too much maybe 35 flights so far, and also when it happens it does not show on the st16 display so It's a total guess as to exactly when it has occurred during my flight. Any ideas???

Thanks,
Dragon
 
Congratulations! Fabulous job once again. I hope i can duplicate that 10 months from now.
Hey Captain, I too have had my Typhoon H for almost a year now and it's been flawless as well, except for one issue, my CGO3 camera. 95% of my videos have "jumping" issues where the video gets choppy and skips. It is not do to distance as it will do it even 10 feet from me or over 400 feet it just happens and has done it since day one, I have removed the camera from the gimbal 2 or 3 times and cleaned the contacts just to make sure everything was making contact, however nothing has ever improved it. I usually shoot in 1080 × 60fps mode and have tried others, either way same issue, sometimes I also get choppy green looking overlay on my entire screen during the choppy sections of video.
Have you heard of this issue ever?
I contacted yuneec, they want a super short video of it happening and to be honest I haven't been able to duplicate it during a short video especially since I can only fly when it's not raining and I live in Portland, Oregon so I haven't been able to fly too much maybe 35 flights so far, and also when it happens it does not show on the st16 display so It's a total guess as to exactly when it has occurred during my flight. Any ideas???

Thanks,
Dragon

If it does not show it happening on your ST16, then it is a post production issue which means when the video signal is compressed with the appropriate frames added and a file is opened/closed something is going wrong. Your CGO3 knows what and how to compress video via firmware updates. Is your camera at the correct firmware update? All I can think of is it is a firmware problem and at worst a hardware problem within the microchip running the firmware. The only other simple option would be your micro SD card, but I'm sure you've tried others as well as ensured the contacts in your camera were clear of dust by blowing a puff of air in the SD slot.
 
Happy late Birthday Typhoon H! I received mine in May of 2016 and have been flying it along with many other drones. Here are my thoughts after 1 year.

Captain Drone, i just joind this forum today. I have a used typhoon h i purchased not long ago. I crashed it the other day. I would like to attempt repairs myself. Do you have any advise for me?
 
If it does not show it happening on your ST16, then it is a post production issue which means when the video signal is compressed with the appropriate frames added and a file is opened/closed something is going wrong. Your CGO3 knows what and how to compress video via firmware updates. Is your camera at the correct firmware update? All I can think of is it is a firmware problem and at worst a hardware problem within the microchip running the firmware. The only other simple option would be your micro SD card, but I'm sure you've tried others as well as ensured the contacts in your camera were clear of dust by blowing a puff of air in the SD slot.
Hey thanks for the reply, Yes I have blown compressed air to make sure the SD slot was free of dust, and Yesterday finally updated my firmware to the latest and greatest, did a 15 minute test flight yesterday at sunset and will review the video today and see if that helped or not, there is no issues that I have seen on the st16 videos and am using top of the line class 10 or uhs1 SD cards, also updated my vlc media player to most recent release. SO I will hopefully have a perfect video from last night. I had already updated and tried all the above mentioned things previously, with the exception of the actual H firmware which I updated yesterday....
 
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Captain Drone, i just joind this forum today. I have a used typhoon h i purchased not long ago. I crashed it the other day. I would like to attempt repairs myself. Do you have any advise for me?
It all depends on two very important items:

- what is the damage to the H?
- what are your abilities at repairing household items?
 
Excellent review captain. I will have mine a year come November. Only had 1 hard landing/gimbal broke - pilot error/easy fix. Other than that, I've had no real issues. It flies as advertised. Love the follow me feature for boat rides and car... it keeps up well!! Had no issues with any of the firmware upgrades either. Soild UAV all around.
 
Great video Captain Drone, thanks. Your one year retrospective makes me feel my purchase of a Typhoon H was a wise decision.
 
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Great to see you post here Captain Drone!
Found a video of yours on you tube when I first bought my H, 2 months ago.
Followed your first flight instructions to a Tee.....Thanks! and loved your 1 year review here
 

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