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Newbie in a hurry- intermittent pictures with Q5004k

Joined
Jan 21, 2021
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Age
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Hey folks,

I've done forum and Youtube research and have come up empty handed. I am having a problem where my Q500 4k will only occasionally take a picture while I am flying. I've read a bunch of stuff on the different modes and how to set them up. The problem is in 20 attempts to take a picture all in the same mode while flying in the same flight I may get one or two and then nothing else. Video of course is perfect with no issues. I am starting to suspect that it is a physical issue with the photo button itself. (Maybe some minor corrosion in the internals of the button?) I've tried suggestions for super quick taps to holding down the button. There is no rhyme or reason to the successful pictures. I would love to know your thoughts and any direct links to video's or articles to fix it would be appreciated. I am assuming the button can be replaced but I have not yet cracked the case open.
Sorry if this is a newbie topic but I am have tried to research it and I am in a bit of a time crunch since we are building a deck/sunroom on the house and I am trying to get some good before and in-progress aerial photos.

Thanks a million.

John
 
I believe there is a Hardware Monitor in the System Settings on the ST10+. It should be able to tell if the button is or isn’t working.

Can you take photos with the aircraft sitting on the ground?
 
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Hey folks,

I am starting to suspect that it is a physical issue with the photo button itself. (Maybe some minor corrosion in the internals of the button?)
The button part sometimes gets jammed too far down on the button shaft. When that happens, the button bottoms out before making good contact. Try pulling the button part out a little (not much) to see if that helps. As @DoomMeister suggested, you can pull up Hardware Monitor, and the photo button is "B1".
 
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WTFDproject Brilliant! You nailed it! I was on the right track that the problem is mechanical but never for a minute thought the plastic part of the button was sliding down. Thank you! Now do you know of a permanent solution? A few light clicks of the button send it back down again. Not knowing exactly what it looks like inside, I was thinking about trying to pull the whole plastic part of the button off, see if there was a small barreled hole in it and put a small part of a pin or big needle in there to keep the plastic button from sliding down too far on its seat. Any other thoughts? Is a better replacement button available and if so how involved is it to swap it out?

@DoomMeister thanks for that suggestion too. I went in and it wasn't immediately clear to me how to interpret the hardware monitor, so I tried the button trick and it worked. I'll look into that more in the future because it looks like a great diagnostic tool.
 
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WTFDproject Brilliant! You nailed it! I was on the right track that the problem is mechanical but never for a minute thought the plastic part of the button was sliding down. Thank you! Now do you know of a permanent solution? A few light clicks of the button send it back down again. Not knowing exactly what it looks like inside, I was thinking about trying to pull the whole plastic part of the button off, see if there was a small barreled hole in it and put a small part of a pin or big needle in there to keep the plastic button from sliding down too far on its seat. Any other thoughts? Is a better replacement button available and if so how involved is it to swap it out?

@DoomMeister thanks for that suggestion too. I went in and it wasn't immediately clear to me how to interpret the hardware monitor, so I tried the button trick and it worked. I'll look into that more in the future because it looks like a great diagnostic tool.
I use the Hardware Monitor on my ST16 before my first launch of an outing. While my TH is sitting and acquiring satellites, I bring up the monitor and ensure all controls are working properly.

BTW, welcome to YuneecPilots!

Hang around and share some photos of your deck project.
 
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Now do you know of a permanent solution?
I've heard of folks using several methods. You can pull the button off and stuff something really small into the hole. Some folks have glued them. Some have sanded a little off the bottom of the button. If the actual problem is the switch is coming apart, the repairs will be temporary until you replace the switch. The switch is pretty easy to change, and you can get one from @Yuneec Skins . See Yuneec Controllers (yuneecskins.com)
 
Thank you both again and thanks for the welcome! I've owned this for a few years. I bought it when the dual battery bundle dropped to $699 whenever that first was. I doubt I have more than 6-8 hours on it. I loved it when I first got it. It was the first product I think I've ever bought in my life that exceeded my expectations.
Most of my vids and pictures have been taken at various friends and family members houses some on lakes, bays and rivers. I've got a couple nice shots which I can post. One was just a dumb luck shot that just astonished me when I downloaded it from the drone. I'm assuming I should put that and the deck pic in the photos and videos forum? I saw the section title but have not looked at the details yet.

I'm just really excited you guys got me back on track! I'm looking forward to getting in some more flight time. Thank you!

JB
 
I've got a couple nice shots which I can post. One was just a dumb luck shot that just astonished me when I downloaded it from the drone. I'm assuming I should put that and the deck pic in the photos and videos forum?
That's probably the correct place to post them. You can add a link to them in this thread and make it the best of both worlds.
 
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Thanks! If I've done this correctly here is the link:

JB
 
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Thanks to @WTFDproject pointing me in the right direction, I was able to fix my issue with both the picture and video buttons. After reporting the initial issue with the photo button, the video button started doing the same thing. The cylinder of the button is too deep for the length of the switch shaft on which it sits. I've attached a few pictures of how I fixed it to save others some leg work. Short answer is that I created ~2mm long spacers that I placed in the button cylinders which gave it the clearance it needed to let the switch depress fully.

The diameter of the button cylinder is ~3mm. Searching around my garage, I discovered that the end of the fill tube of a Ronson Butane refill can was just shy of 3mm. fill tube has 3 different stepped diameters. Cutting the first section off and then cutting the length in half provided two perfect length spacers. I used a safety pin to help guide them into the buttons and then just pressed the buttons back on the switch shafts. I had intended to glue them, but for now they seem to have enough grip to stay on by themselves. Super happy with the results. If you are wondering why there are two cans in the pictures, it's because like any great project nothing goes smoothly the first time. When gently cutting the first section lengthwise in two pieces both shot off my workbench as if they were rocket propelled. After searching my 700sqft blue with white fleck epoxy coated garage floor for 30 minutes, I went to Walmart and bought a second can. ?‍♂️ They are only $4 so it was worth it. At any rate, thanks for the advice and hope this helps someone else. JB
 

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