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Q500 4K Intermittent Camera Connection

AH-64 D

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My Q500 4K began failing to take photos this summer and I thought it was due to heat, but the problem has since gotten worse even though the temperatures are now mild. It was as if there was a loose connection, so I removed and re-secured the ends of the cable from the Q500 to the camera gimble. Then I replaced its micro-SD card. I learned that if the Q500 was sitting on the ground, it would reliably record photos or videos, but if I picked the Q500 up and carried it about, it would fail to access the camera. Are there some other places where I should look for loose connections?
 

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It would be possible the antenna connector has some corrosion on it, or otherwise becoming a problem. It's possible the WiFi board is starting to fail.

It's the change that occurs when you pick it up that is puzzling. I'm not sure which cables you checked. The wires between the contact plate and gimbal board? The wires from the drone mainboard to the drone side of the camera mount?

I'm grabbing at possibilities here, but when you pick up the drone, the gimbal motors draw a little extra current to keep it stabilized. Maybe a dip in voltage caused by a bad connector somewhere, or maybe the voltage regulator on the gimbal board is marginal.
The power connectors between the gimbal board and the camera itself are:
Camera Power.jpg
 
Thank you for the attached photos. I have not gotten that far into the inner workings. The only cable I have reseated is the external cable that connects the Q500 to the camera mount as shown in the attached photo. I have not gone inside the camera or gimble beyond checking its antenna and cleaning the camera lens and ND filter.
 

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Based on your pictures of the controller, I don't think you have a problem taking pictures but rather a problem with the video signal staying connected to the controller. I believe the signal to take pics or video is carried over the video signal to the camera wifi antenna.
So, as @WTFDproject indicates, it could be a loose camera antenna or a bad camera wifi board or even a problem with the ST10 wifi.

You can easily remove the cover over the front of the camera lens by squeezing the sides. The antenna is located under that.

To test the camera wifi signal I use a wifi app on my phone (free download). Your phone must be dual wifi enabled to see the 5.8 GHz signal.
 
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Can you tell me a bit more about this app? I was thinking of mounting the camera on its grip to remove the Q500 from the test loop. If it is the camera wifi board or the ST-10, mounting the camera on the grip will indicate that I still have a problem. The app could then help me sort out if I have a gimpy camera wifi board or a flaky ST10. When I previously removed the cover in August, I jiggled the wifi antenna and cleaned the lens and filter. The antenna seemed firmly attached, but that is all I can say about it. I also have a Typhoon H, so I could try to bind to its ST-16 receiver, but I have no experience with binding my Q500 to my ST10, much less my ST16.
 
Can you tell me a bit more about this app? I was thinking of mounting the camera on its grip to remove the Q500 from the test loop. If it is the camera wifi board or the ST-10, mounting the camera on the grip will indicate that I still have a problem. The app could then help me sort out if I have a gimpy camera wifi board or a flaky ST10. When I previously removed the cover in August, I jiggled the wifi antenna and cleaned the lens and filter. The antenna seemed firmly attached, but that is all I can say about it. I also have a Typhoon H, so I could try to bind to its ST-16 receiver, but I have no experience with binding my Q500 to my ST10, much less my ST16.
You can use the CGO3 app to connect to the camera. There are both Android and iOS versions of the app. You connect to the camera via 5.8GHz WiFi then open the app on your phone.

I have also used an app called IPCams on my iPhone XS.

Both apps will allow you to see video from the camera. The CGO3 app from Yuneec will let you take photos and video, but you cannot control camera position from the app.
 
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This is the wifi app I have used to check the signal strength of the camera power. You don't need the controller turned on nor do you need to bind anything. In many of these apps you can set the sampling frequency for a short duration so if there are times when the wifi drops out the app will detect it. It's also helps to use two cameras at the same time so you can compare the signal. Since you have an H and Q you're set.
 

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