Q500 does not see sd card

CaptainDave · Mar 19, 2022

Almost done working the bugs out of the Q500 I bought used. Have replaced main board and 1 speed controller. Seems to fly OK and camera has video & up/down movement, but cannot record anything. Getting error message saying no SD card, even tho I have tried many, including some that work with my CGO3+ on my Typhoon H Pro. Have tried everything from 4gb, 16gb, 32gb, & 64gb. Also several brands.
Does anyone know how to fix? Dumb question...of course several of you will know. Thanks in advance

WTFDproject · Mar 19, 2022

It sounds like the card reader may be bad. It might benefit from some contact cleaner on one of the SD cards and move it in and out to break up any oxidation on the contacts. That does not sound promising since it sounds like you have inserted a bunch of cards all ready.
The card reader is part of the camera WIFI board.
See CGo3 Wi-Fi Board Replacement as needed for how to replace it.

CaptainDave · Mar 21, 2022

WTFDproject said:
It sounds like the card reader may be bad. It might benefit from some contact cleaner on one of the SD cards and move it in and out to break up any oxidation on the contacts. That does not sound promising since it sounds like you have inserted a bunch of cards all ready.
The card reader is part of the camera WIFI board.
See CGo3 Wi-Fi Board Replacement as needed for how to replace it.

I took your advice and put small amount if contact cleaner on sd card and moved it in and out to try to clean contacts. Also blew some air into opening to make sure it was dry & dust free before I powered on to test. Same results as before; video signal to st10 is good and gimbal moves up & down as it should, but still getting message that no sd card is found.
Before I replace main camera board, I have another question. I also own a Typhoon H Pro with a working cgo3+ camera. I tried putting the cgo3+ on my q500, but it did not recognize or work. Is the cgo3+ usable in the q500? I know that the camera movement would only be on the one axis, but I am looking for any other methods to make sure of where the problem is before replacing camera board. Thanks again for your help !

WTFDproject · Mar 21, 2022

CaptainDave said:
I tried putting the cgo3+ on my q500, but it did not recognize or work. Is the cgo3+ usable in the q500?

"I tried putting the cgo3+ on my q500, but it did not recognize or work."
You should have been able to connect the video and see an image on screen. If the camera did not bind to the controller, there is another problem we would need to chase.

"Is the cgo3+ usable in the q500?"
Not really.
You were already aware the YAW control will not work. But the Pitch(tilt) control will not work either. The camera will stabilize and only point straight ahead and level all the time.
The video will probably display to some degree but it is very likely to be broken up and have a serious time lag. How bad depends on which firmware versions are loaded on the camera and on the controller.
The camera is also too tall, and will rest on the ground when mounted on the Q500.

CaptainDave · Mar 22, 2022

WTFDproject said:
"I tried putting the cgo3+ on my q500, but it did not recognize or work."
You should have been able to connect the video and see an image on screen. If the camera did not bind to the controller, there is another problem we would need to chase.

"Is the cgo3+ usable in the q500?"
Not really.
You were already aware the YAW control will not work. But the Pitch(tilt) control will not work either. The camera will stabilize and only point straight ahead and level all the time.
The video will probably display to some degree but it is very likely to be broken up and have a serious time lag. How bad depends on which firmware versions are loaded on the camera and on the controller.
The camera is also too tall, and will rest on the ground when mounted on the Q500.

Thank you for your fast reply and expertise! I was hoping that putting the cgo3+ on the Q would help narrow down the problem. Now looks like I will either try to replace camera board myself or send for repair. May just sell q500 as-is since I also have 2 Typhoon H's that are working & I like them better anyway. Any idea of a fair price for used q500? It flies good and everything works except camera which does have working tilt and video. It would include 2 good batteries (one is new), 8 good props, steady cam, hard case, chargers, and all of the other accessories that came with it, Not sure I want to invest any more in this drone.

WTFDproject · Mar 22, 2022

CaptainDave said:
......putting the cgo3+ on the Q would help narrow down the problem.

It would work for that purpose. You can bind the CGo3+ video side to the ST10+ even when the camera is mounted on the Typhoon H. The video part of the camera does not care where the power is coming from. If the CGo3+ shows an SD card when bound to the ST10+, it pretty much confirms there is a WIFI board related problem in the CGo3. You can also do the reverse and bind the CGo3 to the ST16 to see if the card reports on the ST16.
To carry the experiment a step further, you could even swap WIFI boards between the two cameras. They use the same board.

The best way to get an idea of sales value is go on eBay and review the "Completed" listings for Q500. If the asking price is in green, the item sold. If the price is in black, it did not sell.