Slow descending

[Gdmoe]

Hi All ....
Make this short ... Been flying my new Typhoon H for about 6 months with very little problems, Had a landing gear issues but got some great advise here that took care of that ...
Now I have notice when ever I fly, ever time I go to land .. It takes forever! And also when I release the stick and it returns to center, the H starts to climb again .. Not fast but very slowly ... Have not other concerns ...
Anybody experience this? Please let me know..
Thanks All ..
Greg.

 

[grandpawmoses]

I'm just the janitor here.
I'd start by connecting the ST16 to your computer and checking the throttle joystick completely returning to center with the GUI program.
Possibly need to clean it's contacts.
The real experts will be in later this morning.

Moderator note:
Ha, very clever. But you can't use the GUI to check the ST16. Read below.

 

[Steve Carr]

Open the Hardware Monitor and check the sticks very carefully. Watch the video below starting at minute 2:53.

 

[Gdmoe]

Hello Steve ...
I did watch video and notice my j4 is super slow response ...
But what i do not understand is that its J1 that is the decent stick. I would think it would have a slow response but mine is just like the one in video ....

 

[Steve Carr]

Hello Steve ...
I did watch video and notice my j4 is super slow response ...
But what i do not understand is that its J1 that is the decent stick. I would think it would have a slow response but mine is just like the one in video ....

Do you have Realsense?

 

[Gdmoe]

Yes sir it does ..

 

[Steve Carr]

That is probably the reason for the slow descent. I'll see if I can find another post I saw regarding the same problem.
In any case, J4 will need cleaning.

 

[Steve Carr]

Yes, I confirmed with another pilot who had this issue. He tried disabling the RealSense and it didn't help. He then remove it from the aircraft and it fixed the problem. He believes it may be caused by dirty sensors but he has not yet tried to clean them and try again.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Does descent speed change if you play with the turtle-rabbit control?

 

[grandpawmoses]

I'm just the janitor here.
I'd start by connecting the ST16 to your computer and checking the throttle joystick completely returning to center with the GUI program.
Possibly need to clean it's contacts.
The real experts will be in later this morning.

Moderator note:
Ha, very clever. But you can't use the GUI to check the ST16. Read below.

Thanks for the correction. Excuse me while I empty this trash can.

 

[Ren57]

Hi All ....
Make this short ... Been flying my new Typhoon H for about 6 months with very little problems, Had a landing gear issues but got some great advise here that took care of that ...
Now I have notice when ever I fly, ever time I go to land .. It takes forever! And also when I release the stick and it returns to center, the H starts to climb again .. Not fast but very slowly ... Have not other concerns ...
Anybody experience this? Please let me know..
Thanks All ..
Greg.

I had this exact same problem. It only started after the last firmware update though. A bit scary, as it actually started to gain altitude when I was pulling back on the left stick and trying to land. For a moment I thought I was just going to have to let it hover and wait for the battery to run down to land it! After a minute or so it did start to descend when I pulled the left stick down but very very slowly. As soon as it got to a height where I could grab hold of it, I did! Connected to the GUI, nothing stood out as a problem. I solved it by re-calibrating the compass. Now I find I have to re-calibrate the compass before every flight. My previous Yuneec drone (a Q500) I only ever had to calibrate the compass twice. The Q stills flies great, the H seems a bit more finicky...

 

[Steve Carr]

I have to re-calibrate the compass before every flight.

Hmm...it seems strange the compass would have any affect on the throttle. Do you have RealSense as well?

 

[Ren57]

Hmm...it seems strange the compass would have any affect on the throttle. Do you have RealSense as well?

I thought that as well and yet calibrating the compass cured it. No RealSense fitted. I put it down to just one of the quirky things and as long as it works, then I'm OK with that. Calibrating the compass takes about 30 seconds, I can live with that. I do have the usual camera disconnect when I raise the landing gear though, that's a bit of a pain. So now I've learned not to set up the camera manually before I raise the landing gear. Another one of those quirky things! Apart from that, it's a great machine, love it.

 

[FlushVision]

Remember that when the H480 descends towards what it thinks is the ground level it's descent will slow down until it believes it has passed the ground level. Once past that, it's descent will increase again. I often fly in hilly areas and I often choose a take-off point on high ground and often fly my aircraft down into valleys where the ST16 is showing a negative value for it's height. Indeed, wherever possible I always try to take off from the highest point in my Field of Operations. So it is that I've noticed it's behavour when the aircraft descends towards what it thinks is the ground level.

 

[Ren57]

Remember that when the H480 descends towards what it thinks is the ground level it's descent will slow down until it believes it has passed the ground level. Once past that, it's descent will increase again. I often fly in hilly areas and I often choose a take-off point on high ground and often fly my aircraft down into valleys where the ST16 is showing a negative value for it's height. Indeed, wherever possible I always try to take off from the highest point in my Field of Operations. So it is that I've noticed it's behavour when the aircraft descends towards what it thinks is the ground level.

I'd always wondered about flying below the take off point and I've always avoided it because I didn't know what might happen. You've answered that question for me - and now I know the H won't throw a wobbly or something by doing it, I'll try it sometime! Getting back to the descending thing. When I was pulling the left stick down trying to descend, the H actually started to gain altitude! It just wouldn't descend whatever I tried to do. As I've said before, I thought I was going to have to wait for the battery to run down but after a couple of minutes it started descending very very slowly when I pulled the left stick down. I checked it out on the GUI and nothing showed up, everything in the green. I re-calibrated the compass and it worked perfectly after that. No reason why re-calibrating the compass should solve that particular problem and yet it did. Next time I flew, it did the same thing (wouldn't descend) same thing after a couple of minutes it started to descend very very slowly. Re-calibrated the compass again and it flew perfectly again????? Now I just re-calibrate the compass before each flight and I've not had a problem since I started doing that.

 

[FlushVision]

I'd always wondered about flying below the take off point and I've always avoided it because I didn't know what might happen. You've answered that question for me - and now I know the H won't throw a wobbly or something by doing it, I'll try it sometime! Getting back to the descending thing. When I was pulling the left stick down trying to descend, the H actually started to gain altitude! It just wouldn't descend whatever I tried to do. As I've said before, I thought I was going to have to wait for the battery to run down but after a couple of minutes it started descending very very slowly when I pulled the left stick down. I checked it out on the GUI and nothing showed up, everything in the green. I re-calibrated the compass and it worked perfectly after that. No reason why re-calibrating the compass should solve that particular problem and yet it did. Next time I flew, it did the same thing (wouldn't descend) same thing after a couple of minutes it started to descend very very slowly. Re-calibrated the compass again and it flew perfectly again????? Now I just re-calibrate the compass before each flight and I've not had a problem since I started doing that.

There's no problem flying with a negative height. Keep in mind, though, that due to the aircraft's antenna orientation, the signal to and from the aircraft may be a little weaker such that you may loose signal over a shorter distance than you would if the aircraft were above your height.

You shouldn't need to calibrate on every flight to get optimal performance. Only after a firmware update; if moving a distance from your last take-off; when you haven't flown for some time; or when the system tells you to. If you find that you need to calibrate every time, then that is telling you that something isn't right with your aircraft and that problem needs to be investigated. You say that you have looked at it through the GUI and don't see anything out of the ordinary. Next step is to look at your telemetry files to see if you can identify an issue in there...post your files in this forum for others to peruse if you can't make sense of them yourself. If that doesn't show the problem, then open a dialog with Yuneec.

Edit to say that having a look in the hardware monitor in the ST16 to see if all is well with stick movements is something to look at too.

Another edit: Here is a vid shot earlier in the year where some of the footage was shot at a lower altitude than the aircraft's take off height. You'll see that the aircraft performs quite normally.

 

[PatR]

Does descent speed change if you play with the turtle-rabbit control?

The speed slider position affects everything. If in turtle position the descent will be very slow.

 

[Ren57]

There's no problem flying with a negative height. Keep in mind, though, that due to the aircraft's antenna orientation, the signal to and from the aircraft may be a little weaker such that you may loose signal over a shorter distance than you would if the aircraft were above your height.

You shouldn't need to calibrate on every flight to get optimal performance. Only after a firmware update; if moving a distance from your last take-off; when you haven't flown for some time; or when the system tells you to. If you find that you need to calibrate every time, then that is telling you that something isn't right with your aircraft and that problem needs to be investigated. You say that you have looked at it through the GUI and don't see anything out of the ordinary. Next step is to look at your telemetry files to see if you can identify an issue in there...post your files in this forum for others to peruse if you can't make sense of them yourself. If that doesn't show the problem, then open a dialog with Yuneec.

Edit to say that having a look in the hardware monitor in the ST16 to see if all is well with stick movements is something to look at too.

Another edit: Here is a vid shot earlier in the year where some of the footage was shot at a lower altitude than the aircraft's take off height. You'll see that the aircraft performs quite normally.

Ashworth Moor Reservoir! I recognized that straight away. It's less than an hour from my place. I take it those ruins are some old mill or other then? I do a little bit of coastal erosion stuff and would find it far easier taking off form the top of cliffs and fly down to take a look than to clamber along beaches and rocks and have to deal with tides and all that stuff. I've avoided doing it so far because I didn't know how the drone would react, now I know it's alright, I'll give it a try.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

The speed slider position affects everything. If in turtle position the descent will be very slow.

I understood that, I was asking if the OP had seen that change when descending.

 

[FlushVision]

Ashworth Moor Reservoir! I recognized that straight away. It's less than an hour from my place. I take it those ruins are some old mill or other then? I do a little bit of coastal erosion stuff and would find it far easier taking off form the top of cliffs and fly down to take a look than to clamber along beaches and rocks and have to deal with tides and all that stuff. I've avoided doing it so far because I didn't know how the drone would react, now I know it's alright, I'll give it a try.

Good man. There's a misconception among some pilot's that uas' can't go to negative heights and if they do that they will become unpredictable. This is not the case. I fly my H480 and my Phantom below zero altitude quite regularly with no problems.

Yes, Ashworth Moor Reservoir. The ruins in the video are Cheesden Mill in the Cheesden Valley. You can get to the ruins by going down a public footpath opposite and just down the road a bit from Owd Betts pub. Walk along the path for a couple of hundred yards. It's less than half a hour's drive away from my abode. For the footage in the above video I took off from the hill overlooking the ruins just to the West of the ***.

I like to do coastal stuff too and, being the lazy person I am, often fly from cliffs. You gotta watch out for the birds, though. They can get a bit territorial so avoid taking off from cliffs during nesting season.