So here's what happened. It just snowed here in Wisconsin and I wanted to get a quick few pictures of the area but didn't have time to fully charge my Typhoon H battery, so I put it on the charger for around 45 minutes and then removed it and went to my flying spot. It was 23 degrees out when I flew so I didn't really want to be outside for that long anyways. My ST16 voltage meter said the battery was at 15.9V when I started the flight. Anyways, all was fine until I took my first picture about a minute into the flight, when the screen on the ST16 froze. I moved the drone in different directions and that same still image was on the screen. I tried changing from the camera setting to the video setting and nothing changed. All of the side readings (voltage, GPS, Alt, Distance) worked fine though, thankfully. The drone flew fine and like normal, no issues with that, and it was in my line of sight so I was able to safely bring it back and land it without any issues, but what could have caused the screen on my ST16 to freeze? Could it just be the fact that I was flying in 23 degree weather? This is the first time this has ever happened and I've had my H for a year now.
ST16 froze mid-flight
- Thread starter JMolter
- Start date
Sounds like the WiFi link to the camera was lost. Most likely to do with the camera itself relaying the image back to the ST-16.
Were images recorded on the SD card in the camera?
Did you regain connectivity after landing?
Did the camera have power after landing?
Were images recorded on the SD card in the camera?
Did you regain connectivity after landing?
Did the camera have power after landing?
What antenna are you using for FPV Flat or mushroom? The flat is directional and should be pointed at the copter, could of been some interference causing a loss of signal and freeze of the FPV. EU software usually puts the screen black til connection is established. Telemetry would probably be ok at that distance and being 2,4, I've had the picture freeze a few times and telemetry lost for a while too, if in LOS then fine, to be able to bring back, if you resumed with FPV after a short break then it should be ok. Sometimes external influences throw a spanner in the works, I personally wouldn't fly with a lower battery especially in low temperatures.
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Did you dress up your controller and camera in warm linnen ? Not good to be naked outside in the cold!
Isn't it like a politician, needs all the vents open to let out all that hot air!Did you dress up your controller and camera in warm linnen ? Not good to be naked outside in the cold!
The images that I took before it froze saved and recorded on the SD card. When I tried hitting the picture button after it froze though, nothing happened. No picture snapshot sound or anything. I don't think it regained connectivity after landing, I didn't really spend too much time checking though admittedly because I was freezing. I was flying around a number of trees and a big metal bridge so maybe that was part of the issue? I know flying around objects can cause the drone to act weird sometimes.
Is there a possibility you landed the copter before it reconnected? The A firmware is quicker it can take over 90 seconds to reconnect on EU firmware. If it's working OK now fine, especially now you've revealed more about the external influences of the area you were flying in.
Not sure. It was frozen in the air for probably 3 minutes and never reconnected. I'm trying to figure out if it happened because of the cold, because my battery wasn't fully juiced up when I started flying, or because I was around trees and a lot of metal objects.
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
I've had the screen 'freeze' just once in the past. No idea what caused it and it hasn't done it since. I put it down to 'just one of those things'. One thing, though, is that when it happened it messed up the files recorded to UAVToolbox and it took a couple of IM messages between @Tuna and myself to resolve it.
If it's all working now then don't worry, it's more likely to be a signal issue than battery.
I've had picture freeze a few times, more often the black screen, which I usually go higher for just in case, I've lost all telemetry, voltage etc a few times, luckily I've can see it and nurse it back, but it was probably only 5/10 seconds of loss. Luckily never had it happen with 4hawks, just when I've been lazy keeping original set up.
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
Extreme cold can do strange things to a consumer UAV. Normally, it's the battery that shows the effect with shorter flight times that, in extreme cases, can cause a flight time measured in just seconds, but the internal guts of the aircraft can be affected too, and in unpredictable ways.
This is just my opinion but if it were me I wouldn't fly in such cold conditions. But, also significant for me is that I don't do well in the cold, never mind the aircraft. When it gets cold outside I have to put band-aids over my nipples because they get all hard and sore...and my arthritis flares up badly.
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
Oh, I've had those short 'glitches' a few times myself which is usually resolved by just turning the aircraft in the air to re-orientate the camera antenna. Not a big deal in the scheme of things. But a total freeze up as happened with the OP just the once.
The thing is, though, that total freeze ups can happen so all the more reason to keep an aircraft in VLOS.
I wonder how many people have lost their aircraft through this happening? Claiming a 'fly away' when the aircraft would have been recoverable if it were in VLOS?
Certainly a lot of Android phones freeze up, and this is basically the same operating system, like you say, they are unwritten rules which are best to somewhat abide by, to get the best chance of a successful flight, the two extremes of temperature can cause problems, to that aging battery, perhaps warm the batteries up a bit before inserting. If the OP system is OK then it's a valuable lesson to learn, without any pain or loss.
The metal bridge (iron or steel) can affect the compass and give you squirrelly control of the aircraft. Trees are the devil for 5.8GHz WiFi signals, especially if they still have their leaves, and conifers are really adept at soaking up the energy in that frequency band. That is more than likely the real culprit here.
The cold alone would be unlikely to cause a loss of video signal. I've flown in much colder weather (below zero f). But flying with a low batt and the cold is not a good choice. Try again with a full batt and I think it will be good. Also get the flat patch panel antenna. It will get better signal for video feed. Also, the mushroom antenna must be pointed straight up and not at the H.
