Suggestions? First flight after being parked for two years..

[HarveyC]

I was an early adopter, one of the first to get the Typhoon H. I flew regularly for a while but then just got busy, etc. and have not flown my drone for about two years and have not taken the time to monitor battery charge, etc. Very neglectful owner, I confess.

I'm hoping to get a bit more active again, especially to take photos of a new exciting project on my farm.

I have three batteries that are about three years old and they've charged up okay. I did have the blue blinking light warning on one of them but found when I inserted another battery not very firmly it gave me the same warning and I found I've been able to charge all three fine. The controller charged up without issue.

I figure I should do firmware updates and calibrate my drone but would appreciate any other suggestions on what to do to help avoid a crash from a sudden battery failure, etc. Perhaps I should just hover at 5' and watch for changes in battery voltage?

Thanks!

 

[DoomMeister]

I would remove the camera and make close test flights at 20 to 30 feet AGL and monitor your voltage levels of the batteries closely. This will give you a chance to get used to the flight characteristics again also. Once you are aware of how your batteries are holding up and are comfortable with takeoffs, flying, and landing add the camera back to the mix.

Good to have you back in the air!

 

[HarveyC]

I would remove the camera and make close test flights at 20 to 30 feet AGL and monitor your voltage levels of the batteries closely. This will give you a chance to get used to the flight characteristics again also. Once you are aware of how your batteries are holding up and are comfortable with takeoffs, flying, and landing add the camera back to the mix.

Good to have you back in the air!

Thank you for the quick reply!

I'm not seeing any downloads on Yuneec's site for firmware. Can you tell me where I can find that?

 

[Steve Carr]

Turn on the controller, go to settings and then Hardware Monitor and check the sticks very carefully and thoroughly. Make sure they are responsive, go full scale, with no lag or sluggishness and also return to exactly zero every time.
Let the H sit outside for 13 min before you start the motors so the GPS can fully update.

 

[Steve Carr]

Downloads Typhoon H

 

[Steve Carr]

Follow all of the steps in this video to update the firmware.

 

[HarveyC]

Follow all of the steps in this video to update the firmware.

Thanks, I was going to use another video I watched but will do as you suggested!

 

[PatR]

Having let a couple of them sit for over a year I strongly recommend performing all the calibrations before the first flight. Let it sit for awhile to find out where it is again. Keep close watch on battery voltages as the aged batteries can provide nasty surprises with rapid voltage drop.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

I can't add much more to the recommendations above, so I'll address another area you mention... monitoring your batteries. The first thing you want to do is replace the OEM charger.

The first primary factor to keep track of, is ensuring you can easily and accurately put those batteries into storage charge mode, after flying. There are some models that are made specifically for the H batteries that provide this function... however I do not recommend them.

The better choice are 3rd party chargers... the primary reason is the ease with which you can monitor Internal Resistance levels, the most effective method of keeping track of your battery health. The models that are mentioned above, do not have this important capability.

There are many brands of 3rd party charges out there... I have this model:

Hitec X2 AC Plus Black

or you could get the more powerful

Hitec X2 AC Pro

Use these adapter cables:

Typhoon H Adapter Cable

 

[HarveyC]

Thanks for all the help. I'm not ready to give up yet, but am having trouble even doing the controller update.

I might reboot my PC to see if that helps somehow, but the controller update file I get downloaded using Chrome is not a bin file and the controller doesn't find the update software when I try to do the update. The file I'm getting is ST16_V3.1.30.yuneec

I'm using a 32GB SD card which others have said worked fine for them

I may have to contact Yuneec for help, I imagine.

Thanks for the tip on other chargers, this was still something folks were making themselves the last I had read. Seems so long ago...I think I was the first to report battery voltages here when I had it in my hand but I'm not a wizard that can figure out what to do with such information.

 

[DoomMeister]

George Go

It has been two years since the last firmware update for the Typhoon H. It is very likely you do not have to update at all. Connect to the TH, go to settings, About and compare version numbers to what you see in the photo below. The photo shows the latest versions.

 

[HarveyC]

I never had any issues with my drone so I never bothered to update anything until trying now. I did think about doing it several times but do tend to procrastinate.

Actually, my first drone crashed and I think it was because of me that it was determined to not take off with object avoidance on. Yuneec replaced that drone with a new one while most others were still waiting for their early orders and it has worked well.

My ST16 is running v03.01.b18

 

[DoomMeister]

Yep, time to update.

 

[PatR]

Just for giggles, download Firefox and use it to obtain the firmware files. Chrome is noted for reluctance to function properly for some websites and files . Worst case is you’ll end up with much better personal security than you have now as Firefox security features actually work.

Once you obtain the files, do not open them. Format your SD card to clear everything from it and place just one file, aircraft/camera or ST-16 on the card. With the device turned off place the card in the device. Then turn on the device and wait for the upload process to complete. Once complete, turn off the device, remove the card and repeat the process, starting with formatting the card, for the other device.

Once that is complete, turn on the ST-16 and place it in Team Mode. Then go to Settings to access the binding page. Then turn on the aircraft. Refresh both the camera/aircraft and ST-16 to force them to locate the updated firmware, then bind. You may have to “select camera” before or after binding. After binding turn both devices off and reboot and verify the firmware update.

 

[HarveyC]

Yuneec support told me I needed to install firmware versions b23 and b27 before I could update to b30 so they emailed me links to those two versions.

 

[PatR]

Yuneec support told me I needed to install firmware versions b23 and b27 before I could update to b30 so they emailed me links to those two versions.

If something happens where you don’t get them, send me a PM. I think I have both and could upload them to a Dropbox file. I have b30 as well.

 

[Steve Carr]

The file I'm getting is ST16_V3.1.30.yuneec

The firmware file for the ST16 is, in fact, ST16_V3.1.30.yuneec.
The firmware for the H is TyphoonH_Ver3.04_A.bin

 

[HarveyC]

The firmware file for the ST16 is, in fact, ST16_V3.1.30.yuneec.
The firmware for the H is TyphoonH_Ver3.04_A.bin

I've figured that out after spending half of today doing firmware updates!

Besides the micro SD card in my camera, I have two others and just could not get the ST16 to update with either of those even after formatting them and downloaded b30 with different browsers, etc. Yuneec support finally had me transfer the b23 and b27 updates directly to the root directory of the ST16 using a USB/micro cord and it updated fine but then would not connect to the camera and I finally ended up using the micro SD card in the camera, deleting the files off the card and then transferring the drone firmware to that card and the drone then updated fine. I then tried to update the ST16 OTA to b30 but that hasn't worked and the tech support told me to go ahead and try to use that same SD card to do the b30 update. The ST16 seemed to do an update but it's still running b27. I've tried it a couple of times as well as more OTA but it stays at b27. I'm just letting it rest a while to see if it will do something on its own.

I had to rebind the camera but it would not do that initially since it said the firmware in the camera was too old, etc. so it's been a slow process. I'm charging up the ST16 and may take a test flight tonight.

FWIW, the battery in the controller has held up well and the one battery I've had in the drone has seemed to hold up fine, probably was on for a few hours, though not under any heavy load. I've run the motors a couple of times without props and when I throttled up I got the entering 5 motor mode, return home but have searched here and see that is normal without props and won't do that any more. Until today, I had never started it without props so that was a new one for me.

 

[AH-1G]

@HarveyC
When you fly, hover about 10', check all the controls. You may want to take camera off first.

 

[PatR]

5 rotor warning is normal when running without props. They all do it.

If you still have the card that came with your H, use it. The ST-16 won’t recognize cards over 32gig for an update. The factory card is 16 gig and they always work for both camera and controller.