PatR
Premium Pilot
Close enough. It's the compass that seems to be the primary cause of true "fly away" issues. This is something another company had a rash of issues with.
Close enough. It's the compass that seems to be the primary cause of true "fly away" issues. This is something another company had a rash of issues with.
I'm tempted to remove my H's compass and replace it. I take it there's no redundancy.
After I read your H crashed, it got me wondering......when is my turn? I'm an early buyer, but no mechanical malfunctions on either the copter or the ST16.
Since the warranty is long expired, I'm a bit apprehensive about continuing to fly this bird. Time to watch a YT video on where all the components are.
For those interested, here is what the module looks like. The toroid is installed as close to the module as possible. The wires are twisted from the factory to try and eliminate interference since the wires can act as antennas. The toroid will attempt to cancel out more interference. One of my H went from over 10 compass errors on one flight to none.
You may want to watch this video.
You may want to watch this video.
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PatR
Premium Pilot
No redundancy. Aside from people that don't read instructions or review the info that comes on the SD card, I believe the compass is the weakest link in the system. Since all of the critical navigation components are located right next to the primary power supply, and the heat it generates, the possibility for some type of failure is higher than it needs to be. As I recall you got yours a few days before I got my first one. You know the warranty was extended to 12 months, yes? For you and I that means it's just about up but most have obtained theirs later.
I love my H's. They fly great and do the jobs I need them to do with high reliability. Nothing in class can handle as much wind as the H can, and provide smooth video during abrupt changes in yaw. A few things could be done a little better in the component side of things though.
When did you get it? You know they extended the warranties to a year and made that retroactive.
How about wrapping the lot in alu-foil....?
Might be a to simple to believe solution, but I have no scientific backgroune whatsoever. But got a quick-adjusting farmers brain though.
Do you think the compass is faulty or a bad calibration? I got no indication of calibration issues before the fly away, and the previous flight during the same job was flawless. I may replace both compass and GPS and wrap a toroid just to be safe. I can't believe how gun shy I have gotten since my flyaway. I have attempted to fly my replacement H but things don't seem quite right and the status lights flash purple and white . I know what purple should be but not with the white. Maybe I am over thinking this whole thing but boy was it scary seeing it fly away.
Boy that's good to hear. I can't believe how gun shy I am. I guess I better reread the manual and get back on the horse and get flying again. Thanks.
You do know that home is where the ST-16 is right? If you take off then walk 100 ft and initiate return to home it will fly to where you are. This is why it is important to weight. Now go fly!
Sorry to hear about your experience. I experienced something similar to what you are describing. I had a compass warning come on before it went rogue and I never saw it again. I spent close to a month with Yuneec CS before I got my RA. If you can wait, Yuneec is great at taking care of their customers. My new unit came in with all updates and has functioned flawlessly since starting her up. Hope you have as good of an experience with them as I did.
Mike M
That is a great step in the right direction Charlie, something that Yuneec should be looking/considering at doing to negate some of the problems that Yuneec owners have experienced. Imho that redundancy with systems or maybe triple the redundancy would make this aircraft infallible in regards to flyaways. I experienced it with my first bird and I really believe it was the compass unit that went astray. Yes there may be some manufacturing issues from the vendors but eventually the system backups could possibly work like the manned systems and give us all more confidence when flying.
Mike M
Some general observations:
A yellow flash on the TH main light is Compass error. An occasional flash, especially when raising or lowering the legs, is not a cause for worry.
However, if you are getting repeated yellow flashes, perhaps actual ST16 warnings, land. First try simply turning off the craft, and after 10 seconds turn it on and try again.
Compass calibrations are a pain, and can be difficult to get right. Many fliers think they calibrated correctly, but in fact did not.
Practice flying without GPS (practice first in no-wind conditions in the open). Now if/when you get in a TB or lack of control situation, turn off the GPS. Normally this will let you regain control.
A yellow flash on the TH main light is Compass error. An occasional flash, especially when raising or lowering the legs, is not a cause for worry.
However, if you are getting repeated yellow flashes, perhaps actual ST16 warnings, land. First try simply turning off the craft, and after 10 seconds turn it on and try again.
Compass calibrations are a pain, and can be difficult to get right. Many fliers think they calibrated correctly, but in fact did not.
Practice flying without GPS (practice first in no-wind conditions in the open). Now if/when you get in a TB or lack of control situation, turn off the GPS. Normally this will let you regain control.
Yuneec was good to deal with but unfortunately my flight log of the fly away did not record so they could not help me. I asked them if the techs had a guess as to what could've happened. The reply was some kind of interference, so I' on my own. Since joining the forum I have gotten a lot of information about possible causes, such as compass glitches or interference. The drone is easily repairable. I may replace the gps unit and compass module to be safe and take some measures to hopefully stop interference issues. Sorry to hear you did not recover your H. It is a scary feeling to see your drone as it goes rogue. I am still a little gun shy to get my replacement H flying, but I have lost RC aircraft before. I think it bothers me more because I like flying the typhoon H so much. Mike thanks Aaron
My Typhoon that flew away did flash a yellow light every now and then especially when the landing gear went up and down. I did not see the light description on yuneecs' cheat sheet that comes with paper work. I'm glad I joined this forum. I have gained much information. Do you think turning off the GPS during the Fly away would have regained control? If so I intend to be ready if there is a next time- if that is possible. Thanks
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Could you explain or post a pic if you have one. I've never heard of this. Thanks so much!
My Typhoon H was bought back in September, and came with the free wizard (so it was an early production model). Recently I went into Yuneec UK to test some operating functions for my flight test and even though my H was performing flawlessly and had absolutely no issues, they swapped it out for a brand new one there and then.
I'm wondering if early compass units were possibly prone to failure given the amount of incidents seems to have died down a lot now. It's one of the only reasons I can think that they would just swap it out there and then for a brand new one when it had been performing flawlessly with no issues. Maybe I should have asked the question when I was there.
I'm wondering if early compass units were possibly prone to failure given the amount of incidents seems to have died down a lot now. It's one of the only reasons I can think that they would just swap it out there and then for a brand new one when it had been performing flawlessly with no issues. Maybe I should have asked the question when I was there.
Any way to tell if a typhoon h is early or late production? I bought my H that flew away back in Nov. 2016. My new replacement that I will be Flying I just got a week or so ago. Who knows how long it could have been on the shelf.
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