Typhoon H would not land; had to cut off the motors; crashed broke arm, propellers, camera housing...

[PatR]

Not knowing the age of your ST-16 or how it is stored when not in use, you might consider using a cotton swab to drip a small amount of rubbing alcohol into the corners of the throttle gimbal and stirring the sticks around to clean the electrical contacts. Do that with the ST-16 powered OFF. No need to flood it, just use enough to know that some alcohol migrated 1/4” or so past the plastic gimbal ring. Allow 30 minutes or so for the alcohol to evaporate before turning the ST-16 on. I’ve found this method useful when lacking the desire to open up the ST-16 to use electrical contact cleaner.

 

[Icarus-50]

Not knowing the age of your ST-16 or how it is stored when not in use, you might consider using a cotton swab to drip a small amount of rubbing alcohol into the corners of the throttle gimbal and stirring the sticks around to clean the electrical contacts. Do that with the ST-16 powered OFF. No need to flood it, just use enough to know that some alcohol migrated 1/4” or so past the plastic gimbal ring. Allow 30 minutes or so for the alcohol to evaporate before turning the ST-16 on. I’ve found this method useful when lacking the desire to open up the ST-16 to use electrical contact cleaner.

Thank you, PatR. I bought this one in June of 2016 and a second one in Dec 2016. The December one is all fine, no issues.

 

[Icarus-50]

So I went out on Sunday. I checked everything, ( battery, controls on the ST16, etc) and all seemed as usual except that the ALT on the left side of the ST16 showed -1.6ft. Not knowing whether this is a problem or not, I decided to launch. I started the motors and wanted to raise the drone to about 5ft and then try landing it. But as soon as I throttled up, the drone would not stop its climb, and went upto about 20 feet above the ground and then held up there. I tried landing, it would not. I flew around (without descending) and it responded fine. Not being able to land using the left stick, I disabled GPS and landed it w/o any issues. So what do you think is going on? I have not looked at the telemetry files yet; will tonight.

 

[AeroJ]

-1.6 altitude is not a big deviation - it's always off a by a small amount like this. That big climb at take-off happens often enough (to me at least) to be considered 'normal behaviour', but 50% of the time it doesn't do that, so why it does when it does is something of a mystery. I've kind of just accepted it, and resolved never to launch under trees ! But whenever mine does the initial climb it will always let me back down again (it's usually the first thing I do) unless the landing gear is up, and then it has a protection thing that kicks in to stop it landing on the camera. I presume your landing gear was down ?

It would be good to see your telemetry for this flight - do please upload it.

 

[Icarus-50]

-1.6 altitude is not a big deviation - it's always off a by a small amount like this. That big climb at take-off happens often enough (to me at least) to be considered 'normal behaviour', but 50% of the time it doesn't do that, so why it does when it does is something of a mystery. I've kind of just accepted it, and resolved never to launch under trees ! But whenever mine does the initial climb it will always let me back down again (it's usually the first thing I do) unless the landing gear is up, and then it has a protection thing that kicks in to stop it landing on the camera. I presume your landing gear was down ?

It would be good to see your telemetry for this flight - do please upload it.

Thanks. Yes, the landing gear was down. I will upload the telemetry files tonight. Also, this was an open field with no trees or buildings near by. I had flow from this spot before with no issues. What bothers me as much is that when I sent in my H for repair to NY, they later asked for the ST16 explaining that they wanted to fly test it and see the telemetry. I sent them the files, but they still asked for the ST16. So despite that, it seems they did not actually fly it to see the landing problem. I have told them about the landing issue and they hav asked that I send it back to them.

 

[AH-1G]

Just double checking, are you sure you are in Angle Mode?
Take off in turtle mode?
Tapping the red button didn't help bring it down?
This is very odd indeed.

 

[Icarus-50]

So now that I know how to land the H in emergency situations (if it does not land through the normal left stick action with GPS on), the bigger question is: Should I continue to fly it as is (hoping the issue will go away and landing w/o GPS) or should I send the drone back to UR in NY to be checked/repaired?

 

[Icarus-50]

Just double checking, are you sure you are in Angle Mode?
Take off in turtle mode?
Tapping the red button didn't help bring it down?
This is very odd indeed.

I began with smart mode but when it would not land tried angle as well; neither worked. I did not try tapping the red button.

 

[AH-1G]

I began with smart mode but when it would not land tried angle as well; neither worked. I did not try tapping the red button.

I never ever take off in smart mode, I just don't trust it!
95% of the time I take off in Turtle Mode, unless it's windy and/or I'm taking off from my boat, up 50% from turtle mode.

 

[Icarus-50]

I never ever take off in smart mode, I just don't trust it!
95% of the time I take off in Turtle Mode, unless it's windy and/or I'm taking off from my boat, up 50% from turtle mode.

OK, but I just followed my usual routine. In the past starting with smart mode did not produce this landing issue or the uncontrolled height issue. So something is wrong that it is doing it now. I have repeatedly taken off and landed in Smart mode from my boat too and have never had a problem. Something is wrong here and I am loosing my confidence in the H especially/because it just got back from repairs. Another thing: it took more 20 minutes to get to the Ready signal, which was also not usual. 10/15 minutes into this waiting period, I started a DJI drone and it connected to its satellites immediately. It was a cloudy day.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I just read through this entire thread and there are several posts that ask about or mention a specific detail and I don't think there has been an answer.

Page 2 Post 22
Page 3 Post 47
Page 4 Post 61

All these posts mention, or reference, a potential for a bad or dirty pot on the stick which; could be the problem.

@Icarus-50 have you checked the stick in the hardware monitor?

 

[AH-1G]

OK, but I just followed my usual routine. In the past starting with smart mode did not produce this landing issue or the uncontrolled height issue. So something is wrong that it is doing it now. I have repeatedly taken off and landed in Smart mode from my boat too and have never had a problem. Something is wrong here and I am loosing my confidence in the H especially/because it just got back from repairs. Another thing: it took more 20 minutes to get to the Ready signal, which was also not usual. 10/15 minutes into this waiting period, I started a DJI drone and it connected to its satellites immediately. It was a cloudy day.

I agree with Ty Pilot lets look into what was suggested, lets eliminate one thing at a time.
If you have to, write this on a list of things to check off.

Like yourself we want to help you, but you have to help us by what has been recommended. Process of elimination.
Sometimes 3 minutes can seem like 5 minutes. Do you have a stop watch that you can exactly time the Sat connections to the ST16 and then to the H?

 

[Icarus-50]

I just read through this entire thread and there are several posts that ask about or mention a specific detail and I don't think there has been an answer.

Page 2 Post 22
Page 3 Post 47
Page 4 Post 61

All these posts mention, or reference, a potential for a bad or dirty pot on the stick which; could be the problem.

@Icarus-50 have you checked the stick in the hardware monitor?

Thank you Ty Pilot. No, I have not checked the sticks in the hardware monitor because: the drone moves in all other directions, even down, at higher than 20 feet perfectly; and, I just got it back from the repair shop that had said they were going to test fly it (may be they did not do it?). Still, I re-read all the 3 posts that you mention and will check and will clean.

 

[Icarus-50]

I agree with Ty Pilot lets look into what was suggested, lets eliminate one thing at a time.
If you have to, write this on a list of things to check off.

Like yourself we want to help you, but you have to help us by what has been recommended. Process of elimination.
Sometimes 3 minutes can seem like 5 minutes. Do you have a stop watch that you can exactly time the Sat connections to the ST16 and then to the H?

Thank you AH-1G. Yes, I do have a stop watch and will time it. Tomorrow is a sunny day and I plan to do it in am.

 

[AH-1G]

Good, lets take off in Angle mode this time up to 10 feet and hover.

 

[AH-1G]

Will there be someone with you, if so, can you record a video using your cell phone?

 

[Icarus-50]

Thank you AH-1G. Yes, I do have a stop watch and will time it. Tomorrow is a sunny day and I plan to do it in am.

My 20+ mins is based on my watch, not estimates and I had my son helping me as well.

 

[Icarus-50]

Good, lets take off in Angle mode this time up to 10 feet and hover.

Sounds good; that's what I'll do tomorrow am! Thank you guys very much, I appreciate your help and ideas. I want to continue to enjoy flying the drone and remain as confident and excited as I was when it flew flawlessly. Two weeks ago I got back from an island off Venice, Italy, where I took some nice aerials. The best part was that nobody bothered me, nobody came up to ask ask questions, etc. I'll post a video. I like architecture and the video shows the Art Nouveau style buildings, etc.

 

[Icarus-50]

Will there be someone with you, if so, can you record a video using your cell phone?

Tomorrow I will have to be alone; my son is out of town. May be I can set up my phone on a tripod; but do you really want to watch 20 minutes of no activity?? Of course I can edit it.

 

[PatR]

Leaving the landing issue out of the equation, the type of reference to a negative altitude value suggests there’s a need to understand how and why altimeters work, along with the sensory inputs by which they determine elevation.

Also to consider is the relative cost and complexity involved with multirotor altimeters. We should understand certified aviation grade altimeters start in price in the several thousand dollar range. That’s before they get installed in an aircraft.