What does rapid beeping and lights flashing on startup mean?

[Phil Vanderloo]

About every 5th time I use my H I turn on the controller, then the drone, and the drone immediately begins a rapid beeping and flashing lights. No message on the controller. Everything else seems normal.
Now this is the part I should be embarrassed about. You'd think I'd learn after the first time, but every time I take off when this happens, my drone drifts sideways or forward. And when I try to correct it, it gets faster.
Once the drone flew away and I never saw it again. Luckily Yuneec replaced it. But a few times since this has re-occurred and a couple times I crashed it to get it not to fly away. So my dumb *** is done taking off when this happens but what does this beeping mean?

 

[KEITH KUHN]

About every 5th time I use my H I turn on the controller, then the drone, and the drone immediately begins a rapid beeping and flashing lights. No message on the controller. Everything else seems normal.
Now this is the part I should be embarrassed about. You'd think I'd learn after the first time, but every time I take off when this happens, my drone drifts sideways or forward. And when I try to correct it, it gets faster.
Once the drone flew away and I never saw it again. Luckily Yuneec replaced it. But a few times since this has re-occurred and a couple times I crashed it to get it not to fly away. So my dumb *** is done taking off when this happens but what does this beeping mean?

Sounds like your right
Joystick is not centering

 

[WTFDproject]

the drone immediately begins a rapid beeping and flashing lights.
..every time I take off when this happens, my drone drifts sideways or forward. And when I try to correct it, it gets faster.

Are you certain it is the drone that is beeping, and not the controller? Much of what you describe is caused by the Right Stick being "off-center" due to a build up of corrosion on the stick pots. Including the most common "rapid beeping" code I am aware of, and that beeping comes from the controller, not the drone [ Edit - That is an incorrect statement.]
The next time it happens, take a look at Hardware Monitor to see if the two scales (J3 and J4) associated with the right stick are showing off-center, or otherwise do not match the appearance or performance of the other sticks. A vigorous stirring of the stick often provides at least a temporary resolution to the issue.
Lots of threads on the forum go deeper into the options available to remedy the issue if it returns.

If the beeping is NOT from the controller, please describe the color of the LEDs, and try to estimate how how many beeps per second.

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

I guess I'm unable to attach a short video but it's definitely the drone that's beeping. The rear light is purple for about 4 seconds the blinks white for 1 second and keeps cycling that way. Your description of the problem sounds right though. Because every time I take off when it's doing this it drifts.

 

[KEITH KUHN]

I guess I'm unable to attach a short video but it's definitely the drone that's beeping. The rear light is purple for about 4 seconds the blinks white for 1 second and keeps cycling that way. Your description of the problem sounds right though. Because every time I take off when it's doing this it drifts.

Get the contact cleaner and spray your
Potentiometer .
YouTube it.

 

[WTFDproject]

I guess I'm unable to attach a short video but it's definitely the drone that's beeping. The rear light is purple for about 4 seconds the blinks white for 1 second and keeps cycling that way. Your description of the problem sounds right though. Because every time I take off when it's doing this it drifts.

"I guess I'm unable to attach a short video" but it's definitely the drone that's beeping."
Yeah, you can't post a video directly to the Forum. You have to post it somewhere like YouTube, then post a link to it on the Forum.

"but it's definitely the drone that's beeping."
Wow. Call it senility or just bad hearing, but I was wrong. Given your re-enforcement that it was the drone beeping, I powered up a Typhoon H to check. And yup. Controller is not making a sound . It's the drone doing the beeping when the stick is off-center. I stand corrected. Thanks.

"The rear light is purple for about 4 seconds the blinks white for 1 second and keeps cycling that way."
That is normal. The purple means you have enough GPS for normal flight. The white means you have enough additional GPS to support advanced modes such as "Watch me" and "Follow me". Even if you've never used those modes.

Did you check the hardware monitor? If it's not beeping at the moment, it would still be a good check to look for slow or incomplete stick response.

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

Well I Youtubed the potentiometer cleaning and checked the hardware monitor and it's all looking good.
I flippped the sticks around a bit figuring this seems like the logical issue, (joy sticks off center or sticking). Didn't take apart and clean or check anything yet. But now when I turn it on, all is well.
But this never has been a continuous issue. Only Sporadic.
I just know now not to take off when this happens.
But I did go out to a site this morning and try again to fly and it was beeping rapidly again so I didn't take off.
But now, as I said, at home turning it on the problem is gone.

 

[WTFDproject]

The ability to take off when it is beeping puzzles me. The beeping should prevent motor start when it is actually beeping. Does the beeping come and go, allowing motor starts during periods of silence?
I wonder if the ability to start motors is trying to tell us something else is wrong.

And there should be NO beeping once the motors are running, regardless of right stick position.

 

[WTFDproject]

Should have asked this earlier. With TH bound and motors OFF, intentionally move the right stick. It will create a rapid beeping sound. Is that the same beeping you are hearing?

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

WTFDproject Yes it is the same noise.

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

The ability to take off when it is beeping puzzles me. The beeping should prevent motor start when it is actually beeping. Does the beeping come and go, allowing motor starts during periods of silence?
I wonder if the ability to start motors is trying to tell us something else is wrong.

And there should be NO beeping once the motors are running, regardless of right stick position.

No it doesn't come and go. It is continuous. But the motor will start while beeping.

 

[WTFDproject]

WTFDproject Yes it is the same noise.

The normal solutions of "Rapid Stirring" of the sticks and cleaning the pots may help. It may require replacing the Stick assembly, which is not too expensive, and does not required any soldering. But see below.

No it doesn't come and go. It is continuous. But the motor will start while beeping.

This bothers me. I hope @Steve Carr, @DoomMeister, or others will chime in. I verified one ST16 and one TH will NOT allow motors to start with the beeping in progress. Your observation may just mean there are variations I am not aware of. However, it could also mean something else is going on. Possibly a loose connector, possibly a firmware issue. [Edit: See next post.]

Please do one more quick check of the stick. There is a hidden feature on the ST16 that is sometimes more revealing than Hardware Monitor. It does not have an official name, so I call it the "Final Output Monitor". It essentially reveals what is actually going to the controller, not just the raw stick input shown by hardware monitor. The TH does NOT have to be on for this test.
1.) Rapid tap the Battery voltage icon on the ST16 two times. (or four, or six, etc. It only opens on EVEN numbers of rapid taps)
2.) A display will appear.
3.) Ensure the "Rabbit/Turtle" slider is on full "Rabbit".
4.) Verify CH02 and CH03 scales are reading exactly "000%" at the top of the respective scale.
5.) Move the right stick around, including full travel up/down/left/right.
6.) When moving the right stick left/right, ensure the CH02 scale moves smoothly, reaches near 100% on each end of the scale, and NOTHING ELSE moves with it.
7.) When moving the right stick up/down, ensure the CH03 scale moves smoothly, reaches near 100% on each end of the scale, and NOTHING ELSE moves with it.

Note: The above is a quick check. There is more information in Attachment 34 ( ST16 Signal Processing Overview) of Way To Fix Drones project if you are interested in what goes on behind the screen.

 

[WTFDproject]

Sheesh. Seems to be my day for learning new wrinkles.
I did another experiment. On the SAME TH and ST16. I copied the original model to a new Model. Bound the TH to the new model. And tried the "Start while beeping" again. This time, the motors started almost every time. I tried it with each stick off center. Tried it with just barely off center, tried it with each stick way off center, and the motors started. Only one failure out of about 10 tries.

This leads me back to thinking this is just a control stick issue we need to resolve.

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

Sheesh. Seems to be my day for learning new wrinkles.
I did another experiment. On the SAME TH and ST16. I copied the original model to a new Model. Bound the TH to the new model. And tried the "Start while beeping" again. This time, the motors started almost every time. I tried it with each stick off center. Tried it with just barely off center, tried it with each stick way off center, and the motors started. Only one failure out of about 10 tries.

This leads me back to thinking this is just a control stick issue we need to resolve.

I think so too.
After shaking the sticks around and letting them spring back into place, everything seems fine for now. No telling when/if it will happen again But I'm going to do your Final Output monitor test now. I really appreciate all of your help.
Thanks

 

[KEITH KUHN]

"I guess I'm unable to attach a short video" but it's definitely the drone that's beeping."
Yeah, you can't post a video directly to the Forum. You have to post it somewhere like YouTube, then post a link to it on the Forum.

"but it's definitely the drone that's beeping."
Wow. Call it senility or just bad hearing, but I was wrong. Given your re-enforcement that it was the drone beeping, I powered up a Typhoon H to check. And yup. Controller is not making a sound . It's the drone doing the beeping when the stick is off-center. I stand corrected. Thanks.

"The rear light is purple for about 4 seconds the blinks white for 1 second and keeps cycling that way."
That is normal. The purple means you have enough GPS for normal flight. The white means you have enough additional GPS to support advanced modes such as "Watch me" and "Follow me". Even if you've never used those modes.

Did you check the hardware monitor? If it's not beeping at the moment, it would still be a good check to look for slow or incomplete stick response.

I have a video on the
Beeping your describing
on YouTube.
Type in
KK motion Pictures
Jim 1

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

I just went back in the hardware monitor and noticed that J4 is a little off center. Maybe I do need to disassemble and clean the potentiometer. Would you recommend contact cleaner or just blowing air on them and checking all the connections?

The normal solutions of "Rapid Stirring" of the sticks and cleaning the pots may help. It may require replacing the Stick assembly, which is not too expensive, and does not required any soldering. But see below.


This bothers me. I hope @Steve Carr, @DoomMeister, or others will chime in. I verified one ST16 and one TH will NOT allow motors to start with the beeping in progress. Your observation may just mean there are variations I am not aware of. However, it could also mean something else is going on. Possibly a loose connector, possibly a firmware issue. [Edit: See next post.]

Please do one more quick check of the stick. There is a hidden feature on the ST16 that is sometimes more revealing than Hardware Monitor. It does not have an official name, so I call it the "Final Output Monitor". It essentially reveals what is actually going to the controller, not just the raw stick input shown by hardware monitor. The TH does NOT have to be on for this test.
1.) Rapid tap the Battery voltage icon on the ST16 two times. (or four, or six, etc. It only opens on EVEN numbers of rapid taps)
2.) A display will appear.
3.) Ensure the "Rabbit/Turtle" slider is on full "Rabbit".
4.) Verify CH02 and CH03 scales are reading exactly "000%" at the top of the respective scale.
5.) Move the right stick around, including full travel up/down/left/right.
6.) When moving the right stick left/right, ensure the CH02 scale moves smoothly, reaches near 100% on each end of the scale, and NOTHING ELSE moves with it.
7.) When moving the right stick up/down, ensure the CH03 scale moves smoothly, reaches near 100% on each end of the scale, and NOTHING ELSE moves with it.

Note: The above is a quick check. There is more information in Attachment 34 ( ST16 Signal Processing Overview) of Way To Fix Drones project if you are interested in what goes on behind the screen.

Well, if this above test is any indication, my stick is really screwed up. Neither channel is at 000%. When I go up on channel 3, channel 2 moves. Channel 3 doesn't go anywhere near 100% on either end. Goes about 40% and -40%. None of the channels really go to 100%. but some go 97% and -97%. when untouched, the only one at 000% is channel 4. And now the beeping is constant.
So, I just ordered 2 new batteries which I think I will now cancel the order. I've had so many issues with this drone I'm tired of the headaches. But just so I know going forward, what would the fix for this be?
Thank You

 

[WTFDproject]

When I go up on channel 3, channel 2 moves. Channel 3 doesn't go anywhere near 100% on either end. Goes about 40% and -40%. None of the channels really go to 100%. but some go 97% and -97%. when untouched, the only one at 000% is channel 4.
just so I know going forward, what would the fix for this be?
Thank You

That discovery may be a big clue. It sounds like someone went into the "Channel Settings" menu. It sounds like channel 2 is "mixed" with channel 3. Lots of the other stuff you describe could either be bad pots or mistakes made in Channel Settings. But the relatively clean report from Hardware Monitor suggests these are Channel Calibrations issues.

Most controllers can be cleared easily by going into "Model Select". Delete the existing Model, Create a new model. Bind the drone to the new model, then rerun the same two checks (Hardware Monitor and "Final Output").

 

[Phil Vanderloo]

It wouldn't let me delete the existing model but I created a new one and bound the 2 and ran the tests and it's actually worse than before.

 

[WTFDproject]

That puts us back to bad pots. It does not clear the issue of two channels moving from one stick, but we are getting into an area we will have to focus on one issue at a time.
J4 being off center in hardware Monitor is almost certainly a "Bad Pot" issue. That one will benefit from either using contact cleaner on it, or securing a loose pot.
This is a great video for how to spray some contact cleaner on the pots without disassembling. It might be best to at least try this before securing the pots:
"

"

 

[WTFDproject]

This video sort of shows the loose pot out near the end of the video. This guy secured it by jamming in a piece of "tile". A drop of hot glue works for me. (I can't help but notice he has an issue with J4, same as yours)