We're all wondering the same. We don't even know if anyone at Yuneec has been assigned to the H to review problems/fixes/updates. Once the Q500 reached the point of stable firmware it was laid to rest.
I would be happy with stable lol. I don't think we will see any more updates though. They are now have to deal with customers that spent 3 times the price. Having the same old issues. Sad
i think that unless to change there focus a little more on satisfying existing customers
and supporting there existing products they will soon find there company in a position
of not having new customers therefore not making the money to stay aloft .
word of mouth goes a long way . and only support a product for 1 year that people put several thousand dollars
in is a sure way to get bad word of mouth .
they need to step up there game .!
just my 2cents . everyone to there own .
and supporting there existing products they will soon find there company in a position
of not having new customers therefore not making the money to stay aloft .
word of mouth goes a long way . and only support a product for 1 year that people put several thousand dollars
in is a sure way to get bad word of mouth .
they need to step up there game .!
just my 2cents . everyone to there own .
I recall talk late in 2016 that new firmware with new features like waypoints would be out early in 2017. 
rdonson
Premium Pilot
Just curious.... what new features or remedies were people expecting in the next (?) firmware update?
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
I'm still waiting for a fix to the issue with EU H480s disconnecting the camera when you raise the landing gear. It doesn't happen every time for me but when it does happen I have to reset the camera settings (white balance etc.). I can go through all the rigmarole of setting it using a card in front of the camera then having it all go out of the window when I raise the landing gear. Very annoying, and a bit embarrassing if it happens in front of a client.
I've been happy with my H but for this issue.
rdonson
Premium Pilot
I learned a valuable lesson with the H 480. Wait a year and some firmware updates before purchasing a new drone.
I really enjoy the H but the hassle of firmware that didn’t install as expected wasn’t fun.
I am encouraged that Yuneec is putting better cameras and lenses on the 520. That said, DJI trumped them with their recent announcement of lenses and camera. I know that they’re at two different price points and markets but it’s encouraging to see the attention to video.
I really enjoy the H but the hassle of firmware that didn’t install as expected wasn’t fun.
I am encouraged that Yuneec is putting better cameras and lenses on the 520. That said, DJI trumped them with their recent announcement of lenses and camera. I know that they’re at two different price points and markets but it’s encouraging to see the attention to video.
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Yes...I've learned the hard way also several times. I do not buy 1st generation or 1st release products. The 1st generation of anything is usually a test version to the public to see how it performs and to get their attention. It may have so many bugs and issues that they stop making it or they redesign it and release a new model...
FlushVision
Premium Pilot
Apart from the H480, all the UAVs I've owned were bought some time after the initial release...usually the better part of a year after they first came onto the market. The H480 was an exemption (ordered on a pre-order) since I identified a use for it in my business and I was looking at retiring a rather elderly, and much repaired P2V that I used mainly for still photography.
I won't do that again. I think I was lucky with the H480 I received...no significant problems apart from the camera disconnect issue. Now we come to the H520. I can see that one of those is a 'gotta have' for my business but it'll be next spring before I have one. Two reasons: Not to be a guinea pig for Yuneec and secondly that I expect that commercial jobs during the winter months will become few and far between until March or April next year (if the previous year is anything to go by).
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Yuneec has (in my opinion) adopted the belief that the typhoon H 480 does not exist.
I just got a couple of responses from Yuneec USCS about an issue I experienced. My inquiry was a couple of months old. The rep apologized for the delay saying that they had experienced an email problem. He asked if I still needed help with the issue. I listed a few outstanding questions which he answered within 24 hours. Not bad.
As noted by previous respondents Yuneec has stopped supporting Typhoon H firmware upgrades they just continue to sell parts - for now anyway, after a while probably not even parts.
Their thinking apparently goes something like this;
Why fix the ST16 time, video recording, etc. issues on the Typhoon H?
We don't make any more money off upgrading the firmware and by not upgrading the firmware we might force some Typhoon H owners into buying our much more expensive drones due to the frustrations with the Typhoon H unfixed problems.
...of course this does require that those Typhoon H owners be well on the stupid side, but then that's probably a large percentage of us since we did buy the Typhoon H to start with instead of a properly supported DJI product.
Their thinking apparently goes something like this;
Why fix the ST16 time, video recording, etc. issues on the Typhoon H?
We don't make any more money off upgrading the firmware and by not upgrading the firmware we might force some Typhoon H owners into buying our much more expensive drones due to the frustrations with the Typhoon H unfixed problems.
...of course this does require that those Typhoon H owners be well on the stupid side, but then that's probably a large percentage of us since we did buy the Typhoon H to start with instead of a properly supported DJI product.
PatR
Premium Pilot
All of the firmware updates that were hinted at are still out there. It's just going to cost you two thousand plus. Just cough up the bucks and buy the H520 and your good to go.
I was thinking along similar lines. For the about the same money as a 520 with an E-90 I bought a new 920+ with a better camera (triple zoom, RAW, etc) and a great hand held gimbal. I can even use ALL the other CGO cameras with it. Even nicer, they've had a couple years to work the bugs out. I don't get Data Pilot though. Oh well...
On a different tack, it appears there's at least two people in this thread actively pimping DJI left handedly. Looks like the DJI people have found a new angle to play off of.
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FlushVision
Premium Pilot
I agree.
I think it's fair to say that Yuneec has had their hands full getting the H520 to the marketplace so it is entirely possible that the H480 has had to go on the back burner for a while. That would account for the length of time since the last firmware update. But they are still selling the H480 it being currently their mainstay consumer UAS not aimed directly at the commercial user. So, I think, until Yuneec brings to the market a replacement to the H480 (the H520 is aimed at a different market), they would be fools not to support it. Just my humble opinion.
That said, I'm running the firmware released in November 2016. I never bothered with the latest firmware since I saw little to be gained with the latest release. Yes, my H is limited to the 120m height restriction which I believe was addressed with the later update but since I also use my H for commercial purposes, and since the CAA restricts uas' heights to 400 ft when used commercially (standard PfCO), then I'm not looking to remove that 120m restriction.
The main thing I would like to see in any new firmware update, if one is produced, is a fix for the issue with EU H's sometimes dropping the video feed when the landing gear retracts. Fix that and I'll be happy.
PatR
Premium Pilot
Did I? Perhaps provided an appearance of supporting it but certainly didn't rest it. My reasoning is below. Long, but comprehensive.
I was following the 520 pretty closely and was considering buying one. My 480's work just fine but there are some things I need to do better that I don't believe the 480 will ever be capable of, regardless of soft or firmware updates. I also decided I didn't want something that looked like the great pumpkin used in my business, where some operations don't want attention drawn to the aircraft. I've known for some time I needed something with more capabilities than the H-480, was thinking the 520 might fulfill the needs, but found the pricing higher than I thought it should be for what it provided. A couple of early incident reports had some influence as well. Recognizing the "consumer drone" market is well saturated and that further development of "cheap" products in that area is not likely to bring with it any new, ground breaking concepts and features I began looking around at options.
An Inspire-2 would provide the functionality I need but at $6200.00 with an X5 it's more than I wanted to spend and more importantly, it comes with all the DJI "baggage" that rides with all their products. I have an aversion to having my tool supplier telling me how, when, and where I can use my tools, securing a copy of anything I do for whatever purposes they have for that info, and a system screen that gets buried in warning messages. Coming from a very security conscious field I have an aversion to Apps. Every one of them provides external access to your operating system. People can run to DJI and their "total control" policies if they want, and deal with worse customer service than Yuneec if they want, but I won't be one of them-ever. Great hardware for the most part, but at a price that's far more than monetary.
Another option that makes more sense than either DJI or Yuneec products was, and still is, a custom build inclusive of a few specialized payloads that could swap in and out of the system. Another was and is products from two other little talked about manufacturers/suppliers. All of those choices would put a new system in a very expensive price range, well above Matrice level. I would have full control and ownership of the systems but I don't want to spend between $20,000.00 and $70,000.00. I could spend a little time adapting a couple of my other Pixhawk based systems to accept new gimbals and payloads but being quite busy despite retiring from my corporate job, and being a little on the lazy side, I decided the time, labor, and expense (upwards of $3,000.00 for upgrades) of doing so was not how I want to go right now. I can do that later if desired.
As the price of a 920+ has dropped significantly I took another look at it. I seriously doubt will ever see another firmware upgrade because Yuneec's focus is one their 520, but I don't need it to do more than it already can. They could revisit their plans for their commercial/enterprise operations and continue to build on the 920 but they are Chinese and once a Chinese company establishes a course they don't usually deviate. They are very predictable in that regard. The 920 has a 1" sensor, 16mpxl camera based on the Panasonic Lumix GH-4, a bit lower in resolution than the E-90 but more than the CGO-3 cameras. It has a triple zoom, and because of that will provide better close up stills than the E-90 can from the same distance. Images that don't need to be cropped to enlarge them retain their original resolution
It does not generate a curved horizon. It does not log geo positions in the EXIF data but that's not much of an issue as it can use any of the CGO-3 cameras, which returns geo reference in the EXIF data. Having three CGO-3 cameras I can install a Peau 8mm lens on which upgrades the image to equal that of the E-50. The ST-16 employed by the 920 was altered and has map and waypoint functionality and also employs all the other flight profiles included with the H-480. The CGO-4 camera has a vast range of user adjustment while providing outstanding 4k imagery and shoots in true RAW if desired. The 920 can also be fitted with a Sony A7 and with a little work some others. It's plenty large enough to add a custom FPV cam for the pilot. If you know where to look an FPV mount is already available. The 920 is brutally stable in high winds and has no NFZ's. AT $4500.00 for a complete system that includes a very nice hand held gimbal, hard cases for everything, a mounting adapter for CGO-3 cameras, a better battery charger and a couple extra sets of batteries, batteries that use standard connectors, it's only ~$150.00 more than a 520/E-90 package with three batteries. Makes too much sense for me.On a side note, unlike others that seem to have problems with every H-480 firmware update, all mine have functioned perfectly so when the next one comes along, and it will come along, I'll review it and decided if it adds anything I need or want and upload or not accordingly. I have no doubt the 480 will continue to be progressively upgraded, it's in Yuneec's best interest to do so. Although it's a bit too complex for new users, at its price point it's a tool that will act as an entry level leader to their commercial products. People have already demonstrated they will buy something they are not qualified to fly and I doubt that will change any time soon, so the H-480 will continue be supported until Yuneec comes up with something cheaper. I'll keep flying my H's but they are a small aircraft and will always be limited in being small. Personally, I don't and never expected the H-480, or anything else, to be all things for all people.
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I like trying goofy and unconventional stuff.
Last month I bought one of these to test:
Aperture Hexacopter Aerial Photography Drone (RTF) (Mode 2)
As expected, there were problems right away. The radio was junk so I couldn't fly it more than ~100 ft before the radio failsafe kicked in. It was not very stable as the motors were no doubt elcheapo, but it was still pretty neat.
I installed the latest Arducopter fw, but could not perform auto tune because of the radio problem and could not assign a switch for it. It accepts up to 16k mah 6s battery.
The real reason I wanted it was to see how the frame was constructed. I want a hexa that is water proof. Two years in a row I went to the Michigan Mud Jam and got rained out, although was able to get some decent video.
Well, this Aperture is water proof (well, at least for rain). However, for $562 one can't expect the greatest quality components. I ended up sending it back for a refund.
Long story short, the bare frame for this behemoth can be bought for under $400. It's actually quite a strong frame, and although plastic, it is stiff. The flight logs indicated the vibration was surprisingly good, so that's a big positive. The landing gear mounts would need replacing, but other than that I'm tempted to buy it for a winter project and install high quality internals. The downside is the motors required are huge, which means $$$.
I seriously looked at the 520, but can't justify the price. I don't believe the frame/hardware quality is that much better than the 480. Yuneec would have to itemize why the 520 is so much more. The software would have to be as robust as Mission Planner, such as having the ability to continue missions when a failsafe is triggered, or ability to customize parameters. It would also be persuasive if 3rd party software could be used such as UgCS. The camera system has always been my nemesis when going the DIY route. I still think it may be possible to use a Yuneec gimbal/camera system on a Pixhawk drone.
Last month I bought one of these to test:
Aperture Hexacopter Aerial Photography Drone (RTF) (Mode 2)
As expected, there were problems right away. The radio was junk so I couldn't fly it more than ~100 ft before the radio failsafe kicked in. It was not very stable as the motors were no doubt elcheapo, but it was still pretty neat.
I installed the latest Arducopter fw, but could not perform auto tune because of the radio problem and could not assign a switch for it. It accepts up to 16k mah 6s battery.
The real reason I wanted it was to see how the frame was constructed. I want a hexa that is water proof. Two years in a row I went to the Michigan Mud Jam and got rained out, although was able to get some decent video.
Well, this Aperture is water proof (well, at least for rain). However, for $562 one can't expect the greatest quality components. I ended up sending it back for a refund.
Long story short, the bare frame for this behemoth can be bought for under $400. It's actually quite a strong frame, and although plastic, it is stiff. The flight logs indicated the vibration was surprisingly good, so that's a big positive. The landing gear mounts would need replacing, but other than that I'm tempted to buy it for a winter project and install high quality internals. The downside is the motors required are huge, which means $$$.
I seriously looked at the 520, but can't justify the price. I don't believe the frame/hardware quality is that much better than the 480. Yuneec would have to itemize why the 520 is so much more. The software would have to be as robust as Mission Planner, such as having the ability to continue missions when a failsafe is triggered, or ability to customize parameters. It would also be persuasive if 3rd party software could be used such as UgCS. The camera system has always been my nemesis when going the DIY route. I still think it may be possible to use a Yuneec gimbal/camera system on a Pixhawk drone.
PatR
Premium Pilot
