Yuneec's Typhoon H support is dead

[rdonson]

Like you I came to computing a long time ago. My first experiences being with an analog computer. IBM mainframes in college in the late 60's, etc. etc. etc. Homebrew computers until the first IBM PC then a lot of Windows machines from various manufacturers. These days I'm on a late 2017 Mac on the desktop with a quad core i7 processor, 40 GB RAM, SSD, a powerful video card with 8GB VRAM and a redundant storage array that can hold up to 64TB of data.

We don't program in the old school programming ways because it would take too long to create software like Final Cut Pro X, DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, etc. and it would be more fragile code that would be a nightmare to update and maintain. Yes, I used to program to the "metal" in machine code, assembler then a whole series of now dead languages. It was more efficient use of RAM and processors but that came at a steep price. I remember looking at a mainframe app with a million lines of code and it was spaghetti unless the programmer meticulously commented in their code.

Today's layers of abstraction and modern programming languages enable a much faster development cycle and a more managed software development environment, IMHO. Incredibly powerful multicore, multithreaded processors and RAM are now affordable to most people.

I have no desire to go back to the "good old days".

Ron

 

[PatR]

Back to the thread topic about H support being dead. With the recent advertising in several countries stating the C-23 camera will be backwards compatible with the H it appears there’s still hope for H expansion. Not much hope due to an H Plus release but that camera alone is a pretty big deal.

 

[ThunderChicken]

I can't see why Yuneec would abandon a good working design so I don't believe that support is going to just die off.
That would be like FORD dropping the F series design of their trucks.
Sorry about the drift off of topic.

 

[rdonson]

Yes, the C-23 camera is very appealing unless they want more $$$ for it than I just paid for a TH480.

The C-23 would keep me happy with my two TH480 machines for a few more years.

Cameras aside, it looks like the H+ and H520 improvements and advancements are more than skin deep. 32 bit to 64 bit is a significant change as are a number of the reported hardware updates like new boards, etc.

 

[Richk]

Newer technoligy, if they're going to use the Pixhawk 2.1 flight controller. It would be the ultimate in redundancy, triple IMU, Duel barometers and altimeters and six motors

 

[bb1040]

By now it should be clear to everyone that Yuneec is no longer supporting the Typhoon H with firmware updates.
From messages on this board they are also apparently no longer supporting firmware updates for the 520.

It appears Yuneec's marketing strategy is to sell and support a drone model for a year or two, then stop supporting it in the hope that the mark (the customer) will buy a later model at an exorbitant markup.

When this becomes widely known by potential buyers, no one will be buying Yuneec drones and owners of yuneec drones will find there's no buyers to take then off their hands.

I have a Q500 4K, have been flying it for two years now, and have never updated the firmware ., I see no reason to up date when it is still working just fine and flies great, doing everything I want it to do, and there is always the chance that the new firmware will screw everything up.....

 

[Dobba]

I have spoken to the guys at Yuneec uk and they have stated that the 520 is to continue receiving updates as it is still their flagship craft and there are at least 2 firmware updates in the pipeline that he is aware of one of which is going to be released in the next couple of weeks.

 

[YuKay]

Imho, they will also want to keep a sub-$1000 12MP H in the range to counter the Evo.

 

[AZSteveB]

OK the H was always the test platform. Even in it's final firmware there are still things that need attention. Has anyone noticed when a motor is out how the H becomes hard to control or fly? I had a recent incident from quite the distance away, when a prop flew off and the ST16 started sounding the Motor error message, while the ST16 was flashing and displaying the message the video feed stopped responding as I watched the battery deplete, the drone crashed without me ever being able to take control of the craft and land it safely from the distance. Another annoying glitch is with the intellisense complaining OBS error after the 1st low battery warning. So yes the typhoon H was a China experiment to lead to the development of other subsequent models that's my opinion.

The bird does fly great when not inflicted with these annoying errors problems.

 

[FlushVision]

I have a Q500 4K, have been flying it for two years now, and have never updated the firmware ., I see no reason to up date when it is still working just fine and flies great, doing everything I want it to do, and there is always the chance that the new firmware will screw everything up.....

Yes, if your aircraft is doing all that you require of it on older firmware then there is no need to update the firmware.

I had my H480 from new running the original firmware for over 8 months before I finally updated the firmware in February 2017 using the firmware that was released in November 2016. The only reason why I updated the firmware was that I was experiencing overly long connection times for the camera...waiting over half a hour just got too much. If it were not for that I would probably be still on the original firmware now.

BTW, the firmware update fixed my problem nicely.

 

[FlushVision]

OK the H was always the test platform. Even in it's final firmware there are still things that need attention. Has anyone noticed when a motor is out how the H becomes hard to control or fly? I had a recent incident from quite the distance away, when a prop flew off and the ST16 started sounding the Motor error message, while the ST16 was flashing and displaying the message the video feed stopped responding as I watched the battery deplete, the drone crashed without me ever being able to take control of the craft and land it safely from the distance. Another annoying glitch is with the intellisense complaining OBS error after the 1st low battery warning. So yes the typhoon H was a China experiment to lead to the development of other subsequent models that's my opinion.

The bird does fly great when not inflicted with these annoying errors problems.

Hmmm. I think there is some truth in what you say about the H being a test platform in that I've often thought that (certainly for early adopters of the H480) we are guinea pigs. And yes, there remains some issues that still remains to be addressed. For example, the tendency in the EU versions for the video feed to drop out when raising the landing gear. Doesn't happen every time, but enough times for it to be quite annoying.

Being able to fly with one motor/prop down was one of the main selling points of the H, and my understanding is that this does work most of the time. But like everything else, there are bound to be exceptions...maybe you were unlucky in this respect.

Regarding you problem about the OBS error after the first low battery warning. On the very few occasions that I have still been in the air at the first warning I've noticed a bit of strange behavior too. One time the aircraft became unresponsive and another time it became a bit unstable and difficult to land. I fixed this easily: I'm never in the air at first warning. I'm always on the ground by 14.4v and more often than not on the ground by 14.5v. Yes, I lose a couple of minutes in the air but the upside is that the batteries aren't stressed and I'm not struggling with it.

 

[Ty Pilot]

OK the H was always the test platform. Even in it's final firmware there are still things that need attention. Has anyone noticed when a motor is out how the H becomes hard to control or fly? I had a recent incident from quite the distance away, when a prop flew off and the ST16 started sounding the Motor error message, while the ST16 was flashing and displaying the message the video feed stopped responding as I watched the battery deplete, the drone crashed without me ever being able to take control of the craft and land it safely from the distance. Another annoying glitch is with the intellisense complaining OBS error after the 1st low battery warning. So yes the typhoon H was a China experiment to lead to the development of other subsequent models that's my opinion.

The bird does fly great when not inflicted with these annoying errors problems.

I seen several videos where the H looses a propeller and enters the five rotor mode - which is truly four rotor mode, and the craft is landed safely. You mention you were "quite the distance away when prop flew off" was the prop in tact and the hub release failed or did the propeller shatter and; was it OEM?

Also the Real Sense uses battery when it is on plus; it adds weight to the aircraft which in turn uses more power thus is a further drain on the battery. Same goes for recording, the camera uses battery - more than you would imagine. My routine is; LED's off before start up (not a lot of drain but they also use power), plan what I want to shoot and only shoot the scenes I want, otherwise camera off and finally, if I am any distance away, camera use is halted well before first battery warning. On the ground before first warning is always the goal.

My only gripe with the H as it is today is some of the software issues as they pertain to how the aircraft responds to stick movement but it is what it is.

 

[RockyAerial]

By now it should be clear to everyone that Yuneec is no longer supporting the Typhoon H with firmware updates.
From messages on this board they are also apparently no longer supporting firmware updates for the 520.

It appears Yuneec's marketing strategy is to sell and support a drone model for a year or two, then stop supporting it in the hope that the mark (the customer) will buy a later model at an exorbitant markup.

When this becomes widely known by potential buyers, no one will be buying Yuneec drones and owners of yuneec drones will find there's no buyers to take then off their hands.

It doesn't suprise me at all. I have had nothing but problems with Yuneec USA CS and the H Pro. I guess when it has been reported that Yuneec was 50 million behind on paying their bills to their suppliers, as of the 2nd quarter of 2017.

 

[rdonson]

Please provide sources for your information otherwise it’s just hearsay.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I have had nothing but problems with Yuneec USA CS and the H Pro.

Yet there are posts from new users at this very minute telling a different story. From another thread on this forum today where a H user needed help with completing a calibration - he said the following in his second post;

"I had also contacted Yuneec and the customer service rep informed me that I have to complete the process in 30 seconds. This is where I went wrong. I was being slow and meticulous of course. I'm pretty sure that with all of this new information, I can get it calibrated. Or at least keep myself busy, off the streets, and out of trouble. Thanks again for the help!"

The original post was made at 12:05 this afternoon and his second post was at 1:26 - just 1 hour and 21 minutes later. I dunno - that sounds like pretty good CS to me.

Here is the thread - Yuneec Customer Support Worked

 

[Tuna]

It doesn't suprise me at all. I have had nothing but problems with Yuneec USA CS and the H Pro. I guess when it has been reported that Yuneec was 50 million behind on paying their bills to their suppliers, as of the 2nd quarter of 2017.

People who post misleading information as their first and only post to the forum are going to be looked on with some suspicion. Yuneec China (NOT Yuneec USA) had some supplier issues earlier in the year. Since then they've appointed a new CEO (Michael Jiang) and it seems that production is running smoothly.

A major US distributor went bust in 2017, owing Yuneec USA a very large sum (tens of millions), which put a lot of pressure on the company. So far it appears that they have weathered the storm and are starting 2018 with a solid line up of products.

 

[PLL]

I politely reject the hyperbolic Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt atmosphere of the original post. No logical explanation or hard fact reason was given for the future-oriented comments therein. Being in communication with Yuneec a few times a week, I believe the original post isn't too important where the future is concerned.

 

[fottip]

I politely reject the hyperbolic Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt atmosphere of the original post. No logical explanation or hard fact reason was given for the future-oriented comments therein. Being in communication with Yuneec a few times a week, I believe the original post isn't too important where the future is concerned.

Y'know what? I'm not getting all excercised over it either. First of all, it's conjecture. Second, current firmware is adequate for full functionality, and if replacement parts become unavailable from the OEM, the aftermarket will do so, given sufficient demand. Lastly, eventually, advances in technology and features will tempt even the most reluctant among us to upgrade to fancier equipment.

 

[gwhuntoon]

Ha, Ha, love your avatar Fottip. Alfred E Neuman reminds me of a girl I once knew.

 

[NorWiscPilot]

Ha, Ha, love your avatar Fottip. Alfred E Neuman reminds me of a girl I once knew.

So sorry to read this, GW!!!