Drones Archives

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August 14, 2020September 27, 2024

DJI Fix

Gimbal Issues

Gimbal Motor Replaced, DJI Fix in for now

Lab Work – DJI Fix

Back To The Field FIXED. After 25+ days

I received some good news today, and even better news is that I got my DJI Phantom 4 ProV2 back from the repair shop. After waiting for roughly 30 days, it’s finally time to fly! The shipping and return process was a hassle, but I leave that for another post. Today, I finally received the PH4 in the mail, so it’s time to fly. I now have the package in my possession and am working on unboxing the drone as the excitement builds. Let’s see if the drone gimbal is ready for flight.

Gimbal Issue Resolution

Does the drone fix meet your expectations? This is the follow up article on the DJI Gimbal Issues. Sounds like the gimbal assembly was replaced, not sure about the camera or if the assembly is self contained, one unit; meaning the camera, gimbal and housing are all considered one replaceable unit. How long would it take to get the drone fixed? ~30 days. ReviewDJI P4ProV2 specs, make sure its your drone and in working condition.

At the airfield we pushed the drone hard, making sure the motors were good to go, a number of gimbal checks, gimbal, motors and lens filter changes. We can wrap up with a positive day at the airfield, nothing of significance to report. Just photos and videos to clean up, and clean out.

Update to come, will include video of the airfield, highlight different maneuvers and views. Or just check the above post…

Now that we have your attention, let’s delve into the DJI Phantom 4, gimbal issues, flight testing at the airfield, video and photography capabilities, and more. The same for our other drones, learn-to-fly drones, racing drones as well as maintenance and tips and hacks to ensure these drones stay airborne.

July 19, 2020September 27, 2024

DJI Gimbal

DJI Gimbal Issues

DJI Blunders, Days Wasted Away

Lab Work – DJI Issues

Diagnosis: bleak… The DJI camera gimbal is inoperable, with the 45° gimbal tilt consistently shifting to the right of center a known issue straight from the factory…

DJI Gimbal: Alignment issues are present from the start. The gimbal is off-centered, indicating potential trouble with the camera and motor. This is a repost from Twitter prior to X, where I wanted to share a message that detailed a 24+ day duration from workshop-to-DJI process and back.

PH4 Gimbal Issues

Power Down

Repack Repair

Next, please keep in mind that ‘repair days’ are counted by the number of days the device is in repair. ‘days in repair’. Additionally, it is important to note down time includes DJI facility time – pre, post shipment and travel time. Whether it is in the US (possibly CA) or abroad (** the total # of repair days do not include ‘in transit’ days… times are not presented online in the DJI UI – status tracker **). Just be aware, times aren’t always accurate. If you prepare for this inaccuracy, or system latency, you’ll be better off with some of the repair ambiguity. This information may come as a disappointment, but it is good to be aware of it now. From a customer’s perspective, this experience was a nightmare.

Just to clarify, ‘Hey, we don’t count the time it takes for the device to travel to and from the customer and DJI, we apologize for any confusion. It is safe to assume that most of us, myself included, do not have a spare Phantom 4 ProV2 just sitting around. Perhaps the issue is related to a defective gimbal or defective gimbal motor(S). In this case, a brand new drone was sent back to DJI for repair. Let’s bring this nightmare to a close and conclude the DJI Gimbal matter, as I would prefer not to encounter any issues straight from the factory. That said, let’s cut to the chase, here is a quick peek at the DJI Fix article some 30 days later.

Other Robot and Drone Repairs

Although this drone is under warranty or we may be ‘under-the-hood’ trying to fix this problem ourselves. That said, learn more about drone and robot repair? Read our series on the Maytronic Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus – Dolphin Down, in need of repair, under repair and Dolphin On, robot back to work in the water. Down time is money being spent, work not being done and more importantly, reducing your Return-On-Investment (ROI) – money paid to purchase a robot to do said work, compared to the manual labor to keep the pool clean. I’d say this has huge potential for those pool owners looking for a little more in-the-pool time versus pool care and maintenance time. How about Apple repairs, M1 Chip repair, or MBP Batter Swap

Finally, as usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?

April 11, 2020September 27, 2024

EMAX TH2

TinyHawk 2

Night Flight – EMAX TH2 Unboxing & Test Flight

Lab Work – TH2 Test Flight

We Unbox The EMAX TH2

Pulling this for the ‘heap of old’ posts or archival posts if you will. While going through decommissioned social media posts, I thought I would share this gem. Here is the unboxing EMAX Tiny Hawk 2 from early ’20.

TH2 Unboxing

Night Flight

TH2

EMAX TH2

The EMAX Tinyhawk 2, FPV kit is a great choice for hobbyists or first-time pilot. The kit includes a drone, First-Person Video (FPV) goggles, blades, batteries, chargers, remote and a quick start guide. Charge up your batteries and take flight! I currently have four of these kits in rotation. This was the first EMAX kit personalized, and I highly recommend it. The TinyHawk series of drones is perfect for indoor flight, novice pilots and learning to fly through FPV (first- person view). Two thumbs up.

You can find the latest EMAX TinyHawk drone kit, specs, and build config here. These kits are considered RTF or ready-to-fly out of package, with little to no configuration required to fly. The current iteration is priced at ($289), but pricing may fluctuate. You may also find the kit or parts elsewhere at GetFPV. Get an EMAX TH2 today and feel free to leave a comment below to let us know what you’re thinking!

February 9, 2020September 27, 2024

PH4ProV2 Drone Shots

Venice Airfield In Flight Photos

Views, Shots and Maneuvers – PH4ProV2 Drone Shots

Lab Work – Drone Photos And Videos

Drone Shots

PH4ProV2 Drone Shots, New Drone, new gear, ‘ENGAGE’ (Cap. Jean-Luc Picard)…

The reference is to engage or go, as stated by the captain of the ship in this case, the pilot in command. It’s okay if you’ve skipped Star Trek, or don’t understand the reference. No time lost per se.

I was flying a DJI Phantom 4ProV2, and wanted to share a few shots of the airfield. The club airfield (Venice Flyers) is located in Venice, Florida. I’ve added the PH4Pro Downloads and firmware links for archival purposes and in case of an emergency. Once again, that’s the Venice Flyers Airfield in Venice, Florida. Check out the club if you’re interested in the hobby of flying RC or quadcopter (drones).

For the purpose of the pictures, the goal was to put the drone through it’s paces, learning our flight area, boundaries and line of sight high’s and low’s… Here we had a chance to capture a few snaps of the airfield parking, airfield, flying space and more. Ideally, I want to share drone specs, photo and video quality and limitations. The PH4 Pro has a high quality video camera, can produce wonderful inflight and still shots, come-to shots, fast paced fly-to and follow shots. In my opinion, it’s one of the easiest to fly, learn and best video capture frames/speed sub $4K. The drone model and upgrades are a few years old now, with great video and photo quality. Enjoy PH4ProV2 Drone Shots.

Aerial Shots

Air Strip

75% View

In Flight

Test Flight

Air Strip Above

PH4 Overhead

As usual, please leave a comment below and let us know what you’re thinking!