gzsfrk
May 12, 2009, 02:51 AM
Ok, first off, I have a version 3 FlyCamOne2 that I bought from Hobby-Lobby last summer. That being said...
Well, along with many others, the battery in my FCO2 gave out well under a year, and I always gets the situation where the video recording cuts off just a couple of minutes into any given flight. I've heard that the reason it does it while in flight and NOT while it's sitting on my desk is because it's a temperature issue; that is to say, the lipo inside the FCO2 has become weak and much more susceptible to voltage drops induced by cold temperatures, and that as my plane flies higher and higher (even on a mild 60F evening) the colder temps quickly sap any remaining voltage in the battery and the FCO2 shuts down. When testing inside, however, it will record for well over 15 minutes.
But--I thought--not to worry. I've been wanting to get a remote-triggering setup for my FCO2 anyway, and Hobby-Lobby is now offering the official FCO2 accessory cable for only $15. Great! So I order it and after a surprisingly fast turn-around (arrived in only 4 days), I excitedly hook one end of the Rx-Controller cable up to my FCO2 base and the other into channel 5 (Gear switch) and then plug in my plane's lipo. I press the shutter button on my FCO2....
And nothing.
Ok--I thought--maybe I still need to flip on the battery power switch on the FCO2 to power it up. So I flip the battery power switch, then press the shutter button, and it does indeed power up. I press the Mode button to toggle through all the different display modes and get to the battery charge indicator, and it reads "66". What the heck?
Ok--I thought--one last glimmer of hope. Maybe the battery gauge display just shows where the INTERNAL battery's voltage is at, but it's still running off the external battery. Seems conceivable.
So I switch it over to VR (Video Ready) mode and try flipping my gear switch, expecting to see the "Recording Video" animation. But again... NOTHING!! FREAKING NOTHING!!!
Fine, fine... I thought. Sucks that I can't remote trigger. But so long as it doesn't keep powering down 2 minutes into a flight, then it won't be a complete loss. So I get out my little backyard flyer Slow Stick, velcro on the FCO2, attach the cable to the FCO2 and channel 5, turn on the FCO2, set it to Vd (it was dark out, and my SS is outfitted with plenty of LEDs), hit the shutter button, verified that it was recording, set down the plane, and sent her up into the inky black yonder. Flew around for about 7-8 minutes at between 300 and 400 feet, then brought it back to earth. First thing I checked was to see if it was still recording. AND IT WAS NOT. CRAP!
Without expositing too much more, I have tried everything I can think of to troubleshoot and get it working. I downgraded to firmware 3.03, upgraded back to firmware 4.01 (which is buggy as all crap on my FCO2 and does NOTHING to fix that audio/video sync), then downgraded back to 3.03 again and left it there (seems less glitchy). I used a multimeter to check the power going into the base (5V on pin 4, ground on 3). For whatever reason, it just doesn't seem to be feeding either the power OR the signal to toggle the remote trigger.
I've read at least a couple other people on here who have had this same problem, but I've yet to be able to find someone who figured out a resolution to the issue. Can anyone provide any help? Or am I doomed to just order another FCO2 and HOPE that it's one of the newer builds that don't have the decrepit bugginess and QC problems that this first one has?
Thanks in advance!
-Matt
Well, along with many others, the battery in my FCO2 gave out well under a year, and I always gets the situation where the video recording cuts off just a couple of minutes into any given flight. I've heard that the reason it does it while in flight and NOT while it's sitting on my desk is because it's a temperature issue; that is to say, the lipo inside the FCO2 has become weak and much more susceptible to voltage drops induced by cold temperatures, and that as my plane flies higher and higher (even on a mild 60F evening) the colder temps quickly sap any remaining voltage in the battery and the FCO2 shuts down. When testing inside, however, it will record for well over 15 minutes.
But--I thought--not to worry. I've been wanting to get a remote-triggering setup for my FCO2 anyway, and Hobby-Lobby is now offering the official FCO2 accessory cable for only $15. Great! So I order it and after a surprisingly fast turn-around (arrived in only 4 days), I excitedly hook one end of the Rx-Controller cable up to my FCO2 base and the other into channel 5 (Gear switch) and then plug in my plane's lipo. I press the shutter button on my FCO2....
And nothing.
Ok--I thought--maybe I still need to flip on the battery power switch on the FCO2 to power it up. So I flip the battery power switch, then press the shutter button, and it does indeed power up. I press the Mode button to toggle through all the different display modes and get to the battery charge indicator, and it reads "66". What the heck?
Ok--I thought--one last glimmer of hope. Maybe the battery gauge display just shows where the INTERNAL battery's voltage is at, but it's still running off the external battery. Seems conceivable.
So I switch it over to VR (Video Ready) mode and try flipping my gear switch, expecting to see the "Recording Video" animation. But again... NOTHING!! FREAKING NOTHING!!!
Fine, fine... I thought. Sucks that I can't remote trigger. But so long as it doesn't keep powering down 2 minutes into a flight, then it won't be a complete loss. So I get out my little backyard flyer Slow Stick, velcro on the FCO2, attach the cable to the FCO2 and channel 5, turn on the FCO2, set it to Vd (it was dark out, and my SS is outfitted with plenty of LEDs), hit the shutter button, verified that it was recording, set down the plane, and sent her up into the inky black yonder. Flew around for about 7-8 minutes at between 300 and 400 feet, then brought it back to earth. First thing I checked was to see if it was still recording. AND IT WAS NOT. CRAP!
Without expositing too much more, I have tried everything I can think of to troubleshoot and get it working. I downgraded to firmware 3.03, upgraded back to firmware 4.01 (which is buggy as all crap on my FCO2 and does NOTHING to fix that audio/video sync), then downgraded back to 3.03 again and left it there (seems less glitchy). I used a multimeter to check the power going into the base (5V on pin 4, ground on 3). For whatever reason, it just doesn't seem to be feeding either the power OR the signal to toggle the remote trigger.
I've read at least a couple other people on here who have had this same problem, but I've yet to be able to find someone who figured out a resolution to the issue. Can anyone provide any help? Or am I doomed to just order another FCO2 and HOPE that it's one of the newer builds that don't have the decrepit bugginess and QC problems that this first one has?
Thanks in advance!
-Matt