Posted by KristofferR |
Aug 28, 2017 @ 02:04 PM | 5,840 Views
A local ad was irresistible. The price was really low and I contacted the seller and was lucky enough to hit it off with him.
The kit was nicely specced but had crashed lightly and given up the ghost. The airframe was intact and the gimbal seemed OK.
The GoPro camera was dead, battery discharged beyond salvation and the USB port was broken off the mainboard. I have yet to decide if I want to sell the cam as a parts lot and get a new one or buy a motherboard.
The actual Phantom was just beeping. I opened up the thing to check for visual damage and it checked out fine. On the PC it showed the dreaded "mismatch" message, I did the hard reset procedure many times, downloaded many versions of the DJI software and after about ten hours of Google work, Youtube videos, endless PC restarts, resets and power cycles I was close to give up and bin the thing, but my work paid off in the end. I hit the bullseye and managed to flash it.
Next up was the TX; a really nice Futaba T10J and S-bus reciever. I had already disconnected and tested the system outside the Phantom and it worked fine. After learning the Taranis X9D this programming felt straightforward and I got the sticks and switches working. I am not sure, but it felt like the TX been subjected to a complete factory reset.
I set up a new quad model and started to figure out how to assign channels.
When I get that done it is time to look at the Zenmuse gimbal and and the GPS. My gut feeling is that the Zen is OK but the GPS is damaged.
My initial impression as a newcomer to drones is that the DJI seems aimed towards someone who wants a flying cam and thats it. Documentation is sparse and technically shallow - when something goes a bit wrong you get stuck hard, all the different PC programs needed are a drag and old FW/SW versions are not even on their website. I appreciate the Wiki and the Naza unit but it feels like I am not the typical DJI buyer.