Inspire 1 Pro Slave Controller video drop out?

[Michael Morris]

Has anyone recently been experiencing periodic video feed drop out on their slave controller? My PO is becoming somewhat frustrated, unsurprisingly.

I am on FW 1.9.1.30 and Camera 1.7.4.0

 

[Farnk666]

Everyone with a 2nd RC has this issue - slave video feed is broken following the app/fw update that reduced channels to 8 from 32.
DJI will not comment publicly, but refer users to the "32 Channel hack" - google this for a workaround, but be aware that it restores frequencies and output that isn't actually legal.

 

[Michael Morris]

Everyone with a 2nd RC has this issue - slave video feed is broken following the app/fw update that reduced channels to 8 from 32.
DJI will not comment publicly, but refer users to the "32 Channel hack" - google this for a workaround, but be aware that it restores frequencies and output that isn't actually legal.

Thanks for this, I haven't experienced it before.

Does one have to amend the Go App to 32 Channels and select the same on both for this to work?

 

[Hugh4G]

Its a complete pain... we have resorted to doing what someone else here suggested... use one monitor on legs and then Phil flies and I photograph both using the monitor for our own needs...It works...

Hugh

 

[Farnk666]

Thanks for this, I haven't experienced it before.

Does one have to amend the Go App to 32 Channels and select the same on both for this to work?

Yes manual selection of channels and you're golden.

 

[Donnie Frank]

The answer to this problem is to find a good video channel and lock the master controller to that channel. I tested this on two birds and reversing master/slave roles on their respective controllers. 2000' out @ 250' AGL I was getting dropped frames in the slave controller, but not the master. I noticed that the dropped frames corresponded with the master controller's channel switching. So to cure this, I observed which channel netted the best signal, and statically assigned that channel to the master. This instantly cured the dropped frame issue in the slave controller. I was then able to go 3000' out with nary a dropped frame on either controller. Fixed.

As a side note; the more RF you have in a given area, the more the master controller SEEMS to switch the channels. This explains why the dropped frame issue is so inconsistent. Not only does RF change from neighborhood to neighborhood, but it changes from day to day. I have even noticed dropped frames out in the middle of nowhere. One would think that with zero RF that the Inspire would just find a good channel and stay on it. That doesn't seem to be the case. The signal get attenuated by trees, buildings and other interference items. So even out in the woods you get channel switching. I have been on remote film locations out in the middle of literally nowhere and got dropped frames in the slave due to channel switching.

Why this happens...

Both master and slave receive video signal directly from the bird (some have said the slave gets video signal from the master, but that's not true). However, the master is in charge of channel switching. Unfortunately, the hierarchy occurs like this:

1) Master selects best channel.
2) Master tells bird which channel is the best.
3) Bird switches to the good channel.
4) Bird sends channel data to slave controller.
5) Slave controller switches channels.

As you can imagine, this causes a lot of latency. The farther away, the weaker the signal, the greater the latency, the more frames are dropped.

Moral of the story; if you're getting dropped frames on the slave controller, find a good channel and statically assign that channel (on the master controller).

Good luck!