just shot RedBull in china, poor video from 2nd RC, unusable for camera person

mdomeny · May 25, 2015

why isnt rc2 getting direct video feed from the AC???would make more sense to send to both rc's

Kilrah · May 25, 2015

No issues here, your 2nd remote is likely defective. Try swapping them to see if the problem follows the controller.

Slave remote(s) get the video feed directly from the aircraft, but may need the direct connection to the master remote through the 5.8GHz link for synchronisation/authentication in order to provide the feed. How far was the 2nd remote from the pilot?

After reading this we'll actually have to test that straight away as we've got a bunch of assignments starting shortly that will require up to 500m distance between the master and slave radio (no control is needed on the 2nd radio, but the video feed is crucial) and we were planning to use Inspires.
If that doesn't work we'll have to switch to another aircraft with a Lightbridge.

MindOverEye · May 26, 2015

I would highly advise that you do that. All of our Inspire1 systems have had this issue, since after the second or third FW update, which ironically was supposed to fix a video issue, it's a big problem. Have BIG hopes for Tony's system.

purezerg · May 27, 2015

ok. I just did a test. AC in bedroom, RC2 in bedroom also, just 1 meter away from AC,
but RC1 is in the microwave oven. I left it open just a few mm. (completely shuts means complete close loop faraday cage.

RC1 video feed is really bad, and so is RC2.

don't you think from this, you can conclude that RC2 is pulling video feed from RC1 rather than the drone?

purezerg · May 27, 2015

also I did a app test.
master NVidia shield using 1.0.7 and slave using 1.1.0 app

I am still able to force the master using 1.0.7 using other channels above chan20. whilst the 2nd NVidia shield with the latest app has got good video feed.
I enabled dual output to hdmi but disabled OSD for hdmi. that seems to help quite a bit.

that said, I am glad my NVidia shield for slave can also be used for phantom3. whilst for now the "master" NVidia shield will be for inspire only.

purezerg · May 27, 2015

a pity that I don't have some sort of device to stiff out radio frequency to see if it's the AC or RC1 that is sending the video signal.
are we sure that 5.8ghz is used? because FPVLR antenna amplifiers are all 2.4ghz range. I don't see them using 5.8ghz

that said, I still cant confirm if left antenna is for AC and right antenna is for video. I tried wrapping it with aluminium on one of the antenna. cant really do much. the best was still the microwave. industrial grade faraday cage. haha

Kilrah · May 27, 2015

AC sends the video, but I believe 5.8 is used to sync output timing (if you check different configurations of mobile devices, HDMI monitors, 2nd RC or not etc you'll see that video is always displayed at the same time everywhere even if some devices are more laggy / less powerful i.e. timing of everything is determined by the weakest device and the other delay their output to match it). That IMO contributes to a lot of the breakup stuff people are seeing.

5.8 may also be required by the encryption system - only slave controllers that have been bound to the master are supposed to be able to receive the feed, so they likely talk over the 5.8 link for authorization.

We'll be doing our tests this afternoon with me walking far away from the pilot, both having powered the 2nd remote close to him and powering it while out of range to see if there's a difference.

purezerg · May 27, 2015

good luck in the walking away. it's gonna be a long walk.

Kilrah · May 27, 2015

Nope, it's walking away of the 5.8 link that is rated at about 100m.

And we've just done it, and it's indeed as suspected - as soon as the 5.8 link between master and slave drops (at 50-100m at most) video is lost on the slave controller. Both for app and HDMI out.

We'll have to use a P2 with LB for our job then

Rob_The_Nailer · Jun 16, 2015

Are there any updates to this topic, perhaps in another thread?

I took my I1 out for its first shakedown flight over the weekend and encountered this exact same issue.

damoncooper · Jun 16, 2015

Common known problem. It used to be the 2nd controller video would cut out and never come back.

Now a few updates later it comes back but goes again. And again. And again...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pohlease · Jun 17, 2015

I agree with the guy that said there are no advantages over the Phantom 3 now. The second controller doesn't work and they haven't released any accessories worth being excited about. There is a DJI tester posting on the Phantom 3 forum (with pictures) that they are going to release a controller upgrade so the phantom 3 has the same HDMI and Canbus ports as the Inspire. Not sure what would be more fun watching the inspire fly or having two phantom 3s.

Gary Bateman · Jun 17, 2015

damoncooper said:
Common known problem. It used to be the 2nd controller video would cut out and never come back.

Now a few updates later it comes back but goes again. And again. And again...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wonder if this is the problem I'm experiencing, I've tried just about everything to get the camera feed to show on screen but to no avail. Once the pic goes that's it it don't come back. Swapped everything around at least three times. Tried outside after taking this footage and got nowt at all!

Talked to DJI they said it might be my BT hub as its on the same GHz 2.4 frequency. Tried switching that off but still nowt! My whole street uses BT hubs! Here's the video.

aprilmedia · Jun 18, 2015

We have exactly the same problem which started about 2 or so firmware upgrades ago and have been stumped by it as there was never a problem when we first had it.
Is everyone reporting this to dji?

Rob_The_Nailer · Jun 21, 2015

After speaking with DJI support, they suggested replacing the 2nd controller (which I will do through the dealer I purchased from).

When I asked about how common the issue was and if they are getting a lot of reports of similar issues, he said they are not getting a great deal of reports about it. He sounded sincere, so if he was "covering up" he did a good job lying about it.

One thing I am curious about is the video signal to the 2nd "slave" controller. The manual illustrates that the video signal is sent directly from the aircraft to the remote. However, if you power down the master remote, video to the slave is lost. Any ideas why is would be?

SCM660 · Jun 21, 2015

purezerg said:
So basically the inspire is a high-speed phantom3 because it has no advantages over it. Poor HDMI out and unusable 2nd controller?
Starting to regret getting the inspire.

Also because of the 8 channel limit, the local TV crew, their inspire was unable to broadcast live because my rc auto select the same channel as the other inspire. So yeah, I unwittedly knocked out the TV crew inspire. Only after the whole event ended and after the 3rd inspire on site crashed, fell from 100m+ after a branch clipped the prop. (He broke both arms the legs of the inspire is now in 6 pieces due to video loss).I found out that the other 2 inspires auto selected channel 20. Heh, well done.

I'm the only one on site that was dual operator. The TV crew were single operator and all our inspire had no GPS lock.

When I knew that I couldn't get a GPS lock, I told my producer to control the camera and I would fly in ATTI. I flew in ATTI for all 8x TB48 with 10-15km/h according to my anemometer.

Flying in ATTI for 2 hours of total flight time is quite stressful.

The other TV crew almost crashed countless times also.

It crashed after clipping a branch at over 100m up?? They're some very tall trees! 300 Ft+! Was it being filmed in the Amazon?? Hahaha

Kilrah · Jun 21, 2015

Rob_The_Nailer said:
After speaking with DJI support, they suggested replacing the 2nd controller (which I will do through the dealer I purchased from).

When I asked about how common the issue was and if they are getting a lot of reports of similar issues, he said they are not getting a great deal of reports about it. He sounded sincere, so if he was "covering up" he did a good job lying about it.

I doubt changing the controller will help as when I found out about the bad signal on slave remote issue I tried 3 different controllers with the same poor results.

He might not be "covering it up" but not everybody reports things and that could be something that most users don't think is a problem. But the number of reports here does seem to describe a systematic problem on all units...

Slave needs communication to master to show video for some reason, I would suspect it's so that you can't have someone a mile away looking at what you're doing. Or it could be a technical reason, like the master tells the slave what channels to listen to and when to receive the feed.

mdomeny · Jun 21, 2015

there is a 5.8Ghz transmitter that communicates with the slave and lets you control the camera. the 2.4Ghz video feed comes from the i1. there is also a thread on this regarding video slave problems...

Mazz?? can you help with a link please? can not make it out on my phone... thx

Rob_The_Nailer · Jun 22, 2015

mdomeny said:
there is a 5.8Ghz transmitter that communicates with the slave and lets you control the camera. the 2.4Ghz video feed comes from the i1. there is also a thread on this regarding video slave problems...

Mazz?? can you help with a link please? can not make it out on my phone... thx

If the video 2.4 Ghz feed comes directly from the I1, why do you lose video when the master controller is switched off?

Rob_The_Nailer · Jun 22, 2015

Kilrah said:
I doubt changing the controller will help as when I found out about the bad signal on slave remote issue I tried 3 different controllers with the same poor results.

He might not be "covering it up" but not everybody reports things and that could be something that most users don't think is a problem. But the number of reports here does seem to describe a systematic problem on all units...

Slave needs communication to master to show video for some reason, I would suspect it's so that you can't have someone a mile away looking at what you're doing. Or it could be a technical reason, like the master tells the slave what channels to listen to and when to receive the feed.

I agree that DJI is not known for "fessing-up" to product defects (hardware or software); maybe it is the company culture to deny deny deny until there is no other explanation - and then they simply say the new version (software or hardware) has addressed the prior issue(s).