Quad is gone/fly-away

M

manoktot

Member
Finally I've had some light on what might have happened. I also posted this story in another forum and got a few replies from some more experienced users with the same setup.

From what it looks like according to their description, the Naza will not activate failsafe if it has a "fuzzy" signal from the transmitter. It will only respond nicely if it gets a "clean" signal from the transmitter that the radio has COMPLETELY lost signal, thus causing the naza to enter failsafe/rth. Either by a switch-activated failsafe or by turning off the radio, or that the signal is COMPLETELY lost due to other factors.

That being said, since I had 1.3ghz for fpv, it could have easily interfered with my 2.4 radio signal since I did not have a notch filter on (big mistake), but not enough to tell the naza that "hey, you're loosing your radio signal" and that it should enter failsafe now.

So that "gray" area where the radio signal to the naza is still there, but possibly cutting in/out, was not enough to tell the naza to enter failsafe. Even when I turned off my radio, the signal wasn't a clean "hey the radio is now off so go into failsafe" so it was not enough for the naza to initiate RTH.

Anyhow, I can accept that that's what happened and at least I have some light. For the next build, I would most probably go with 5.8 for the fpv gear instead since I only plan to fly the quad within LOS, but using the FPV as a guide for aiming the recording cam.
 



B

Benchmark

Member
You may want to include an EzOSD unit, i have one on my quad and sends signal via the audio channel of your fpv signal and your craft is tracked in realtime in google maps on you android phone, ipad or iphone. You can see where the quad is , where the RTH spot is and where you the pilot are standing.
 

R

RuralFPV

COWS!!!!
At some point, probably measured by the money you've got up there, these things need an 'oh sh!t' switch. A separate switch connected to a dedicated RX that does nothing but disconnect the main batt when it sees a signal. That way, when EVERY other system on the craft gets pear shaped, you send it a signal that drops it from the sky (I suppose you could do the same with a 12 ga. LOL). You wouldn't want to use it over a populated area but at least you'd get a pile of parts back rather than going home with nothing.
 

Sound Advantage

Sound Advantage

Member
Benchmark said:
You may want to include an EzOSD unit, i have one on my quad and sends signal via the audio channel of your fpv signal and your craft is tracked in realtime in google maps on you android phone, ipad or iphone. You can see where the quad is , where the RTH spot is and where you the pilot are standing.
Click to expand...

Where have you seen the EZOSD for sale? I would like to look into that.

Thanks, Tony
 

T

Totality

Member
RuralFPV said:
At some point, probably measured by the money you've got up there, these things need an 'oh sh!t' switch. A separate switch connected to a dedicated RX that does nothing but disconnect the main batt when it sees a signal. That way, when EVERY other system on the craft gets pear shaped, you send it a signal that drops it from the sky (I suppose you could do the same with a 12 ga. LOL). You wouldn't want to use it over a populated area but at least you'd get a pile of parts back rather than going home with nothing.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about implementing the same thing incase of Naza problems - ie a kill switch. I fly with FrSky and the telemetry gives me signal strength which has saved me many times when doing FPV. It beeps when it gets low then beeps more often if getting really low. I've heard it beep due to low signal when I thought for sure it was in range so it must have been hitting some inteference. Without the telemetry for signal strength I would have happily continued out further and most likely lost signal.

I have had a crazy experience with the Naza when it was closeby and full strength though. Did one flight and it was fine, took it up again after landing and it started pulling hard right by itself. Pushing left all the way only stopped it moving right, it didn't go left or respond further. Back and throttle worked so I came back towards me holding full left just to stop it moving right and dumped the throttle. It landed OK in grass, but the motors stayed spinning at idle speed and wouldnt stop. Eventually they responded and stopped. I unplugged the battery and tried a flight again and it was fine!

Hasn't happened since so no idea what caused it (many flights since then) but it was enough to reinforce the fact that I'm never flying over water or trees whilst using the Naza as a FC. I make it my rule to never fly over houses or people with any FC, but the Naza obviously has some quirks to it and I don't trust it fully!

Does anyone know if switching to manual mode solves the problem when it starts doing random stuff? My 3-way is on GPS/Atti/Failsafe and switching between all 3 did nothing when I had my problem. I wondered if having manual instead of GPS or Atti would mean disengaging any weird thing that the Naza is doing?
 


R

RuralFPV

COWS!!!!
Totality said:
I have had a crazy experience with the Naza when it was closeby and full strength though. Did one flight and it was fine, took it up again after landing and it started pulling hard right by itself. Pushing left all the way only stopped it moving right, it didn't go left or respond further. Back and throttle worked so I came back towards me holding full left just to stop it moving right and dumped the throttle. It landed OK in grass, but the motors stayed spinning at idle speed and wouldnt stop. Eventually they responded and stopped. I unplugged the battery and tried a flight again and it was fine!
Click to expand...

THAT'S what I'm talking about right there! What good is fail-safe or RTH when it's controlled by a device that seems to be the problem in a significant part of these fly-aways? Kill switch or 12 ga., it's the only way to be sure. /Aliens :)

Edit: I'm only half joking about the 12 ga. Most of the places I want to fly allow hunting. :|
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
That happens alot...... naza gets tickled by a vibe and she gets crazy on ya. Alot of times it's a prop, prop adapter, bearing, bent shaft, something going out. Couple months ago i had a battle for 1:10 over the pacific ocean.

When they start to happen, often more times than not it'll start happening more and more often. I've always associated it with moisture. like high humidity whether hot or cold....
 

F

fredor

Member
The NAZA control unit is very sensitive without my GoPro in GPS mode I receive a steady blinking green light after about 5 to 10 seconds if I put the GoPro on which is in its own case complete with its own battery I cannot get a steady blinking green light it will always have a red in between also the light on my receiver will start to flash BUT despite this everything works as it should including holding position Go Figure
 


D

Danub

Member
fredor said:
The NAZA control unit is very sensitive without my GoPro in GPS mode I receive a steady blinking green light after about 5 to 10 seconds if I put the GoPro on which is in its own case complete with its own battery I cannot get a steady blinking green light it will always have a red in between also the light on my receiver will start to flash BUT despite this everything works as it should including holding position Go Figure
Click to expand...
The gopro is spitting out RFI. . . . You can wrap the gopro in copper or aluminum tape to greatly reduce this effect. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-g48nmj4q8
 
Last edited by a moderator:

H

helloman1976

Ziptie Relocation Expert
So sorry to hear that brother, hope you find it. Also, always put a note on your multicopter that says how to get a hold of you. You'd be surprised how after a month or more later you'll get a call when you thought all was lost. :) The tracking device looks sweet, I think he just sold a couple more of those to the rest of us lol
 


Emowillcox

Emowillcox

Member
I'm gonna try the GPS tracker that ridding hood mentioned. I ordered it yesterday comes from china so probably get it in a few weeks.
 

H

helloman1976

Ziptie Relocation Expert
Emowillcox said:
I'm gonna try the GPS tracker that ridding hood mentioned. I ordered it yesterday comes from china so probably get it in a few weeks.
Click to expand...


Please do! Make sure you let us know if it's worth it or not. My question would be, how does the GPS call out? Does it use a cell service, do you pay for that? We fly out in the boons, if there's no cell then what? It looks like the dude calls it with his cell phone, it pings back its location and he pulls those coordinates up on Google maps. Am I wrong here?
 



hershey

hershey

Someday Finally Got Here
Really sorry to hear about the fly-away. Especially with so much expensive equipment on board. Heres a thought:
Contact a local Boy Scout, soccer team, baseball team etc., or similar group of kids (through their leaders of course) and offer a two or three hundred dollar or more reward for the finder of the copter. Even if you have to hock the computer to get the funds, its certainly worth it. You might get some takers with an add in the paper.
Not really knowing how rugged the terrain is, I'd be out there with friends trying to find it with as much time as I could find to do so. Good luck, don't give up.
Also, contact your local RC shops. People find lost RC planes all the time and take them to the RC shops to see what it takes to make them flyable and try the sport themselves. A quad would take some really specialized instructions just to tell someone what the heck it is.
Again, lots of luck to you.
 

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