OK here goes. I’m a newbie to the forum, be gentle. It took me forever to figure out how to generate a post. I have been lurking for a long time. Lots of great info here for sure.

  

  

Here is my issue; I have a P3A and it has been great until now. I started having a video dropout problem lately. The video link would freeze and the screen would go to black and white. It would then recover and I would get the video back. I noticed when it is cooler outside I never had any video dropouts. I decided it was a heat issue so I ran the unit indoors (no prop but motors not turning) and within several minutes the video dropped out. I put a small fan dear the gimbal board and the video came back and remained for 15-20 minutes. So I turned off the fan and several minutes later the video dropped out again. Turned the fan back on and after approx. 30 seconds the video returned and ran for another 10 minutes or so. At that point I was sure I had a heat issue.

  

  

After some research I found an article about video freezing on a P3A and he discovered there is a quad flat pack IC on the gimbal control board and a heatsink block on the heatsink itself but DJI did not install a heat conducting pad at this location. This person added a piece of heat conducting pad to the chip and corrected his heat problem. So I decided I needed to make this mod to my board.

  

  

I made the mod to the camera and reassembled it. It powered up normally and I had video. Several seconds later the video link was lost. I have been able to get the video back. In addition the lost video there are several other things I don’t quite understand.

  

  

1.     The DJI GO app now sees my P3A as a P3P and will not let me change it to a standard.

  

2.     There is data coming from the AC as I can see the detected GPS satellites. I can also see the % of battery life remaining. However there is no information about the battery when viewing the battery screen. No individual cell voltage or cell temperature.

  

3.     I can get an OK to fly once the GPS birds have been located.

  

4.    The motors will spin up but the props have been removed for safety.

  

5.    All the battery information and other system status is visible if I look in the main status menu. But nothing on the battery status screen.

  

6.    The camera does its normal dance when first powered up but I cannot move the camera using the thumb wheel knob on the RC.

  

7.    I tried resynching the AC to the RC. No help.

  

8.   The gimbal appears to be working.

  

I am convinced if I could get the GO app to properly recognize the bird as a P3A the video would work. The thing that is throwing me for a loop is missing battery information in the battery status menu. I am willing to purchase a new camera and gimbal but not 100% convinced it will solve my problem.  

  

  

I purchase this P3A used with broken gimbal and flex cable after a crash. I made the repair and it was quite easy. I design electronics for medical equipment and these types of boards, connectors and flex cables are not new to me.

  

  

Any ideas? Please help! Thanks! ~Bill

  

As far as the video, I also have a P3A, but have never had any issues with anything like you are having. But I have also read about the heat issues. I understand what you did, but I wonder if the board finally gave up from the repeated heat issues? Just asking?
About the wrong aircraft. I wonder if you un-install the app and re-install it if it might correct the problem? I don't know for sure, but I think I have read where this might fix that issue. You might try re-linking the RC & aircraft also. I don't have an explanation why it happened though. It does seem strange. I would think your battery info wouldn't have anything to do with your video problem. Give the app uninstall a shot to see if it helps.
The other thing is the control is now gone for your gimbal from your RC, which seems odd too. And that would have nothing to do with the app I'm sure. You don't even have to have the app connected to fly or maneuver your gimbal. You can't see the video of course, but it should work.
Make sure all of your ends of the ribbon cable are plugged in securely. I have repaired quite a few of those ribbon cables, and they have to be in the socket completely.
I am sure you know this since you are familiar with this stuff, but just offering some suggestions. I don't understand exactly how the gimbal is controlled, but maybe upon power up it does the dance, but the control is from another signal.
Good luck!

Hi Ricardo,

Thanks for the response. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the GO app, also reloaded the firmware, double checked all the flex cables, looked at the gimbal control board under a microscope and saw nothing conclusive. The final conclusion is the one of the processors on the gimbal board is toes up. That may explain no video and lack of camera up/down control (other functions of the gimbal appear to be working). I'm hoping without the communications between the gimbal board and the RF link there is no ID to tell the app which configuration the bird is. I am also hoping since the app thinks the bird is a pro once the app knows it's really an advanced the battery status will return to normal. I know the link is working as there is information about GPS, battery, temp and voltage, compass etc. etc. just nothing about the individual cells. Since I cannot purchase just a gimbal board I am left with the only option to buy a complete camera assembly.  One is on order and I will report back aft I install it. ..

BMelody Posted at 2017-6-13 07:06
Hi Ricardo,

Thanks for the response. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the GO app, also reloaded the firmware, double checked all the flex cables, looked at the gimbal control board under a microscope and saw nothing conclusive. The final conclusion is the one of the processors on the gimbal board is toes up. That may explain no video and lack of camera up/down control (other functions of the gimbal appear to be working). I'm hoping without the communications between the gimbal board and the RF link there is no ID to tell the app which configuration the bird is. I am also hoping since the app thinks the bird is a pro once the app knows it's really an advanced the battery status will return to normal. I know the link is working as there is information about GPS, battery, temp and voltage, compass etc. etc. just nothing about the individual cells. Since I cannot purchase just a gimbal board I am left with the only option to buy a complete camera assembly.  One is on order and I will report back aft I install it. ..

Good luck to you and please let us know how you make out.

Hello again Ricardo,

Just a quick update. After searching for a gimbal board with no luck I purchased a new P3A camera complete with gimbal and that solved the issue. I now have all functions back and operational. I will complete the assembly and give it test flight as soon as the weather cools down.

So the video portion of the gimbal board has a problem and I will continue to search for a camera that is in need of repair and use that gimbal board to repair my damaged camera and keep it as a spare. Still do not quite understand why I could not read the individual cell voltages with the bad board installed.

Take care,

~Bill