Hi I am new novice flyer, and so for am I am 0 for 2 in attempts to fly my Solo. I followed all the instructions to set up the system with the gimbal, updated the software, and went out for my first flight. Waited until the controller said gps was successful and Solo was ready to fly, took off and Solo immediately took off and started to fly away. Home nor pause button had any effect. Solo went about 50 yards and crashed. Read troubleshooting guide and followed instructions to calibrate both the compass and level. App and Solo reported success, and said Solo was ready to fly. Went out and tried again and got exact same result only this time with damage to the gimbal. Nothing in the controller nor the app reports anything wrong, and as far as I can tell the sequence of messages I get as I am getting ready to fly are as the should be. Any help would be appreciated.
Failed first 2 flight attempted
- Thread starter Gary@GV
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With your tablet connected to your Solo, Start a trouble ticket from within the Solo app. Send it to 3DR. Also add yourself to the "To" list of the email. Discnnect the tablet/phone from the Solo and connect it to the Internet. You should get the email at that point. When you get the email, open the attached zip file. There will be a number of files in it, but one larger file ending in .tlog. That is a telemetry log of your last flight (or at least when the homepoint was last set).
Attach that file to a post here, and people will look at it for you. That should give you a good idea of why the Solo is doing what it is.
There are two other tlog files in the zip file that end (I think) in tlog1 and tlog2 They are from the two previous flights. To make sure you get the right one, you could also attach each one of those to a separate post (they are typically to big to post the zip or all the tlogs at once)
Alternately there is software you can get (Mission Planner).to look at the logs yourself, but this is the fastest way to get answers without the immediate learning curve.
Attach that file to a post here, and people will look at it for you. That should give you a good idea of why the Solo is doing what it is.
There are two other tlog files in the zip file that end (I think) in tlog1 and tlog2 They are from the two previous flights. To make sure you get the right one, you could also attach each one of those to a separate post (they are typically to big to post the zip or all the tlogs at once)
Alternately there is software you can get (Mission Planner).to look at the logs yourself, but this is the fastest way to get answers without the immediate learning curve.
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Man, a brand new Solo and pilot. Kind of reminds me of my 7 low-level fly-aways when I started out a few months ago. Good luck with 3DR, they are great people and WILL support you 100%.
Personally, I think people should start out quad flying with something like a Syma X5C. Once they can fly that competently, then move up.
Starting on something like Solo is fine until something goes wrong- then what?
Of course this may be totally on Solo this time.
Starting on something like Solo is fine until something goes wrong- then what?
Of course this may be totally on Solo this time.
Let me know if you get stuck.... I and others can help. It's like opening a combination lock. Hard to figure out the combination the first time, but easy once you know it
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I absolutely agree with Maddog! I started with a Hubsan x107 for about 3 months until I could fly around the house, take-off and land in almost any spaces. The skills were 100% transferable. A newbie with $2000 of equipment, 1st time out, the senses are overwhelmed and no experience on how to react. Flyway? I doubt that seriously as the reports of "flyways" have been almost exclusively from new owners with little or no experience. So to Gary, get your SOLO fixed, get a $50 machine off Anazon, fly around the house for 3-4 days until you can easily take-off, hover, slowly approach, land with confidence. Then take SOLO out. It will feel like a well trained dog, ready to do what ever you ask with skill and precision.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
Much the same here, there's no way I'd drop $2k on a Solo and try to fly it without any experience whatsoever, regardless of what the marketing claims.
Last Christmas, I bought a small RC heli and it took months of practice to get comfortable flying it. Earlier in the summer, I built a 250 quad to practice on before buying the Solo, and even then, I flew the Solo without the gimbal for the first few flights.
With how cheap small quads are, there's very little reason not to pick one up to learn on. You really have to master head-on hovering and flying, if inputs aren't instinctual based on the orientation, it's just a matter of time before you'll crash your Solo again.
I have zero experience with quads and yet I can fly Solo easily. (I have flown several 3-chan indoor helis, I play video games where you actually have the equivalent of a 4-chan heli - so in a way, not inexperienced, but certainly in some circles I would be as a newbie to outdoor flying)
The problem with Solo is that it has so much automation built in, you have to delve deeper than they explain in their very conspicuous unboxing and first flight videos. I'm happy as a clam flying it with ease and it drops GPS and drops into manual and veers into a bush.
Solo was alright but the fragility of the GPS and errant corrections from all the automation appear to be the achilles heel of flying this thing. There is no optical flow and as a result, all the crashes that don't happen with newer P3 pilots are happening with newer Solo pilots. IMO
Reading the OP sounds so plausible that I'm sure if he got a "trainer" drone it would actually be easier and better experience than Solo in his case. (or in mine) Where it will only do what you tell it to, it doesn't have "advanced" complexity to add stability that can end up faking you out.
Rookie mistakes and not taking the time to thoroughly read every last part of the manual is on the pilot, but 3DR showed ****ing monkeys in their promo and their own YouTube channel basically shows you the quickest path to getting into the air. Nothing about reading the manual, learning about the fragility of their weak GPS, and how this will screw you in anything that isn't a plowed corn field in Kansas. I think their efforts to attract eager enthusiasts with promises of ease has slightly backfired in some instances.
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Ryan, you are right that "easy flying" can have unintended consequences.
It's much more fun to take something like Solo out of the box and be able to "fly" right away- except your not flying, Solo is. You are just a bystander.
Spending time learning to fly is not fun. But flying isn't like riding a bike or driving a car in 2 dimensions. Flying demands more skills.
(I received my pilots license in 1988)
But in order to sell more drones, they made them easy to fly. The downside is a bunch of people who cannot fly the drone if the automation fails.
It's much more fun to take something like Solo out of the box and be able to "fly" right away- except your not flying, Solo is. You are just a bystander.
Spending time learning to fly is not fun. But flying isn't like riding a bike or driving a car in 2 dimensions. Flying demands more skills.
(I received my pilots license in 1988)
But in order to sell more drones, they made them easy to fly. The downside is a bunch of people who cannot fly the drone if the automation fails.
I wouldn't blame the flyers, I'd blame 3DR. Everything is marketed towards non-pilots. I get that they want to promote and sell their drone, but the way they're doing it isn't sound.
Solo Smart Drone | 3DR | Drone & UAV Technology
I feel like they're selling cars to non-drivers and they are actively promoting instructions on how to turn the key, put it in drive, and just go.
3DR Solo How-To Videos - YouTube
They don't explain reverse, turn signals, downshifting downhill, windshield wipers, or managing your high beams. Yes, you can read all about it in the book in the glove compartment...
I'm mostly just frustrated with their GPS implementation that is inferior to a cheaper DJI product, and that lacks optical flow or sonar/lidar. So, yeah, I think there will be crashes, and no, I'm not going to blame the noob when an even supider noob's P3 is holding perfect position. One company seems to have anticipated how to have something actually fly for non-pilots in this new era of buying these things at your local big box store.
EDIT: I assume the OP just has a bad unit. From what he has explained, it's acting erratically. My comments are more of a tangent. Hopefully he gets it sorted.
I find it curious that the 3DR GPS isn't as good or better than DJI.
3DR had plenty of time to study the DJI system and a DJI "dude" came over to 3DR- surely he had lots of knowledge about DJI systems.
I can only speculate they went the direction they did so the entire Solo "package" would work as they intended.
Hell, I could be way off base- I'm not even sure what I just said..
3DR had plenty of time to study the DJI system and a DJI "dude" came over to 3DR- surely he had lots of knowledge about DJI systems.
I can only speculate they went the direction they did so the entire Solo "package" would work as they intended.
Hell, I could be way off base- I'm not even sure what I just said..
Its funny, My GPS is so fast now, it is ready before I am, and long before the P3 IMU "warms up".I find it curious that the 3DR GPS isn't as good or better than DJI.
3DR had plenty of time to study the DJI system and a DJI "dude" came over to 3DR- surely he had lots of knowledge about DJI systems.
I can only speculate they went the direction they did so the entire Solo "package" would work as they intended.
Hell, I could be way off base- I'm not even sure what I just said..
There was a pretty good explanation for the reason 3DR chose the GPS unit they did and not another. I believe Ian posted it a month or so ago.I find it curious that the 3DR GPS isn't as good or better than DJI.
3DR had plenty of time to study the DJI system and a DJI "dude" came over to 3DR- surely he had lots of knowledge about DJI systems.
I can only speculate they went the direction they did so the entire Solo "package" would work as they intended.
Hell, I could be way off base- I'm not even sure what I just said..
It had to do with using the right satellites for better accuracy vs seeing 17 satellites and only using half of them.
Solo is not meant to flown indoors, in between, behind, under things.....unless you want to do it manually and it would probably do it well.
I have not had any issues with GPS but I also fly in the open and at distances. Get some practice in manual, then fly it where you want.
Find some information on Solo fly aways....Crickets
Flyaways with Phantoms?? Hundreds!
Ok not entering this little battle as most who didn't just join know my position on all this well.
My current issues with GPS, also my first real issue since June 13th mind you is still happening. 3dr seems to be somewhat stumped as they keep asking for more info and now I assume are studying my last ten logs. I started thinking it was a motor pod today cause I'm hearing a whining now I didn't notice before, but I also have been losing GPS at random times well above obstructions, so I'm not sure. Also this all started after the recent update so that too could be part of my issue. I get GPS easy, but also lose it easy too and my solo has been near perfect since release until now.
Then today after my flight I noticed something after I had solo sitting on the table inside my speed was bouncing around up to a bit over 1mph and bouncing back and forth about the speed and consistency of my drift issue. So I'm assuming since the GPS reads speed Earl prolly nailed it when he said my GPS board was likley bad. I mentioned this to 3dr and hope to hear something tomorrow. Figure I'd check here too tho, Is this probably my GPS board with the speed bouncing while standing still cause it seems to be taking 3dr longer than usual to diagnose this and I'd think that's a pretty easy and common issue at this point?
I've done all I can do its in 3drs hands to hopefully send me a board and not an rma or a motor pod if that may be an issue as well. I'd even pay for it at this point, it's just killing me now I have solo complete and it's been great pre gimbal, but I've had very little time since getting my gimbal with it functioning properly and the seasons almost over now. Basically just missing flying solo at its best and hoping I get answers soon. In my mind there's just no comparison between my phantom and my solo, I doubt I'll even fly the phantom again unless it's teaching a Noob. So hope to hear something soon, with any luck they'll send parts for me to fix it so it's quicker, but if need be I wish they'd hurry up and have me send it in so I get it back soon.
My current issues with GPS, also my first real issue since June 13th mind you is still happening. 3dr seems to be somewhat stumped as they keep asking for more info and now I assume are studying my last ten logs. I started thinking it was a motor pod today cause I'm hearing a whining now I didn't notice before, but I also have been losing GPS at random times well above obstructions, so I'm not sure. Also this all started after the recent update so that too could be part of my issue. I get GPS easy, but also lose it easy too and my solo has been near perfect since release until now.
Then today after my flight I noticed something after I had solo sitting on the table inside my speed was bouncing around up to a bit over 1mph and bouncing back and forth about the speed and consistency of my drift issue. So I'm assuming since the GPS reads speed Earl prolly nailed it when he said my GPS board was likley bad. I mentioned this to 3dr and hope to hear something tomorrow. Figure I'd check here too tho, Is this probably my GPS board with the speed bouncing while standing still cause it seems to be taking 3dr longer than usual to diagnose this and I'd think that's a pretty easy and common issue at this point?
I've done all I can do its in 3drs hands to hopefully send me a board and not an rma or a motor pod if that may be an issue as well. I'd even pay for it at this point, it's just killing me now I have solo complete and it's been great pre gimbal, but I've had very little time since getting my gimbal with it functioning properly and the seasons almost over now. Basically just missing flying solo at its best and hoping I get answers soon. In my mind there's just no comparison between my phantom and my solo, I doubt I'll even fly the phantom again unless it's teaching a Noob. So hope to hear something soon, with any luck they'll send parts for me to fix it so it's quicker, but if need be I wish they'd hurry up and have me send it in so I get it back soon.
I did the GPS "cardboard" mod and was amazed! I get GPS lock in less than a minute and usually more than 10 sats. Before, it took a few minutes to get up 6, then 7 then....
I was sure they thought that out pretty well- pretty smart bunch of folks!
Still don't understand why the legs came out too short...
I started with a Hubsan and moved up to a 450 I built, then a hex I built (but could never get stable so I scrapped it). I wouldnt call myself an expert pilot, but I am comfortable in manual mode, and have been flying off and on for over 2 years now. I got tired of tinkering with an aerial video platform and wanted something stable that I could record with reliably.
I've got less than 3 hours of flight time on my Solo, and it literally just fell out of the sky on the 10th. Response from 3dr is #1 motor malfunction. Then they asked for all the logs on the Solo, so I spent 90mins pulling the last 20 logs and sending them in. Haven't heard anything back after a couple days now.
I went with solo over phantom because the support and the future looks good with them, however, having a crash on the 7th flight due to a motor failure, is a little unnerving.
I've got less than 3 hours of flight time on my Solo, and it literally just fell out of the sky on the 10th. Response from 3dr is #1 motor malfunction. Then they asked for all the logs on the Solo, so I spent 90mins pulling the last 20 logs and sending them in. Haven't heard anything back after a couple days now.
I went with solo over phantom because the support and the future looks good with them, however, having a crash on the 7th flight due to a motor failure, is a little unnerving.
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