Frustrated, needing some help.

DattaGroover · Jun 7, 2016

I am having persistent video issues with my Solo. It occasionally works perfectly, but mostly the video feed is unusable. It works fine when the Solo is within 100 feet, but when it gets farther way, the video garbles.

Facts:
I have replaced the factory hdmi cable with a flat cable.
I use a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.
I have tried using my Kindle, and it also garbles the video.
I have used two different GoPro Hero 4 Blacks, and the same problem exists.
I use active antenna boosters on my controller and this happens with a strong signal. I also have tested it WITHOUT the active boosters and the same problem is there.
The controller video signal itself is totally fine. I see the camera controls and all the params from the vehicle at all times.
With the boosters I get good communication with the Solo at at least 3/4 of a mile (the furthest away I can maintain visual contact - with its strobes)

I am currently on the road for the next month (in Australia and Japan) and would love to solve this problem while I have opportunity to shoot video here. When I get home to CO, I will try switching gimbals, but I can't do that yet.

I'm open to any suggestions you may have.

Thanks!

pyrate · Jun 7, 2016

see a lot of effort, did I miss contacted support?
Should be your first step. the video feed has nothing to do with the telemetry.
You could check HDMI out of the controller to see how it looks.
if you have eliminated the cables then you may have a bad connection on the main and or gimbal board

DattaGroover · Jun 7, 2016

Great point. I have tried support, but didn't get it solved. I had bigger issues at the time (non-functional gimbal), so I let the vide feed issue go, thinking a flat cable would likely fix it. I'll try again, especially since it's still under warranty.

I know the video feed is different from Telemetry; I just mentioned it to show that it is not a signal issue between the Solo and my monitor on my Samsung). If I understand correctly, those signals are combined into a common video feed at the Solo.

pyrate · Jun 7, 2016

have you tried a direct connection out of the controller to a small monitor just to see if the controller is getting a bad signal?

DattaGroover · Jun 7, 2016

No, but I will. I need to find an adapter, but that's doable.

tomnjfl · Jun 8, 2016

Whenever you have ANY kind of video issues from the gimbal, your first step should always be this: Remove the gimbal totally from Solo and install the standard gimbal so that you can connect your GoPro directly to the Solo HDMI. Then check your video feed. If the feed is good then the issue is your gimbal. If the feed is still bad, then the issue would be somewhere else. But in my experience, 9 out of 10 times it's the gimbal.

DattaGroover · Jun 8, 2016

tomnjfl said:
Whenever you have ANY kind of video issues from the gimbal, your first step should always be this: Remove the gimbal totally from Solo and install the standard gimbal so that you can connect your GoPro directly to the Solo HDMI. Then check your video feed. If the feed is good then the issue is your gimbal. If the feed is still bad, then the issue would be somewhere else. But in my experience, 9 out of 10 times it's the gimbal.

That's a great idea, unfortunately I'm on the other side of the planet from my original gimbal. My plan was to swap gimbals with my other Solo when I get back, which will more or less tell me the same thing.

pyrate · Jun 8, 2016

hook your gopro direct to solo, no gimbal

DattaGroover · Jun 8, 2016

Yes, exactly what the 3DR service guy said. I already know it will work. It always works when it's not flying. ONe of the reasons this is frustrating is that it works fine on the ground. It's only when it gets about 100 feet away (sometimes closer) that it stops working.
I HAVE tested it on the ground at greater distances, and it's always good regardless of the distance - if it has not taken off.

RichWest · Jun 8, 2016

Some guys on FB were placing a foam whatever between the HDMI connector and the main board. This was to stabilize the connection. It implies that connection is some how making poor contact. Their symptom was for rolling video.

Another here had distance issues, he replaced the gimbal and as far as I know fixed the problem. I replaced mine and no more rolling video. I believe his loss of video started after a crash He had tried the ribbon cable and did not resolve.

What does video garbles mean exactly? Rolling video, fuzzy screen or frozen screen...

DattaGroover · Jun 8, 2016

RichWest said:
Some guys on FB were placing a foam whatever between the HDMI connector and the main board. This was to stabilize the connection. It implies that connection is some how making poor contact. Their symptom was for rolling video.

Another here had distance issues, he replaced the gimbal and as far as I know fixed the problem. I replaced mine and no more rolling video. I believe his loss of video started after a crash He had tried the ribbon cable and did not resolve.

What does video garbles mean exactly? Rolling video, fuzzy screen or frozen screen...

Rolling and frozen. and sometimes digital static mixed in. That other case you mention was me and my other Solo. Some similarities, but different. AND replacing the gimbal totally stopped the problem.

I will try the foam under the connector. Great idea!

SteveReno · Jun 8, 2016

I too have suffered the Rolling Video & freezing up issues when Solo was a short distance away.
Too common of a issues to be of chance for over a year.
This is the only issue i think 3DR has not ever came out in public to admit "A recall" should have been in effect.

Replacing the original HDMI cable is a short term fix.

To 3DR's favore, It wasn't a consistent problem. It would come & Go.

Since i replaced to HDMI cable with a well thought out replacement "HDMI Flat cable V3 by Relish 3D" I haven't experienced any of the previous symptoms of video feed problems.

SkyDoctor · Jun 9, 2016

DattaGroover said:
I am having persistent video issues with my Solo. It occasionally works perfectly, but mostly the video feed is unusable. It works fine when the Solo is within 100 feet, but when it gets farther way, the video garbles.

Facts:
I have replaced the factory hdmi cable with a flat cable.
I use a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.
I have tried using my Kindle, and it also garbles the video.
I have used two different GoPro Hero 4 Blacks, and the same problem exists.
I use active antenna boosters on my controller and this happens with a strong signal. I also have tested it WITHOUT the active boosters and the same problem is there.
The controller video signal itself is totally fine. I see the camera controls and all the params from the vehicle at all times.
With the boosters I get good communication with the Solo at at least 3/4 of a mile (the furthest away I can maintain visual contact - with its strobes)

I am currently on the road for the next month (in Australia and Japan) and would love to solve this problem while I have opportunity to shoot video here. When I get home to CO, I will try switching gimbals, but I can't do that yet.

I'm open to any suggestions you may have.

Thanks!

I had the same sort of issue. When Solo was on land and idle, the video was clear but when I took off and started flying her, my video would start to roll and blink in and out. I tried a different gopro, I tried a another controller. I factory reset Solo and the controller. Nothing worked. Then I removed the flat HDMI cable and re-installed the HDMI cable that came with Solo. That did the trick.

DattaGroover · Jun 9, 2016

SkyDoctor said:
I had the same sort of issue. When Solo was on land and idle, the video was clear but when I took off and started flying her, my video would start to roll and blink in and out. I tried a different gopro, I tried a another controller. I factory reset Solo and the controller. Nothing worked. Then I removed the flat HDMI cable and re-installed the HDMI cable that came with Solo. That did the trick.

I'm going to try the suggestion RichWest proposed above - getting some foam under the connector. My sense is that swapping the cable works because it nudges the connector. It IS a Solo issue, from what I can tell from all the other people that made that complaint.

DattaGroover · Jun 9, 2016

SteveReno said:
I too have suffered the Rolling Video & freezing up issues when Solo was a short distance away.
Too common of a issues to be of chance for over a year.
This is the only issue i think 3DR has not ever came out in public to admit "A recall" should have been in effect.

Replacing the original HDMI cable is a short term fix.

To 3DR's favore, It wasn't a consistent problem. It would come & Go.

Since i replaced to HDMI cable with a well thought out replacement "HDMI Flat cable V3 by Relish 3D" I haven't experienced any of the previous symptoms of video feed problems.

I got one from Relish too. The problem went away, but comes back - randomly.

Solo Keith · Jun 9, 2016

@DattaGroover. I was having the same video issues you are having. Initially I thought Solo & the HDMI cable was the problem. But after taking her apart numerous times & replacing cables as well as making sure all connections were secure & remained stable after take off, the results were the same. Very frustrating. One hour of the day my little brain thought about the GoPro connection @ the HDMI on gimbal. So when I finally made that connection secure, Wahlah!! No more video feed issues. And when I say I've had Solo open numerous times because of this issue, I'm talking at least 12-15 times. So when I finally focused my attention on the GP & the fix worked, & has been flawless since, I'm a happy Solo dude again. IMO HDMI connections don't like to be messed with.

SteveReno · Jun 9, 2016

From these replies & other recent fixes to this Video feed Problem, We can safely say it's the connectors at the 3 points were the male HDMI cable is introduced to the receiver ports.
Main board, Top of Gimbal & on the side of the Gopro.

I'm going to look at the top of the gimbal connector as a good guess,
As DattaGroover & RichWest has said, some form of reinforcement, can make a difference.
On my last attempt to fix this probelm at that port, I thought of squeezing the port just a little would work? All i did was mess up the male HDMI when i inserted it in & that led me to buying a HDMI Flat cable V3 by Relish 3D.
I'm sure that 3DR has a good idea what is the probelm(s) with these ports?

Looked at in to a HDMI port with a scope, & it looks to be very easy to compromised "Ultra thin soft plastic channels"
Perhaps fiber optics?

Solo Keith · Jun 9, 2016

SteveReno said:
From these replies & other recent fixes to this Video feed Problem, We can safely say it's the connectors at the 3 points were the male HDMI cable is introduced to the receiver ports.
Main board, Top of Gimbal & on the side of the Gopro.

I'm going to look at the top of the gimbal connector as a good guess,
As DattaGroover & RichWest has said, some form of reinforcement, can make a difference.
On my last attempt to fix this probelm at that port, I thought of squeezing the port just a little would work? All i did was mess up the male HDMI when i inserted it in & that led me to buying a HDMI Flat cable V3 by Relish 3D.
I'm sure that 3DR has a good idea what is the probelm(s) with these ports?

Looked at in to a HDMI port with a scope, & it looks to be very easy to compromised "Ultra thin soft plastic channels"
Perhaps fiber optics?

Yes indeed @SteveReno

tomnjfl · Jun 9, 2016

DattaGroover said:
That's a great idea, unfortunately I'm on the other side of the planet from my original gimbal. My plan was to swap gimbals with my other Solo when I get back, which will more or less tell me the same thing.

Improvise, just tape the GoPro to the body of Solo so you can make a short test flight. Just aim it straight down and put some tape around it to hold it in place in the absence of any kind of gimbal.

PdxSteve · Jun 9, 2016

They really should have gotten rid of the cable and just went for a straight plug, like on the accessory bay. You attach your gimbal - it's plugged in.