Portlands Massive Snowstorm 2019.....

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Yes, while the rest of the country is getting only a dusting of snow, Portland Oregon just got hammered (by Portland standards...). Ok I'm kidding, it was actually a dusting but it was enough to cause crashes, traffic snarls and be prime time news....

Anyway, I managed to get my solo in the air and shoot some footage. This was taken from my first flight. The 2nd flight I did.... I was suddenly struck with LGS (Limp Gimbal Syndrome). Not sure why, but gimbal acted like it had suddenly lost power. Upon a reboot of the solo everything was fine, but by that stage I was just too damn cold to investigate any further...

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Not too badly, the entire flight was just under 10 minutes (I started landing at 9 minutes and change) and I still had about 40% battery left. However the 2nd flight (before attack of the limp gimbal) i had about 50% battery left after 7 minutes. So I think the batteries are doing ok for now.
 
Thanks man, we're supposed to actually get hit with a possible foot or more of snow this weekend and next week, so maybe a further chance to get some good footage. Still, would like to know what possibly caused my gimbal to go limp. I did notice that when I landed the first time, the GoPro was still recording and didn't stop (and gimbal seemed to be working). GoPro battery was nearly flat though, so took the GoPro and swapped it with another. Powered everything back up, hit record and went flying. In the air about 5 mins and the gimbal twitched (had seen something similar a few months back when flying in strong winds, thought it was the drone battling the wind so returned home and landed). Suddenly the gimbal went dead. Still getting video feed but it was hanging limp sideways. Returned home, landed and noticed the GoPro had stopped recording also. When I went to check the footage there was nothing on the camera (just some previous video files). So a bit of a mystery me thinks....
 
Thanks man, we're supposed to actually get hit with a possible foot or more of snow this weekend and next week, so maybe a further chance to get some good footage. Still, would like to know what possibly caused my gimbal to go limp. I did notice that when I landed the first time, the GoPro was still recording and didn't stop (and gimbal seemed to be working). GoPro battery was nearly flat though, so took the GoPro and swapped it with another. Powered everything back up, hit record and went flying. In the air about 5 mins and the gimbal twitched (had seen something similar a few months back when flying in strong winds, thought it was the drone battling the wind so returned home and landed). Suddenly the gimbal went dead. Still getting video feed but it was hanging limp sideways. Returned home, landed and noticed the GoPro had stopped recording also. When I went to check the footage there was nothing on the camera (just some previous video files). So a bit of a mystery me thinks....
Check your microSD card. Not common but a poorly performing card can slow down the processor and make things act weird.
 
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Would a poorly performing card actually make the gimbal go limp? Or is that a case of "Anything's possible"? I now only have 1 GP4(a) that's 100% working, GP4 (b) works but won't shoot timelapse (camera just shuts down). Have reflashed firmware, changed SD cars but to no avail.
 
Not sure what the GP is rated for...but Solo is 32° F - 113° F . I'd imagine a 10" prop spinning at 6000rpm could create a nice wind chill on the camera and gimbal. I have no clue what that would be, but I assume well beyond ratings for the systems.

I know it was cold there, but was there any noticeable humidity? I don't have a lot of experience in sub-freezing weather, but my humidity is constant regardless of the temp. Rarely a dry cold. It's hard to overlook the effects of wind chill along with moist air.

I'd also imagine there is a mechanical angle in there as well, cause of LGS. The "what" is another question, but we know things shrink when cold. Gimbals are precision machines, regardless of brands, tighten the tolerances and things could get really stiff.

fwiw, I've gotten into the habit to pitch and roll the bird hard once aloft, just to warm everything up before moving out to far. I figure if is going to break, do it within a controlled safe range. Could be the reason I've had very little issues with my setup...again who knows.
 
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Things shrink when it gets cold? Man... I thought that was just an excuse the little people used..... :p

I've flown the bird in colder weather but I agree, Gimbals are precision machines. Could be a bad gimbal, could be low temps, just didn't know if there was anything in particular I should look for. After I landed I powered off, powered back on and walked the bird back to the deck, the gimbal seemed to be balancing just fine. I was also using leg extenders so there was no snow contact. So who knows at this point. Thankfully I have spare gimbals and I can swap out if needed.

Maybe I can just go on Etsy and see if there's a nice warm knitted GoPro cover.....
 
Yes, while the rest of the country is getting only a dusting of snow, Portland Oregon just got hammered (by Portland standards...). Ok I'm kidding, it was actually a dusting but it was enough to cause crashes, traffic snarls and be prime time news....

Anyway, I managed to get my solo in the air and shoot some footage. This was taken from my first flight. The 2nd flight I did.... I was suddenly struck with LGS (Limp Gimbal Syndrome). Not sure why, but gimbal acted like it had suddenly lost power. Upon a reboot of the solo everything was fine, but by that stage I was just too damn cold to investigate any further...

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Good job!! Nice and steady!! Loved the winding road shots.
 
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Yes, while the rest of the country is getting only a dusting of snow, Portland Oregon just got hammered (by Portland standards...). Ok I'm kidding, it was actually a dusting but it was enough to cause crashes, traffic snarls and be prime time news....

Anyway, I managed to get my solo in the air and shoot some footage. This was taken from my first flight. The 2nd flight I did.... I was suddenly struck with LGS (Limp Gimbal Syndrome). Not sure why, but gimbal acted like it had suddenly lost power. Upon a reboot of the solo everything was fine, but by that stage I was just too damn cold to investigate any further...

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love the video. outstanding video.
 
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Thanks for the advice and kind words folks. I have to say, Portland's Weather Forecast struck again this weekend. 1"- 15"'s of snow turned out to be.... a dusting of snow Sat morning (not even enough to film) and then rain for the rest of the weekend... Good thing people went into a panic and started emptying shop shelves in preparation for the big snow storm.... I was fine... I bought all my beer in advance...
 

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