Solo camera live video feed on and off

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Hello... a few days ago I've upgraded my Solo's GPS to the newest model (purple) and its been working really great! Then the upgraded GPS shield that I bought came just yesterday and was installed earlier today.

Thing is I am not sure if there is a connection between my upgrades to the problem I am having now but basically my drone's live video feed has been on and off (more off). When I installed my new GPS I did not have any of these problems but it only started today after installing the GPS shield.

The video was there before take off but right after a few mins mid flight the video feed goes black. There are moments when it would come back on but most of the time the video was just black. Sometimes it goes black when the drone is close then would come back on when far away and vise versa.

I've also done a full reset of the drone, controller, the gopro(also reinstalled from the gimbal), antennas, and the app but same results. Sometimes its black even before take off.

Also, I noticed my battery dropped from 15% to 12% then to 7 in a really short time... scared me a little because the drone was still pretty high up but I managed to land it before it the battery died. I guess I also want to know if this battery is fine to use... I can get use to it knowing that 15% is basically almost 0 I can always land it before 15% or 20...

but will this battery get even worse and starts to drop fast at 50% ? maybe even from 100%? thats the risk I can't take I can just dispose the battery then.

What could have caused this? is it the way I charge them? or when I store them while still at full power? I've dropped my batteries twice but I dont really know which ones since I have 4 of them but maybe its that?

Thanks for the replies.
 
I take it you upgraded to the latest revision of the MRO gps (which is purple).

Not sure what's causing your issue, but I think I remember another post a while back, someone else upgraded to the latest MRO and had issues with their drone too. I think it was a calibration issue or something, but either way, it was just after they upgraded.

There could be a lot of things causing the video issue so you're going to have to give a lot more info.

What frame rate and resolution are you using on the GoPro?
What happens if you turn on your drone (don't arm it), and walk away from it. Do you still get video feed issues? Trying to figure out if it's a distance problem or if there's possibly a vibration issue that's causing the feed dropouts when it's flying.


Also your battery dropping from 15% to 12% to 7% in a short time. Define short time. Plus you say you have 4 batteries total, are any other batteries giving you this issue? Did this issue also only occur when you upgraded?

By the way, Number your batteries with a chalk marker or tape a number to them, it will help you keep track of them if you're not already doing so in Solex.
 
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Check your hdmi connection in solo at the gimble and main board inside put some moon gel or foam blocks to support at the plugs or upgrade to the flat ribbon cable , format sd card in the gopro not in your computer
 
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Check your hdmi connection in solo at the gimble and main board inside put some moon gel or foam blocks to support at the plugs or upgrade to the flat ribbon cable , format sd card in the gopro not in your computer
where can I get these flat ribbon cable? I'll open it in an hour or two but I just wanna know where I can get these in case its messed up inside?
 
Hey iFLIP07, you can ask at the following website: Solo Ultra Thin Micro HDMI Flat Ribbon Cable

About the battery, like any other rechargeable battery, Solo's smart battery will start losing its maximum charge capacity over the time. After 100 cycles, the battery capacity will be around 80%, but that the percentage will start decreasing slowly somewhere between 60-80 cycles.

Other variables can also affect the life of the battery, like the flying style, weather, storage and charging habits, draining the battery below 10% and crashes, for example.

I can help you in reviewing the vehicle logs and check the battery capacity.
 
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so I removed the gimbal for now and the cables seems to be in placed properly, I installed it back and tested again but still no video feed :(

I was able to press and record myself and also control the gimbals angles so I don't think the problem is in the gimbal or at least I hope not because theyre expensive.

I guess I don't have a choice but to gut the shit out of my Solo and check if this ribbon is still attached?
 
Remove the gimbal and connect the Solo's HDMI cable straight to the GoPro, this will help to locate where the issue is.

I do not think the gimbal is the problem.
 
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Remove the gimbal and connect the Solo's HDMI cable straight to the GoPro, this will help to locate where the issue is
youre right... and Im guessing that after doing this if the video is still out then the ribbon might be the reason? and well if the video is there then the gimbal is faulty? is this right?
 
Im not sure but I think the drone just fixed itself with whatever it was I did...

first, I removed and disconnected the gimbal from solo then connected Solos hdmi cable directly to the gopro == no video, but I also lost the capability to press record so I am assuming its the gimbal that controlled that part.

second, I was about to gut my Solo but I saw a tiny opening that lets me see inside (with a flashlight) where the hdmi cable is connected so I thought maybe I didn't have to open her after all because I already watched a video of how the cable is connected to the board. Anyways, all I did was grab a chopstick and gently pushed the cable towards the port... I didnt really feel any movement or a click so I didn't think that the cable was pulled out or anything at all... (back to worrying about the gimbal being broken)

third, I repeated the FIRST thing I did... and finally the video is there

fourth, attached the gimbal back and there it is! my ugly face on my screen!

Thanks to everyone who helped! -props-
 
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You may experience bad video again in the future you'll know where it is and what you need to do to prevent it from happening again cause trust me it'll probably happen and my personal opinion is the flat ribbon cable gives you a much cleaner video feed and quality recordings thats just my opinion
 
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Im not sure but I think the drone just fixed itself with whatever it was I did...

first, I removed and disconnected the gimbal from solo then connected Solos hdmi cable directly to the gopro == no video, but I also lost the capability to press record so I am assuming its the gimbal that controlled that part.

second, I was about to gut my Solo but I saw a tiny opening that lets me see inside (with a flashlight) where the hdmi cable is connected so I thought maybe I didn't have to open her after all because I already watched a video of how the cable is connected to the board. Anyways, all I did was grab a chopstick and gently pushed the cable towards the port... I didnt really feel any movement or a click so I didn't think that the cable was pulled out or anything at all... (back to worrying about the gimbal being broken)

third, I repeated the FIRST thing I did... and finally the video is there

fourth, attached the gimbal back and there it is! my ugly face on my screen!

Thanks to everyone who helped! -props-


Great!
 
You may experience bad video again in the future you'll know where it is and what you need to do to prevent it from happening again cause trust me it'll probably happen and my personal opinion is the flat ribbon cable gives you a much cleaner video feed and quality recordings thats just my opinion

Yes I sure am getting it and replace the thick round cable its just that I cant do it now because I am flying to the Philippines with my drone in 3 weeks so Im probably just gonna upgrade when I come back.
 
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I had the same problem (Live video feed fading off and on occasionally in flight) two weeks ago.
What I did was the following:
1. I took out GoPro's battery for 30 sec. (to reinitialize) - no change, so GoPro was not the problem.
2. I disconnected the Gimbal and connected GoPro directly to Solo (no change) - so the Gimbal was not the problem.
3. Disconnected the round HDMI cable running from Solo to the Gimbal - for the time being the problem is solved.

So I believe my problem was bad HDMI connection. If the problem persists I will change the round HDMI cable with the flat ribbon HDMI cable.

Hope this helps.
 
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Yes I sure am getting it and replace the thick round cable its just that I cant do it now because I am flying to the Philippines with my drone in 3 weeks so Im probably just gonna upgrade when I come back.
Not sure about shipping times, but the cable change takes about 2 - 3 minutes.
 

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