Urgent Help Needed with S1000 and Z15 5D **

[bostonkiter]

We've been flying an S1000 with the Z15 5D successfully for a few months w/o any issues of any kind.

Seemingly for no reason, the Z15 stopped communicating with the Cannon 5D. The camera settings are exactly to spec for DJI use and the machine is otherwise unchanged. However, the 5D scene goes black when the USB from the Z15 is plugged in, and, the VxT does not receive a signal to transmit. There is no difference in outcome when different components are plugged in or powered up in different order. My partner is a pro photographer and has "factory reset" the 5D to rule out some form of setting oversight. Also, we tested a separate identical 5D with the same results, thus ruling out the camera itself.

The Z15 otherwise physically performs perfectly. The shutter control also works in its current state, so the IR LED is functioning on the Z15.


Can anyone think of think of something else to assess ?!

Thank you!

 

[BamaDave]

I have this set-up also. I'm flying with 2 operator set-up with Futaba Radio's. To operate the camera, we had to "hard wire" the Futaba receiver (s bus connection only caused the camera to automatically take a picture) to the Z15. It might be worth the try.

 

[scotth]

See if you have something mapped to the HDMI enable function of the gimbal. For some unknown reason DJI gives you the option to shut off the video feed and there could be a switch, knob, etc. that found its way to the off position. I inadvertently had such a switch mapped, and had something similar happen.

 

[bostonkiter]

Thanks guys.

scotth- The Zenmuse doesn't support HDMI. I'm not sure what you mean by your comment. Can you explain further? Thank you!

 

[scotth]

Right but the function I speak of turns off the internal HDMI>Composite converter so your gimbal outputs no video.. sorry I was a little unclear. Go to page 17 of the manual.. http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/zenmuse_z15-gh3/en/Z15_GH3_User_Manual_v1.02_en.pdf you'll see that AUX1 can be mapped to a switch that turns the HDMI on or off. In my case, it was inadvertently mapped to the throttle and every time the throttle stick came up past 50% I would lose signal. Since I didn't think the throttle was doing anything, I had no idea what was happening. But if I rebooted the camera I would get signal.. until I hit the shutter.. and it would go blank again.

 

[bostonkiter]

I'll certainly look later on and report back! Thanks bro!!!

 

[bostonkiter]

No luck. I mapped the AUX1 channel and tried it in on/off positions without luck.

Both 5Ds don't work with it. Two Vtxs don't work. It's a $3000.00 paperweight that'll take 6-8 weeks to fix. Not happy.

 

[Ronan]

In this business you need 2 (or 3) of everything...

Hope you get it figured out, it's beyond frustrating!!!

 

[bostonkiter]

Ronan

Thank you for the well wishes.

I agree with the philosophy of redundancy, however, this $3000.00 component worked for about a dozen flights and stopped working without provocation. I've spoken to DJI and the dealer. Each blames the other for the lack of support and we're stuck in the middle with no answers. It shouldn't be a mind numbing task to get real answers and support for gear that costs so much and clearly needs to be supported.

 

[scotth]

Ronan

Thank you for the well wishes.

I agree with the philosophy of redundancy, however, this $3000.00 component worked for about a dozen flights and stopped working without provocation. I've spoken to DJI and the dealer. Each blames the other for the lack of support and we're stuck in the middle with no answers. It shouldn't be a mind numbing task to get real answers and support for gear that costs so much and clearly needs to be supported.

DJI issues are numerous, and well documented. If you buy their product.. remember you were warned. I knew about all the issues and still bought an S1000 with a GH3 gimbal. I'm happy with it now, but.. first Z15-GH3 out of the box, dead. Second Z15-GH3 out of the box, dead. Third time was a charm. I'm lucky.. I live near a great brick and mortar dealer with lots of spares in stock (uavdirect.com), so when I am AOG with these issues it's not the end of the world. Otherwise I would have a spare gimbal and everything else. That's assuming you're doing this for paying customers...