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Troubleshooting Guide

This guide is a user troubleshooting manual for the EXT module. It is meant to provide solutions and workarounds to common issues that users may encounter in preparation for or during operation of the UAV, whether the issue is with Watchtower, the flight of the UAV Flight, or settings on the DJI Smart Controller. 

IMPORTANT: At this time, we strongly recommend that users do not update the firmware on their DJI drones prior to contacting the Paladin team. 

 

Table of Contents

Watchtower
Video Feed
Gimbal
Start/Stop/RTH
Information (battery, etc.)
Map
Drone Flight
Autonomous
Manual Controls
Stuck in Hover Mode
Smart Controller
Sensor System Error
Battery Imbalanced
Battery Unlocked

Watchtower

Issues with the Video Feed

Seeing black screen

    • Possible issue 1: the UAV was powered off in the wrong camera-type mode (thermal or zoom)
      • Solution: Ensure the drone is powered off. On Watchtower, change the camera-type mode to W (wide angle) and then reboot the drone
    • Possible issue 2: The SIM card may haved been throttled due to overuse of data (limitation in the data plan)
      • Solution: Contact your SIM service provider (T-Mobile, ATT, etc) to add more data to your plan or replace the SIM card (recommended to use a service provider that will not be throttled, like FirstNet)

Video feed appears green or multicolored

    • Solution: Change from photo mode to video mode on the Smart Controller – see video

Video feed is fuzzy (has “artificats”) or appears laggy

    • Solution 1: Fly to an area with better LTE coverage
    • Solution 2: Land and reboot

Video feed appears too dark

    • Solution: Check EV settings on the Smart Controller
Gimbal

Gimbal is stuck (won’t move down) or moves in the wrong direction

    • Solution 1: Reset the gimbal by pressing the ‘recenter’ button in the middle of the arrow keys
    • Solution 2: If problem persists, land and reboot the UAV
    Start/Stop/RTH

    Start doesn’t work

      • On the Ground
        • Problem: Rejects START and highlights STOP
        • Solution:
          1. Make sure the DJI Smart Controller flight mode switch is in P mode (center position), not T or S
          2. Make sure no red errors are showing on the Smart Controller – (if so, check Smart Controller section for troubleshooting)
          3. Still not taking off? Reboot.
          4. After 2 reboots, still not taking off? Contact Paladin
        • Problem: START stays highlighted but no drone response
        • Solution:
          1. Press ‘Stop’ and then try again
          2. Still no response? Refresh Watchtower
          3. Still no response? Reboot Drone.
      • In the Air
        •  Solution: 
          • Make sure SC is in P mode, not T or S.
          • Are you at the preset max flight distance? Click ‘RTH’.

    Stop doesn’t work

      • Solution: Refresh browser and try again.

    RTH doesn’t work

      • Solution: Refresh browser and try again.
      • Within range of SC:
        • RTH with SC
      • Out of range of SC:
        • Does START work? Pin Drop to takeoff location and land with SC.
    Information (battery, etc.)

    Distance from home inaccurate

      • Solution: Is the drone ‘in Africa”? 
        • No GPS Lock – Wait for GPS lock or move to a better location
    Map

    Can’t see drone, pin drop, or both

      • Solution: click the ‘recenter on drone and pindrop’ button

    Map showing error message

    Drone flight

    Autonomous

    Takeoff

      • Problem: Pause on take off, goes into STOP mode
      • Solution:
        • press START again, should continue takeoff
        • take over with the SC – land and reboot

    Enroute

      • Problem: Pausing while flying straight

    Circling

      • Problem: Spinning at the pindrop
      • Solution: known issue; drop a marker nearby and try again
      • Problem: Pausing during circle
      • Solution: winds are high, fly with caution

    RTH

      • Problem: Temporarily going wrong direction during RTH
      • Solution: known issue; should correct itself shortly and come home properly
      • Problem: Not landing
      • Solution: known issue; should correct itself shortly and come home properly
    Manual Controls

    Some/all of the keyboard manual controls not working

      • Problem: Is the gamepad plugged in?
      • Solution: Disconnect and try again.
      • Problem: Using bluetooth keyboard?
      • Solution: Use a wired keyboard instead
      • Problem: None of the above work?
      • Solution: Land and reboot

    Some/all of the gamepad controls not working

      • Problem: Check back of the controller, is it in X mode?
      • Solution: Make sure it is in D mode and not X. Disconnect from computer and reconnect.
      • Problem: Problem still persists?
      • Solution: Land and reboot

    Rogue input from gamepad controller

      • Solution: unplug and replug controller
    Stuck in Hover Mode

    In range of RC?

      • Solution:Take over manually (P—>T) and land/continue mission

    Out of range of the RC?

      • Problem: Might be at max flight distance (set on the SC).
      • Solution: Press ‘RTH’ on Wathtower

    Drone ‘RTH’ by itself

      • Problem: Low battery?
      • Solution: This is normal DJI behavior. Drone will  auto RTH when battery is low enough
      • Problem: Bad internet connection?
      • Solution: Drone will auto RTH if it loses connection for long enough, but itwill reconnect once it regains a strong enough connection and go into STOP (hover) mode.
      • Problem: None of the above? It’s a bad communication between the module and the drone. Drone will RTH and try to reestablish connection and will go into STOP (hover) mode.
      • Solution: Land and reboot.

    SMART CONTROLLER

    Sensor System Error

    Sensor system error. Restart aircraft

      • Solution:
        1. Check to make sure nothing is blocking the sensors around the drone; click on error message and click back on screen – error should go away
        2. If that doesn’t work, reboot the drone.
    Battery Imbalanced

    Battery imbalanced

      • Solution: replace batteries with other batteries that have similar charge
    Authorization Zone

    Authorization Zone

      • Solution: Unlock authorization by checking two boxes
    Battery Unlocked

    Battery unlocked

      • Solution: Lock batteries
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