AR Drone 1.0 powers down after 29 seconds - any ideas?

Discussion in 'AR Drone by Parrot' started by Beyond, Feb 17, 2015.

  1. Beyond

    Beyond New Member

    Questions 1:
    I have been avidly following Quadrocopters since the AR first came out, and was delighted when my friend gave me their old one. It had crashed and last I knew it needed a replacement motor. But plugging the battery in, all lights are red, then after 19 seconds, they turn green in sequence, then ten seconds later the whole drone flashes and powers down.

    Things I have tried:
    1. I can join the wifi network, and sometimes even get the right IP address (after hitting the unpair button) but it has always shut down before I can launch Free Flight
    2. Purchased a new battery just in case it was dead or old batteries, it does the same thing.
    3. Have tried pressing the Reset button at various times, but have never gotten it to just sit there on
    I am wondering if anyone has any ideas what might be doing this? If I know which part I might have to get, I would get it, but I don't really really just want to start replacing parts willy-nilly when it might be better to just get a new (or used) one.

    Other things I have considered, but not done yet:
    1. Taken the whole thing apart, boards, motors, etc, and put them back together carefully piece by piece, making sure there are not loose connections
    2. Replace the bottom foam board - he gave me a spare, which also has a camera built in, not sure why.
    3. Anything else anyone knows of to test or troubleshoot various bits and pieces?

    Question 2:
    If it is the logic board or some other kind of gremlin in the works that would make it over $100 to fix, could I get an AR drone 2.0 (off craigslist, around $150) and use this one as parts? When he gave it to me, he included a bag with the tool kit, spare propellers, spare gears, pare screws, a spare outdoor top and spare bottom (with a spare camera, it looks like) and four batteries, plus the 2500 one I just purchased. Would all of this work with the AR Drone 2.0? Would that be the best way to go, or are these so outdated that it is worth just getting something else for around $150 - $200 and getting rid of this whole kit?

    Thank you for your help
     
  2. IceFyre13th

    IceFyre13th Guest

  3. Beyond

    Beyond New Member

    Thank you for your reply! I have actually called Parrot and their tech support said "that is very strange," so I am going to send it in and have them diagnose it.

    I have a few questions about the 2.0 being better, what specifically is better? The forward facing camera is better, but is anything else better? I imagine it has the same lift strength / fly time as it uses the same motors / batteries. Is the the range better with a better wifi card in it? Or is handling better because they learned from the 1.0 and improved with the 2.0? I really don't know these things and am not having luck finding good comparisons.

    I want to use it with a GoPro 4 Camera attached to it.

    Thank you,
     
  4. IceFyre13th

    IceFyre13th Guest

    The ARDrones can lift a GoPro, and a few have done it......but it is a barely able to lift an fly with it. Flight times drop to about five minutes and performance suffers a lot.

    A UAV in the 500 size class would be better, DJI or similar.

    Yes, Parrot learned from the 1.0 and made a better 2.0......now they have the BeBop (I am still testing it and will be writing part 2 of the review soon). Its even better, but costs a lot more as well.
     

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