Well I'm learning rapidly why it's recommended to start by building not buying RTF... 

Relied a little to much on the "hey it handle's crashes really well" in reviewed and I'm not sure what my next step is here.

I have the Meteor 75 Brushless "lite" from BetaFPV https://betafpv.com/collections/meteor-s...dcopter-1s
From this kit:
https://betafpv.com/products/fpv-whoop-r...nced-kit-2
With this FC:
https://betafpv.com/collections/brushles...controller
Manual: https://github.com/BETAFPV/LiteSilverwar...aster/docs (No real idea of what I'm looking at here)

I hit a fence recently, everything was working fine and then the next time I turned it on my Goggles clearly connect with the drone but only receive a scratchy black screen (less scratching than when searching for a channel, hence my suspicion it's connecting not just receiving anything). Still flies perfectly except for the outer frame I need to fix. Super ticked off as I was just successfully flying in acro instead of horizon.



Any idea what's broken or where to point me to? Should I try replacing things or just start over and build something cheap? 

Super clueless here. Thanks much. -John

Just a few things to consider ...

To be clear, your entire video feed is "scratchy" right? The letters in the OSD are also scratchy it's not like the OSD is crisp but the video is scratchy.

Do you recall any lights that would come on the vtx when everything was working fine? If so, do those same lights still come on or maybe a different color?

Looks like the VTX sits on header pins. Just make sure it is still seated well since it may have been shifted in the crash. While you're there, also make sure the uFl connection for the antenna is seated well.

Was your radio antenna always bent in under the VTX like that?

(15-Oct-2020, 03:45 AM)the.ronin Wrote: Just a few things to consider ...

To be clear, your entire video feed is "scratchy" right?  The letters in the OSD are also scratchy it's not like the OSD is crisp but the video is scratchy.  

Do you recall any lights that would come on the vtx when everything was working fine?  If so, do those same lights still come on or maybe a different color?  

Looks like the VTX sits on header pins.  Just make sure it is still seated well since it may have been shifted in the crash.  While you're there, also make sure the uFl connection for the antenna is seated well.

Was your radio antenna always bent in under the VTX like that?

Thanks Ronin.

Ok... major thing I left out... no OSD at all. You just see a black screen when the drone is on and presumably being received by the goggles because they get much more scratchy when the drone is off, pictures here:

When I think it is connected:


Definitely not connected:


The VTX purple light only blinks slowly even when the goggles are on (I assume it would go solid then but I forget) good catch, I'll look at the manual on that tonight after work.

The VTX sits well on the header pins, the board can move forward just slightly since there's only contact on one side but no shifting on the pins. I'm going to have to double check what you mean by the antenna uFI but the black antenna coming off the VTX is nice and stable.

Yes I think the radio antenna is always been under it, is that weird? I only looked under once before though.

Did you try re-scanning the fequency with the goggles?  Just to be sure. I don't know how, but I have had the frequency get changed during a crash.

The U.FL connector is that little tiny gold connector at the end of the black VTX antenna that sticks out the back.
{on the VTX it is located right below the work BETAFPV}

Good, clear pictures; Thanks.

Yes, tried the auto search, no dice.

U.FL is super solid... no problem there.. Thanks much

@the.ronin any more thoughts? Really appreciate everyone's help.

Looking up manual now for normal light blinking pattern...

If you're just getting a black screen with no OSD then it's usually a problem with the OSD chip on the FC. Use a magnifying glass to check for any stray solder balls, splatters of solder, or stray whiskers of wire on the FC that might be causing a short, especially between the pins on the OSD chip (it's the large rectangular chip with 28 pins). If that all looks OK, wire the camera direct to the VTX and see if you then get a picture. If you do it means you have a burned OSD chip on the FC.

I've had this happen twice now with two different brand boards.

(18-Oct-2020, 01:41 PM)Manning Wrote: I've had this happen twice now with two different brand boards.

Did you determine whether it is the VTX board or the main Flight Controller board    What brands ??

(18-Oct-2020, 07:28 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote: Did you determine whether it is the VTX board or the main Flight Controller board    What brands ??

First was a geprc 12a aio and a wolf camera/vtx aio. Crashed it and no video. Same as above, the goggles are showing a signal on the correct channel, but just a black screen. The Wolf aio won't power up now. The geprc board is fully functional except for the osd / video thoughput. Didn't have that many flights on it. Guessing the impact killed the wolf aio, which took out the osd on the geprc board. But there's no way to confirm.

Second one is a jhemcu 20a aio board with a gajillion flights on it. Same deal, crashed, then no video, just a black screen in the goggles. Camera (baby ratel) and vtx (hm diamond) are fine, just no osd/video throughput signal from the jhemcu board. Weird.

(18-Oct-2020, 10:17 PM)Manning Wrote: First was a geprc 12a aio and a wolf camera/vtx aio.  Crashed it and no video. Same as above, the goggles are showing a signal on the correct channel, but just a black screen.   The Wolf aio won't power up now.  The geprc board is fully functional except for the osd / video thoughput.  Didn't have that many flights on it.  Guessing the impact killed the wolf aio, which took out the osd on the geprc board.  But there's no way to confirm.  

Second one is a jhemcu 20a aio board with a gajillion flights on it.  Same deal, crashed, then no video, just a black screen in the goggles.  Camera (baby ratel) and vtx (hm diamond) are fine, just no osd/video throughput signal from the jhemcu board. Weird.

Hi Manning,

Thanks for the info. I actually have quads with both of those boards and not had any issues; although I crash all the time, I rarely crash into something {mostly fall out of the sky or stumble on landing   }.  It looks like the OSD chip on those boards is pretty fragile; I will take note of that and be aware if I have issues with mine. I have used the JHEMCU GHF411 but like the JHEMCU GHF405 better {it has several unused UARTs and the pads are bigger}. I also have one HIFIONRC F7 25A AIO...so far, so good...a lot like the GHF405    

The vast majority of my crashes are on grass and small tree branches, and my stuff is probably considered to be underpowered compared to most, so not hard hits. I rarely hit anything solid. But it does happen..... good thing most fpv components are relatively cheap.

(19-Oct-2020, 12:54 AM)Manning Wrote: The vast majority of my crashes are on grass and small tree branches, and my stuff is probably considered to be underpowered compared to most, so not hard hits.  I rarely hit anything solid.  But it does happen..... good thing most fpv components are relatively cheap.

Ain't it the Truth, Ain't it the Truth.  

(17-Oct-2020, 09:29 AM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: If you're just getting a black screen with no OSD then it's usually a problem with the OSD chip on the FC. Use a magnifying glass to check for any stray solder balls, splatters of solder, or stray whiskers of wire on the FC that might be causing a short, especially between the pins on the OSD chip (it's the large rectangular chip with 28 pins). If that all looks OK, wire the camera direct to the VTX and see if you then get a picture. If you do it means you have a burned OSD chip on the FC.

Finally got it. Thanks for all the tips. Looking back over this you prompted me to keep digging, the red and black wires from the VTX were hanging by a thread at the camera connection. Scrubbed some nasty melted black stuff off and re-soldered them on and we're set! OSD and camera back 100%. Was about to buy a new FC and everything, thanks!

John

That's good news. Happy flying