No need to apologize for asking questions.

Cap looks fine, you’ll know they’re bad if they explode, or that top metal section (with what looks like a K) puffs up, or if it starts leaking.

If the built in 10v bec on your flight controller is the issue, it won’t effect anything else. It’s still safe to fly and use, just don’t power anything from the 10v pads on it.

Can’t say if using a bec will fix your video issue, you’ll have to try it.

That bolt could very likely have been the cause of you randomly falling out of the sky. It could have a similar effect as using a motor mount screw that was too long and touching the windings. It could have also resulted in a catastrophic failure, fire, etc.- but you’d know if that happened, so you appear to have gotten lucky.

Edit- power is power, they are separate from signal wires. It doesn’t really matter how everything gets power, it just matters that everything is getting the right voltage, from a source that can supply sufficient amperage.

(29-Jul-2023, 08:35 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: No need to apologize for asking questions.

Cap looks fine, you’ll know they’re bad if they explode, or that top metal section (with what looks like a K) puffs up, or if it starts leaking.

If the built in 10v bec on your flight controller is the issue, it won’t effect anything else. It’s still safe to fly and use, just don’t power anything from the 10v pads on it.

Can’t say if using a bec will fix your video issue, you’ll have to try it.

That bolt could very likely have been the cause of you randomly falling out of the sky. It could have a similar effect as using a motor mount screw that was too long and touching the windings. It could have also resulted in a catastrophic failure, fire, etc.- but you’d know if that happened, so you appear to have gotten lucky.

Edit- power is power, they are separate from signal wires. It doesn’t really matter how everything gets power, it just matters that everything is getting the right voltage, from a source that can supply sufficient amperage.

Thank you a million!! I am not mad or sad or anything, and I do understand Mike C completely. It's not easy and I know you guys get million of these questions on an hourly basis. And yes, it was confusing how I don't understand this simple thing when I already proved I did these kinds of things multiple times in the past. It's just, I can't explain it, I love communicating with people, kind of makes me feel like I'm part of the by far the best community ever. I can't thank you all enough, words can't describe how I feel when I learn something new from all of you. I know I am nobody, just another stranger asking questions, but you all really make my day every single time I see some good posts in these forums. You have no idea how much happiness (not just knowledge) you provide to all of us asking questions.

OK, I understand that part of how to spot some signs when capacitor is going caput. All clear now.

I understand that part where you say "Can’t say if using a bec will fix your video issue, you’ll have to try it." - of course. I will have to try it and if everything is connected as it should, there is no harm in trying at all. I will at least be a little closer to narrowing down what is bothering my quad lately.

Quote:That bolt could very likely have been the cause of you randomly falling out of the sky. It could have a similar effect as using a motor mount screw that was too long and touching the windings. It could have also resulted in a catastrophic failure, fire, etc.- but you’d know if that happened, so you appear to have gotten lucky. 

Exactly! Even though it did not solve this particular problem I am having right now, it makes me so happy I did that inspection and found it. Never a good idea to touch any contacts on FC/ESC or anything else for that matter. Bottom line, it's a good thing I found it and solved that problem at least.

Quote:Edit- power is power, they are separate from signal wires. It doesn’t really matter how everything gets power, it just matters that everything is getting the right voltage, from a source that can supply sufficient amperage.

Understandable! It took couple of posts/replies, but I finally get it. You guys made it super easy for me to finally get a grasp of this. So, as long as power is coming (GND and live wire) from a good power source, it does not matter if Tx and Rx are connected to the FC without GND and live wire being right next to them. All good!

I will try using that BEC later and see if it solves anything. I will definitely post back with results. I am just hoping I won't bug anyone with this, but I like to keep the thread I start, updated and refreshed with solution (if there is any at the end). It helps all the others with similar problems in the future, I am sure of that.

Thank you!

EDIT: just a quick one again... that portion where battery has to be connected to the BEC... can I connect BEC directly to the NEG and POS on the ESC where they red and black leads are going into the XT60 connector and where my capacitor is connected?

Yup, connect them directly to where your cap and main battery leads are connected to your esc.

Or, if your flight controller has a VBAT pad on it, you can connect the positive of the bec input to that pad and the ground of the bec input to any ground pad.

VBAT (and also VCC) are “battery voltage”, in other words, it’s a direct connection to the main positive pad on your esc.

(29-Jul-2023, 08:22 PM)Thankful Wrote: That my built-in BEC in my FC is toast? Will that affect anything else, is it still safe for use?

I don't know that. I'm not in a position to determine of the internal BEC is toast, someone else said/wrote that and it's not something I can verify. I was just explaining the external BEC part and how that works. In that case TX and RX are wired to FC, + and - are from the BEC. This is exactly how I have wired an Air Unit (basically same as Vista).

Checking if a capacitor is good is more complicated. Everything can work exactly the same and be fine without a cap. The cap is there to take care of voltage spikes. Without a cap you may get voltage spikes without knowing it, or you may not see any voltage spikes and a cap was never needed in the first place. Someone else will have to answer that one. What I would do if I had to check a cap was hook up an oscilloscope and check the signal with and then without the cap and see if there is a difference... but that's only if I really wanted to check. If I was unsure of the cap, instead of going through that hassle I would just replace it.

(29-Jul-2023, 09:11 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Yup, connect them directly to where your cap and main battery leads are connected to your esc.

Or, if your flight controller has a VBAT pad on it, you can connect the positive of the bec input to that pad and the ground of the bec input to any ground pad.

VBAT (and also VCC) are “battery voltage”, in other words, it’s a direct connection to the main positive pad on your esc.

The only VCC I see is the one that's marked 10V and it's my Crossfire receiver connected there. Can I use that one to piggyback on the underside of the FC, or is it better if I go directly from the battery leads/capacitor?

(29-Jul-2023, 09:20 PM)Mike C Wrote: I don't know that. I'm not in a position to determine of the internal BEC is toast, someone else said/wrote that and it's not something I can verify. I was just explaining the external BEC part and how that works. In that case TX and RX are wired to FC, + and - are from the BEC. This is exactly how I have wired an Air Unit (basically same as Vista).

Checking if a capacitor is good is more complicated. Everything can work exactly the same and be fine without a cap. The cap is there to take care of voltage spikes. Without a cap you may get voltage spikes without knowing it, or you may not see any voltage spikes and a cap was never needed in the first place. Someone else will have to answer that one. What I would do if I had to check a cap was hook up an oscilloscope and check the signal with and then without the cap and see if there is a difference... but that's only if I really wanted to check. If I was unsure of the cap, instead of going through that hassle I would just replace it.

Sounds like a great and even more interesting, totally inexpensive route. I do have tons of capacitors laying around, brand new never used. When I was purchasing my FPV components, I always throw tons of those little things inside, one can never know when you might need them   My wife calls me FPV hoarder 

(29-Jul-2023, 09:24 PM)Thankful Wrote: The only VCC I see is the one that's marked 10V and it's my Crossfire receiver connected there. Can I use that one to piggyback on the underside of the FC, or is it better if I go directly from the battery leads/capacitor?

Just run it directly to the battery leads/capacitor. It’ll keep things simple.

If you really wanted a quick and simple way to test a cap, you could just use a cheap LCR ESR meter like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Multi-Function-Ca...268&sr=8-7

But as Mike said, if I was questioning it for some reason, I’d also just replace it.

(29-Jul-2023, 09:30 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Just run it directly to the battery leads/capacitor. It’ll keep things simple.

Will do that then

Hello you amazing guys! Don't have amazing news (yet, still hoping so much it will work, but if not... well, we tried)

I am going to post couple of photos, just so you can see what's done so far.











As soon as I finish something I'm helping my wife with, I will give it a go and see where it takes me 

OK, so here is the update...

I just checked with my multimeter, and the output on my BEC is clean and steady 9V. So, that's good.

When I plug my drone (I always test with power supply through my iSDT D1 charger and my Vifly shortsaver 2), red light on Vista blinks like a Vu-meter, following exactly the beat of that startup music, and those few tones at the end. But after that, it turns itself off. I believe it should be red solid or green solid if it's bound to goggles correctly (and it was before). Anyway, no light on Vista unit at all when connected like this.

Did I do something wrong maybe? This what I did with trying to power Vista Unit directly from the 6s battery though 9V BEC, do I have to change anything in PORTS tab in Betaflight after I did that? I don't think so, but I don't know where to go from this point. It looks like Vista is not powered at all now. Only red LED blinks to the beat of the startup music and after that it turns itself off, no image in my goggles, nothing.

Everything appears wired correctly from what I can see.

One of your ground wires on the bec looks like it has a bit too much wire exposed and is potentially in danger of causing a short, though.

I don’t run any dji gear, so I’m not familiar with what it’s blinking may mean.

Is your short saver tripping?

Edit- other than the short stopper, are you limiting amperage in any way (ie: through your power supply)?

(30-Jul-2023, 02:38 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Everything appears wired correctly from what I can see.

One of your ground wires on the bec looks like it has a bit too much wire exposed and is potentially in danger of causing a short, though.

I don’t run any dji gear, so I’m not familiar with what it’s blinking may mean.

Is your short saver tripping?

Yes, I put a quite tight hot-shrink at the end. I believe when I took the photo, I didn't do it all the way. But yes, they are all squeezed inside and can't move. I can redo it if needed, that's not a problem, but I just double-checked and none of the wire ends (where they're soldered) is moving at all.

Vifly Shortsaver v2 is not tripping. It has that button where I can pick between 1A and 2A (blue LED). I was on 2A. Even when I tried it on 1A, it wasn't tripping.

Funny is that Vista LED blinks exactly to the rhythm of the startup sounds coming from motors, and then that last few notes. And after that, it turns itself off and never comes back until I reboot.

Quote:Edit- other than the short stopper, are you limiting amperage in any way (ie: through your power supply)?

Not that I know of... My iSDT D1 charger is set to DC Power option (I always do that when on bench), Voltage to 25.2V and Current to 1.4A - no other options are there. I tested the BEC output with my multimeter, where those two wires are coming out and going into the Vista Unit (red and black) and it's steady 9V, never oscillates.

Have you tried disconnecting your vista from the drone and powering it up alone to check if your Vista is working or not?
You might want to power just the vista by lipo (2-5S) or through a regulated power supply. If it powers fine, then turn off temp control in your goggles to confirm the vista is also working at full power. If all is good, then add in the BEC. If that is good too, then it would seem your ESC/FC maybe damaged and preventing the Vista from powering up.

(30-Jul-2023, 03:36 AM)mstc Wrote: Have you tried disconnecting your vista from the drone and powering it up alone to check if your Vista is working or not?
You might want to power just the vista by lipo (2-5S) or through a regulated power supply. If it powers fine, then turn off temp control in your goggles to confirm the vista is also working at full power. If all is good, then add in the BEC. If that is good too, then it would seem your ESC/FC maybe damaged and preventing the Vista from powering up.

Vista powers up when power connected to my FC... but the problem is... works perfectly fine as long as I don't add the throttle, or press the button for the buzzer on my controller. Then all those horizontal green lines appear as mentioned in previous replies (that's why I started this thread originally) and finally picture freezes.

Now, when I moved it to BEC power which gives me clean 9V, I am experiencing this new problem... Now it looks like Vista is not powered at all (everything is connected as suggested and double-checked numerous times). The only thing I am getting is, when I plug the battery in (6s, this is 6s configuration quad). Vista's LED only blinks in the rhythm (following the beat) of the startup music and those couple of tones at the end. After that it turns itself off and LED never comes back until I reboot again.