FPV Camera Black Screen | REAL WORLD TROUBLESHOOT

I'm getting a black screen in my FPV goggles. I'll take you through the troubleshoot.

[MiNiD]

"What a hassle" 4:29, those words make me feel very content that I'm not alone in the struggle against tedious drone fixes.

[fellstar]

Cap on lens. #solved

Kidding... kidding... Kind of.

[oziumentisis]

Mine was the a bad solder, ground decided to unsolder itself between the RunCam split and the FC. Pretty much had to remove the VTX and the RX to then even get a glimpse of the area. Was a complete pain in the butt although I really feel good knowing this noob can troubleshoot. Getting more and more confident every day. Appreciate the work you do JB!

[DroneEclipseLLC]

I actually had this issue with a customer using that same setup. Replaced his board and same thing on new one. Turned out to be the camera exactly like what you found. Great video!

[xerxes]

you know what's hilarious is I had the same problem so I took my camera out put it back in and the problem was solved. so I guess you helped me fix it but neither of us know how lol.

[Noxoreos]

I was just investigating a similar problem. I got the OSD on the screen but image was grey. After some investigation I noticed, that the flight controller was outputting 0.5V on the 5V rail. So I tested the other 5V rails and there were multiple ones too low. However I found a functioning 5V output and tried that for the camera and it immediately worked. In your case it was likely to be the flight controller as well, because a) the camera gets it's power from there (I'm assuming) and b) this noise comes from the coils when there is something wrong with the switching frequency. This noise often occurs when the switching power supply is idling (and thus turning down the pwm signal into the audible frequency) - this is also why you mostly hear smartphone chargers humming when they are left hanging on the wall without charging a phone..

[prophetofpunk]

I had an issue with a black camera on my Eachine wizard after i re-mounted it in the quad after a hard crash. The screws I was using to mount it were just the exactly correct size to just barely touch the board inside of the camera case just slightly. What I was seeing in this case was that I would arm the quad and the camera was visible but as soon as I moved the throttle up slightly the video would go black. I discovered this by removing the screws from the camera altogether and testing again. Check the tightness of your side-mounting screws on the camera inside to make sure they are not touching the board perhaps? I even added a small strip of electrical tape inside of where those screws were to make sure they didn't touch again as well as adding a nylon washer.

[RobCrawford]

could always do for the old standby of a couple of chilling cycles (spray can cooler) targeted at the FC and PDB then retesting.

if the surface mount soldering iron a component is tired and emotional this usually gets it to make itself known.

[blurcak]

Have U the "-" pole connected to the carbon frame? There can be "transition resistance" between frame and pdb/fc when the screws are tight

[RandomChaos]

I have had kind of the same problem. I had a screw barely touching the motors windings where they come out of the motor. When my top plate was mounted with the SMA connector touching the carbon, it was backfeeding the voltage from the motors into the antenna ground and wreaking all kinds of havok. Since you get a straight up black screen of death on the camera, I would check for any point that may be shorting out to the frame, and backfeeding into the antenna SMA.

[minkorrh]

I asked you on a live streama few months back if OSD chips are interchangeable, you said yes and I've since confirmed it to be a few blank chips and yes they work. I had a Diatone Mamba V1 on my Chameleon that lost OSD. I put in a Foxeer Razer for the OSD as opposed to swap the FC. Then the chips arrived and I changed it out on the no joy. The Razer camera accidentally shorted and went black which forced me to troubleshoot all. Found a microscop[ic solder ball on the FC. Isopropyl bath and all is well. Video, OSD, and A new Ratel.

[castlebravo]

Perfect timing for this video. I ejected my Runcam Eagle while flying today and now have a black screen with working OSD. Since the crash was hard enough for the screws to take chunks out of the camera case and rip the wires out of the connector, I'm going to guess (hope) that it just broke a solder joint on the PDB and didn't kill my new camera.

[dezssti]

Interesting, I had the exact same symptom yesterday with my brand new Betaflight F3 FC. I unplugged the camera and reseated the plug and it was fine. Could there be a bad batch of FC's out there?

[dexFPV]

I know the issue! Just spent 3 hours this past weekend rebuilding the quad from the ground up to finally figure the stupid problem... Your screws are grounding with the camera! I bet if you put it back together, you will get black vid again! But if you un-screw the camera, video will come back (NTSC NOT DETECTED)! WALA! Problem SOLVED!

[rcwck]

I just heard a similar buzz/hum on a new build. It only sounded off for a few minutes before the PDB smoked. It really blows to have to disassemble a new build and start over with all the connections.

[TheLenski]

Have used the auto scan.
I did leave them in the van for a couple of days over winter in below zero conditions, it's been suggested that some moisture may if got inside and has knackered them. Had my new goggles delivered yesterday so I'm trying some trouble shooting myself. Iv also wired up a new eagle2pro so going over these conections to👍

[shirdiali]

Nice video...had the exact same problem black screen (minus the humming) just abt two weeks ago. It turns out the pdb pads powering the camera was faulty...i moved the wires and powered them from the pads that the vtx was powered from and it worked fine...until i crashed and broke my quad :)

[michaelbrewer]

possible bad solder joint? jiggling the wire made a connection?

[MadDragon]

What about a black square almost completely covering the video feed? I saw the video on the edges then came back.
I have it on DVR. I'm surprised I didn't crash it.

[sethkarma]

Hey Joshua! Im having this problem if my emax tinyhawk rtf kit. The other day my gogglea have a black screen and I have a signal shows the ch/Dr in the corner. Was about to take it apart and re so the wiring! Seeing id you could help me out