I hope that someone might be able to help me with this problem. I had a crash where the drone fell about 15 feet onto a hard surface. There was no external damage but when I went to fly it again I got the infamous "Vertical camera failure" and, of course the drone was grounded. I tried factory reset a few times to no avail so I dismantle the drone to expose the motherboard and the vertical camera. I could see that the camera's connection to the motherboard was badly connected and I could not access it while the motherboard was mounted in the drone so I removed the motherboard and fixed the connection. While reassembling the drone I noticed that the GPS connector on the motherboard had broken off also (see image). This seems like an impossible repair but I will ask the questions anyway: Does anyone know if the two solder pads on the mother board are the actual contact points for the GPS coax cable? If so, I may be able to rig another type of connector to the board. Has anyone seen these type of connectors that I might be able to purchase? The best price I have found on the net for a replacement board is $200.00 (eBay) are there any other options I might look at? $200.00 seems like a high price to pay for a broken connector.
As a side note: I am really fed up with this drone. Although I like its ease of use, its agility, its camera capabilities, and the piloting software, this drone has been a pure headache. Shortly after the warranty expired the drone fell from the sky for no apparent reason, over 50% battery, within clear view, about 50 feet altitude, and 100 feet away, I heard the engines shut down and watched the drone simply fall. I do construction videography and was on a construction site when it happened. The drone barley missed hitting a worker and hit the ground hard breaking two arms. Parrot refused to address the issue because the drone was out of warranty. They don't even have a service center in the US and parts are virtually impossible to get. So here I sit with an $800.00 drone paperweight. Drone Nerds finally was able to supply me with a full body repair kit($100.00) but my drone was grounded for about three months (my guess is they had to get the parts from France). Now I have another (minor) crash and internal connectors disconnect, and a GPS connector break off! Using a magnifying glass, I looked at the broken joints--they appear to be cold joints. I am also amazed at the how weakly connected many of the harnesses are connected on this drone. It just seems to me that a company that sells an expensive product, such as this, has an obligation to support the product via technical assistance and part replacement. So disappointing! Well, I have $900.00 invested in this drone and am very hesitant to add more to that tally. I guess if I can't repair this reasonably. It will be sold for parts and I will move on to a drone that is supported in the USA. Sorry--enough said
As a side note: I am really fed up with this drone. Although I like its ease of use, its agility, its camera capabilities, and the piloting software, this drone has been a pure headache. Shortly after the warranty expired the drone fell from the sky for no apparent reason, over 50% battery, within clear view, about 50 feet altitude, and 100 feet away, I heard the engines shut down and watched the drone simply fall. I do construction videography and was on a construction site when it happened. The drone barley missed hitting a worker and hit the ground hard breaking two arms. Parrot refused to address the issue because the drone was out of warranty. They don't even have a service center in the US and parts are virtually impossible to get. So here I sit with an $800.00 drone paperweight. Drone Nerds finally was able to supply me with a full body repair kit($100.00) but my drone was grounded for about three months (my guess is they had to get the parts from France). Now I have another (minor) crash and internal connectors disconnect, and a GPS connector break off! Using a magnifying glass, I looked at the broken joints--they appear to be cold joints. I am also amazed at the how weakly connected many of the harnesses are connected on this drone. It just seems to me that a company that sells an expensive product, such as this, has an obligation to support the product via technical assistance and part replacement. So disappointing! Well, I have $900.00 invested in this drone and am very hesitant to add more to that tally. I guess if I can't repair this reasonably. It will be sold for parts and I will move on to a drone that is supported in the USA. Sorry--enough said
![IMG_1435[1].JPG](/data/attachments/5/5038-847265c406e7e51dc812228f67dfd70d.jpg)
![IMG_1435[1].JPG](/data/attachments/5/5040-029fd4225a92adfa310d9dd7efb0fc51.jpg)
