Complete newb here... Hi

C

cruzenbye

Member
Hi, I'm a complete newb and know nothing.
Back in 2018 my husband asked for a drone for Christmas - with hopes to play with it, learn to use it then maybe using it on our boat to film the boat, fishing, and stuff. Well, I did some research at the time and ended up with a Holy Stone HS700. Soon after I gave it to him, a friend of his had a drone that they lost control of and crashed. So - after the drone sat for a while, my husband finally unboxed it, charged it and tried it out. ONCE. I'm the techie of us, so I was the one that had to set up the app and get the drone calibrated for him. We went through the setup and calibration and then he took it outside and as soon as it went too high, he felt it got away from him, it scared him, and he's never used it since.

We were talking with friends about getting some footage of our boats on the water. I pulled out the drone today, downloaded the app, looked through the manuals, went through the calibration and setup, I can even turn the motors on and have it hover. Winds are blowing at 25mph today, so not a day to try and test it. However - the struggle I have is getting the camera connected to the phone - instructions say to connect to the wifi then launch the app (this is the same connection I use for my old underwater camera and my old, old gopro, so not something foreign to me) - but even with the drone on, the camera is on, there is a flickering red light on the front of the camera, but on my Galaxy S21 and my iphone 10, the wifi is not broadcasting for me to connect to it.

Is there a trick to testing these cameras?

Can the camera be replaced with a newer model - like a 4k that would still work with this drone?

Or - Do I have an expensive toy never used if this camera isn't working properly any longer?

Is there any resale value to this that I could then replace with something a little more my speed?
 
RE : instructions say to connect to the wifi then launch the app

The "app" mentioned above is called HolyStone-FPV, not just any app. Did you have it installed?
It is used to connect the drone's camera with the phone.
If you did not have the app installed you can get it from Google Play Store.
You have to install the app to your phone first.
If after installing the app and you still don't know how to connect the camera with the phone, please post back for further discussion.

P.S. Do you still have the drone's user manual?
The user menu should have a page providing you a barcode or link to download the required app.
 
Last edited:
davidhk129 said:
RE : instructions say to connect to the wifi then launch the app

The "app" mentioned above is called HolyStone-FPV, not just any app. Did you have it installed?
It is used to connect the drone's camera with the phone.
If you did not have the app installed you can get it from Google Play Store.
You have to install the app to your phone first.
If after installing the app and you still don't know how to connect the camera with the phone, please post back for further discussion.

P.S. Do you still have the drone's user manual?
The user menu should have a page providing you a barcode or link to download the required app.
Click to expand...

I have all the original manuals and have followed the instructions for them before posting originally.

The app the drone uses and the instructions with the drone say to install Ophelia Go app, which I did. Then instructions say to open your phones wifi connections in settings and connect to the HolystoneFPV... wifi ssid. (Obviously, after the drone and camera are powered on and synced with the controller). When I go to my phones wifi connections in settings, there is no wifi connection for HolyStoneFPV to connect to.

The camera powers on and displays a fast flashing red light. The camera is like a cheap knockoff gopro type thing. There isn't a screen or even a battery, it runs off a cable connected to the drone to draw power.

Troubleshooting wise I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting the cable between the camera and the drone. I've tried using both my Samsung galaxy s21 and my iPhone 10. I've tried going outside to get put of the range of my home wifi signals. I've tried rebooting the phones as well as the drone and controller. I've even tried turning off data on my phone and turning on wifi only (airplane mode with wifi - I had an old underwater camera that used to require that to connect) .
 
RE : there is no wifi connection for HolyStoneFPV to connect to.

Perhaps I did not make myself clear.
I was asking you to go to Google Play website and download/install HolyStoneFPV app to your phone.
Then,, turn on the drone > turn on the phone > from the phone, go to Settings > WiFi > select HolyStoneFPV > exit Settings > scroll and locate HolyStoneFPV app > open it.
IF that works, your phone will show the image the drone's camera sees.

Please try it as I asked and see if that will work.
 
Last edited:
davidhk129 said:
RE : there is no wifi connection for HolyStoneFPV to connect to.

Perhaps I did not make myself clear.
I was asking you to go to Google Play website and download/install HolyStoneFPV app to your phone.
Then,, turn on the drone > turn on the phone > from the phone, go to Settings > WiFi > select HolyStoneFPV > exit Settings > scroll and locate HolyStoneFPV app > open it.
IF that works, your phone will show the image the drone's camera sees.

Please try it as I asked and see if that will work.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate you responding and trying to help.

#1) there is no place in the manual that references the holystone fpv app. The manual says this model uses the Ophelia Go app. Regardless, I have downloaded the Hokystone FPV app as you have suggested.

#2) Regardless of what app is used, the steps that are failing are outside the app.
"Then,, turn on the drone > turn on the phone > from the phone, go to Settings > WiFi > select HolyStoneFPV > exit Settings > scroll and locate HolyStoneFPV app > open it."

It is this step above where there is the problem. In the phones Settings - wifi - connections. HolyStoneFPV is not in the list of available wifi to connect to. I cannot scroll and locate HolyStoneFPV wifi to locate it and connect to it, it does not exist.

My educated assumption here is, my drone works but the camera does not. (It powers on, but isn't working to broadcast its wifi connection), or, the wifi it is broadcasting is not recognized by my newer-ish phones.

I have reached out to Holystone support. Despite this being a 5 yr old model, they are willing to help me with providing spare parts.
 
I disagree your assumption placing the camera as culprit.
Because.......
RE : In the phones Settings - wifi - connections. HolyStoneFPV is not in the list of available wifi to connect to.

It is your phone that cannot find the app ( HolyStoneFPV) to connect to.
If the necessary app is not found, of course the camera has no app to connect to. Not the camera fault.

Are both your smart phones unable to find HolyStoneFPV on the WiFi list?
 
Last edited:
gregb49 said:
Sometimes it has helped to put the 'phones on airplane mode (in the settings) and then turn the 'phones WiFi back on before searching for the drone in the 'phone's WiFi.
Click to expand...
I tried that several times

I used to have an underwater camera that required going into airplane mode then turning on wifi before you could connect to the camera wifi. So that was something I thought to try before giving up.
 
davidhk129 said:
I disagree your assumption placing the camera as culprit.
Because.......
RE : In the phones Settings - wifi - connections. HolyStoneFPV is not in the list of available wifi to connect to.

It is your phone that cannot find the app ( HolyStoneFPV) to connect to.
If the necessary app is not found, of course the camera has no app to connect to. Not the camera fault.

Are both your smart phones unable to find HolyStoneFPV on the WiFi list?
Click to expand...
Yes. Both my smart phones, and my husband's smart phone.

The app is found. It is the HolyStonFPV connection in the wifi list that is not found.

If the phone is unable to see the wifi that the HolyStone camera is broadcasting, and no other phone or device can see it either, then there is no way the app would be able to see it either.
 
Hi have you linked camera to phone Wi-Fi first once its linked your normally get a message saying there is no internet ( make sure any modem has the auto reconnect off on your phone )
Now when the app it should see the camera with out you do anything else
 
cruzenbye said:
Hi, I'm a complete newb and know nothing.
Back in 2018 my husband asked for a drone for Christmas - with hopes to play with it, learn to use it then maybe using it on our boat to film the boat, fishing, and stuff. Well, I did some research at the time and ended up with a Holy Stone HS700. Soon after I gave it to him, a friend of his had a drone that they lost control of and crashed. So - after the drone sat for a while, my husband finally unboxed it, charged it and tried it out. ONCE. I'm the techie of us, so I was the one that had to set up the app and get the drone calibrated for him. We went through the setup and calibration and then he took it https://zumbaliciouscrew.com/ outside and as soon as it went too high, he felt it got away from him, it scared him, and he's never used it since.

We were talking with friends about getting some footage of our boats on the water. I pulled out the drone today, downloaded the app, looked through the manuals, went through the calibration and setup, I can even turn the motors on and have it hover. Winds are blowing at 25mph today, so not a day to try and test it. However - the struggle I have is getting the camera connected to the phone - instructions say to connect to the wifi then launch the app (this is the same connection I use for my old underwater camera and my old, old gopro, so not something foreign to me) - but even with the drone on, the camera is on, there is a flickering red light on the front of the camera, but on my Galaxy S21 wine tasting tours in goriška brda and my iphone 10, the wifi is not broadcasting for me to connect to it.

Is there a trick to testing these cameras?

Can the camera be replaced with a newer model - like a 4k that would still work with this drone?

Or - Do I have an expensive toy never used if this camera isn't working properly any longer?

Is there any resale value to this that I could then replace with something a little more my speed?
Click to expand...
Hey, sounds like you're doing all the right things so far. The HS700 is a decent starter drone, but the camera WiFi issue you're running into is a common one with older Holy Stone models. If the red light on the camera is flickering but no WiFi shows up on your phone, the camera module might be faulty or just not initializing properly. Sometimes unplugging and re-plugging the camera cable can help, but not always.

Unfortunately, you can’t really upgrade the camera on that drone to a newer 4K version that streams video it's not modular like DJI drones. You could strap a GoPro or action cam to it and just record manually, but you'd lose live view and any stabilization.

If the goal is nice boat footage and a smooth, beginner-friendly experience, you might actually be better off selling the HS700 and putting that toward something like a DJI Mini 2 SE. They’re way easier to fly, even in wind, and have built-in 4K cameras with rock-solid stabilization. You might get $50–80 for the HS700 if it's in good shape, just be upfront about the camera issue.

Hope that helps and good luck getting those on-the-water shots!
 
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