Help for a noob

[Werz]

Your location is a major factor in how many satellites you can see.
If you're in a canyon or valley with tall structures or mountains on either side, you probably won't get enough to fly with. You need to be able to see some horizon since most of the satellites are not directly above you.

There is much truth to this. Last weekend, I took mine out to a wide open park (formerly a farm field), and tested out the compass calibration in the new Android app. By the time I finished the compass dance and put it on the ground, I had 12 satellites.

The weekend before that, I took it out to the local chapter of the Izaak Walton League. I had it in a large clearing (at least 40 meters in all directions), but the property is in a valley, and the clearing is surrounded by mature trees in every direction. I waited for ten minutes and never got more than 5 satellites. There's a lot of nice wooded scenery there, but I won't fly on faith that I will better satellite reception once I reach altitude.

 

[Mori55]

What if you tried moving the cable under the sheilding? I know with the mobiust some guys tried adding the beads and it didn't help.
I

 

[Mako79]

Just to be clear, the GPS is working fine.
The problem is the exposed GPS cable and electromagnetic interference from the camera and possibly the wifi module.
The Phantom 1 and Phantom 2 aren't affected by this.
What the shielding does is block the camera and wifi interference.
Tuck the exposed gps cable under the copper and use cooking foil with a some packing tape and you'll see the improvements.

Mine works great and picks up 7 instead of 5 in a confined space. It does it quicker too.
And just to re-iterate, the foil shield isn't a mod - its a fix that that DJI should have recognised.

 

[elaijah]

Foil tape Model # 1198777 local store $4 work great and its thin and secure it a two part with paper but I only used the foil and some Model # 3407NA-BA-6 friction tape $3 on the 4 edges of the Wi-Fi and controller leaving room to breath ( wish I had some computer heat sink material there), and around anything else I thought important. Works great and I would like to thank everyone here for solving this......... screw up! I paid 1300 for. Thank you all and that you tuber also. :mrgreen:

 

[Delgado]

Just as an update, I took the bird to the clifftops this morning, and got four, then five, then seven satellites, the first time I have seen her with green rear LEDs.

So i took her up about 100 feet, before spotting the yellow LEDs again, i looked down at the iOS app and was aghast to see ZERO satellites.

It quickly went back up to 4, then 5 again, before i decided to land her.

I did check the satellite links page http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com that robinb recommended and noted i should only have been able to get 6 or 7 anyway. So i'm going to try again in the same location this evening, where according to that page i should be able to see 11 satellites.

Just out of interest if i launch with green LEDs and midway across my trek i lose all or some satellites (yellow rear LEDs), will Return To Home work, or am i manually going to have to bring her in?

 

[robinb]

Good idea to try tonight.

If you loose all sats the drone does not know where it is.
If it gets less than 6 its location becomes flaky and will start to drift.

 

[Delgado]

But does Return to Home work if i launch say with 7 satellites but go down to 4 because of interference or whatever. I'm fairly competent at keeping it steady now i think, it's just if i lose view of it, and go down to 4 or worse zero satellites again.

 

[robinb]

Less sats, less accuracy.

None = No idea where it is.

 

[BlackTracer]

But does Return to Home work if i launch say with 7 satellites but go down to 4 because of interference or whatever. I'm fairly competent at keeping it steady now i think, it's just if i lose view of it, and go down to 4 or worse zero satellites again.

If you launch with 7, it will store the home point where you launched. If you maintain 6 or more the entire time, it will RTH to the home point as you would expect. However if you go below 6 at any time during flight and an RTH is initiated below 6, it WILL NOT RTH to the home point, but rather land straight down where it is in non-GPS mode, drifting with the wind. As has been said, it does not (and hence cannot) use GPS below 6 sats.

EDIT: I am not sure what would happen if you have less than 6, RTH is initiated and in progress, and then 6 or more are acquired. Will it then shift gears and return to the home point?

 

[Delgado]

EDIT: I am not sure what would happen if you have less than 6, RTH is initiated and in progress, and then 6 or more are acquired. Will it then shift gears and return to the home point?

That's the question! Will have to do some testing to find out.

 

[robinb]

My guess if it was in RTH mode and it lost GPS it would stop/pause until it acquired enough to continue.

 

[cahutch]

Guessing is what get's you into trouble.
It's my understanding that if it loses GPS before or during RTH, it will land where it is.
I have no intention of ever testing this.

 

[robinb]

So true

 

[Delgado]

Guessing is what get's you into trouble.
It's my understanding that if it loses GPS before or during RTH, it will land where it is.
I have no intention of ever testing this.

So what are you going to do if you ever were to drop down to five satellites and you can't see your Phantom as it's out of view, and you lose connection?

 

[cahutch]

So what are you going to do if you ever were to drop down to five satellites and you can't see your Phantom as it's out of view, and you lose connection?

Easy, I don't let my phantom out of view. Well, not often.
I wouldn't fly BVR in windy conditions, over water or hazardous terrain without 8 or more satellites. Even that would give me pause and I probably wouldn't go very far away without a good 9 or 10 sats.
And if it ever does lose GPS lock and control at the same time, I should be able to find it close to it's last known location.
Hopefully that won't be over water or a big tree.

 

[BlackTracer]

Guessing is what get's you into trouble.
It's my understanding that if it loses GPS before or during RTH, it will land where it is.
I have no intention of ever testing this.

So what are you going to do if you ever were to drop down to five satellites and you can't see your Phantom as it's out of view, and you lose connection?

This is the definition of a lost Phantom. Unless you can find it with FMP, or have a secondary GPS tracker installed on it, or someone else finds it and returns it to you because you have your credentials on a label on it, well it is gone.

Your best bet is to not ever get into a situation like that. I would never fly out of view or TX range with even the slightest chance of low sat count. Just ain't gonna happen for me.

 

[surfer808]

I second that.
If its not mutch of a hassle to get to the seller of the bird i would get a replacement.
After you have taken of the top lid you will still have warranty but leave the top of just in case you have to do some more tests.
The top lid is were the satellite receiver is located and that module is connected to the main board with a 4 wire connector.
Check it if thats well fitted.
Leave the top lid lose and go outside, startup and check the satellites. Check on that predicter website how many sat you would be able to see.
If it doesn't improve, lift up the top lid as systems are still running. Wait a bit because its could be slow before things change on the app.
If there isn't a improvement yet you have to return that bird.
If it does you have 2 options.
One return the bird or do the alu foil modification.

Let us know how thing evolve.

PS: Thanks for this advice, very helpful, i will try this once i've heard back from DJI

Have you heard back from DJI yet? I have the same exact problem. I can't get more than 3-4 satellites and it's very drifty to fly so I don't take the chance. If you hear back from DJI please let me know what they say. Thanks

 

[Delgado]

Have you heard back from DJI yet? I have the same exact problem. I can't get more than 3-4 satellites and it's very drifty to fly so I don't take the chance. If you hear back from DJI please let me know what they say. Thanks

Nope, not heard a peep yet.

I really would recommend this site though http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com (hat-tip: robinb)

I've managed to get up to 7 satellites by choosing my times carefully, alternate your sites too, i was flying over an old mine at one point, and dense trees blocking another field.

I'm going to go out to the site today where i got 7, and see i get on when that website predicts i should have 11.

If you cant get above 6 then i'd try asking for a refund / replacement. I may still do this depending on how i get on today. However the fact that DJI haven't responded to me in three working days already, makes that the least attractive option.

Have you attempted the aluminium foil mod?

 

[surfer808]

Have you heard back from DJI yet? I have the same exact problem. I can't get more than 3-4 satellites and it's very drifty to fly so I don't take the chance. If you hear back from DJI please let me know what they say. Thanks

Nope, not heard a peep yet.

I really would recommend this site though http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com (hat-tip: robinb)

I've managed to get up to 7 satellites by choosing my times carefully, alternate your sites too, i was flying over an old mine at one point, and dense trees blocking another field.

I'm going to go out to the site today where i got 7, and see i get on when that website predicts i should have 11.

If you cant get above 6 then i'd try asking for a refund / replacement. I may still do this depending on how i get on today. However the fact that DJI haven't responded to me in three working days already, makes that the least attractive option.

Have you attempted the aluminium foil mod?

I saw the aluminum mod, I may try that today definitely, but does that have anything to do with satellites? I thought that was to improve range? As far as that satellite website predictor, I checked it out but I'm in Hawaii and there is no time zone for Hawaii on the drop down.

 

[Delgado]

No the aluminium mod helps with satellites as far as i understand, particularly when recording video.

Don't know if it does any good, but might be worth a go.

I took mine out tonight and got 9 satellites and got some beautiful footage, satellite tracker said 10 were available, so i'm pretty sure because of my location i'm going to have to continually check satellites.