Inexpensive GPS tracking alternatives

Hmmm....that's exactly where mine came from.
I wrote them and asked if they had more with the red and green buttons and they said no.

Ordered mine just a couple weeks later?
 
One of you who bought one said you fly over heavy woods a lot.

Have you actually tested it yet? It is nice that it works out in the open mall parking lot under the car seat (actually amazes me), but I would not consider that a fair test for phantom use - unless you routinely fly in parking lots and worry about loosing it under a car.

I think you need to go set it ON the ground under a full canapy of solid tree coverage and see if it does any good; THAT would be a fair test.

Both my hand held GPS receivers loose all satellites when I hike in the deep woods, over which, I fly. My p2v3+ cannot get even 3-4 sats for GPS when I take off from home until I reach about 60 feet due to the avg 120ft high trees around; wonder if this TK unit would fair better than my phantom?

Please consider running this test at 3-4 different locations deep in the dark woods and let us know!
 
Please consider running this test at 3-4 different locations deep in the dark woods and let us know!
I'll try to get out and give it a test...good thought!

Just for the record though...just gave it a test and it works when it is placed in the center of the first floor in my two story house...not near any windows. Kinda amazing.
 
Last edited:
What you are referring to is called GPS MultiPath Interference. Vegetation and moist soil was found to be a contributing factor. This used to be a big problem because older GPS devices by their design did not reject multi path interference very well. Modern GPS receivers have filters and updated antenna designs that mitigate multi path interference.
I agree we do need a test to make sure these pass the "heavily wooded" test considering their price point.

But, many areas of the country do not have any "deep wooded" areas at all. Another consideration is that 1/2 mile is really not that good if you consider a Phantom can cover that distance in less than a minute. Your Phantom in just a few minutes could end up half a dozen miles away which would increase the search area to a daunting area. A GPS tracker in my opinion is the "Ultimate" Phantom locating technology. The limitations are cellular service and GPS satellite service. But you wouldn't be flying the Phantom very far without GPS service anyway right?

For those willing to spend more to locate their downed bird, there's MarcoPolo with a 2 mile range (ideal conditions) which would be a good backup.

However, if you are happy with your beacon then there is no need for you to consider one of these.
Noone is pressuring you. We're just passing on the information we have to those who are interested.

At $18.00, I'm thinking it would be yet ANOTHER layer of protection. Provided it works. The website says it's a new product and requires a walki-talki
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BlackOpsTeamster
good info JKD!

Don't get me wrong; I am not discounting this $40 GPS - if I did not fly 99% over deep forest, I would have one of these on mine in a heartbeat too!

FWIW, I found that 1/2mile to little $ 5 walkie talkie, or 1mile to my ham radio in truck, is way more than enough because we have few areas around where I fly that does not have a road within 1/2mile of it, and I have never heard of a fly away that did not go in one direction until downed.

Just a note: that unit is not new; i think it has been sold for 3-4-5 years now - a slight variation of it is sold in USA in by another company by a slightly different name for about $ 30.

In addition to multipath is simple radio wave absorption/blocking by the trees; it is line of sight. If there is no signal left at ground 0 then any reflections from multipath is mute. I believe this loss of all signal is more the issue in the woods, but I anxiously await the tests!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JKDSensei
Thanks yorlik. Looking forward to getting a report on deep woods results on this device myself.
I was just thinking, if a Phantom goes down in "deep woods", isn't there a pretty good chance it will end up in a tree top......where GPS reception would be better anyway? If the canopy is dense enough to block the signal, it may be dense enough to get the Phantom caught up in the trees you'd think? Maybe more likely with prop guards.

To everyone.....
Don't forget you might want to do a compass re calibration whenever you add (or remove) any devices to your Phantom

Thanks again to Dirk for this tip
 
I like my tk102 but it is IMPOSSIBLE to see if it's on in the bright sunlight. For this reason I'm going to get something going else, what good is it if the thing isn't on. Some of the commands aren't working either. Any tips before I drop some more cash?
 
The TK109B is also a bit hard to see the on/off LED in daylight. I have to shield it with my hand to make sure it's on. That said, a bigger brighter light might draw more power away from the battery on standby as you search for it. So I just deal with it.

As far as wooded areas, I took my TK109B into one heavily wooded area with a very thick tropical canopy and it had no trouble responding. Didn't seem to care about the trees.
 
After watching some reviews I ordered the RF-V16. Smaller, lighter and more features then the TK for about he same price
 
Have both the Distance-RC beacon and a RF-V16. I plan to fly with both as they are small and don't add much weight.
However they are very different, constructed with different purposes and goals. The China GPS thing is a pita to setup and can fail in so many different ways. No cell reception, no GPS, no power, trouble with the SIM-card/subscription/settings. But when it works its very convenient and an efficient device to get the position.

In comparison the beacon unit is foolproof: you connect the battery to the device and it starts doing its thing. For weeks on one tiny battery! Sure, range is somewhat limited. But if its easy do do a rough search doing a checkerboard pattern over the area, provided theres roads. And it works with a toy walkie talkie! Can't find it? Then borrow/buy more powerful stuff such as a Baofeng 40$ radio and a Yagi. That will give you way much greater range. (Don't get a cheapo china 15$ yagi, that one won't work, tried that one.)
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers