Hey all, have learned a lot from reading through the forums in the past several months and just joined to get some help with my P2 and gps. Looking forward to contributing in the future.
A little background...have had a P2 (upgraded version) since mid-december. Installed the iOSD mini inside the body and also moved the canbus connector to inside for a clean install. Have an ImmersionRC 600mw tx mounted on the underside of the body. Have the H3-3D carrying a Hero 4 Silver. Installed all of the components before any test flights, so don't have a baseline to compare before these were installed.
From the first day I have flown, it seems to be taking way too long to pick up satellites if there is any sort of obstructions relatively close (i.e. trees and/or houses). It does seem to pick up quicker if in a wide open field, but I have to think the inability to pick it up near minor obstructions is not normal. A typical backyard test flight goes something like this...turn on Phantom in backyard and monitor FPV monitor for 20+ minutes until it starts to pick up satellites. It seems that once it starts picking up a couple, it goes relatively quick, but it will be stuck at zero for more than 20 mins, but will sometimes hover in the 4-6 range. By this time, my battery is typically in the 8X% range. Once satellites have been picked up, I turn off the unit and then back on to confirm the two sets of green lights. I have gotten as many as 9 satellites in these areas. Once it picks up satellites the first time, it seems to pick up the same number fairly quick (within 1-2 mins) if I power off and back on.
After a dozen or so flights, I had a crash from critical low battery autoland above some trees. That's a whole other story, but in short the battery went from 65% to 7% in just a couple minutes. H3-3D took a beating but all else seemed okay. Flew a few times after the crash and seemed okay but had the thought in the back of my head that there may be another failure coming as a result of the crash. Contacted DJI and must say that I was impressed with their customer service. They repaired the H3-3D and battery at no cost and I also sent in the whole unit with the request of a "post-crash inspection". DJI indicated that they "replaced the center board due to no GPS output on the Phantom," possibly due to the crash. I indicated that I was able to pick up GPS after the crash (in wide open field) and their response was as follows:
"When we first test flew your Phantom to drain both batteries to find the flaw that would auto descend, we could not get a GPS lock no matter how long in was in the air, even after replacing the GPS module it still had the same GPS problem. The center board was at fault, even though it registered the GPS firmware and loader in the Phantom assistant software. - Possibly damaged after the crash."
I am not questioning their response, and in fact think they were seeing the same issue that I have seen since day 1, unrelated to the crash. I received the P2 back last week and just attempted to fly it a couple of days ago for the first time. Let it sit in my backyard for about 25 mins with power on until it got to picking up between 5 and 6 satellites, but nothing more. Did a quick test flight in ATTI mode to confirm stability. I did note that the back H3-3D appeared to be vibrating heavily, but will look into that later once I am able to get in in the air more. Just flew it for a minute or two at ~10 ft above ground.
I tried it again in backyard this morning and let it sit for 15 mins with zero satellites, gave up and brought her in. Then took it to family's house this evening and tried the same thing. Let it sit outside in a relatively open area with clear view of the sky for ~30 mins while we ate dinner and it never picked up any satellites.
Note that I have spent a good amount of time familiarizing myself with the Phantom software...have calibrated the IMU multiple times as I am attempting to figure this out. IMU has been calibrated on flat surface away from interference. I also calibrated the compass each time (multiple times at my house and once at family's house) away from cell phone and any electronics. One thing maybe of note, when I picked up the Phantom to move it to a different area in my backyard while powered on, the indicating lights started blinking indicating that I needed to recalibrate compass. I recalibrated successfully. After my short flight, as soon as I landed, the lights started blinking again indicating to recalibrate compass. Too many things going on here that I am uneasy about flying it like I had before the crash.
Back to the GPS issue...any thoughts/recommendations? Based on DJI's response, I read it as they replaced both the GPS unit and the center board...in my opinion, my issues are related to neither of these. I think the issues that I was having before the crash are the same that DJI saw while they had the unit, and it is still unchanged after they replaced those components. Is it possible that my wiring for FPV inside the body could be interfering with the GPS? Note that I did not send my tx to DJI when they tested, but left the iOSD mini and the wiring inside. I've read plenty about people shielding the GPS with copper tape and am leaning towards this next, but want to make sure I'm not covering up another underlying issue. Most of the copper insulating mods seemed to be geared more towards the vision series...is the P2 non-vision susceptible to the same interference to the GPS?
I plan on following up with DJI tomorrow but wanted to put this out there to get some input from the you all...thanks in advance!
A little background...have had a P2 (upgraded version) since mid-december. Installed the iOSD mini inside the body and also moved the canbus connector to inside for a clean install. Have an ImmersionRC 600mw tx mounted on the underside of the body. Have the H3-3D carrying a Hero 4 Silver. Installed all of the components before any test flights, so don't have a baseline to compare before these were installed.
From the first day I have flown, it seems to be taking way too long to pick up satellites if there is any sort of obstructions relatively close (i.e. trees and/or houses). It does seem to pick up quicker if in a wide open field, but I have to think the inability to pick it up near minor obstructions is not normal. A typical backyard test flight goes something like this...turn on Phantom in backyard and monitor FPV monitor for 20+ minutes until it starts to pick up satellites. It seems that once it starts picking up a couple, it goes relatively quick, but it will be stuck at zero for more than 20 mins, but will sometimes hover in the 4-6 range. By this time, my battery is typically in the 8X% range. Once satellites have been picked up, I turn off the unit and then back on to confirm the two sets of green lights. I have gotten as many as 9 satellites in these areas. Once it picks up satellites the first time, it seems to pick up the same number fairly quick (within 1-2 mins) if I power off and back on.
After a dozen or so flights, I had a crash from critical low battery autoland above some trees. That's a whole other story, but in short the battery went from 65% to 7% in just a couple minutes. H3-3D took a beating but all else seemed okay. Flew a few times after the crash and seemed okay but had the thought in the back of my head that there may be another failure coming as a result of the crash. Contacted DJI and must say that I was impressed with their customer service. They repaired the H3-3D and battery at no cost and I also sent in the whole unit with the request of a "post-crash inspection". DJI indicated that they "replaced the center board due to no GPS output on the Phantom," possibly due to the crash. I indicated that I was able to pick up GPS after the crash (in wide open field) and their response was as follows:
"When we first test flew your Phantom to drain both batteries to find the flaw that would auto descend, we could not get a GPS lock no matter how long in was in the air, even after replacing the GPS module it still had the same GPS problem. The center board was at fault, even though it registered the GPS firmware and loader in the Phantom assistant software. - Possibly damaged after the crash."
I am not questioning their response, and in fact think they were seeing the same issue that I have seen since day 1, unrelated to the crash. I received the P2 back last week and just attempted to fly it a couple of days ago for the first time. Let it sit in my backyard for about 25 mins with power on until it got to picking up between 5 and 6 satellites, but nothing more. Did a quick test flight in ATTI mode to confirm stability. I did note that the back H3-3D appeared to be vibrating heavily, but will look into that later once I am able to get in in the air more. Just flew it for a minute or two at ~10 ft above ground.
I tried it again in backyard this morning and let it sit for 15 mins with zero satellites, gave up and brought her in. Then took it to family's house this evening and tried the same thing. Let it sit outside in a relatively open area with clear view of the sky for ~30 mins while we ate dinner and it never picked up any satellites.
Note that I have spent a good amount of time familiarizing myself with the Phantom software...have calibrated the IMU multiple times as I am attempting to figure this out. IMU has been calibrated on flat surface away from interference. I also calibrated the compass each time (multiple times at my house and once at family's house) away from cell phone and any electronics. One thing maybe of note, when I picked up the Phantom to move it to a different area in my backyard while powered on, the indicating lights started blinking indicating that I needed to recalibrate compass. I recalibrated successfully. After my short flight, as soon as I landed, the lights started blinking again indicating to recalibrate compass. Too many things going on here that I am uneasy about flying it like I had before the crash.
Back to the GPS issue...any thoughts/recommendations? Based on DJI's response, I read it as they replaced both the GPS unit and the center board...in my opinion, my issues are related to neither of these. I think the issues that I was having before the crash are the same that DJI saw while they had the unit, and it is still unchanged after they replaced those components. Is it possible that my wiring for FPV inside the body could be interfering with the GPS? Note that I did not send my tx to DJI when they tested, but left the iOSD mini and the wiring inside. I've read plenty about people shielding the GPS with copper tape and am leaning towards this next, but want to make sure I'm not covering up another underlying issue. Most of the copper insulating mods seemed to be geared more towards the vision series...is the P2 non-vision susceptible to the same interference to the GPS?
I plan on following up with DJI tomorrow but wanted to put this out there to get some input from the you all...thanks in advance!