New Flytrex Goodies

[DronePilot]

To elaborate on Amits email and answer the open questions.
The bug we have found was related to the internal memory on board the Flytrex Live - on certain occasions and under certain internal conditions, the Live would halt upon filling up the internal memory. We have identified the cause and fixed this bug.
Yes, the Live records all your full flights to an on board memory, so even if the connection is lost mid-air, you can still download your full missions after landing
We planned to ship the Live mission downloader software a few days ago, but were set back due to this rare bug we wanted fixed asap. So expect a mission downloader very soon (=a few days days) .

Regarding dropped packets over the air - unfortunately, this is due to coverage problems.
We've seen many long flights that were fully covered by the Live, not a single packet dropped. But we've also seen missions that were almost null, with high packet loss. We have learned a lot from both cases.
We are now working on redundant encoded transmissions, which will minimize packet loss while keeping the used bandwidth to a minimum. This will take about a week or two to ship out as a new firmware.

The Live is a cutting edge device, with Firmware over the air, automatic detection of the attached GPS protocol, as well as a quad band antenna capable of handling most GSM networks all over the world.
Our mission is to make sure you guys are happy using it, and we are working on it day and night

Hope this answers your questions,
Yariv from Flytrex.

Yariv: Thank you for the transparency. I know others here appreciate it as much as I do. We need more of that. I think many of us here are early adopters and we understand there are risks when purchasing a new product from a small company. That being said, when Flytrex went from having a very successful data logger to a near real time tracker the expectations increased significantly. Many of us would like to use it for live tracking and recovery if necessary. We expect it to fully replace all the Core 2 functionality with live tracking. We understand a few bumps in the road but we lose trust when there is little or no response, support or transparency.
I personally would like to have some guarantee of satisfaction for what has been in my experience an unfinished product not fully tested in the US. Perhaps something like a 180 day money back satisfaction guarantee for everyone that purchased the Flytrex Live in its first 6 months. Such a statement from Flytrex would go a long way in returning my trust.

 

[Onezerosix141]

Plus I think many of us would be interested in being testers for US?

 

[isky172]

Update (8/28/2014):

Previous posting - viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19907&start=160#p220327

So dissatisfied with the way the FLT was "working" I was going to try anything. So I ripped it out from its casing (gently) and placed it within the body of my P2. Now, all the data seems to be pretty accurate, except for the data logged before takeoff - which has the bird going 3 to 5 feet all over the place (side to side, back and forth - not related to vertical) despite it being in a stationary spot during pre-flight.

Anyway, in a desperate attempt I simply uncased it, repositioned the FLT, and now it's behaving as I would expect for the most part. Strange eh? One thing I did check before repositioning was whether the barometer was covered - and it wasn't - it had a wide opening/full opening. A simple reposition of the device made it work. I almost don't care what caused the original bad-data, now that it's working. Whew....didn't want to go through an RMA process. Here's what it looks like now using Dashware: http://youtu.be/7vKp2zCVUXE

 

[pilotbcm20]

Do you have a picture of your install? Had any problems with the 2G network?

 

[isky172]

No problems with the 2G as of yet. I fly it in/around the North Atlanta area of Roswell, Johns Creek, Duluth (OTP - "Outside the Perimeter"). I've experienced complete flight recordings, and I've always good connectivity. I wouldn't say I've pushed the limits though. I've not tried any flights over ten mins, and I've always flown with the FTL within this urban/sub-urban area. As I venture further from known towers however, I'll note & post my findings.

At the moment I have no pictures showing my mounting. Out of town and without the P2 till Sat. I'll see what I can do when I get back.

 

[familyman5821]

Not to sound like a total idiot. Could someone post some pictures of were we attach the power wires on the board on the PV2+.

Thanks so much

 

[Embraer]

No problems with the 2G as of yet. I fly it in/around the North Atlanta area of Roswell, Johns Creek, Duluth (OTP - "Outside the Perimeter"). I've experienced complete flight recordings, and I've always good connectivity. I wouldn't say I've pushed the limits though. I've not tried any flights over ten mins, and I've always flown with the FTL within this urban/sub-urban area. As I venture further from known towers however, I'll note & post my findings.

Good to know. I'm over from the UK in November for a family wedding at the Roswell River Landing, bringing the Plus and Live, glad there's good coverage

 

[Dirty Bird]

Last night my Live updated to the new firmware and I just came in from doing a test flight. I only did a single flight, but I am happy to report it recorded the complete flight and transmitted the data to my Flytrex account successfully. It was just beginning to get dark as I was coming back and I have to say the Live LED is pretty damned bright from below!

Also noticed that it seems to be completing its network connection (when it begins flashing green) a little quicker than before.

 

[MadMitch88]

Not seeing Live Flight Channel on my Flytrex Live account ??

I got the Flytrex Live working on my Vision Plus and it's logging mission data to my profile --- but I'm not seeing the Live Flight Channel that allows me to see my aircraft moving in real time on Google Maps ??

How do you locate this Live Flight Channel in your profile? I've looked all over and can't find it. I assume it should appear when you click the "Live" tab on the left side of the screen, but all I get is the "Last Seen" feature and not the Live Flight Channel.

Flytrex gets a solid F in my book for not having 24-hour phone support to solve these kinds of problems. Seems like a small group of geeks sitting in a warehouse somewhere staring at PC screens all day and afraid to talk to real people on the phone. Having one little office in Israel isn't helping their cause, either. Very frustrating company with a very frustrating product!

Help!

 

[srandall25]

Re: Not seeing Live Flight Channel on my Flytrex Live accoun

I got the Flytrex Live working on my Vision Plus and it's logging mission data to my profile --- but I'm not seeing the Live Flight Channel that allows me to see my aircraft moving in real time on Google Maps ??

How do you locate this Live Flight Channel in your profile? I've looked all over and can't find it. I assume it should appear when you lick the "Live" tab on the left side of the screen, but all I get is the "Last Seen" feature and not the Live Flight Channel.

Help!

I haven't tried it yet, but I wouldn't suspect licking the tab is the correct solution... hahahaha

 

[amitregev]

Last night my Live updated to the new firmware and I just came in from doing a test flight. I only did a single flight, but I am happy to report it recorded the complete flight and transmitted the data to my Flytrex account successfully. It was just beginning to get dark as I was coming back and I have to say the Live LED is pretty damned bright from below!

Also noticed that it seems to be completing its network connection (when it begins flashing green) a little quicker than before.

Hi Dirty Bird

Thanks for the feedback! Although this latest firmware update includes several fixes, we're still working on larger changes that will address truncated flight data problems we're seeing. It is possible that you'll see slightly better results with this new firmware, but I do believe there is a good chance you'll continue to experience truncated flight data since most fixes related to this issue are still in development. :/

Our goal is to have the next firmware v36 available towards the end of this upcoming week. This upcoming firmware will include a set of new fixes that we hope will solve truncated flight data almost completely. I'll post an update in upcoming days.

 

[MadMitch88]

Anyone in here work for Flytrex?

I'm not getting any answers about how to access Live Flight Channel in my profile so I can see my Vision's location moving in real-time on Google Maps.

I'm starting to their mantra of "you can't call us -- only email and we'll respond at our leisure" is going to be the undoing of Flytrex. Nice way to run a startup into the ground!

:twisted:

 

[Pull_Up]

Anyone in here work for Flytrex?

I'm not getting any answers about how to access Live Flight Channel in my profile so I can see my Vision's location moving in real-time on Google Maps.

I'm starting to their mantra of "you can't call us -- only email and we'll respond at our leisure" is going to be the undoing of Flytrex. Nice way to run a startup into the ground!

:twisted:

Just add "/live/" to the url of your profile page. That's it.

 

[amitregev]

Anyone in here work for Flytrex?

I'm not getting any answers about how to access Live Flight Channel in my profile so I can see my Vision's location moving in real-time on Google Maps.

I'm starting to their mantra of "you can't call us -- only email and we'll respond at our leisure" is going to be the undoing of Flytrex. Nice way to run a startup into the ground!

:twisted:

Hi MadMitch88

I'm part of the Flytrex team and doing my best to follow-up with user questions here. Our support team also answers support emails as quickly as possible -- so I'll try and check how come you haven't been answered until now.

Regarding your question, at the moment we still don't have any button or link available on the user's account that takes you to your Live Flight Channel. This is something we're definitely working on and should have more news about it available shortly.

In the meantime, to enter your Live Flight Channel, enter your Flytrex Profile and add "/live/" at the end of the URL. This link will take you to your Live Flight Channel where you can see your flight telemetry in real time and share it with others.

Let me know how it goes and if there is anything else I can help with.

 

[MadMitch88]

Anyone in here work for Flytrex?

I'm not getting any answers about how to access Live Flight Channel in my profile so I can see my Vision's location moving in real-time on Google Maps.

I'm starting to their mantra of "you can't call us -- only email and we'll respond at our leisure" is going to be the undoing of Flytrex. Nice way to run a startup into the ground!

:twisted:

Just add "/live/" to the url of your profile page. That's it.

That worked !! :mrgreen:

Now why couldnt the geeks at Flytrex mention this on the website or in the Live user manual ?!?!? :evil:

Flytrex has some great products but they need to do a LOT of improvement in providing instructions for the devices. Seems like they did a hack rush job in this respect to the Live device. Please take this to heart because you can grow a loyal customer base if you only provide excellent documentation for your products.

 

[MadMitch88]

Regarding your question, at the moment we still don't have any button or link available on the user's account that takes you to your Live Flight Channel. This is something we're definitely working on and should have more news about it available shortly.

In the meantime, to enter your Live Flight Channel, enter your Flytrex Profile and add "/live/" at the end of the URL. This link will take you to your Live Flight Channel where you can see your flight telemetry in real time and share it with others.

Not placing a link on the profile page so users can easily access their Live Flight Channel is a HUGE mistake on Flytrex's behalf. Your company needs to realize that 99% of customers are only buying the Flytrex Live device because they want to track their aircraft's position in real time on Google Maps --- otherwise we'd be buying the cheaper Core 2 instead to get the flight data. Forgetting to tell them to type "/live/" after their profile's URL is a VERY important piece of information you left out and it caused me hours of aggravation while I assaulted your website trying to find out how to enable the Live Flight Channel.

I know you probably won't listen to me since I'm only one frustrated user but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE put a huge button link in the profile page highlighted in neon red and flashing to indicate that's where users need to click to access their Live Flight Channel. Please do this, OK? I will spread much joy and approval of your product on discussion boards if you do this!

 

[WellyflyerNZ]

Firstly, thanks to all on this forum. I have been learning so much about my new quad from reading on here.

Today I installed my flytrex live into my phantom 2 vision plus.

I have a SIM card with 2g gprs data tested and working. (Tested on an iPhone 4 with 3G turned off)

Vodafone nz is the provider.

After startup the flytrex live is giving the following signal on the led.

One long red flash followed by six short red flashes. Continues in a loop.

Does anyone know what that means?

Does anyone here know how to manually change the apn setting for the flytrex live?

I assume it can be done via USB? But after reading some of the issues, I would not be all that surprised if thisnfeaturemwas not yet available.

Thanks

 

[ToThePoint]

I have a mind blowing creative brain fart.

I have the TK102-2.
Seems that it interferes with the Phantoms data when it sends a sms and is far away from a cell.
Now that hasn't have to be a issue when used in stand by option, but as i wanted to test out the TK102-2 i had it on speed settings.
The lowest setting is 50km/h and when exceeded it send a sms every 3min.
What it does is that it interrupts data on the bird and seen on the app.
It was out 7000ft and up 400ft. First the camera tilted to the most extreme left corner during flight for a sec. It extreme flipped to the left .
Seen brief interruptions on the charge bar ( and flight time left ) on the app's top and last but not least the altitude was reset.
I freaked out because it was 7000ft away and altitude 0. And it was pitch dark outside ( middle of the night ).
So i rapidly toke the bird home with the camera issue on its way back once more.
So i ended up -426ft. Neat.
As i suspected a not so clean battery connections i have cleaned then.
Also i have seen simular issue's with other systems that can be recreated when a gsm cell is far away and the TK102-2 messing up with the data and system that result in crashing birds.

Now i have a few questions.

1)
A core 2 or a live, seen the issue talked about in this topic and a 2G support will make the live eventually obsolete.
I live in the EU and i don't have to travel far to be in a other country, we have roaming tariffs ( going to be discontinued but still exist now ) so going in a other country is going to cost more when i buy the live.
I don't know it yet a core 2 ( with use of the TK102-2 ) or a live ???
2)
I didn't see what the data consumption is for the live.
For the TK102-2 i have a prepaid card that holds the credit for 1 year, 15€ for 125 sms or 30mb data.
Can anyone that uses the live say what is has used up for data transfer for a mission or several missions so i can get a picture on what the cost can be ?
3)
We all know the alu mod for the GPS module.
Now flytrex extends that cable from the gps module.
This could contribute to the interference issue.
Also i've seen that the provided extension cable is of inferior quality so i already have a other idea in my head to use a shielded wire to connect it to the bird.
Any report or issue's and sats loss after installing the flytrex ?

 

[Gr8Chef]

I take back all the grief I gave Flytrex for making a bad product. If not for Flytrex Live, I absolutely would have lost my downed copter last night.

So after the firmware upgrade, I went to a new area to fly on the edge of town. Better 2G signal and long field of view.

THIS IS EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD NOT DO:
I screwed up in a number of ways, mainly flying too far, too high and poor battery management. Flying FPV, I was out a little over two miles and while fumbling with a phone setting, I accidentally turned off the WIFI. Yeah I know, really dumb. Of course the copter went into fail safe and headed home, but too slowly to make it back. By the time I reestablished connection, it was too late. She was gone. The flight area was very dense forest and most areas completely impenetrable.

I had no idea where to even begin searching for my copter. Talk about a sad feeling when you leave in your car with only the Controller in your possession. I first drove to the last know position on the DJI app. I got as close as I could via the road and got ready to walk into the woods toward the marked location. Just before leaving the car, I checked the Flytrex website hoping to verify the location. In fact, Flytrex had just received my mission so I pulled up the Live map. I immediately saw that Flytrex Live was showing a totally different location, about 1.5 miles closer to my starting position. The location that the DJI app was showing was where the copter lost signal. Flytrex Live tracked the entire flight including to it's actual location.

I drove to the new location and finally found an area in the thick brush that I could enter the woods. It took me two hours to navigate the dense vegetation but I kept referring to the Flytrex Live map. Let me be clear ...there is no way in heck anyone could have ever found that copter in that jungle, and almost night. Impossible. Live put me right on top of it. Wow! I'm impressed. I'm also incredibly lucky that it didn't go down in a swamp or take a devastating fall from the top of a tree. I found her in pretty good shaped and she will be flying again this weekend!

I encourage Flytrex to keep improving the Live's reliability. While my fly area doesn't have the best 2G coverage, it does work and saved my bacon!

Thank you Flytrex Live.

 

[amitregev]

Firstly, thanks to all on this forum. I have been learning so much about my new quad from reading on here.

Today I installed my flytrex live into my phantom 2 vision plus.

I have a SIM card with 2g gprs data tested and working. (Tested on an iPhone 4 with 3G turned off)

Vodafone nz is the provider.

After startup the flytrex live is giving the following signal on the led.

One long red flash followed by six short red flashes. Continues in a loop.

Does anyone know what that means?

Does anyone here know how to manually change the apn setting for the flytrex live?

I assume it can be done via USB? But after reading some of the issues, I would not be all that surprised if thisnfeaturemwas not yet available.

Thanks

Hi WellyflyerNZ

The 6 red flashes indicates that you are getting an error response from the Flytrex server. The good news are that it means you got the network connection part working nicely since you're already getting a response from our server.

In most cases, this happens when activating Flytrex Live without registering it with your account first. The server then sends back an error saying that this Live is not linked to any account - hence it doesn't know where to store the data streamed from this Live device.

Registering your Flytrex Live with your account takes seconds. Take a look at the Registering Your Flytrex Live section at our user manual here: http://www.flytrex.com/support/flytrex-live/manual/

After registering give it another try. If this was the cause, the LED should flash green on the next power up.

** Actually -- it is possible that your Live is also pending for firmware update, so it might first flash blue/purple several times the first time you power it up after registration the device. This is just the new firmware being pushed. I suggest you read quickly our latest firmware update post, just so you know what LED lights to expect. This will only happen once, in the first power up cycle after registering your Live for the first time. See here: http://www.flytrex.com/blog/flytrex-liv ... -released/

Let me know how it goes!