If you do not have a v3 you should do it, other wise when you record you may find you drop a few satts.
JimC6 said:
Replaced my GPS antenna...
- Thread starter Sandman1962
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OK. The thickness was something big enough to see. I will claim "old eyes" for not seeing the aerial as larger.robinb said:
Thanks.
I did this mod today...everything went well except that it didnt make any difference , didnt get any sats indoors, and when i tried it outdoors it took the usual 5 mins to lock on to 6 never gaining any more.
Can it be the ceramic chip? i tried a different one already with the same results... can these gps work a little bit or do they get all or nothing? I saw another user got 2 bad ones in his batch...i have one more .... ill do some more tests tomorrow ...see if shielding is an issue
Can it be the ceramic chip? i tried a different one already with the same results... can these gps work a little bit or do they get all or nothing? I saw another user got 2 bad ones in his batch...i have one more .... ill do some more tests tomorrow ...see if shielding is an issue
If your talking about me....my problem was user error :/
Anyways the biggest diff i have noticed is it 'locks' on the amount of sats... previously it might go... 8..7..6..7 etc etc... now its just a steady 8 for e.g.
Wont give you amazing results bit slightly better.. obviously some get better than others but I think its based on location.
Don't think yours is faulty if its still getting 6 or so...
Anyways the biggest diff i have noticed is it 'locks' on the amount of sats... previously it might go... 8..7..6..7 etc etc... now its just a steady 8 for e.g.
Wont give you amazing results bit slightly better.. obviously some get better than others but I think its based on location.
Don't think yours is faulty if its still getting 6 or so...
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Frubzy said:
After reading your post I had to do the "inside" test again. I got 4-8 satellites indoors. Before the mod, zero.
I agree with justin00 and I do get a few more satellites outdoors (up to 14 once) but more importantly, it's a solid 8 or more without a drop when videoing.
I'm not sure what you should get, but I certainly am happy with this mod (along with the copper shield mod)
thanx for the reply., i can rule out a faulty chip then , ill open it up tomorrow and address the shielding ....
Oh yeah if you dont have a V3 then def make sure shielding good.. having as much of the antenna cable under cover had best results for me.. I have an inch or 2 sticking out.. almost makes plugging it in tricky..also have alumin weatherproof tape stuff over the stock shield.
Also try another location.. I live in metro area so no big trees or anythimg and i get maybe 6 or 7 in my street but if I go 5 mins down the road I will get more.. and results are same each time at each location so not just a fluke. Also get less satts at night for some technical reason im not sure of..
Also try another location.. I live in metro area so no big trees or anythimg and i get maybe 6 or 7 in my street but if I go 5 mins down the road I will get more.. and results are same each time at each location so not just a fluke. Also get less satts at night for some technical reason im not sure of..
Crap, so I guess I didn't clean all the old solder off when I removed the old antenna, so when I pushed the new antenna's stub through the hole, it actually lifted the trace off the board. It still looked to be attached, so I heated it up, got it around the new antenna stub, soldered it on, and put a bead of hot glue around the ceramic part on the other side of the board to eliminate any chance of the antenna moving. Got my fingers crossed that it'll work when I try to fly it tomorrow, otherwise I'm out $120 or so for a new **** GPS board.
Just thought I would post this up because 2 other people have mentioned this to me as it happned to them too.
So for some reason if you use to much solder, any perhaps solder something else a little to close when doing the installation you might get flashing yellow lights and the antenna will get VERY hot.. the module its self stays cool but the antenna gets hot.. It doesn't seem to damage it, assuming you don't leave it on for to long.. but anyways if that happens.. remove all the traces of your solder.. and do it again You really want the tinest amount of solder as the connection on the gps module is tiny area.. so yeah.. just try again.. and if in doubt, put the stock one back on to test you have not damaged the gps module. It took me a few goes to get it working and I still didn't manage to screw up my module but yeah the key is the tinest amount of solder and making sure the actual connection point is covered...
So for some reason if you use to much solder, any perhaps solder something else a little to close when doing the installation you might get flashing yellow lights and the antenna will get VERY hot.. the module its self stays cool but the antenna gets hot.. It doesn't seem to damage it, assuming you don't leave it on for to long.. but anyways if that happens.. remove all the traces of your solder.. and do it again
You really want the tinest amount of solder as the connection on the gps module is tiny area.. so yeah.. just try again.. and if in doubt, put the stock one back on to test you have not damaged the gps module. It took me a few goes to get it working and I still didn't manage to screw up my module but yeah the key is the tinest amount of solder and making sure the actual connection point is covered...Have been thinking about this abit more.. understand why you need a shielded wire but why the 'attach to a ground point on the board' ?? Not arguing, I have no idea about this electrical or GPS stuff so I'm eager to learn.. Again not planning on doing this, but figured you could just attach a wire from the module to the new antenna ? How come if you use a wire, it needs to be grounded ? How come soldering the gps antenna (the pointy bit you connect) to the module is different to havng a wire in the middle ?
Thanks again :]
Thanks again :]
burlbark said:
great news guyz, its definitely a shielding or mounting issue, i removed the cover and held the gps in my hand (over the shielding) and the sats quickly jumped to 5 then 6, as i moved it around a bit it went back down to 0. Im gonna proceed to trim away the ridges on the top for a better fit of the 4mm ceramic, and also apply the copper shielding tape.... i really hope all goes well..... btw these tests are indoors.
Yes, Green_Phantom, be sure the pin goes through the hole without any resistance. Mine would not and needed a second solder suck to open it up.
all you need to worry about is the pin in the hole and the screw holes are not obstructed, there really isnt any orientation you need to follow... be sure to trim back the cover ridges if youre going with the 4mm
Check out this how to article! http://dronegarage.org/2015/01/19/how-to-taoglas-4mm-gps-antenna-upgrade-for-the-dji-phantom-2/
Orientation doesnt seem to matter. The phantom in the video ended up getting GPS lock indoors in less than 30 seconds!
Orientation doesnt seem to matter. The phantom in the video ended up getting GPS lock indoors in less than 30 seconds!
Thank you for the responses!
I did the mod and it was quite easy,the only real pain in the azz is clearing out the hole on the PCB. and carving down some of the plastic on the cover to make room.
I figured while I was at it I kept the ribbon wire under the shield too!
I tested this and before I would grab between 4 and 6 sats and it would fluctuate, Now It took only 45-60 seconds and I grabbed 7 sats on the ground with no fluctuation, up in the air It grabbed 9 when it used to only grab 7.. Just enough of a difference to make it matter.. Inside I grabbed 4 when it never grabbed any!
The real test will come when I'm down at the beach!!
Just for the record,I noticed it depends on the atmospheric conditions too.
Thanks to all
Goatman
I did the mod and it was quite easy,the only real pain in the azz is clearing out the hole on the PCB. and carving down some of the plastic on the cover to make room.
I figured while I was at it I kept the ribbon wire under the shield too!
I tested this and before I would grab between 4 and 6 sats and it would fluctuate, Now It took only 45-60 seconds and I grabbed 7 sats on the ground with no fluctuation, up in the air It grabbed 9 when it used to only grab 7.. Just enough of a difference to make it matter.. Inside I grabbed 4 when it never grabbed any!
The real test will come when I'm down at the beach!!
Just for the record,I noticed it depends on the atmospheric conditions too.
Thanks to all
Goatman
This has got to be one of the best mods you can make. I did mine last week but couldn't really test it out until today because of the crappy weather we have been having. In front of my house, surrounded by 60 foot trees I would normally get 5 maybe 6 satts (after the leaves have fallen of course). Today I got 10 to 11 satts in the same location. I realize that satt count can change day to day, even hour by hour, but I never was able to get close to this count in the past. And like most others that had success, I used to get 1 satt at best in my house and now I get 4 to 6. This is amazing and I encourage everyone to do it. And its the cheapest mod as well. $5 for the part and $8 shipping. I don't understand why DJI hasn't done this as a stock fitting. They probably have a million of those 2mm units and they just want to get rid of them.
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